Genesis 3 - Introduction
(J.) The Story of Paradise (cont.): 2. The Fall of Man (1 24) 1 5. The Temptation. 6 8. The Fall. 9 13. The Enquiry. 14 19. The Sentence. 20 21. Man's Clothing. 22 24. The Expulsion from the Garden.... [ Continue Reading ]
(J.) The Story of Paradise (cont.): 2. The Fall of Man (1 24) 1 5. The Temptation. 6 8. The Fall. 9 13. The Enquiry. 14 19. The Sentence. 20 21. Man's Clothing. 22 24. The Expulsion from the Garden.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now the serpent_ The abrupt mention of the serpent is characteristic of this narrative. Vivid and picturesque as it is, the story leaves many things omitted and unexplained. The present verse is an illustration. It makes no mention of time; whether the interval between the Creation and the Fall was... [ Continue Reading ]
_the woman_, &c. The woman is quick to correct the error into which she fancies the serpent has fallen, and to defend the generosity of the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of the fruit of the tree_, &c. The woman speaks of only one tree, and that one is in the midst of the garden. She does not mention it by name. In Genesis 2:9, where two trees are mentioned, the one which is described as "in the midst of the garden" is the tree of life. Here the woman speaks of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not surely die_ The words are very emphatic, "by no means shall ye die." The serpent directly contradicts the statement of the penalty of death, and thus craftily removes the cause for fear, before dwelling upon the advantages to be obtained from defiance of the Divine decree.... [ Continue Reading ]
_for God doth know_, &c. Having denied the fact of the penalty, the serpent proceeds to suggest that there is an unjust motive for the threat. It is not, he says, for the good of the man and the woman, but in order to exclude them from their privilege and right. No reason had been assigned: the serp... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the woman_ The woman's attention has been drawn to the tree. She finds that the serpent's suggestion, based on the mysterious properties of the fruit and on the supposition of Jehovah's jealousy and unkindness, is reinforced by the attractive appearance of the fruit. Probably good to taste... [ Continue Reading ]
The Fall The serpent here disappears from the story, except for the mention of him in the woman's words of excuse (Genesis 3:13), and in the Divine sentence upon him (Genesis 3:14). He did not tell the woman to eat the fruit. The temptation which is most dangerous is rarely the most direct. The sou... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the eyes_, &c. The serpent's promise is fulfilled; their eyes having been opened, they have forfeited the state of innocence of which nakedness was symbolical, cf. Genesis 2:25. The knowledge to which they have attained is neither that of happiness, wisdom, nor power, but that of the consciousn... [ Continue Reading ]
_the voice_ Better, as R.V. marg., _sound_. The man and woman are represented as hearing the sound of God's footsteps in the garden. _in the cool of the day_ Lit. "in the wind of the day"; that is, at the time of day when, in the East, a cool wind springs up, and people leave their houses. LXX τὸ δ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Where art thou_?] The Lord does not abandon, He seeks, the guilty. The question is one which the voice of conscience puts to every man who thinks that he can hide his sin from God's sight.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Enquiry The certainty of tone with which the following questions are put indicates either perfect knowledge or accurate perception, and reduces the guilty man to a speedy confession. The questions are put, not to obtain information, but to give opportunity for self-examination and acknowledgmen... [ Continue Reading ]
_heard … afraid … hid_ The man has not courage to tell the whole truth. Fear suppresses that part of the truth which love should have avowed. To hide from God's presence is the instinct of guilt; it is the converse of "to seek His face.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who told thee_, &c.?] To this question no answer is expected. The knowledge could only come in one way. The sense of shame implies contact with sin. _Hast thou eaten_, &c.?] An opportunity is given for a full confession of disobedience and for the expression of contrition.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The woman_, &c. The man, unable to deny the charge, seeks to excuse himself by laying the blame primarily on the woman, and secondarily on Jehovah Himself, for having given him the woman as his companion. Guilt makes the man first a coward, and then insolent.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The serpent beguiled me_ The woman, in answer to the direct and piercing question, lays the blame upon the serpent. For the word "beguiled," cf. 2 Corinthians 11:3. See St Paul's use of the passage in 1 Timothy 2:14. The serpent is not interrogated. Perhaps, as some suggest, because "being an anim... [ Continue Reading ]
The Sentence 14. _cursed art thou_ The word "cursed" is only used in addressing the serpent, as the originator of the temptation, and in reference to "the ground" as the sphere of man's penalty (Genesis 3:17). Jehovah does not pronounce a curse either upon the man or upon the woman. _above_ Better... [ Continue Reading ]
_and I will put enmity_ The first meaning of this sentence refers to the instinctive antipathy of mankind towards the serpent, and the frequently deadly character of the wounds inflicted by serpents upon human beings. But this explanation does not exhaust the full meaning of the verse. The narrator... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will greatly multiply_ The sentence upon the woman deals with the two aspects of the married woman's life, as wife and as mother. The story explains the pains of child-bearing as the penalty for the Fall. The possession of children is the Eastern woman's strongest passion. The sentence upon the w... [ Continue Reading ]
_cursed is the ground_ The man is addressed as one who in the future is to be dependent upon the soil for the means of subsistence. Not man, but the ground for man's sake, is accursed. Its fruitfulness is withheld, in order that man may realize the penalties of sin through the pains of laborious toi... [ Continue Reading ]
_thorns also_, &c. These are not new products of the soil because of sin, but are typical of that which the earth brings forth of itself, and of ground neglected or rendered fallow by man's indolence. Left to itself, the soil produces weeds which must be removed. Man is to live upon that which he la... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the sweat of thy face_ As in the sentence upon the woman, so here, in the sentence upon the man, suffering is not punitive, but disciplinary, being associated with his highest vocation. The necessity of labour has proved man's greatest blessing; it has evoked the qualities which are distinctivel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eve_ Heb. _Ḥavvah_, that is, _Living_, or _Life_. The man is represented as calling his wife by this name, because she was the mother of the whole human race. The word is evidently of great antiquity; for it is not found with this spelling in Biblical Hebrew, but in the form of _ḥayyah_. The sound... [ Continue Reading ]
These two verses are a parenthesis interrupting the thread of the narrative. Probably they contain materials current in some other thread of tradition, and inserted here at the close of the judicial sentence.... [ Continue Reading ]
_coats of skins_ in reference to Genesis 3:7. The sense of shame is the result of the knowledge of evil. The present verse gives the traditional explanation of the origin of clothes. The word "coats" hardly represents the Hebrew so well as LXX χιτῶνας, and Lat. "tunicas," cf. 2 Kings 1:8; Hebrews 1... [ Continue Reading ]
The Expulsion from the Garden 22. _as one of us_ It is not stated to whom Jehovah addresses these words. Two explanations are possible. Either (1) He speaks to the Heavenly Beings by whom the throne of God was believed to be surrounded. See notes on Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 3:5; Genesis 6:1; Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
_sent him forth_, &c. Man is dismissed from the garden with the duty imposed upon him to till the ground. Agriculture is here treated as the earliest human industry. See note on Genesis 3:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
_So he drove out_ The expulsion from the garden is repeated in this verse in stronger terms. In Genesis 3:23, it was "sent him forth" (LXX ἐξαπέστειλεν, Lat. _emisit_): here, it is "drove out" (LXX ἐξέβαλε, Lat. _ejecit_). Though there is a repetition which may possibly imply different narratives co... [ Continue Reading ]