Genesis 3:7

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 consciousness of sin and of its conflict with the Will of God.

fig leaves These leaves would be chosen because of their size. The fig tree is said to be indigenous in Palestine, but not in Babylonia. If so, it is an indirect proof that our version of the story is genuinely Israelite. "Fig leaves are thick, palmately lobed, and often a span or more across" (Hastings" D.B., s.v.).

aprons Better, as R.V. marg., girdles: LXX περιζώματα, Lat. perizomata.

The rendering "breeches," which appeared in the Genevan Bible (1560), caused that version to be popularly known as "the breeches Bible."