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Scofield's Bible Commentary

Genesis 3:1

The serpent

The serpent, in his Edenic form, is not to be thought of as a writhing reptile. That is the effect of the curse (Genesis 3:14). The creature which lent itself to Satan may well have been the most beautiful as was the most "subtle" of creatures less than man. Traces of that beauty remain despite the curse. Every movement of a serpent is graceful, and many species are beautifully coloured. In the serpent, Satan first appeared as "an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).

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See also Genesis 3:1 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    CHAPTER III _Satan, by means of a creature here called the serpent,_ _deceives Eve_, 1-5. _Both she and Adam transgress the Divine command, and fall_ _into sin and misery_, 6, 7. _They are summon...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    - Section III - The Fall - The Fall 1. נחשׁ _nachash_ “serpent; related: hiss,” Gesenius; “sting,” Mey. ערוּם _'ārûm_ “subtle, crafty, using craft for defence.” 7. תפר _tāpar_ “sew, stitch, tack...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 3 The Fall of Man _ 1. The serpent and the woman (Genesis 3:1)_ 2. The fall and the immediate results (Genesis 3:6) 3. Jehovah Elohim questions Adam (Genesis 3:8) 4. His question to the w...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    Among the animals formed by Yahweh, in His first attempt to provide man with a companion, was the serpent; at that time either a quadruped or holding itself erect. It was eminent among its fellows for...

  • B. W. Johnson's Bible Commentary

    SIN AND DEATH. -- Genesis 3:1-6; Genesis 3:17-19. GOLDEN TEXT. --_ By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin._ -- Romans 5:12. TIME. --Not certainly known. According to Usher B. C. 4004....

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    SERPENT. Hebrew. _Nachash,_. shining one. See note on Numbers 21:6; Numbers 21:9. The old serpent (2 Corinthians 11:3) transformed as "an angel of light" (=. glorious angel,...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _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 i...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THE SERPENT— If, in the account of the fall, there should be many difficulties, it will not seem strange to any who observe, that Moses gives only general hints, sufficient to acquaint us indeed with...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PART TWELVE: THE BEGINNING OF MORAL EVIL ON EARTH (Genesis 3:1-8) 1. _The Generations of the Heavens and of the Earth._ We need to recall here briefly the significance of this phrase. The term genera...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE SUBTIL THAN ANY BEAST OF THE FIELD WHICH THE LORD GOD HAD MADE. AND HE SAID UNTO THE WOMAN, YEA, HATH GOD SAID, YE SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN?_ The serpent, х...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    PARADISE AND THE FALL In this famous passage we possess a wealth of moral and spiritual teaching regarding God and man. The intention of the writer is evidently to give an answer to the question: How...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 3 ADAM AND EVE DO AN EVIL THING V1 The snake was the cleverest wild animal that the *Lord God had made. The snake said to the woman, ‘Is it true...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    An ordinary snake could not do what this snake did. The devil, who is called Satan, used the snake to speak to Eve. Genesis does not mention the devil, but other parts of the Bible mention him. (See R...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    EXCURSUS C: ON THE DURATION OF THE PARADISIACAL STATE OF INNOCENCE. The _Bereshit Rabba_ argues that Adam and Eve remained in their original state of innocence for six hours only. Others have supposed...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    III. (1) NOW THE SERPENT. — Literally, _And._ The Hebrew language, however, is very poor in particles, and the intended contrast would be made plainer by rendering “Now they were both naked (_arumim_)...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וְ הַ נָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִ כֹּל֙

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    THE FALL Genesis 3:1 PROFOUND as the teaching of this narrative is, its meaning does not lie on the surface. Literal interpretation will reach a measure of its significance, but plainly there is more...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    MAN AND WOMAN, TEMPTATION Genesis 2:18; Genesis 3:1 Human love is God's best gift to man. Without it even Eden would not be Paradise. That Adam was able to name the animals, affixing a title suggeste...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    Here begins the second section of the Book of Genesis. As the first has answered questions concerning creation, the second replies to questions asked in the presence of sin and suffering and sorrow. T...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    God would have been very pleased if he had never needed a remedy for sin. However, man chose the path of sin. Satan's grand lie caused him to transgress God's will. Jesus called Satan "a murderer from...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Now the serpent was more (a) subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he (b) said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (a) As S...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    Why hath God? Hebrew, "Indeed hath God, &c." as if the serpent had overheard Eve arguing with herself, about God's prohibition, with a sort of displeasure and presumption. St. Augustine thinks, she ha...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    CONTENTS I know not whether we ought to consider this chapter, as the most melancholy, or the most pleasing in the whole Bible. It certainly contains the substance of what forms both. Here we read the...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    There is one characteristic of divine revelation to which attention may be profitably called as a starting point. We have to do with facts. The Bible alone is a revelation of facts, and, we can add (n...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _THE TEMPTATION OF MAN_ ‘Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    1._Now the serpent was more subtil _In this chapter, Moses explains, that man, after he had been deceived by Satan revolted from his Maker, became entirely changed and so degenerate, that the image of...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    In chapter 3 we find what, alas! has always happened, and happened immediately when God has set up anything in the hands of responsible man disobedience and failure. So it was in Adam, so in Noah, so...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE SUBTLE THAN ANY BEAST OF THE FIELD, WHICH THE LORD GOD HAD MADE,.... Many instances are given of the subtlety of serpents, in hiding their heads when struck at, rolling themse...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Ver. 1. _Now the...

  • Jonathan Edwards' Notes On The Scriptures

    Gen. 3, at the beginning. "_ Now the serpent was more subtle_," etc. What is an argument _ex posteriori_ of the devil's having assumed the form of a serpent in his temptation of our first parents, is...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    The _serpent was more subtle_, &c. Some would render the word נחשׁ _, nachash_, here, _monkey_ or _baboon_, and the word ערום, _arum, intelligent:_ but it may be demonstrated from divers other passage...

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 The serpent deceiueth Eue. 6 Mans shamefull fall. 9 God arraigneth them. 14 The serpent is cursed. 15 The promised Seed. 16 The punishment of Mankind. 21 Their first clothing. 22 Their castin...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    The Temptation and Fall...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. In Paradise man had everything that he needed for the proper development of his nature and for the fulfillment...

  • Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures

    SECOND PART THE GENESIS OF THE WORLD-HISTORY, OF THE TRIAL, OF THE SIN OF MAN, OF THE JUDGMENT, OF DEATH, OF THE SALVATION-TRIUMPH, OF THE CONTRAST BETWEEN A DIVINE AND A WORLDLY TENDENCY IN HUMANITY...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    THE FALL OF MAN The serpent is introduced in this chapter as being more cunning than all other beasts. This was evidently so just by the fact of Satan's using the serpent for his mouthpiece. It is not...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    YEA, HATH: _ Heb._ Yea, because, etc....

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-5 Satan assaulted our first parents, to draw them to sin, and the temptation proved fatal to them. The tempter was the devil, in the shape and likeness of a serpent. Satan's plan was to draw our fi...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    GENESIS CHAPTER 3 The serpent's subtlety, and insnaring question, GENESIS 3:1. The woman's answer, GENESIS 3:2. The serpent denies the certianty of the threatening, GENESIS 3:4; suggests a benefit by...

  • Notes on the Pentateuch by Charles Henry Mackintosh

    This section of our book sets before us the breaking up of the whole scene on which we have been dwelling. It abounds in very weighty principles; and has, very justly, been, in all ages, resorted to a...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Genesis 3:1 serpent H5175 was H1961 (H8804) cunning H6175 beast H2416 field H7704 LORD H3068 God H430 made...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    CATASTROPHE IN THE GARDEN (3:1-24). Genesis 3:1 a ‘Now the snake was wiser than any creature that the Lord God had made.' The word for snake always refers to ordinary snakes in the Old Testament, wi...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Genesis 3 Consider: (1) some of the consequences, and (2) some of the corroborative proofs of the fall. I. Beside and behind the outward consequences, there were inward results far more terrible. A d...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Genesis 3:1 I. Satan's temptations begin by laying a doubt at the root. He questions; he unsettles. He does not assert error; he does not contradict truth; but he confounds both. He makes his first e...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Genesis 3:1. _Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?_ H...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Genesis 3:1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Temptation of Eve and entrance of sin into the race. God's covenant with fallen man and the expulsion from Eden. CHARACTERS: God, Satan, Adam, Eve. CONCLUSION: Doubt lies at the root of all...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Genesis 3:1. _The serpent._ The rabbins and the christian doctors have largely sported their opinions here. St. Cyril contends that Satan assumed the figure of the serpent, and so talked with the woma...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field_ THE FIRST GREAT TEMPTATION I. THAT THE HUMAN SOUL IS FREQUENTLY TEMPTED BY A DIRE FOE OF UNUSUAL SUBTLETY. 1. The tempter of human soul...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 3:1 The sudden arrival of a speaking SERPENT presents a challenge to the human couple. Their choice to disregard God’s instructions is an act of willful rebellion that has terr...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Genesis 3:1_ THE FIRST GREAT TEMPTATION It is well for the military general to study the plan and the history of great battles that have been fought in the past, i...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION GENESIS 3:1 How long the paradisiacal state of innocence and felicity continued the historian does not declare, probably as not falling within the scope of his immediate design. Psalms 49:...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden (Genesis 3:1)? Now...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Now. Genesis 3:13 Isaiah 27:1 Matthew 10:16 2 Corinthians 11:3...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    THE FIRST WOMAN Genesis 2:20; Genesis 3:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS When we enter into the Bible story of creation there is something that makes it all seem so real, so definite, and so certain. Evolution...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    THE TEMPTATION Genesis 3:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS There are some very vital questions which naturally tome to most minds. These we will seek to answer. 1. DID GOD KNOW THAT MAN WOULD SIN WHEN HE CREATE...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    THE CROSS IN GENESIS Genesis 2:22; Genesis 3:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS If Jesus Christ, in the purposes of God, was given to die before the world was formed, or before man was created; and if man, when h...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    We have here an account of the temptation wherewith Satan assaulted our first parents, and which proved fatal to them. And here observe, The tempter, the devil in the shape of a serpent. Multitudes of...

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