Genesis3
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
2And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:
3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.
9And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them.
22And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—
23therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Genesis 3.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The serpent deceives Eve. (1–5). Adam and Eve transgress the Divine command, and fall into sin and misery. (6–8). God calls upon Adam and Eve to answer. (9–13). The serpent cursed, The promised Seed. (14, 15). The punishment of mankind. (16–19). The first clothing of mankind. (20, 21). Adam and Eve are driven out from paradise. (22–24).
vv1-5
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 first parents to sin, and so to separate between them and their God. Thus the devil was from the beginning a murderer, and the great mischief maker. The person tempted was the woman: it was Satan's policy to enter into talk with her when she was alone. There are many temptations to which being alone gives great advantage; but the communion of saints tends very much to their strength and safety. Satan took advantage by finding her near the forbidden tree. They that would not eat the forbidden fruit, must not come near the forbidden tree. Satan tempted Eve, that by her he might tempt Adam. It is his policy to send temptations by hands we do not suspect, and by those that have most influence upon us. Satan questioned whether it were a sin or not, to eat of this tree. He did not disclose his design at first, but he put a question which seemed innocent. Those who would be safe, need to be shy of talking with the tempter. He quoted the command wrong. He spoke in a taunting way. The devil, as he is a liar, so he is a scoffer from the beginning; and scoffers are his children. It is the craft of Satan to speak of the Divine law as uncertain or unreasonable, and so to draw people to sin; it is our wisdom to keep up a firm belief of God's command, and a high respect for it. Has God said, Ye shall not lie, nor take his name in vain, nor be drunk, etc.? Yes, I am sure he has, and it is well said; and by his grace I will abide by it. It was Eve's weakness to enter into this talk with the serpent: she might have perceived by his question, that he had no good design, and should therefore have started back. Satan teaches men first to doubt, and then to deny. He promises advantage from their eating this fruit. He aims to make them discontented with their present state, as if it were not so good as it might be, and should be. No condition will of itself bring content, unless the mind be brought to it. He tempts them to seek preferment, as if they were fit to be gods. Satan ruined himself by desiring to be like the Most High, therefore he sought to infect our first parents with the same desire, that he might ruin them too. And still the devil draws people into his interest, by suggesting to them hard thoughts of God, and false hopes of advantage by sin. Let us, therefore, always think well of God as the best good, and think ill of sin as the worst evil: thus let us resist the devil, and he will flee from us.
vv6-8
Observe the steps of the transgression: not steps upward, but downward toward the pit. 1. She saw. A great deal of sin comes in at the eye. Let us not look on that which we are in danger of lusting after, Mt 5:28. 2. She took. It was her own act and deed. Satan may tempt, but he cannot force; may persuade us to cast ourselves down, but he cannot cast us down, Mt 4:6. 3. She did eat. When she looked perhaps she did not intend to take; or when she took, not to eat: but it ended in that. It is wisdom to stop the first motions of sin, and to leave it off before it be meddled with. 4. She gave it also to her husband with her. Those that have done ill, are willing to draw in others to do the same. 5. He did eat. In neglecting the tree of life, of which he was allowed to eat, and eating of the tree of knowledge, which was forbidden, Adam plainly showed a contempt of what God had bestowed on him, and a desire for what God did not see fit to give him. He would have what he pleased, and do what he pleased. His sin was, in one word, disobedience, Ro 5:19; disobedience to a plain, easy, and express command. He had no corrupt nature within, to betray him; but had a freedom of will, in full strength, not weakened or impaired. He turned aside quickly. He drew all his posterity into sin and ruin. Who then can say that Adam's sin had but little harm in it? When too late, Adam and Eve saw the folly of eating forbidden fruit. They saw the happiness they fell from, and the misery they were fallen into. They saw a loving God provoked, his grace and favour forfeited. See her what dishonour and trouble sin is; it makes mischief wherever it gets in, and destroys all comfort. Sooner or later it will bring shame; either the shame of true repentance, which ends in glory, or that shame and everlasting contempt, to which the wicked shall rise at the great day. See here what is commonly the folly of those that have sinned. They have more care to save their credit before men, than to obtain their pardon from God. The excuses men make to cover and lessen their sins, are vain and frivolous; like the aprons of fig-leaves, they make the matter never the better: yet we are all apt to cover our transgressions as Adam. Before they sinned, they would have welcomed God's gracious visits with humble joy; but now he was become a terror to them. No marvel that they became a terror to themselves, and full of confusion. This shows the falsehood of the tempter, and the frauds of his temptations. Satan promised they should be safe, but they cannot so much as think themselves so! Adam and Eve were now miserable comforters to each other!
vv9-13
Observe the startling question, Adam, where art thou? Those who by sin go astray from God, should seriously consider where they are; they are afar off from all good, in the midst of their enemies, in bondage to Satan, and in the high road to utter ruin. This lost sheep had wandered without end, if the good Shepherd had not sought after him, and told him, that where he was straying he could not be either happy or easy. If sinners will but consider where they are, they will not rest till they return to God. It is the common fault and folly of those that have done ill, when questioned about it, to acknowledge only that which is so manifest that they cannot deny it. Like Adam, we have reason to be afraid of approaching to God, if we are not covered and clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Sin appears most plainly in the glass of the commandment, therefore God set it before Adam; and in it we should see our faces. But instead of acknowledging the sin in its full extent, and taking shame to themselves, Adam and Eve excuse the sin, and lay the shame and blame on others. There is a strange proneness in those that are tempted, to say, they are tempted of God; as if our abuse of God's gifts would excuse our breaking God's laws. Those who are willing to take the pleasure and profit of sin, are backward to take the blame and shame of it. Learn hence, that Satan's temptations are all beguilings; his arguments are all deceits; his allurements are all cheats; when he speaks fair, believe him not. It is by the deceitfulness of sin the heart is hardened. See Ro 7:11; Heb 3:13. But though Satan's subtlety may draw us into sin, yet it will not justify us in sin. Though he is the tempter, we are the sinners. Let it not lessen our sorrow for sin, that we were beguiled into it; but let it increase our self-indignation, that we should suffer ourselves to be deceived by a known cheat, and a sworn enemy, who would destroy our souls.
Key Words
נָחָשׁ: a snake (from its hiss)
הָיָה: to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
עָרוּם: cunning (usually in a bad sense)
חַי: alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively
שָׂדֶה: a field (as flat)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אִשָּׁה: a woman
Cross References
Genesis 3Explicit New Testament reference to the serpent beguiling Eve through his craftiness.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Identifies the ancient serpent of Genesis as the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Paul's primary exposition of how Adam's disobedience brought sin and death upon all humanity.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin, JFB
God's ironic statement 'the man is become as one of us' directly mocks the serpent's promise in v5.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Jesus identifies the devil as a liar and a murderer from the beginning, referencing this deception.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
New Testament commentary stating that Adam was not deceived, but the woman was quite deceived.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Paul promises that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under believers' feet, fulfilling Genesis 3:15.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
God's durable clothing of skins contrasted with their fragile, self-made aprons of fig leaves.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Recalls the original establishment of the tree of life in the midst of the garden.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Job references Adam's attempt to hide his transgression and cover his iniquity.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Christ took on human flesh to destroy the devil through His death, breaking Satan's power.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Refers to Christ being 'born of a woman,' aligning directly with the promised 'seed of the woman.'
Supported by John Calvin
Explains that creation was subjected to futility due to the curse pronounced on the ground.
Supported by John Calvin
The plurals 'one of us' parallel the divine deliberation 'Let us make man' in Genesis 1:26.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Another historical usage of the divine plural ('Go to, let us go down') in judgment.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
The tree of life, lost in Genesis, is finally restored to man in the New Jerusalem.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Sending man to 'till the ground from whence he was taken' executes the curse of 3:19.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
The way to the Tree of Life was barred, but Christ consecrates a new, living way.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Clearly links the dragon and ancient serpent to the devil, binding him.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The original divine prohibition and warning of death that the serpent subtly distorts.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Contrasts Adam and Eve's cover-up and blame-shifting with the wisdom of confessing sin.
Supported by Matthew Henry
A land that bears thorns and thistles is cursed and close to being burned.
Supported by John Calvin
The priest received the skin of the burnt offering, hinting at sacrificial atonement and covering.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Typological parallel of God clothing His people in garments of salvation and robes of righteousness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ezekiel's lamentation utilizes Eden as the symbol of ultimate, forfeited divine privilege.
Supported by JFB
Identifies Yahweh as He who 'dwellest between the cherubims,' first stationed at Eden's gate.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explicitly compares Israel's covenant transgression to Adam's original transgression.
Supported by John Calvin
The New Testament framework for marriage, addressing headship in light of the fall.
Supported by John Calvin
Contrasts the physical death inherited from Adam with the spiritual life received in Christ.
Supported by John Calvin
Cherubims are placed over the Mercy Seat, mirroring their guarding presence at Eden.
Supported by John Calvin
The angel of the Lord stands with a drawn sword, symbolizing divine execution and barrier.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Affirms that God made every nation of mankind from one common source (Eve, mother of all).
Supported by John Calvin