Genesis 3

The narrative recounts the fall of humanity, detailing how the serpent's deception and Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in judgment, separation from God, and the introduction of sin into the created order.

• The serpent approaches the woman and introduces doubt regarding God's command.
• The woman and Adam disobey by eating the forbidden fruit.
• God confronts the pair and they offer excuses.
• God pronounces judgments upon the serpent, the woman, and the man.
• God provides animal skins for clothing and drives the pair from the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life.

• Serpent (נָחָשׁ, H5175)
• Tree of knowledge of good and evil
• Fig leaves
• Coats of skins
• Cherubims
• Flaming sword

This passage serves as the foundational etiology for the human condition, introducing the problem of sin and death that the remainder of the canon addresses, while also providing the first promise of the Messiah (the protoevangelium).

Sin brings immediate alienation and death, but God's response includes both righteous judgment and the initial promise of a future Redeemer.

The chapter follows a downward trajectory from innocence and intimate communion with God to suspicion, transgression, blame-shifting, and separation.

• I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).

• Thou shalt not eat of it (Genesis 3:17 - referencing the prior command).

• In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 3:3 - presented as the consequence).

• The passage describes the primeval history of humanity, traditionally attributed to Moses as the human author under divine inspiration.
• Matthew Henry observes: 'Satan's policy to enter into talk with her when she was alone,' highlighting the strategic danger of isolation in the face of temptation.

• The garden (גַּן, H1588) functions as a sanctuary space where God dwells with man, making the intrusion of the serpent a defilement of holy space.

• The chapter follows the creation account in Genesis 2, serving as the pivot point where the state of 'very good' is corrupted by human rebellion.

• The New Testament interprets the serpent as Satan (Rev 12:9) and identifies Christ as the ultimate 'seed' of the woman (Gal 4:4).
• Romans 5:12-19 provides the canonical interpretation of this event as the entry point of sin and death into the world through one man (Adam), contrasted with the life brought by the one man (Jesus).

• Genesis 3:15 is the 'protoevangelium.' Historic positions on this verse vary: Some argue it refers to a collective struggle between the line of the righteous and the unrighteous. Others, particularly in Christian tradition, emphasize a singular 'seed' referring to the Messiah who achieves a decisive victory over the devil.
• The 'coats of skins' (v. 21) is often read in connection with the later sacrificial system, where God provides a covering for sin, requiring the death of a substitute.

• נָחָשׁ (H5175, serpent): A snake, often associated with hissing; the term implies a crafty, deceptive nature.
• עָרוּם (H6175, crafty): Cunning or astute; here it indicates negative intelligence, used for malice.
• יָדַע (H3045, know): Far more than intellectual awareness; it implies experiential knowledge, intimacy, and the capacity to discern.
• עָשָׂה (H6213, made): Used of God's creative work, emphasizing His sovereignty over both the garden and the serpent.

• Adam's shift from unity with the woman in chapter 2 ('bone of my bones') to blaming her and God in chapter 3 ('The woman whom thou gavest to be with me').
• The silence of Adam during the serpent's temptation of the woman, despite being 'with her' (v. 6).

• The exact identity of the 'seed' of the woman in verse 15 remains a primary point of discussion between those who see a broader corporate conflict and those who see a specific Messianic prediction.
• The nature of the 'tree of knowledge of good and evil'—whether it represents moral autonomy or a premature assumption of divine prerogatives—is frequently debated by scholars.