| Verse |
Commentary |
Lexicon |
| Gen 3:1 |
The first part clearly indicates that the Serpent is a subordinate of God, in that God "made" the serpent. The question posed by the Serpent to Eve is typical of all rebel-rousing in that it implies some injustice was done that the person needs to address. |
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| Gen 3:2 |
Eve defends the goodness of God which is going to cause the Serpent to further question the justice of God. |
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| Gen 3:3 |
It is almost as if the Serpent wanted Eve to answer in this manner so that he could go on to contradict what God had said. |
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| Gen 3:4 |
The Serpent's direct contradiction of God can only be met with God's own Word, since as we'll see it appears the Serpent is correct when he says Adam and Eve will not die. |
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| Gen 3:5 |
This verse is very puzzling because it is here where the Serpent appears to be revealing the injustice that is being done to humanity since as we'll see in verses 22 and 23, it seems God was concerned that humanity gained this ability. |
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| Gen 3:6 |
It is interesting that the Serpent came to Eve to tempt her to disobey God. Why? Some may conclude that Adam would not have been so easily fooled but as we see from the second part of the verse, Eve is not even seen trying to convince Adam, instead she gives him the fruit and he eats -- no questioned asked. Who then is more to blame if there was a level of blame? |
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| Gen 3:7 |
The idea that before having their eyes opened, that nudity was not seen as shameful speaks to the innocence of purity in natural form. Some scholars read into the fact that Adam and Eve attempted to cover themselves, whereas in verse 21 we see God making them a better covering made apparently from a sacrificed animal. Perhaps a prelude of something innocent dying to cover the guilt of humanity. |
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| Gen 3:8 |
Here we see the first expression of guilt. Adam and Eve hiding from God, as if they could. But perhaps what is more interesting is that God is portrayed as walking on the earth. Some may see this as a "Christophony" -- an appearance of Jesus on earth before being born via Mary. |
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| Gen 3:9 |
It may puzzle the average reader of the Bible to see God react in "un-God-like" ways such as appearing to not know where Adam was. Perhaps some could reconcile this with saying that if God was in human form, He would have some limitations as men, just as Christ in the form of humanity was limited in some ways in that he ate, slept, and such. Or it could be assumed God knew where Adam was but for Adam's sake called out to Adam to reveal himself. |
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| Gen 3:10 |
We see here what might be the first lie by humanity. Was Adam afraid or was he ashamed of his guilt for eating the forbidden fruit? |
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| Gen 3:11 |
Here again we see God acting as if He doesn't have all-knowledge and instead had to be informed of events. However, perhaps we can see that God merely wants Adam to admit to the guilt of which God already was aware. |
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| Gen 3:12 |
Not only is the the first instance of humanity trying to blame someone else for his own guilt, the question is answered of whether back in verse 6 if Adam knew the fruit he was eating was the forbidden fruit. So, again we should be surprised that in verse 6 we see no effort of convincing Adam to disobey God, but rather he simply eats. |
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| Gen 3:13 |
More of what appears to either be rhetorical wording by God or His lack of awareness. Either way, such direct questioning by God must have been frightening. |
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| Gen 3:14 |
Apparently the Serpent originally had some ability to stand upright or to at least not slither. Some may want to equate this the fate of the dinosaurs which are reptilian. Either way, it is curious if there is any significance beyond the fact that cattle are the typical beasts of burden (slaves) that cattle are compared with the fate of the Serpent. Cattle are even called "cursed", apparently even before the Fall. It may be wrong to read too much into this other than the fact that the Serpent is condemned to a lowly status. |
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| Gen 3:15 |
This verse is often considered as the epitome of the human struggle with evil. It isn't so much about Eve and her children being at odds with snakes as it is with humanity struggling with sin and evil. However, it is also used as a Messianic reference to Jesus, who will eventually come through the Seed of man and will bruise or crush the head of the Serpent/Devil, restoring humanity's relationship with God. See Romans 16:20 and Galatians 3:16-29 |
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| Gen 3:16 |
Eve's punishment is at least two-fold; one, she will experience pain in childbirth and perhaps the attenuating menstrual situation, and two, she will be subservient to her husband. This begs the question of whether Adam and Eve were equals until this point, even though Eve was made secondly. |
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| Gen 3:17 |
The punishment given to Adam is so dreadful that it encompasses not just himself but the very ground becomes cursed. Adam will spend the rest of his life simply trying to live from the land. No more will he be sustained by God's grace in the Garden. |
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| Gen 3:18 |
This is a continuation of Adam's specific curse, where he will have to work to live. |
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| Gen 3:19 |
More of the curse on Adam, so terrible is it that Adam is depicted as almost vainly trying to live from the ground but eventually the ground retakes him. In our modern society where much of our food comes neatly packaged for us, we may not relate to this curse; however even still we spend much of our lives living to eat even though someone else does the work growing the food and maintaining the livestock. |
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| Gen 3:20 |
At first this verse seems out of place, in that we see Adam naming his wife Eve immediately after the curses but this naming is consistent in that in Gen 2:19-20 Adam named the other creatures under his care, and now that the woman is cursed to a subservient role, Adam names her too. Eve literally means life or gathering, and is consistent with all human life coming from or gathered through Eve. |
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| Gen 3:21 |
Here we see God apparently sacrificing an innocent animal to clothe or cover the nakedness/shame of Adam and Eve. This may be a prophetic look at the sacrificial system that would be put in place and realized in Jesus' sacrifice. |
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| Gen 3:22 |
God here seems to validate the Serpent's original accusation to Eve in verse 5. It should also be noted that God is speaking in a plurality here which is often seen as a prelude to the Trinitarian concept that God is three-personas; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is also important to consider whether Adam and Eve had been eating of the Tree of Life all along and because they were barred from eating, their life would no longer be sustained, or if they had never eaten of it and they are being barred so they will not eat even once, thus giving then knowledge and life. |
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| Gen 3:23 |
Notice how humanity is often spoken of as one entity, "him" when in fact God means both Adam and Eve were excluded from the Garden. |
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| Gen 3:24 |
God places a cherubim or some say an angel at the entrance of the Garden so that humanity can not re-enter. This begs the question of whether this is still an actual place on the planet earth. Even if up to this point, a person has been able to accept the biblical account, they may stumble at the location of Eden, especially in a day of global-mapping. but we must also consider that the entire geography of the planet was changed during the Flood and so while Eden may have been an actual location pre-Flood, it is more than likely non-existent post-Flood. |
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