The First Book of Moses: Genesis

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- Chapter 3 -

(Romans 5:12–21)

However, the serpent was more crafty than any of the creatures of the earth that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Why has God instructed you, that you should not eat from every tree of Paradise?”

The woman responded to him: “From the fruit of the trees which are in Paradise, we eat.

Yet truly, from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of Paradise, God has instructed us that we should not eat, and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we may die.”

Then the serpent said to the woman: “By no means will you die a death.

For God knows that, on whatever day you will eat from it, your eyes will be opened; and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”(a)

And so the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and beautiful to the eyes, and delightful to consider. And she took from its fruit, and she ate. And she gave to her husband, who ate.

And the eyes of them both were opened. And when they realized themselves to be naked, they joined together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.(b)

God Arraigns Adam and Eve

And when they had heard the voice of the Lord God taking a walk in Paradise in the afternoon breeze, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of Paradise.

And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: “Where are you?”

And he said, “I heard your voice in Paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and so I hid myself.”

He said to him, “Then who told you that you were naked, if you have not eaten of the tree from which I instructed you that you should not eat?”

And Adam said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion, gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”

And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The Fate of the Serpent

And the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed among all living things, even the wild beasts of the earth. Upon your breast shall you travel, and the ground shall you eat, all the days of your life.(c)

I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. She will crush your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel.”(d)

The Punishment of Mankind

To the woman, he also said: “I will multiply your labors and your conceptions. In pain shall you give birth to sons, and you shall be under your husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over you.”

Yet truly, to Adam, he said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, from which I instructed you that you should not eat, cursed is the land that you work. In hardship shall you eat from it, all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles shall it produce for you, and you shall eat the plants of the earth.

By the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken. For dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.”(e)

And Adam called the name of his wife, ‘Eve,’ because she was the mother of all the living.

The Expulsion from Paradise

The Lord God also made for Adam and his wife garments from skins, and he clothed them.

And he said: “Behold, Adam has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Therefore, now perhaps he may put forth his hand and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live in eternity.”(f)

And so the Lord God sent him away from the Paradise of enjoyment, in order to work the earth from which he was taken.

And he cast out Adam. And in front of the Paradise of enjoyment, he placed the Cherubim with a flaming sword, turning together, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Footnotes

(a)3:5 The serpent’s argument is not a good one; he merely claims that God lied. The woman is not convinced by this foolish argument, she merely accepts it in order to obtain that which she desires. Such is still the case today; people use foolish arguments as mere excuses for the sins which they desire.(Conte)

(b)3:7 And the eyes, etc:Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.(Challoner)

(c)3:14 The term ‘omnia animantia’ (all living things) certainly includes the wild beasts of the earth, so the translation could be: ‘even among the wild beasts,’ or, ‘including the wild beasts.’ Biblical texts do not follow the usual rules of modern composition, which would not generally present a list of items, one item of which included the other items.(Conte)

(d)3:15 She shall crush:Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent’s head.(Challoner)

(e)3:19 Adam was taken (or derived) from the earth, but Eve was taken (or derived) from Adam. Notice also that Adam has his name given before the Fall from grace, but Eve does not receive her name until after the Fall from grace.(Conte)

(f)3:22 Behold Adam, etc:This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.(Challoner)

(Romans 5:12–21)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,

but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’”

The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die,

for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

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 some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.

Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.

God Arraigns Adam and Eve

They heard the LORD God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

The LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

The LORD God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The Fate of the Serpent

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”

The Punishment of Mankind

To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.

It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”

The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living.

The Expulsion from Paradise

The LORD God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

The LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”

Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim

(a)

at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Footnotes

(a)3:24 cherubim are powerful angelic creatures, messengers of God with wings. See Ezekiel 10.