Passage

Genesis 3.9

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig -leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8. And 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.

9. And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (Genesis 3:7-11, ASV)

WEB

7. Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8. They heard Yahweh 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 Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

9. Yahweh 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; and I hid myself.” 11. God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:7-11, WEB)

KJV

7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ^{aprons: or, things to gird about} 8. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. ^{cool: Heb. wind}

9. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (Genesis 3:7-11, KJV)

YLT

7. and the eyes of them both are opened, and they know that they [are] naked, and they sew fig-leaves, and make to themselves girdles. 8. And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

9. And Jehovah God calleth unto the man, and saith to him, 'Where [art] thou?'

and he saith, 'Thy sound I have heard in the garden, and I am afraid, for I am naked, and I hide myself.' 11. And He saith, 'Who hath declared to thee that thou [art] naked? of the tree of which I have commanded thee not to eat, hast thou eaten?' (Genesis 3:7-11, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the LORD God
Audience: the man
Location: the garden in Eden
Time period: primeval history, before the patriarchal narratives

Theological reading

Where are you. The first question in Scripture, and it is asked by God of a man who is hiding.

It is not a request for information. The narrative has just said they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD among the trees, so the question functions as a summons: it requires the man to place himself, and the answer he gives, that he was afraid because he was naked, discloses the change without being asked about it.

The pattern recurs. God asks Cain where his brother is, and Elijah what he is doing there. In each case an interrogation invites the person to speak first, and in each case the answer reveals more than its content. That the pursuit is God's rather than the man's is the shape of the whole subsequent narrative.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H0120 - adam, adam, Strong's H0120
H0430 - elohim, elohim, Strong's H0430
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

H0120 - adam, via Genesis 3.1-24

Guides:

Ris3n Arguments

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.