Passage

Genesis 3

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Verse

ASV:

"1. Now 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? 2. And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: 3. but 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. 4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5. for 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. 6. And 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. 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? 10. 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? 12. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13. And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14. And 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: 15. and 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. 16. Unto 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. 17. And 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; 18. thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19. in 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. 20. And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21. And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them. 22. And 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, 23. therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24. So 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." (Genesis 3:1-24, ASV)

WEB:

"1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’” 2. The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3. 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.’” 4. The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, 5. 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.” 6. 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; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 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?” 10. 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?” 12. The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13. Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14. Yahweh 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. 15. 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.” 16. To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bear children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17. To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate 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. 18. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. 19. By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20. The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 21. Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. 22. Yahweh 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...” 23. Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24. So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim 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." (Genesis 3:1-24, WEB)

KJV:

"1. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3. But 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. 4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 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 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. 9. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10. 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? 12. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed 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: 15. And 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. 16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17. And 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 sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19. In 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. 20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22. And the LORD 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: 23. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:1-24, KJV)

YLT:

"1. And the serpent hath been subtile above every beast of the field which Jehovah God hath made, and he saith unto the woman, 'Is it true that God hath said, Ye do not eat of every tree of the garden?' 2. And the woman saith unto the serpent, 'Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we do eat, 3. and of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest ye die.' 4. And the serpent saith unto the woman, 'Dying, ye do not die, 5. for God doth know that in the day of your eating of it, your eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good and evil.' 6. And the woman seeth that the tree [is] good for food, and that it [is] pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make [one] wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat; 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?' 10. 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?' 12. and the man saith, 'The woman whom Thou didst place with me, she hath given to me of the tree, and I do eat.' 13. And Jehovah God saith to the woman, 'What [is] this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, 'The serpent hath caused me to forget, and I do eat.' 14. And Jehovah God saith unto the serpent, 'Because thou hast done this, cursed [art] thou above all the cattle, and above every beast of the field: on thy belly dost thou go, and dust thou dost eat, all days of thy life; 15. and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee, the head, and thou dost bruise him, the heel.' 16. Unto the woman He said, 'Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband [is] thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.' 17. And to the man He said, 'Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and dost eat of the tree concerning which I have charged thee, saying, Thou dost not eat of it, cursed [is] the ground on thine account; in sorrow thou dost eat of it all days of thy life, 18. and thorn and bramble it doth bring forth to thee, and thou hast eaten the herb of the field; 19. by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou [art], and unto dust thou turnest back.' 20. And the man calleth his wife's name Eve: for she hath been mother of all living. 21. And Jehovah God doth make to the man and to his wife coats of skin, and doth clothe them. 22. And Jehovah God saith, 'Lo, the man was as one of Us, as to the knowledge of good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand, and have taken also of the tree of life, and eaten, and lived to the age,', 23. Jehovah God sendeth him forth from the garden of Eden to serve the ground from which he hath been taken; 24. yea, he casteth out the man, and causeth to dwell at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flame of the sword which is turning itself round to guard the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:1-24, YLT)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

Citation covers a whole chapter; see the ## Verse block above for the full chapter text in all four translations.

Setting

Speaker: Moses (traditional authorship) recounting the foundational event of human history; YHWH God speaks directly throughout the chapter; the serpent speaks; Adam and Eve respond
Audience: the Israelite congregation post-Exodus receiving the Pentateuchal account of human origins and the cosmic-Fall-and-promise structure of redemptive history
Location: the Garden of Eden, geographic-symbolic locale, traditionally located somewhere in the Mesopotamian region (Gen 2:10-14 mentions the Tigris and Euphrates)
Time period: events at the beginning of human history; composed c. 1446-1406 BC (on Mosaic-authorship dating)
Narrative context: the Fall narrative, the foundational account of how sin entered human history. Genesis 2 has just established the original-creation goodness (man placed in the garden, given the woman, commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Genesis 3 narrates the disobedience and its cosmic consequences: serpent's temptation → woman's eating → man's eating → eyes opened → shame → hiding → divine inquiry → confession-with-blame-shifting → curses on serpent, woman, and ground → protoevangelium promise (v. 15) → expulsion from the garden + cherubim-guarded tree of life. The chapter establishes the cosmic-fall + promise-of-redemption structure that the entire rest of Scripture develops.

Theological reading

Genesis 3 is the foundational hamartiological text of the Bible, the account of how sin entered the world and the protoevangelium-promise of redemption. The chapter is theologically dense: it establishes (a) original creation-goodness; (b) the historical origin of sin in a specific event (the Fall); (c) the cosmic-effects of sin (curse on creation, mortality, expulsion); (d) federal-headship of Adam (his sin imputed to humanity); (e) the protoevangelium, the first announcement of the gospel (3:15); (f) divine grace alongside judgment (clothing of skin, 3:21).

The temptation pattern (vv. 1-6)

The serpent's temptation follows a recognizable pattern that becomes the template for all subsequent temptation:

Question God's word, "Yea, hath God said?" (v. 1)
Misquote God's word, Eve's response adds "neither shall ye touch it" (v. 3) which God did not say (cf. 2:16-17)
Deny God's word, "Ye shall not surely die" (v. 4), direct contradiction of 2:17
Slander God's character, "God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God" (v. 5), implies God is withholding good
Tempt through three appeals, "good for food" (lust of the flesh) + "a delight to the eyes" (lust of the eyes) + "to be desired to make one wise" (pride of life), anticipating 1 John 2:16's threefold-temptation taxonomy
Lead to action, "she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat" (v. 6)

The same pattern reappears in Jesus's wilderness temptation (Matt 4:1-11): Satan's questions begin "If thou be the Son of God" (echoing "hath God said?"); the three temptations parallel the three appeals (turn stones to bread = food; behold the kingdoms = sight; cast yourself down = pride). Where Adam fell, Jesus stood, the foundational typological-Christology that makes Jesus the second Adam (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:22, 45).

The protoevangelium (Gen 3:15)

The most theologically loaded verse of the chapter is v. 15, "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." This is the first gospel-announcement (Latin protoevangelium).

The structural features:

The serpent's defeat is announced before the woman's curse. The serpent's curse is the first to be pronounced, and within that curse is announced the eventual defeat of the serpent by the seed-of-the-woman.
"Her seed" / zera ishah. The Hebrew is striking. Genealogies are normally traced through the male line; here the seed is uniquely the woman's. The Christian patristic-and-medieval tradition reads this as foreshadowing the virgin-birth of Christ (Jesus born of Mary without human male contribution).
The bruising structure. The seed bruises the serpent's head (a fatal wound, Hebrew shuph rosh); the serpent bruises the seed's heel (a non-fatal wound, but symbolically significant for the cross). The cross is the moment of mutual-bruising: Christ's heel is wounded (the cross), and Satan's head is crushed (the resurrection and defeat of the devil's power).

The verse is the single most important Christological OT-foundation for the entire redemptive arc. From Genesis 3:15 forward, the Bible traces "the seed of the woman", from Seth through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, ultimately Jesus, the one who will crush the serpent.

The federal-headship of Adam

Paul develops the federal-headship doctrine in Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45. The argument: as Adam's one act of disobedience brought death-and-condemnation to all humanity, so Christ's one act of obedience brought life-and-justification to all who are in Christ. The federal-headship reading requires that Adam acts representatively for all humanity, his sin is imputed to all his descendants.

The contemporary debate: the historical Adam question. Was Adam a historical individual whose sin imputes to humanity, or is "Adam" a symbolic representation of humanity-as-a-whole? The Reformed-confessional tradition has historically held the historical-Adam position. Some contemporary evangelicals (Peter Enns, John Walton in modified form) explore symbolic readings.

The Christian apologetic anchor: Paul's argument in Romans 5 requires Adam to function as the original-sin federal-head for the parallel with Christ-the-second-Adam to work. A symbolic-Adam-only reading destabilizes the Pauline argument. See Origins and Cosmology for the multi-position synthesis.

The cosmic-fall and natural-evil

The chapter establishes that the cosmos itself is affected by the Fall, "cursed is the ground for thy sake" (v. 17); thorns and thistles (v. 18); mortality (v. 19). Paul develops this cosmic-fall theology in Romans 8:20-22 (rich hub: Romans 8.22), "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."

The cosmic-fall reading grounds the Christian theodicy of natural evil: natural evil (earthquakes, disease, predation) is not part of God's original creation-design but a consequence of the cosmic-fall consequent on human sin. The original creation was good; the current corrupted state is consequent on Adam's disobedience.

The historical Adam vs old-earth-creationism tension: if death predates Adam (as the fossil record on standard chronology suggests), then how does cosmic-fall coherently apply? Multiple Christian responses exist (cosmic-fall, spiritual-death-only, anticipatory-fall, evolutionary-creationism). See Origins and Cosmology.

Patristic and Reformed reading

Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.21-23, c. AD 180): the recapitulation doctrine, Christ recapitulates Adam's testing, reversing the Fall in His obedience. Irenaeus reads Genesis 3 as the cosmic-failure that Christ undoes.

Augustine (On Original Sin + City of God 14, c. AD 412-420): the Augustinian doctrine of original sin, Adam's sin transmitted to all his descendants through propagation (later sharpened by Anselm into the imputation-of-guilt framework, then by Calvin into Reformed federal-headship).

John Calvin (Commentary on Genesis ad Gen 3): the chapter establishes the total-depravity doctrine, every human faculty is corrupted by the Fall. The protoevangelium of v. 15 is the first announcement of the gospel of grace in Scripture.

Apologetic deployment

The chapter is foundational for:

Hamartiology, the doctrine of sin. Without Genesis 3, the Christian framework for understanding human evil is unmoored. The chapter explains why humans are sinful (the Fall) rather than asserting human depravity without explanation.
Defense against the "Christianity teaches humans are evil from the start" objection. Counter: the chapter teaches humans were created good (Gen 1:31, "and, behold, it was very good"); the Fall is consequent on a free choice, not original-design. The Christian anthropology is fall-from-original-goodness, not original-depravity-as-creation.
Defense against the "evil disproves God" New Atheist argument. Counter: the Christian framework includes a substantive account of the origin of evil, it is consequent on the Fall, not authored by God. God's response is not abandonment but the protoevangelium-promise of redemption that culminates in Christ.
Foundation for Christology. Without the Fall, no need for redemption; without redemption, no atonement; without atonement, no cross. The entire Christ-event presupposes the Genesis 3 situation that Christ comes to address.
Defense of Christian anthropology against pure-naturalism. The Christian doctrine of the imago Dei (Gen 1:26-27) combined with the Fall (Gen 3) gives a coherent explanation of human existence: humans are bearers of the divine image (explaining moral dignity, rationality, creativity, capacity for relationship) AND fallen (explaining the evil and pathology that pure-naturalism cannot account for).

Pastoral application

The chapter speaks pastorally to multiple human experiences:

Shame, Adam and Eve's first response after sin is to hide (v. 8). The pastoral pattern: sin produces shame; shame leads to hiding from God; restoration begins with God's seeking-and-calling ("Where art thou?" v. 9).
Blame-shifting, Adam blames Eve and God ("the woman whom thou gavest to be with me"); Eve blames the serpent. The fallen human pattern of blame-shifting begins here. Repentance requires confession without blame-shifting.
Mortality and the human condition, "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (v. 19) frames human mortality as the consequence of the Fall, not the original-design. The Christian hope of resurrection (cf. 1 Corinthians 15.50 rich hub) is the reversal of v. 19.

Canonical-theological connections

Genesis 1:26-31, original creation-goodness, imago Dei
Genesis 2:15-17, original commandment + threat of death
Romans 5:12-21, Adam-and-Christ federal-headship parallel
Romans 8:20-22, cosmic groaning (rich hub: Romans 8.22)
1 Corinthians 15:22, 45, "in Adam all die... the last Adam was made a quickening spirit"
Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus's wilderness temptation (parallel to Genesis 3 temptation)
John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil... he was a murderer from the beginning"
2 Corinthians 11:3, "as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty"
1 Timothy 2:13-14, Pauline citation of Adam-and-Eve order
Revelation 12:9, "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world"
Revelation 20:2-3, final defeat of the serpent
Revelation 22:1-5, restoration of the tree of life (reversal of Gen 3:24)

Key words

H0120 - adam, adam (Strong's H120). Also appears in: Genesis 1.26, Genesis 1.27, Genesis 2.7.
H0259 - echad, echad (Strong's H259). Also appears in: Genesis 2.24, Genesis 10.25, Genesis 11.
H0430 - elohim, elohim (Strong's H430). Also appears in: Genesis 1.1, Genesis 1.2, Genesis 1.14-19.
H1121 - ben, ben (Strong's H1121). Also appears in: Genesis 4.26, Genesis 6.2, Genesis 6.4.
H1961 - hayah, hayah (Strong's H1961). Also appears in: Genesis 1.2, Genesis 1.29, Genesis 2.18.
H2416 - chay, chay (Strong's H2416). Also appears in: Genesis 1.21, Genesis 1.24-28, Genesis 1.28.
H2896 - tov, tov (Strong's H2896). Also appears in: Genesis 1.14-19, Genesis 1.21, Genesis 1.24-28.
H3045 - yada, yada (Strong's H3045). Also appears in: Genesis 12, Genesis 19, Genesis 22.12.
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH (Strong's H3068). Also appears in: Genesis 2.4, Genesis 2.7, Genesis 2.16-17.
H4191 - mut, mut (Strong's H4191). Also appears in: Genesis 2.16-17, Genesis 7.17-23, Genesis 11.
H5769 - olam, olam (Strong's H5769). Also appears in: Genesis 6, Genesis 6.4, Exodus 3.
H6213 - asah, asah (Strong's H6213). Also appears in: Genesis 1.14-19, Genesis 1.24-28, Genesis 1.26.
H7307 - ruach, ruach (Strong's H7307). Also appears in: Genesis 1.2, Genesis 3.8, Genesis 6.
H7725 - shuv, shuv (Strong's H7725). Also appears in: Genesis 15.16, Genesis 16.7-13, Genesis 18.1-15.
H8034 - shem, shem (Strong's H8034). Also appears in: Genesis 4.26, Genesis 6.4, Genesis 10.25.