Genesis 3:4

4 The snake said to the woman, "You won't die!

Genesis 3:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 3:4

And the serpent said unto the woman
In reply to her answer: ye shall not surely die;
in direct contradiction to the divine threatening, and which he would insinuate was a mere threatening, and which God never intended to put in execution; so that they had nothing to fear from that, God would never be so rigid and severe, and beat so hard upon them as to put them to death for such an offence, if it was one; he only gave out the menace to frighten them, and deter from it: however, at most it was not a certain thing they should die, and they might safely conclude they would not.

Genesis 3:4 In-Context

2 The woman said to the snake, "We may eat the fruit of the garden's trees

3 but not the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘Don't eat from it, and don't touch it, or you will die.'"

4 The snake said to the woman, "You won't die!

5 God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 The woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide wisdom, so she took some of its fruit and ate it, and also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.