Genesis 3:12

12 And the man replied, "The woman whom you gave [to be] with me--she gave to me from the tree and I ate."

Genesis 3:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 3:12

And the man said
Not being able any longer to conceal the truth, though he shifts off the blame as much as possible from himself: the woman whom thou gavest to be with me:
to be his wife and his companion, to be an help meet unto him, and share with him in the blessings of paradise, to assist in civil and domestic affairs, and join with him in acts of religion and devotion: she gave me of the tree, and I did eat;
she first ate of it herself, through the solicitations of the serpent, and then she persuaded me to eat of it; and accordingly I did, I own it. By this answer Adam endeavours to cast the blame partly upon his wife, and partly upon God; though in what he said he told the truth, and what was matter of fact, yet it carries this innuendo, that if it had not been for his wife he had never ate of it, which was a foolish excuse; for he, being her head and husband, should have taught her better, and been more careful to have prevented her eating of this fruit, and should have dissuaded her from it, and have reproved her for it, instead of following her example, and taking it from her hands: and more than this he tacitly reflects upon God, that he had given him a woman, who, instead of being an help meet to him, had helped to ruin him; and that if he had not given him this woman, he had never done what he had: but at this rate a man may find fault with God for the greatest blessings and mercies of life bestowed on him, which are abused by him, and so aggravate his condemnation.

Genesis 3:12 In-Context

10 And he replied, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I [am] naked, so I hid myself."

11 Then he asked, "Who told you that you [were] naked? Have you eaten from {the tree from which I forbade you to eat}?"

12 And the man replied, "The woman whom you gave [to be] with me--she gave to me from the tree and I ate."

13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, "What [is] this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 Then Yahweh God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you [will be] cursed more than any domesticated animal and more than any wild animal. On your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

Footnotes

• [a]. "The man" indicates the noun is singular and occurs with the definite article
• [b]. Or "said"