Genesis 3:13-23

13 The Lord God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" ¹ She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it."

14 Then the Lord God said to the snake, "You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live.

15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel." ²

16 And he said to the woman, "I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him."

17 And he said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. ³

18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants.

19 You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again."

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings.

21 And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, "Now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad. They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live forever." ⁴

23 So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed.

Genesis 3:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 3

In this chapter an account is given of the temptation of our first parents, of the instrument of it, and of their fall into it, and of the effect of it, Ge 3:1-7 their summons upon it to appear before God, against whom they had sinned, Ge 3:8-10 their examination by him, and the excuses they made, Ge 3:11-13 the various sentences passed of the serpent, the woman, and the man, Ge 3:14-19 some incidental things recorded, expressive of faith and hope in man, and of favour to him, Ge 3:20,21 and his expulsion from the garden of Eden, Ge 3:22-24.

Cross References

• 1. 3.132 Corinthians 11.3;1 Timothy 2.14.
• 2. 3.15Revelation 12.17.
• 3. 3.17, 18Hebrews 6.8.
• 4. 3.22Revelation 22.14.

Footnotes

• [a]. her offspring's; [or] their.
• [b]. adam: [This name in Hebrew means "all human beings."]
• [c]. eve: [This name sounds similar to the Hebrew word for "living," which is rendered in this context as "human beings."]
• [d]. knowledge of what is good and what is bad; [or] knowledge of everything.