Genesis 3:17

17 Soothly God said to Adam, For thou heardest the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded to thee that thou shouldest not eat, the earth shall be cursed in thy work, that is, for thy sin; in travails thou shalt eat thereof in all the days of thy life; (And God said to Adam, For thou heardest thy wife's voice, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded to thee that thou shouldest not eat, the ground shall be cursed on account of thee, that is, because of thy sin; only after much travail, or much labour, shalt thou get food from it all the days of thy life;)

Genesis 3:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 3:17

And unto Adam he said
Last of all, being the last that sinned, but not to be excused:

because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife;
which was not only mean but sinful, since it was opposite to the voice of God, which he ought to have hearkened to God is to be hearkened to and obeyed rather than man, and much rather than a woman; to regard the persuasion of a woman, and neglect the command of God, is a great aggravation of such neglect; see ( Acts 4:19 Acts 4:29 )

and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee; saying,
thou shall not eat of it;
that is, had eat of the fruit of the tree which God had plainly pointed unto him, and concerning which he had given a clear and an express command not to eat of it; and had delivered it to him in the strongest manner, and had most peremptorily and strictly enjoined it, adding the threatening of death unto it; so that he could by no means plead ignorance in himself, or any obscurity in the law, or pretend he did not understand the sense of the legislator. The righteous sentence therefore follows,

cursed is the ground for thy sake;
the whole earth, which was made for man, and all things in it, of which he had the possession and dominion, and might have enjoyed the use of everything in it, with comfort and pleasure; that which was man's greatest earthly blessing is now turned into a curse by sin, which is a proof of the exceeding sinfulness of it, and its just demerit: so in later instances, a "fruitful land" is turned "into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein", ( Psalms 107:34 ) hence, whenever there is sterility in a country, a want of provisions, a famine, it should always be imputed to sin; and this should put us in mind of the sin of the first man, and the consequence of that:

in sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life,
meaning that with much toil and trouble, in manuring and cultivating the earth, he should get his living out of the produce of it, though with great difficulty; and this would be his case as long as he was in it.

Genesis 3:17 In-Context

15 I shall set enmities betwixt thee and the woman, and betwixt thy seed and her seed; she shall break thine head, and thou shalt set ambushes to her heel. (I shall put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; her seed shall break thy head, and thou shalt set ambush to her seed's heel.)

16 Also God said to the woman, I shall multiply thy wretchednesses and thy conceivings; in sorrow thou shalt bear thy children; and thou shalt be under (the) power of thine husband, and he shall be lord of thee.

17 Soothly God said to Adam, For thou heardest the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded to thee that thou shouldest not eat, the earth shall be cursed in thy work, that is, for thy sin; in travails thou shalt eat thereof in all the days of thy life; (And God said to Adam, For thou heardest thy wife's voice, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded to thee that thou shouldest not eat, the ground shall be cursed on account of thee, that is, because of thy sin; only after much travail, or much labour, shalt thou get food from it all the days of thy life;)

18 it shall bring forth thorns and briars to thee, and thou shalt eat (the) herbs of the earth;

19 in [the] sweat of thy cheer, [or (thy) face,] thou shalt eat thy bread, till thou turn again into the earth of which thou art taken; for thou art dust, and thou shalt turn again into dust. (by the sweat of thy brow, thou shalt earn thy bread, until thou return to the earth of which thou art taken; for thou art dust, and thou shalt return to dust.)