Genesis 3 Footnotes

3:4 The couple did not immediately die physically (see 2:17). By God’s grace, their death was postponed till a later time. But their expulsion from the garden (vv. 23-24) shows that the word of God was indeed fulfilled as the immediate consequence of their disobedience. They were cut off from access to the tree of life, which symbolized the source of life (2:9; Rv 2:7; 22:2,14,19). In Israel expulsion from the tabernacle in the camp, such as quarantine (e.g., Lv 13:46), meant that the person was ceremonially dead until he was declared fit again. The human couple’s expulsion signaled their spiritual death (see Eph 2:1). That their physical death occurred is confirmed by the refrain “then he died” in Adam’s genealogy (Gn 5:5). Physical death for humans was the result of disobedience in the garden (Rm 5:12-21; 6:23).

3:8 That God walked is a common figure of speech (anthropomorphism). From the human standpoint, it is not possible to describe God’s interaction with people without attributing to him some of the properties of a human body, such as back or face (Ex 33:11,23), eyes or ears (1Kg 8:29; Ps 34:15), arm or hands (Ex 3:20; 6:6; Dt 4:34; 33:3; Is 53:1; Heb 1:10; 10:31). God does not have a physical body (see note on Gn 1:26-27), although he can manifest himself in the form of a man (18:16-22; 32:30; Ezk 1:26), a burning bush (Ex 3:2-4), or even a fiery pillar (Ex 13:21-22).

3:9-11 The Bible is full of affirmations of God’s unlimited knowledge (16:13; Ex 3:7; Jb 12:13; 28:23-24; 36:4; Ps 33:13-15; 139:1-4; Is 46:10; Jr 23:24; Mt 10:29; Ac 15:8; Heb 4:13). Therefore God’s questions here are rhetorical; he is not unaware of the couple’s location and what had transpired in the garden. The passage describes God as a parent who instructs his children with restoration as his purpose. He did not question the serpent, because he had no plan to redeem the tempter.

3:15 This predicted battle between the serpent and the woman would not be a literal confrontation in the garden. The language is figurative, indicating the life-and-death struggle between the adversary and the human family borne by the woman. Like the word sheep in English, the word “offspring” in Hebrew is both singular and plural, meaning either descendants without number, taken as a whole, or one particular descendant. The passage incorporates both meanings by referring to the ongoing opposition to the people of God by their enemies and by predicting the rise of a particular seed, Jesus Christ, who will destroy the serpent in the end (Rm 16:20; Rv 12:9-10).

3:16 The woman’s penalty was not in bearing children but in the increased pain attached to giving birth. “Yet he will rule over you” does not warrant the enslavement of women as chattel. Woman is also created in the image of God and has the honored role of giving birth by which the blessing for all humanity is realized (1:26-28). The Lord’s pronouncement predicts the future rivalry between the sexes for dominance, a rivalry resulting from the sinful condition of the man and woman. These words are not an exhortation directed to the man to dominate his wife. Hebrew law recognized the vulnerability of women and required special deference to them (Ex 22:22; Dt 25:5-10). The NT explicitly commands husbands to love and honor their wives (Eph 5:25; Col 3:19; 1Pt 3:7), and Christian husbands and wives observe their spiritual equality (Gl 3:28) while carrying out their respective God-given roles.

3:22 God’s admission that the man “has become like one of us” does not indicate that the serpent’s suggestion that God was insecure about his position was correct. God was not threatened by the man’s wisdom when he expelled him from the garden, but it was necessary to prohibit the couple’s access to the tree of life, or the penalty of death for disobedience could not be carried out. Although the human couple would die, it was ultimately merciful to deny them the tree; otherwise, they would live forever in a sinful and painful world. God graciously provided for their new environment outside the garden (v. 21), and ultimately for their eternal salvation through the promised “offspring” (v. 15). For the plural “us,” see note on 1:26-27.