Genesis 3:19

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.)

Genesis 3:19 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 3:19

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread
Or "of thy nose" ^F6, sweat appearing first and chiefly on the forehead, from whence it trickles down by the nose in persons employed in hard labour; and here it takes in all the labour used in cultivating the earth for the production of herbs, and particularly of corn, of which bread is made; with respect to which there are various operations in which men sweat, such as ploughing, sowing, reaping, threshing, winnowing, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking; and it may have regard to all methods and means by which men get their bread, and not without sweat; and even such exercises as depend upon the brain are not excused from such an expense: so that every man, let him be in what station of life he will, is not exempt, more or less, from this sentence, and so continues till he dies, as is next expressed:

till thou return unto the ground,
his original, out of which he was made; that is, until he dies, and is interred in the earth, from whence he sprung; signifying that the life of man would be a life of toil and labour to the very end of it: and nothing else can man expect in it:

for dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return;
his body was composed of the dust, was of the earth, earthly, and should be reduced to that again by death, which is not an annihilation of man, but a bringing him back to his original; which shows what a frail creature man is, what little reason he has to be proud of himself, when he reflects from whence he came and whither he must go; see ( Ecclesiastes 12:7 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (Kypa) "nasi tui", Picherellus.

Genesis 3:19 In-Context

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.)

20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve, for she was the mother of all men living (for she was the mother of all living people).

21 And the Lord God made coats of skins to Adam and Eve his wife, and clothed them; (And the Lord God made coats out of skins for Adam and Eve his wife, and clothed them;)