Genesis 3
Amplified Bible
The Fall of Man
3 Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And [a]the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from [b]any tree of the garden’?”(A) 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!(B) 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.” 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband [c]with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the [d]presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten [fruit] from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled and deceived me, and I ate [from the forbidden tree].”(C) 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all the cattle,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And dust you shall eat
All the days of your life.
15
“And I will put enmity (open hostility)
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed (offspring) and her [e]Seed;
He shall [fatally] bruise your head,
And you shall [only] bruise His heel.”(D)
16 To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth;
In pain you will give birth to children;
Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband,
And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.”
17 Then to Adam the Lord God said, “Because you have listened [attentively] to the voice of your wife, and have eaten [fruit] from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’;
The ground is [now] under a curse because of you;
In sorrow and toil you shall eat [the fruit] of it
All the days of your life.
18
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you shall eat the plants of the field.
19
“By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread
Until you return to the ground,
For from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 The man named his wife Eve (life spring, life giver), because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made tunics of [animal] skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
22 And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent Adam away from the Garden of Eden, to till and cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So God drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He [permanently] stationed the [f]cherubim and the sword with the flashing blade which turned round and round [in every direction] to protect and guard the way (entrance, access) to the tree of life.(E)
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:1 The relationship between Satan and the serpent is not made clear, but Satan is identified with the serpent later in Rev 12:9, 14, 15, and 20:2. It seems difficult to believe that Eve would not have been suspicious of a talking creature, but at this point in time Eve probably knew next to nothing about animals; and in any case, the serpent, as it existed before the curse (v 14), was a very different creature from the reptile that is familiar to us today.
- Genesis 3:1 Or every.
- Genesis 3:6 This may have been sometime later. Jewish tradition said that Adam was absent at the time of Eve’s conversation with the serpent (according to the Talmud).
- Genesis 3:8 Lit face.
- Genesis 3:15 Many consider this verse the protevangelium, the first announcement of the gospel. This is the first prophecy about the Messiah (Christ), who through His death on the cross and resurrection would ultimately defeat Satan, the power behind the serpent, with a death blow. See Is 9:6; Matt 1:23; Luke 1:31; Rom 16:20; Gal 4:4; Rev 12:17.
- Genesis 3:24 Cherubim are ministering angelic beings who avenge assaults on God’s holiness.
Genesis 3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 3
Origin of Evil.[a] 1 The serpent[b] was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. It said to the woman, “Is it true that God told you not to eat of any of the trees in the garden?”
2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but as for the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, God said that we must not eat it, nor even touch it, lest we die.”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “Certainly you shall not die! 5 God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing that which is good and that which is evil.”
6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to look at and desirable for imparting wisdom. She took some fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he also ate it. 7 Their eyes were opened and they realized that they were naked. They took fig leaves and sewed them together, making themselves a covering.
8 They then heard the Lord God walking in the garden toward the evening. The man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where were you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you walking in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
11 He said, “Who let you know that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man answered, “The woman whom you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.”
13 The Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me and I ate it.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,[c]
“Because you have done this, you will be the most cursed
of all the animals
and of all the wild beasts.
On your belly you shall crawl
and you shall eat dust
for all the days of your life.
15 I will establish hostility
between you and the woman,
between your line and her line.
Her offspring will crush your head
and you will bruise his heel.”[d]
16 To the woman he said,
“I will multiply your sufferings in childbirth;
with pain you shall bear your children.
You shall desire your husband,
but he shall lord it over you.”
17 To the man he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I had commanded you not to eat,
“Cursed be the soil because of you!
With effort you shall obtain food
all the days of your life.
18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for you,
and you shall eat of the plants of the field.
19 You shall have to sweat
to eat your bread
until the day when you return to the earth,
for from it you were drawn.
You are dust,
and unto dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife Eve, for she was the mother of all those who lived.
21 The Lord God made clothing for the man and woman out of animal skins and he clothed them. 22 The Lord God said, “Behold, man has become like one of us, for he has knowledge of that which is good and that which is evil. Now, we must prevent him from reaching out and taking the fruit of the tree of life lest he eat it and live forever.” 23 The Lord God cast him out of the Garden of Eden; henceforth he was to labor tilling the soil from which he had come. 24 When he expelled him, he placed cherubim[e] to the east of the Garden of Eden with flaming swords to keep watch over the way to the tree of life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:1 When human beings reject union with God, the source of being and good, they must inevitably perish. This is the meaning of the tragedy that overwhelms the human condition. Envious of human beings and their happiness, another being, like them a creature, urges them to doubt the divine word, thereby putting out the light of their faith. The biblical tradition will call this other being the “adversary” and “the father of lies” (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9). Our author, anxious to combat pagan nature-centered cults that used the serpent as a symbol and strongly attracted the Israelites, presents the adversary under the form of a serpent.
Despite the victory of evil a hope dawns, a light in which the Christian tradition sees the Savior being already announced, a Savior with whom Mary, model of womanhood, is especially associated. The Lord does not abandon fallen humankind that has barred itself from the paradise of friendship with God; but it will have to struggle to win back its happiness. - Genesis 3:1 The Semitic world attributed superhuman qualities to the serpent: the sacred serpent, the divine serpent, symbol of the divinities of the vegetative realm, protector of sanctuaries and borders, symbol of the way, guardian of life-giving plants, effective in divining the future and in black and diabolic magic. The sacred writer speaks of him instead as one of the animals that the Lord God had made, but also as the most clever of all [of them]; the connection with magic makes the serpent an appropriate symbol of activities directed against God; in addition, the serpent’s special way of entering in a hidden manner and striking by surprise makes it an appropriate and instructive image of the tempter.
- Genesis 3:14 The biblical tradition uses the serpent to represent Satan; the divine punishment is aimed at the demon. On your belly you shall crawl and you shall eat dust is a customary Semitic way of describing enemies defeated in battle and compelled to acknowledge the power of their conqueror (see Ps 72:9; Isa 49:23; Mic 7:17).
- Genesis 3:15 This verse has traditionally been regarded as the protoevangelium, the first announcement of the salvation of the human race. The offspring of the woman refers to the human race but at a higher level to Jesus Christ who is source and cause of the common victory. Consequently, the woman, while certainly signifying Eve, the mother of the human race, refers at a higher level to Mary, the mother of Jesus and the new Eve.
- Genesis 3:24 The cherubim and the flaming swords symbolize the divine prohibition. In fact, the mythical winged colossi, half animal, half human, that stood guard at palaces, temples, and thrones of gods and kings in ancient Mesopotamia (known there as karibu; in the Bible see Ex 25:20; 1 Ki 6:27; Ezek 10:14), as well as the lightning represented in the form of flames or a wavy sword on stones marking the borders of territories, meant that access to the place in question was forbidden to profane persons and defended by the gods.
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