Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
"You shall surely die." I have been told that this is the first promise of God in the Bible--found in Genesis 2:15-17—"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
"The tempter, finding that the woman began to doubt whether eating this fruit was a crime, and if it were, whether punishment would follow, now became more bold in his attack, and, giving God the lie direct, asserted roundly, 'Ye shall not surely die.' So far from it, you shall have much advantage from eating of this tree. He suits the temptation to the pure state they were now in, proposing to them, not any carnal pleasure, but intellectual delights. 1st, Your eyes shall be opened — You shall have much more of the power and pleasure of contemplation than now you have: your intellectual views shall be extended, and you shall see further into things than now you do. 2d, Ye shall be as gods — As Elohim, mighty gods, beings of a higher order. 3d, Ye shall know good and evil — That is, every thing that is desirable to be known. To support this part of the temptation, he abuseth the name given to this tree. It was intended to teach the practical knowledge of good and evil; that is, of duty and disobedience, and it would prove the experimental knowledge of good and evil; that is, of happiness and misery. But he perverts the sense of it, and wrests it to their destruction, as if the tree would give them a speculative knowledge of the natures, kinds, and originals of good and evil. And, 4th, All this presently; In the day ye eat thereof — You will find a sudden and immediate change for the better.” (Benson Commentary)
You shall surely die. I believe that it refers to physical, not spiritual death, as supported by this explanation from "Answers in Genesis": "The phrase 'you shall surely die' can be literally translated from the Hebrew Biblical text as 'dying you shall die.' In the Hebrew phrase we find the imperfect form of the Hebrew verb (you shall die) with the infinitive absolute form of the same verb (dying). This presence of the infinitive absolute intensifies the meaning of the imperfect verb (hence the usual translation of 'you shall surely die’)…. in Romans 5:12 we see in context that Paul is clearly speaking of physical death (Jesus’ physical death, verses 8-10, and other men’s physical death, in verse 14). We also find the same comparison of physical death and physical resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22…. A relevant passage to this discussion is found in Numbers 26:65. There we find 'they shall surely die' (literally: dying they shall die). These are the same Hebrew verbs and the same grammatical construction as in Genesis 2:17. God told the Israelites shortly after they came out of Egypt to go into the land of Canaan and take possession of it, as it had been promised to Abraham.In Numbers 26:65 God says that because the adult Jews (20 years and older) refused to trust and obey God and go into the Promise Land, they would die in the wilderness over the course of 40 years (one year for every day that the twelve spies investigated the Land—see Numbers 13:1-14:10). But those rebellious unbelieving Jews did not all die at the same moment. Their deaths were spread over that whole 40-year period. So, dying they did all die and that death occurred at various times some years after God’s pronouncement of judgment…” https://answersingenesis.org/death-before-sin/genesis-2-17-you-shall-surely-die/
The "Answers in Genesis” article also speaks of a spiritual death that Adam and Eve experienced when they hid themselves from Yahweh. Indeed sin separates us from God… and unrepentant sinners are dead in their sins. But the emphasis here is physical death. "Scripture is very clear that had Adam and Eve not sinned, they and humanity would not have experienced death..The aging process is part of the dying process. Therefore, the day Adam and Eve sinned, the process of dying or the process of aging began…. According to 1 Corinthians 15:22, everyone who dies does so because of Adam's transgression.” http://inwhatsensedidadamandevedie.blogspot.com Dying you shall surely die. "... it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
Genesis 3:9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
"THE very first thing that happened after the news reached heaven of the fall of man, was that God came straight down to seek out the lost one. As He walks through the garden in the cool of the day, you can hear Him calling 'Adam! Adam! Where art thou?' It was the voice of grace, of mercy, and of love. Adam ought to have taken the seeker’s place, for he was the transgressor. He had fallen, and he ought to have gone up and down Eden crying, 'My God! my God! where art Thou?' But God left heaven to seek through the dark world for the rebel who had fallen — not to hurl him from the face of the earth, but to plan him an escape from the misery of his sin. And he finds him — where? Hiding from his Creator among the bushes of the garden.
The moment a man is out of communion with God, even the professed child of God, he wants to hide away from Him. When God left Adam in the garden, he was in communion with his Creator, and God talked with him; but now that he has fallen, he has no desire to see his Creator, he has lost communion with his God. He cannot bear to see Him, even to think of Him, and he runs to hide from God. But to his hiding place his Maker follows him. 'Where art thou, Adam? Where art thou?'
Six thousand years have passed away, and this text has come rolling down the ages. I doubt whether there has been anyone of Adam’s sons who has not heard it at some period or other of his life — sometimes in the midnight hour stealing over him — 'Where am I? Who am I? Where am I going? and what is going to be the end of this?' I think it is well for a man to pause and ask himself that question. I would have you ask it, little boy; and you, little girl; and you, old man with locks turning gray, and eyes growing dim, and natural force abating, you who will soon be in another world. I do not ask you where you are in the sight of your neighbors; I do not ask you where you are in the sight of your friends; I do not ask you where you are in the sight of the community in which you live. It is of very little account where we are in the sight of one another, it is of very little account what men think of us; but it is of vast importance what God thinks of us — it is of vast importance to know where men are in the sight of God; and that is the question now. Am I in communion with my Creator, or out of communion? If I am out of communion, there is no peace, no joy, no happiness. No man on the face of the earth, who was out of communion with his Creator, ever knew what peace, and joy, and happiness, and true comfort are. He is a foreigner to it. But when we are in communion with God, there is light all around our path. So ask yourselves this question. Do not think I am preaching to your neighbors, but remember I am trying to speak to you, to everyone of you as if you were alone. It was the first question put to man after his fall, and it was a very small audience that God had — Adam and his wife. But God was the preacher; and although they tned to hide, the words came home to them. Let them come home to you now. You may think that your life is hid, that God does not know anything about you. But he knows our lives a great deal better than we do; and His eye has been bent upon us from our earliest childhood until now.” (D. L Moody)
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
"He confesses his nakedness, which was evident; but makes no mention of his sin. This he wished rather to hide, feeling, indeed, the shameful effects of it, but not yet being truly penitent for it.” (Benson Commentary)
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
"Who told thee that thou wast naked?—Adam had given as his excuse that which was really the consequence of his sin; but by this question God awakens his conscience, and makes him feel that what he had described as a want or imperfection was really the result of his own act. And as long as a man feels sorrow only for the results of his actions there is no repentance, and no wish to return to the Divine presence. God, therefore, in order to win Adam back to better thoughts, carries his mind from the effect to the sin that had caused it.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
"He blames God [Calvin]. As the woman had been given him for his companion and help, he had eaten of the tree from love to her; and perceiving she was ruined, was determined not to survive her [Mcknight].” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) Adam is a type of Him who was to come. (Romans 5:14) He, like Jesus, left his paradise for love for his bride.
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?
”The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
"And the woman said, The serpent, a creature which thou hast made, and that assisted by a higher power, by an evil angel, for such I now perceive by sad experience there are, beguiled me, a weak and foolish woman, whose seduction calls for thy pity, not thine anger; and I did eat, being surprised and over-persuaded against my own judgment and resolution.” (Matthew Poole's Commentary)
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
"And the LORD God said unto the serpent,...He asked the reason from Adam and his wife, because he would bring them to repentance, but he does not ask the serpent, because he would show him no mercy… Isa 65:25.” (Geneva Study Bible)
"Enmity. This is indeed the same word with regard to the Serpent, and the Woman’s Seed; but the difference is great between the enmity of Satan, and the holy indignation of the Lord …” (Sutcliffe Bible Commentary) against sin. He hates sin but loves the sinner.
He Shall Bruise your head… A bruise to the head is a death blow. God will destroy Satan and anyone who clings to sin. "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” (Romans 16:20)
"The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head. St. Paul remarks here, that the word seed or son, is in the singular number, Galatians 3:16; and St. John adds, that the promise is to be understood in the largest sense, the complete destruction of [the life and] the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. It was probably accompanied with many other cheering words to fallen man.
On this promise all patriarchal religion and hope were founded. The promised Messiah was their sun and shield, their rock and refuge in the time of trouble. It was the cheering theme sung by all the Hebrew seers…
And you [the serpent] shall bruise His heel....
They knew more: they knew that 'bruising the heel' meant killing the promised heir of all... [Yeshua Messiah]" (Sutcliffe Bible Commentary) But the grave could not hold him for He was without sin.
Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow (etsev) and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth (yalad) children (ben);
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
Traditions says that physical pain in childbearing is the first curse of the woman but: "The word ‘curse' does not appear in this verse, and neither does ‘pain'. It is a fact, of course, that the combined sins of Adam and Eve did bring a curse upon the earth, all creation, and also themselves -- in the sense that they were now subject to mortality and other related difficulties and labors. But it is a fallacy… that a… curse of pain during childbirth came upon Eve as a result of her sin.” http://www.christadelphianbooks.org/agora/art_less/p-q02.html
I will greatly multiply your sorrow (etsev) and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth (yalad) children (ben)… ;”“'Ben' means "a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship...) ” (NASB Lexicon) Sorrow in bringing forth sons might relate to bearing spiritual children or believers in Yahweh God of Creation.
"The incidence of sin and death has greatly increased the sorrow of womankind, as they have found their children brought under the influence of these enemies. Women, because of their closer affinity to their children, suffer more keenly than do men, when their offspring go astray... An example is provided in the events narrated in Genesis 4. How keenly Eve must have felt the sorrow caused by her firstborn's sin in murdering his brother. Her high hopes of him when he was born (Gen. 4:1) were completely shattered by this frightful family tragedy, which she doubtless felt more keenly than did Adam.
Moreover, the mortality of the human race which came through sin, made necessary a more frequent conception in order to make good the wastage through death, in order to 'replenish the earth' as required (Gen. 1:28) ...
In addition to all this, the words have an allegorical value. The Ecclesia (the Church), the second Eve (2 Cor. 11:1-3), experiences travail in bringing forth children. How great is the sorrow of the Ecclesia at the spiritual death of any of its family; how often has it gone through the agony of Cain versus Abel; how much more it has had to labour throughout the ages to repair such loss through death! The curse imposed upon the woman has likewise to be experienced by the Ecclesia.
In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children — This form of life to which Eve was condemned is quite different from that which she had tried to achieve through disobedience. The appearance of the forbidden tree was attractive, and the knowledge which the eating of it was said to convey had suggested everything that was desirable (v. 6). The result, however, brought the opposite. The birth of children is accompanied by travail, whilst the responsibilities of training and upbringing also bring their sorrow. This Eve found as the tragedy of family life unfolded, with the hostility manifested by Cain towards Abel. Job commented: 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble' (Job 14:1).
And thy desire shall be to thy husband — ‘Desire' in Hebrew is teshuwqah and denotes 'a stretching out after', 'a longing for’... The comment in Genesis is that it is ‘to' her husband, rather than ‘for' her husband, and this suggests that the ‘desire’ is for a restoration to her former status with her husband before sin entered the world. She had then enjoyed a unity with Adam as his helpmeet, but that position had been harmed. Her restoration depended upon her attitude and actions in conformity to the marriage covenant, and the divine commandments.
… The Concordant Version reads: 'By your husband is your restoration, and he shall rule over you.' The Septuagint and Syriac are similar, and render 'turning or returning.' The Septuagint renders by the Greek apostrophee, 'a turning oneself, an escape, a place of refuge from evil'... Eve, through her presumptuous action, had lost her equality, her ‘oneness' with her husband, and her restoration to this position was made subject to him.
...And he shall rule over Thee — By this Divine law, wives are required to be in subjection to their husbands, whilst husbands are required to manifest toward their wives the same self-sacrificing love that Christ reveals towards the Ecclesia (Eph. 5:22-27). The law does not make provision for dictatorial domination, but, on the part of the husband, a manifestation of the qualities of God (1 Cor. 11:7), and, on the part of the wife, that loving andunderstanding submission to him that the Ecclesia should exhibit towards Christ. There is nothing difficult in this when the attitude of each towards the other is motivated by mutual affection and understanding, and is dominated by the self-effacing love that Christ reveals towards his "Bride". It is encumbent upon husbands to manifest the qualities of Christ if they are to receive the loving cooperation and recognition of their status from their wives. When that is the case, wives should be in subjection to their husbands in the Lord (Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:11- 12) as a token of the subjection that the second Eve (the Ecclesia) should manifest towards her husband, the second Adam. That subjection will ensure her ultimate elevation and unity with Christ. Thus, in the The Song Of Solomon, the Bride is represented as using the same term, and singing: 'His desire is toward me' (Ch. 7:10). The Bride has already confessed her total dedication to her Lord (Song 2:16; 6:3), and in this statement she uses language that links the marriage with the covenant to Eve. The Hebrew word rendered ‘desire' only occurs in Gen. 3:16; 4:7; Song 7:10, and thus, in each place, implies restoration and elevation. Paul interpreted the Song of Solomon as expressing the nuptials between Christ and his beloved, and so quotes Song 4:7 in Eph. 5:27.
The loving submission of the second Eve (the Ecclesia or Church) to the will of her Lord will result in her elevation. She shall be praised in the terms that the husband of the virtuous woman lavishes upon her in Proverbs 31:28-41:
'Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praiseth her:
Many daughters have done virtuously, But thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty in vain:
But a woman thatfeareth Yahweh, she shall be praised.
Give her of thefruit of her hands; And let her own works praise her in the gates'.
The declaration to Eve recorded in Genesis 3:16, therefore, should be linked to the Edenic Covenant, as signifying the terms upon which her elevation will be obtained. Her restoration to favour and privilege is subject to her husband (the second Adam), and he shall rule over her. The spiritual application to the saint in Christ is obvious...
The declaration to Eve recorded in Genesis 3:16, therefore, should be linked to the Edenic Covenant, as signifying the terms upon which her elevation will be obtained. Her restoration to favour and privilege is subject to her husband (the second Adam), and he shall rule over her. The spiritual application to the saint in Christ is obvious... 'Christian women should not copy after the god-aspiring Eve, but after Sarah, the faithful mother of Israel, who submitted herself in all things to Abraham, 'calling him Lord' (Gen. 18:12). Nor should their obedience be restricted to Christian husbands only. They should also obey them 'without the word'; that is, those who have not submitted to it, in order that they may be won over to the faith when they behold the chaste and respectful behaviour of their wives, produced by a belief of the Truth (1 Pet. 3:1-6). (pp. 121-123).” [HP Mansfield, Christadelphian Expositor, Genesis]
"Notwithstanding she [the first Eve and the second Eve] shall be saved in childbearing [making disciples], if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” (1 Timothy 2:15)
Genesis 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: "Cursed is the ground for your sake (ba’avurwkha);
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
"We should patiently bear the labours and afflictions of life, because... (though often) occasioned by our sin,... they may all be sanctified by making us sigh for a happier abode.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
Cursed is the ground for your sake (ba’avurekha)… it will no longer yield its bounty as the blessing from God… The Hebrew phrase בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ (ba’avurekha) is more literally translated ‘on your account’ or ‘because of you.’ The idiomatic ‘thanks to you’ in the translation tries to capture the point of this expression.” https://net.bible.org/#!bible/Genesis+3
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life… "Adam already had received the privilege of enjoying the garden (2:15), but this did not require strenuous toil.” (Constable Notes) “The land says, ‘If you want anything out of me you must work for it. I answer labor; I respond to industry, I reply to the importunity of toil.’” (J Parker DD)
“... the ground should not henceforth yield its fruits of its own accord, but that when it should be harassed by their labour, it should bring forth some of its fruits, and refuse to bring forth others.’” (Josephus)
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you… Thorn and thistles “slow down the work that is being done, can be difficult to remove, may cause injury, inhibit growth or possibly destroy useful plants, trees, and flowers. If they’re not completely removed, they will come back to cause more problems... These thorns and thistles were not present until Adam disobeyed the word of God. It appears that they sprang up as a result of his decision to rebel against God’s command. Now Adam would be exposed to them, and have to deal with them as he struggled to live and provide for his family.” http://www.1truth1law.com/Thorns_and_Thistles.html
And you shall eat the herb of the field… "Instead of the spontaneous fruits of the garden, the herb of the field, which required diligent cultivation, was henceforth to constitute a principal part of his support.” (Barnes Notes)"'Not the fruit of paradise' (Wordsworth), but 'the lesser growths sown by his own toil' (Alford) - an intimation that henceforth man was 'to be deprived of his former delicacies to such an extent as to be compelled to use, in addition, the herbs which had been designed only for brute animals;' and perhaps also 'a consolation,' as if promising that, notwithstanding the thorns and thistles, 'it should still yield him sustenance.’ (Calvin)." (Pulpit Commentary)
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return… Here, Yahweh God explains the fulfillment of His promise: "You shall surely die.” "And he had the dreary prospect before him of returning at length to the ground whence he was taken. He had an element of dust in him, and this organic frame was eventually to work out its own decay, when apart from the tree of life.” (Barnes Notes)
Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
"Adam called his wife's name ‘Eve'— Eve signifies ‘Life' or ‘Living.’ In giving her this name, Adam proclaimed his confidence in the promise of v. 15.” (Chistadelphian)
[to the serpent He said,] '15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, (Second Coming)
And you shall bruise His heel.' (First Coming)
It was, as it were, his statement of faith. He evidently recognised the significance of all that had been said, and comprehending the typical import of what had taken place in Eden, he named his wife in a way that spake of the hope of life through the Redeemer that would come through her.” http://christadelphianbooks.org/uploads/CMH_digital/Genesis%20-%20Expositor.pdf
Adam called his wife’s name Eve, “Because she is the mother of all living... It is evident therefore from this passage that Adam, by receiving the Holy Spirit, was wonderfully enlightened; and that he believed and understood the word spoken by God concerning the Seed of the woman, which should bruise the head of the serpent; and that he therefore wished to signalize his faith, and to adorn it by the name which he gave his wife, the name the like of which he had not given to any other creature. It is equally evident also that he moreover wished, by this name given to his wife, to cherish his own hope of a future Seed, to confirm his own faith and to comfort himself by the belief of a future and eternal life, even at the very time when all nature had been rendered subject to death…. But perhaps 'you will inquire, how Adam called Eve the mother of all living, when she was as yet a virgin and had never borne a child. Adam, we here again see, did this to testify his faith in the divine promise; because he believed that the human race would not be cast away nor destroyed.” (Martin Luther)
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
"As Genesis 3:20 records an instance of humble, apprehending faith in the divine word, so here we have a manifest act of mercy on the part of God, indicating the pardon and acceptance of confessing, believing man, rejoicing in anticipation of that future victory over the serpent which was to be accomplished by the seed of the woman.” (Barnes Notes on the Bible)
"The words, 'God made coats,' are not to be interpreted with such bare literality, as that God sewed the coats with His own fingers; they merely affirm 'that man's first clothing was the work of God, who gave the necessary directions and ability' (Delitzsch)…” (Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament)
"God responded to Adam's naming of his wife, by showing him the process necessary to really become related to Life. In slaying an animal to provide a covering, He demonstrated that 'the flesh profiteth nothing' (John 6:63), for it cannot, of itself, reflect the character of God. Therefore, the principle had to be laid down that 'without the shedding of blood there is no remission' of sin (Heb. 9:22).The institution of sacrifice accomplished this.” http://christadelphianbooks.org/uploads/CMH_digital/Genesis%20-%20Expositor.pdf
"God made coats of skins—taught them to make these for themselves. This implies the institution of animal sacrifice, which was undoubtedly of divine appointment, and instruction in the only acceptable mode of worship for sinful creatures, through faith in a Redeemer (Heb 9:22).” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary) In "Christianity is Jewish", Edith Schaeffer asks, "Do you think they would have forgotten that powerful illustration? Do you think as their hands smooth the softness of the skin clothing, they would have forgotten their first glimpse of violent death, and something of the understanding that it was because of their sin?" They got a glimpse of the Just dying for the unjust. (1 Pet 3:18)
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
It must be our goal to attain to eternal life. "By the fall man had sunk morally, but grown mentally. He had asserted his independence, had exercised the right of choosing for himself, and had attained to a knowledge without which his endowment of free-will would have remained in abeyance.”( Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
"God bid man go out; told him he should no longer occupy and enjoy that garden… The way to the tree of life was shut. It was henceforward in vain for him and his to expect righteousness, life, and happiness, by the covenant of works; for the command of that covenant being broken, the curse of it is in full force: we are all undone, if we are judged by that covenant. God revealed this to Adam, not to drive him to despair, but to quicken him to look for life and happiness in the promised Seed, by whom a new and living way into the holiest is laid open for us.” (Matthew Henry)