Genesis 3:1-15 - A Love Story Gone Awry
3Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”10He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”14The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Background: The book of Genesis gives us our first glimpses at the overarching themes that the Bible addresses, and that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection demonstrate. One of those themes is the power of sin and evil, and both God’s pain and faithfulness in light of it. Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis give us the two beautiful stories of creation. In Chapter 2 we get the account of the creation of humankind that we call the Adam and Eve story. It is a love story that demonstrates the need for human companionship, and God’s incredible compassion reaching out to heal human loneliness. In it we see that God, in love and wisdom, creates human beings for a life of intimacy, mutuality, unity and equality. That love story is to be lived in intimate relationship with God as the primary relationship. But, as is often the case, nothing is ever quite enough for human beings and so we find ourselves restless, rebellious and easily swayed. That is where we pick up the story today.
Sin: Sin in scripture is not simply a wrong act or even a string of wrong acts. Sin is the condition of estrangement from God. It is a way of being that is deeply imbedded in the soul, perverts our freedom and shatters intimacy, first with God and eventually with the entire created order. Sin is wanting what you want regardless of God and God’s values. This self-centeredness which theologians call pride or ego or simply sin, is basically a form of idolatry. When we want what we want regardless, we make ourselves little gods and our desires call all the shots in our lives. As we look at this text, it is important to remember that it is not the eating of the fruit, or the offering of it, that was sin. Rather, it was the inward condition of the heart of the humans which assumed that personal desires could rival the will of God as a basis for decision-making and ethics. To grasp this text it is important to remember that when we talk about sin we are not talking about simply doing something wrong. That is the result of sin. We are talking about the inward heart decision to make God’s rules optional. There are at least 8 Hebrew words translated as sin or wickedness. They describe different experiences but have the same source trying to be our own little gods.
Evil: The concept of evil in the Old Testament is largely pragmatic. The word means to be bad, worthless, or to lack fitness for a goal. Evil is judged by its appearance or effects such as trouble, distress, calamity, pain, sadness, oppression, broken fellowship or the condition of sin itself. Even ugliness and the extinction of stars (degradation of the created order) are described as evils. There are differences in understanding evil between the Old and New Testaments. Suffice it to say that in the NT, evil takes on more of a moral quality, while in the OT God sometimes even uses evil as a tool to chastise or lead people into a different and good direction. Things were considered evil if they obscured the glory of God, made faith difficult or made it difficult to praise.
Word Study
Vs. 1 – serpent – remember that the serpent is not Satan here, exactly. It is a creature of God that introduces to humans the possibility of disobedience. The snake is the tester.
Crafty – (arun) shrewd, cunning, sly, prudent. It comes from the root for to be bare or naked.
You – This word is in the plural. While it is clear that the woman is under attack here, both the man and the woman are addressed.
Vs. 3 – nor shall you touch it – In the creation narrative, God does not say this. The midrash on the text suggests that this phrase is added, and prohibition made more restrictive, to address anxiety, especially about death. Many ancient rabbis trace the beginning of the fall to this moment when anxiety and fear enter the story.
Vs. 5 – God knows – here the serpent puts the word of God in question. He says that God is not telling humans the whole truth and introduces the lure to distrust God.
Opened – this is associated with new knowledge or insight. Remember that in the OT wisdom is always associated with power.
Good and evil – this is a Hebrew idiom that refers to ‘all things.’ The serpent is saying that if they eat of the fruit they will become omniscient. Omniscience will be achieved, according to the serpent, by not trusting God and being unwilling to accept the God set limits of the created order.
Vs 6 – she took of its fruit and ate – Here she reaches out to satisfy her appetite, her curiosity and her desire for power.
Who was with her – this phrase reinforces their companionship in guilt. She is not a temptress. They stand together the whole time as one flesh.
Vs. 7 – eyes of both were opened – just like the snake said. This phrase refers to their consciousness of their disobedience.
Knew – this word means to experience personally, to come to know
Naked – naked of what? This is not just about having no clothes. This phrase refers to being exposed for who they are, for their lack of gratitude, for their desire for power, for their disobedience. What they wanted was wisdom and power. What they got was shame and fear.
They sewed fig leaves – this shows their consciousness of guilt and the attempt to cover up what they have done.
Vs. 8 - This verse begins the inquest. God is walking in the garden. This is not unusual. It is a regular stroll. The picture here is not of a distant God, but rather of a God who is in daily interaction with creation.
Vs. 9 – Where are you – the ancient midrash on this question is fascinating! The rabbis suggest that the question was not God simply trying to locate the man and woman as if God did not know where they were. Rather they suggest that it was a question of mercy, giving them time to prepare a defense or to confess their wrong.
Vs. 10 – hid – There it is right there! The heart of the matter. The man was afraid of been seen for who he was, laid bare, without defense.
Vs. 12 – you – And here the blame game begins. The man blames the woman, and only thinly skirts blaming God for creating her in the first place. Gone now is the intimacy of companionship between the man and the woman. Gone is the one flesh. Enter patriarchy. In this moment male supremacy begins to take shape and she will never be able to fully trust the man again.
Vs. 13-15– the serpent tricked me – And so the cycle continues. The man blames the woman. The woman blames the snake. Every level of relationship is disrupted: that between humans and God, that between the man and the woman, and that between the human and the created order.
Cursed – This word is usually paired with to bless in scripture. It refers to a revelation of God’s justice. It can only be pronounced by God, and only God can lift it. Paul tells us in Gal. 3:13 that it is Jesus who redeems, that is, buys us back, from the effects of the curse. Remember that it is not a punishment per se. It is a revelation of the reality of our choices. The curse is what happens when human ego replaces the loving values and boundaries of God. In the following verses, we see the results of trying to be our own little gods are for the man and the woman.
Questions for Personal Reflection
- Often when we hear the word sin, we think of a laundry list of do nots. The Bible certainly gives us some guidance there, BUT, those sins are not Sin, they are the result of Sin. How do you see that distinction? How do you experience each aspect of sin?
- John Calvin talks about Sin as total depravity. That is a often-misused phrase that simply means that there is nothing about us that is free from the taint of ego or pride. How do you respond to that?
- We usually call this passage the story of the Fall. Some Christian theologians talk about it at an upward fall. By that they mean that in our exposure we were able to fall into grace. Have you ever had an experience where you did wrong, and it wound up being the making of you? Think about that experience and thank God for a path forward.