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Verse |
Notes |
| 1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden? | The term for Serpent is Strong's 5175 Nachash Adam and Eve had been in the garden about two years. |
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: |
The serpent doubtless spoke by signs, as we sometimes say, "Actions speak louder than words." The serpent ate of the forbidden fruit in the sight of the woman and then manifested its wisdom, its sagacity. The woman perceived. She craved knowledge. Why had God forbidden that particular fruit? It did not kill the serpent. Why should it kill her? The serpent seemed wise. Why should not that fruit make her more wise? Could it be that God wished to keep them in ignorance, and for that reason had forbidden their eating of the fruit? Such disloyal thoughts should have been promptly spurned. Confidence in their Creator should have been complete. But the insidious poison worked. More and more Mother Eve craved knowledge and imagined what wonderful blessings it would bring. She surmised that her husband would not consent, so she ate alone. She was not deceived as respects the wrongdoing, but she was deceived regarding the result. Seeing that the serpent was not poisoned by the fruit, she did not realize that the poison to her was that of disobedience, bringing the death sentence. Father Adam's eating of the fruit was with full knowledge of the result. In love with his wife, he ate knowingly, preferring to die with her rather than to live without her. R5149 |
| 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. | The prohibition was clearly stated and clearly understood. They were not to eat of the forbidden fruit; neither should they touch it, lest they die. So should we regard every evil thing, not exposing ourselves to temptation, but keeping as far from it as possible. R1610 |
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: |
The assertion—"Ye shall not surely die"—was a bold contradiction by the "father of lies" of the word of the Almighty—"Ye shall surely die." And it is marvelous what a host of defenders it has had in the world, even among professed Christians, and in the present day. Nevertheless, the penalty went into effect, and has been executed also upon all posterity ever since—"In the day thou eatest thereof, dying, thou shalt die"—i.e., in the gradual process of decay thou shalt ultimately die. The day to which the Lord referred must have been one of those days of which Peter speaks, saying that with the Lord a thousand years is as one day. (2 Pet. 3:8.) Within that first thousand-year day Adam died at the age of nine hundred and thirty years. R1610 |
| 5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. | (R2839) We are not to suppose that Satan comprehended in advance the evil results which have followed his course. He could not know any more than others to what extent his own evil course and the communication of it to humanity would bring in all the degradation and sin and misery and pain and trouble and death which have resulted. He became the murderer of our race (John 8:44), tho, like many another murderer, he had not probably intended to commit murder at first, but only robbery; but the wrong course led on and resulted in murder, death. |
| 6 And 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 the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. | The reward which the deceiver promised was quickly and painfully realized. The offenders could no longer delight in communion and fellowship with God, and with fear and shame they dreaded to meet him; and in the absence of that holy communion with God and with each other in the innocent enjoyments of his grace, the animal nature began to substitute the pleasures of sense. The spiritual nature began to decline and the sensual to develop until they came to realize that the fig-leaf garments were a necessity to virtue and self-respect; and in these they appeared when called to an account by their Maker. R1610 |
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. |
The fig-leaf garments had spoken of penitence and an effort to establish and maintain virtue, and the Lord had a message of comfort for their despairing hearts, notwithstanding the heavy penalty must be borne until the great burden-bearer, "the seed of the woman," should come and assume their load and set them free. R 1610 The fig leaves represent the Jewish Law. * |
| 8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden. | The natural impulse of guilt was to hide from God. But God sought them out and called them to account—not, however, to let summary vengeance fall upon them, but while re-affirming the threatened penalty, to give them a ray of hope. The fig-leaf garments had spoken of penitence and an effort to establish and maintain virtue, and the Lord had a message of comfort for their despairing hearts, notwithstanding the heavy penalty must be borne until the great burden-bearer, "the seed of the woman," should come and assume their load and set them free. R1610 |
| 9 And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou? |
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| 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. | |
| 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? | |
| 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. | In reply to the inquiry of verse 11 Adam told the plain simple truth, without any effort either to justify himself or to blame any one else. Eve's reply was likewise truthful. Neither one tried to cover up the sin by lying about it. Nor did they ask for mercy, since they believed that what God had threatened he must of necessity execute; and no hope of a redeemer could have entered their minds. R1610 |
13 And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. |
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| 14 And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: | To crawl on the belly signified that Satan was no longer an upright being, respected or honored among God's sons. * There was a certain penalty, however, meted out upon the serpent—not for its punishment, for it had done nothing contrary to its nature, but to make the serpent a synonym of Sin, because it was the tool of Sin. The serpent became the symbol of Satan and of Sin. R5238 VERSE 14 is a figurative expression of the penalty of Satan, whose flagrant, wilful sin gave evidence of deliberate and determined disloyalty to God, and that without a shadow of excuse or of subsequent repentance. No longer might he walk upright—respected and honored among the angelic sons of God, but he should be cast down in the dust of humiliation and disgrace; and although he would be permitted to bruise the heel of humanity, ultimately a mighty son of mankind, the seed of the woman, should deal the fatal blow upon his head. Mark, it is the seed of the woman that shall do this; for he is to be the Son of God, born of a woman, and not a son of Adam, [R1610 : page 15] in which case he would have been an heir of his taint and penalty, and could not have redeemed us by a spotless sacrifice in our room and stead. God was the life-giver, the father, of the immaculate Son of Mary; and therefore that "holy thing" that was born of her was called the Son of God, as well as the seed of the woman; and because thus, through her, a partaker of the human nature, he was also called a Son of man—of mankind. This lesson should be studied in the light of its Golden Text, and in the light of the inspired words of Rom. 5:12,18-20.R1610 |
| 15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. | |
| 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. | |
| 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; | |
| 18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; | |
| 19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. | |
| 20 And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. | EVE From Strong's 2332, Chavvah Life Wife of Adam, and mother of the human race It is therefore fitting that this natural relationship of the sexes should always be observed; that woman should remember that she is not the head, the chief, the leader, in the world's affairs, though there is ample scope for the use of all her powers under a proper and generous exercise of the headship of man. And it is equally necessary and proper that man should fully recognize, appreciate and accept of the help which woman is capable of rendering in all the affairs of life where such capability is manifest. If God has given to her talents, they were given her for cultivation and use, in order that she might be a more efficient help for man; and it would not be right, nor can man afford, to refuse such help and seek to dwarf such talents. Let the "help" help as much as possible, even though in the present imperfect condition, as is sometimes the case, the help may outstrip the head in ability, either natural or acquired. So long as the woman's work is done in a modest, womanly way—with no disposition to lord it over the divinely appointed head or king of earth—let her do with her might what her hands find to do. We have already seen that in the relationship of head and body, to which the Apostle compares husband and wife, and which is gloriously illustrated in the relationship of Jehovah to Christ Jesus, and between our Lord Jesus and the Church, there is nothing incompatible with "the glorious liberty of the sons of God," and hence that the other headship of man over woman, rightly exercised, is likewise compatible with a similarly glorious liberty. R1548 |
| 21 And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them. | |
| 22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever-- | |
| 23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. | |
| 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. |