Genesis 3:3 | 11
18
The Lord God said , “ It is not good for the man to be alone . I will make a help er suit able for him .”
19
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild an i mals and all the birds in the sky . He brought them to the man to see what he would name them ; and what ev er the man called each liv ing crea ture , that was its name . 20 So the man gave names to all the live stock , the birds in the sky and all the wild an i mals .
But for Adam a no suit able help er was found .
21
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep ; and while he was sleep ing , he took one of the man ’ s ribs b and then closed up the place with flesh . 22 Then the Lord God made a wom an from the rib c he had tak en out of the man , and he brought her to the man .
23
The man said ,
“ This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called ‘ woman ,’ for she was taken out of man .”
24
That is why a man leaves his fa ther and moth er and is unit ed to his wife , and they be come one flesh . 25
Adam and his wife were both na ked , and they felt no shame .
The Fall
3
Now the ser pent was more crafty than any of the wild an i mals the Lord God had made . He said to the wom an , “ Did God real ly say , ‘ You must not eat from any tree in the gar den ’?”
2
The wom an said to the ser pent , “ We may eat fruit from the trees in the gar den , 3 but God did say , ‘ You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in
a
20 Or the man c
22 Or part b
21 Or took part of the man ’ s side discernment in humans , since they would need to possess this already to understand God ’ s command . tree of the knowledge of good and evil No such tree appears in other ancient Near Eastern texts and traditions . This tree was located within Eden — the dwelling place of God and his heavenly host ( see note on 1:26 ; note on 2:8 ). This particular tree represents a counterpart to the tree of life , which could bestow immortality ( 3:22 ; see note on 2:9 ). you will certainly die This refers to the certainty of death , not to immediate death . Adam and Eve did not immediately die after eating from the tree , but they were cut off from the tree of life and driven from the garden after their disobedience ( 3:6 ). Their immortality depended on remaining in God ’ s presence , symbolized by the tree of life and its fruit . Driven out , they would inevitably die , as all mortals do ( compare note on 3:22 ). 2:18 helper The Hebrew term used here , ezer , refers broadly to rendering aid . While used to refer to subordinates , the word does not necessarily imply inferiority : God is called Israel ’ s helper ( ezer in Hebrew ; Hos 13:9 ). Ezer does not imply that the woman is inferior to the man , especially since Eve ’ s creation was prompted by a perceived insufficiency in Adam to image God . Through wordplay , the term may also draw attention to Adam ’ s inability to fulfill one of God ’ s primary mandates : procreation ( Ge 1:28 ). The pronunciation of ezer resembles zera ’ ( often translated as “ seed ” or “ offspring ”), which expresses that Eve is an essential part of humanity imaging God as Creator of life . While the naming of Eve by Adam after the fall implies some level of authority on Adam ’ s part ( 3:20 ; compare 2:20 ), the purpose seems to be to bless Eve and properly steward his relationship with her ( see note on 2:20 ). Eve ’ s status remains equal as divine imager ( see note on 1:27 ). Their equivalence ( or equality ) is indicated by Adam ’ s response to Eve in 2:23 — where he refers to her as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh . In addition , the dominion ( stewardship ) mandate was issued to both the man and woman at the same time ( see 1:28 ). This shows that Adam ’ s relationship to Eve is not one of dominion ; instead , it involves a difference in roles — he blesses creation through his naming of the animals , while she blesses it by continuing the life of humanity ( 3:20 ). Eve comes alongside Adam to help him in his mandate to steward creation — Adam leads in the sense that he is already working with creation before she is created .
2:20 gave names to all the livestock In exercising his stewardship over creation , Adam names the animals . In ancient Israelite belief , knowing the name of a thing is what enabled one to do good for the thing named or to pronounce a blessing . In 32:26 – 29 , the divine figure who wrestles with Jacob must know the name of Jacob before he can bless him . Adam also gives Eve her name ( 3:20 ), but in the ch . 2 account , Eve is simply called woman , not given a proper name ( 2:23 ).
2:21 – 23 The language used to describe the first man and woman in these verses indicates that they were human and needed all the things necessary to sustain human life . Due to their environment ( Eden ), Adam and Eve enjoyed perpetual , but contingent , immortality by being able to eat from the tree of life and not sinning against God ’ s command . All of this ended with their fall ( ch . 3 ).
2:21 one of the man ’ s ribs The woman is made from the side ( tsela ’ in Hebrew ) of the man . Usually used in architectural contexts ( Ex 25:12,14 ; 26:20 ), this is the only occurrence of the word in reference to human flesh . 2:25 naked In light of the later events , the use of this Hebrew term here , arom , involves wordplay — the serpent is described as crafty ( arum in Hebrew ; 3:1 ). The parallel words indicate a contrast : innocence being transformed into shame .
3:1 – 24 The idyllic life of the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden is disrupted by the appearance of the serpent . This serpent tempts the woman to break God ’ s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . Her choice to taste the fruit disturbs the order of creation and damages the relationship between God and his creation , because now part of his creation is out of order ( or harmony ) — humanity .
3:1 serpent The Hebrew word used here , nachash , means “ snake ” or “ serpent .” The Hebrew word satan does not appear in this passage , but the NT associates the events recorded here with Satan ( Rev 12:9 ; 20:2 ). The attribution of human characteristics ( cleverness and speech ) to the nachash suggests it is more than an ordinary member of the animal kingdom . Proper nouns of people or cities that include the Hebrew nachash indicate that the term may also mean “ bronze ” or “ diviner .” Conceptual parallels