Genesis 3:24 | 13
15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman , and between your offspring a and hers ; he will crush b your head , and you will strike his heel .”
16
To the wom an he said ,
“ I will make your pains in childbearing very severe ; with painful labor you will give birth to children .
Your desire will be for your husband , and he will rule over you .”
17
To Adam he said , “ Be cause you lis tened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I com mand ed you , ‘ You must not eat from it ,’
“ Cursed is the ground because of you ; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life .
18
It will produce thorns and thistles for you , and you will eat the plants of the field .
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food until you return to the ground , since from it you were taken ; for dust you are and to dust you will return .”
20
Adam c named his wife Eve , d be cause she would be come the moth er of all the liv ing .
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The Lord God made gar ments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them . 22 And the Lord God said , “ The man has now be come like one of us , knowing good and evil . He must not be al lowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat , and live for ev er .” 23 So the Lord God ban ished him from the Gar den of Eden to work the ground from which he had been tak en . 24 Af ter he drove the man out , he placed on the east side e of the Gar den of Eden cher u bim and a flam ing sword flash ing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life .
a
15 Or seed b
15 Or strike c
20 Or The man d
20 Eve probably means living . e
24 Or placed in front and its affiliated imagery are often paired with chaotic and disorderly forces in opposition to the divine order in the ancient Near East , there is no need for a literal zoological explanation . Rather , this passage indicates that the serpent , God ’ s cosmic enemy , has been made docile ( i . e ., he is defeated ). you will eat dust Ancient Near Eastern texts , such as the Akkadian work Descent of Ishtar , depict serpents as inhabitants of the underworld that feed on dust and clay . 3:15 enmity This word refers to hostility , not fear . The curse is not aimed at the woman , but at the serpent . Its language speaks of combat — specifically between the serpent and its offspring ( those that follow its ways ), and the woman and her descendants . The serpent is a divine enemy of God rather than a member of the animal kingdom . As such , this text contains a prophecy indicating that animosity and spiritual war will ensue between the serpent ( nachash in Hebrew ) and humanity ( compare note on 3:1 ). In the NT , the offspring of the devil are equated with evildoers who oppose God ’ s will and the Messiah , Jesus ( Rev 12:9 ; Jn 8:44 ; 1Jn 3:8,12,23 ). offspring The Hebrew word used here , zera ’ ( which may be literally rendered “ seed ”), can refer to one person or many . he will crush your head In the Hebrew text , the singular pronoun here refers collectively to the offspring ( zera ’ in Hebrew ) of Eve . The NT presents Jesus as the ultimate human descendant of Eve who defeats Satan or the devil ( Lk 3:38 ; 10:17 – 19 ; Rev 12:9 – 11 ; compare Gal 3:16 ). Paul seems to reference this line when he tells the Roman Chris tians that God will give them the power to crush Satan ( Ro 16:20 ). 3:16 your pains The Hebrew word used here is also used to describe Adam ’ s punishment : He will work the ground in pain . The original tasks given to both Adam and Eve ( tending to creation , and being fruitful and multiplying ) now involve great difficulty because they live outside Eden ( Ge 1:28 ; 3:24 ). Compare note on 2:18 . Your desire will be for your husband The Hebrew word used here , teshuqah , occurs elsewhere only twice ( 4:7 ; SS 7:10 ). In the Song of Songs the term seems to indicate sexual desire , but that meaning does not work well in this context . In Ge 4:7 the word connotes desire to control or desire to conquer ( compare note on 4:7 ).
3:17 Cursed is the ground because of you The context of the curse shows that serious effort and the over coming of obstacles will be necessary to make the earth produce what human survival requires . 3:19 to dust you will return The consequences of sin include lifelong toil . This line could be understood as indicating that only death is the release from that curse of toil , or that natural death may be another consequence of sin ( compare Ro 5:12 ). It is unclear whether natural death existed prior to Adam and Eve ’ s sin — whether in Eden or elsewhere ( see note on Ge 3:22 ; note on 6:3 ). 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve Eve ’ s name in Hebrew , chawwah , is related to the Hebrew verb chayah , which may be translated “ to live .” This is wordplay — Eve is described as the mother of all life . 3:22 The man The Hebrew grammar here can be understood as including Eve . like one of us The plural here refers to more than just the singular God Yahweh — it speaks of the heavenly host or God ’ s council . See note on 3:5 . tree of life See note on 2:9 . live forever Adam and Eve had to be driven from the garden . To remain in God ’ s presence and eat of the tree of life would have resulted in them becoming immortal , thus thwarting the penalty for their transgression ( 2:17 ). Cut off from God ’ s presence , immortality was unavailable — they would eventually die . God ’ s statement here does not indicate whether Adam and Eve were eating from the tree of life before their sin and thus it is unclear if they were immortal ( compare 2:16 ). God could be concerned that they will start eating from the tree of life or that they be prevented from continuing to eat from it . However , several factors seem to hint at their immortality prior to their sin . The tree of life was probably intended to perpetually sustain all life in Eden , in order to sustain its ideal state ( 2:8 – 9 ). In addition , God ’ s original command hints that Adam and Eve knew what death was but were currently experiencing an immortal life in God ’ s presence — the source of life itself ( 2:16 ). Adam and Eve also were allowed to eat from any tree but the tree of knowledge of good and evil ( 2:17 ). Compare note on 6:3 . 3:24 cherubim The Hebrew term used here is plural . The noun comes from the Akkadian term karub , which