Berĕshith (Genesis) Chapter 3

The chapter begins with the naḥash being described as “more crafty than all the lives of the field which YAHUAH Elohim had made” {3:1}. He speaks to the woman and asks this question: “Is it true that Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of every tree of the garden’?” That question makes me wonder about not just what he asked, but how he asked it.

You would think he’d start with an outright denial, something like, “Elohim did not say…” But no, he starts with a question. “Is it true…?” It seems to be a question aimed more at her trust than her memory. Is it really true? Did He really say that? Did you really hear right? And then the woman answers by repeating the instruction:

“We are to eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you die’.” {3:2–3}

I noticed two things: (1) She engages the naḥash instead of nipping the conversation in the bud and (2) She adds to the command: “nor touch it.” When I read the instructions given to the man, I don’t see anywhere that YAHUAH said that part (well, at least in the written account we’re given). So somewhere between His word and her mouth, an extra “step” got added. I keep wondering if that is where the soft spot opened up.

With the door opened to the woman’s attention, the naḥash pushes further: “You shall certainly not die. For Elohim knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” {3:4–5} This is where things get dicey for me. On the surface, he seems to be contradicting YAHUAH. But he also says something that, in a twisted way, ends up being partly “true”. Their eyes are opened, and they do come to know good and evil.

So, in a sense, the deception seems to live in how he frames it: “You shall certainly not die” and by intentionally leaving out “today,” he manages to hide the deeper reality of what death actually is. He utters, “You shall be like Elohim, knowing good and evil”, as if they were not already made in His image, and as if “being like Him” could ever be gained by stepping AWAY from Him (disobedience) instead of walking WITH Him (obedience). I just can’t shake the feeling that, for this lie to land, something in them has to turn inward and ask: “Am I missing something? Is there more I don’t have yet? Am I truly lacking, or am I being told that I am?"

That, then, leads to the turning point: “And 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…” {3:6}

The Scripture text says it was “desirable to make one wise.” and I’m trying to reconcile that. Wisdom, as I understand it from Mishlĕ (Proverbs), begins with the fear of YAHUAH, not with breaking His command. True wisdom, I believe, is meant to be walked out with Him, not found apart from Him. So what kind of “wisdom” was being shown to her here? Maybe, a shortcut? A promise of independence? A way to have what Elohim has without having to stay close to Him?

The woman takes of the fruit and eats, and then the text says: “…and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” {3:6} So what does that little phrase “with her” actually mean? Was he standing there the whole time, listening to the conversation? Did he hear the same words and simply say nothing? It’s not said explicitly, but what we do see later is that when YAHUAH speaks, He holds Adam accountable first. Whatever exact place he was located while all this took place, his responsibility cannot be written out of the scene.

As soon as they eat, all hell breaks loose (pun intended, maybe): “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” {3:7} We already know from Chapter 2 that they were naked and not ashamed {2:25}. Nakedness itself isn’t new, so I feel led to believe that whatever changed here was their awareness of it and their response. Before eating the fruit, nakedness sat in innocence. There was nothing to hide and nothing to defend. Now, after eating the fruit, nakedness becomes something they feel they must cover and protect.

Did their bodies physically change at this moment? Did something about the human frame and the creation around them shift? Scripture doesn’t actually spell that out (although I kinda wish it did), but what we see here is that the first instinct after disobedience is to cover, hide and protect ourselves from being seen.

Then comes a verse that has always stood out to me: “And they heard the voice of YAHUAH Elohim walking about in the garden in the cool of the day…” {3:8} They did not just hear footsteps. Scripture says, the “voice” of YAHUAH walking. Can you imagine that? There’s something so tender and mysterious in that phrase. It makes me imagine, maybe, a daily rhythm of intimacy that describes the familiar Presence they were used to meeting with. But this time, instead of running to Him, they hide: “…and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YAHUAH Elohim among the trees of the garden.” {3:8}

YAHUAH calls to the man: “Where are you?” and Adam answers: “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.” {3:9–10} Fear shows up here as something new. Before, there was no mention of fear in their relationship with YAHUAH. Now, His voice, the same one that once walked with them, now makes him hide. YAHUAH’s next words cut straight to what has happened: “Who made you know that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” {3:11} “Who made you know…?” That question tells me there has been another voice in the garden. Another influence. Another word that has been believed.

Then comes the blame cascade: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.” {3:12} He blames the woman and, at the same time, indirectly blames YAHUAH (“the woman You gave to be with me…”). YAHUAH turns to the woman: “What is this you have done?” {3:13} She replies: “The naḥash deceived me, and I ate.” {3:13} So, each one shifts the weight off their own shoulders. No one stands up and simply says, “I disobeyed. This is on me.” I sometimes wonder how things might have turned out differently if Adam had just stepped forward and owned responsibility completely, not only for himself, but for his wife. But, unfortunately for the rest of mankind, the Scripture text doesn’t go there. It just shows us what actually happened: Hiding. Blame. Deflection.

Then YAHUAH speaks judgment, starting with the naḥash: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you are to go, and eat dust all the days of your life.” {3:14} Scripture does not pause to ask the naḥash anything and whatever exactly this creature was before, it will now move in a posture of humiliation and defeat; low, close to the dust. Then: “And I put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.” {3:15} On one level, this rings very literally true. In most of us, the sight of a serpent instinctively triggers fear and the urge to destroy. But the wording also reaches beyond them: Seed vs seed. This seems to suggest a long, ongoing hostility where a future “He” will deal a head-crushing blow, and be wounded in the process.

To the woman YAHUAH says: “I greatly increase your sorrow and your conception, bring forth children in pain. And your desire is for your husband, and he does rule over you.” {3:16} In some form, she was always going to bring forth life. Now that calling will be marked by ‘increased’ sorrow and pain. She was always meant to walk alongside her husband as a counterpart but now, desire and rule will be tangled together in a way that strains that unity. Instead of mutuality, there will be imbalance with desire warped into neediness and headship into domination. I don’t think the Master YAHUAH was inventing a new order here. He was describing what a broken one will look like from then on.

To the man He says: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘Do not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you are to eat of it all the days of your life, and the ground shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you are to eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you return.” {3:17–19}

The problem was not listening to the woman but: “Because you listened to the voice of your wife…” instead of My command. Adam chose one voice over another. He was originally placed in the garden “to work it and to guard it” {2:15} so work itself was not the curse. The curse is that the very ground he works with will now resist him with thorns instead of pure fruit, sweat instead of simple joy and scarcity anxiety instead of effortless trust. And then the hardest part… mortality. The dust he was formed from will reclaim him.

And then: “And YAHUAH Elohim made coats of skin for the man and his wife and dressed them.” {3:21} They thought fig leaves would be enough to cover their shame but the Master YAHUAH provided something more practical and durable. The coats of skin did not erase the consequences but were made to meet them in their new condition and provide a covering far more lasting than what they tried to stitch together.

Finally, YAHUAH speaks again: “See, 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…” {3:22} I could be wrong but this is the only place that I’ve seen a sentence leave off like this and wonder why that is. They were not automatically granted eternal life, it was a reward waiting for them. But, living forever in a corrupted, rebellious state would be a horror. So: “YAHUAH Elohim sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. And He drove the man out. And He placed keruḇim 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.” {3:23–24} And by this, we realize that exile from Eden was not just judgment, but mercy. And, the way to the Tree of Life is not destroyed but guarded.