Genesis 3:13. What is this thou hast done? Wilt thou own thy fault? Neither of them does this fully. Adam lays all the blame on his wife; nay, tacitly, on God. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me as my companion, she gave me of the tree. Eve lays all the blame on the serpent. The serpent beguiled me. read more
Genesis 3:14. God said unto the serpent In passing sentence, God begins where the sin began, with the serpent, which, although only an irrational creature, and therefore not subject to a law, nor capable of sin and guilt, yet, being the instrument of the devil’s wiles and malice, is punished as other beasts have been when abused by the sin of man, and this partly for the punishment, and partly for the instruction of man, their lord and governor. Upon thy belly shalt thou go And “no longer... read more
Genesis 3:15. I will put enmity, &c. The whole race of serpents are, of all creatures, the most disagreeable and terrible to mankind, and especially to women: but the devil, who seduced the woman, and his angels, are here meant, who are hated and dreaded by all men, even by those that serve them, but more especially by good men. And between thy seed All carnal and wicked men, who, in reference to this text, are called the children and seed of Satan; and her seed That is, her... read more
Genesis 3:16. We have here the sentence passed on the woman: she is condemned to a state of sorrow and subjection: proper punishments of a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her pride. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow In divers pains and infirmities peculiar to thy sex; and thy conception Thou shalt have many, and those oft-times fruitless conceptions and abortive births. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children With more pain than any other creatures undergo in... read more
Genesis 3:17. Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife Obeyed her word and counsel, contrary to my express command. He excused the fault by laying it on his wife, but God doth not admit the excuse: though it was her fault to persuade him to eat, it was his fault to hearken to her. Cursed is the ground for thy sake It shall now yield both fewer and worse fruits, and not even those without more care and trouble to thy mind, and the minds of thy posterity, and more labour to... read more
Genesis 3:19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread His business, before he sinned, was a constant pleasure to him; but now his labour shall be a weariness. Unto dust shalt thou return Thy body shall be forsaken by thy soul, and become itself a lump of dust, and then it shall be lodged in the grave, and mingle with the dust of the earth. read more
Genesis 3:20. God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth; Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Thus Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve, of the living soul. Though for her sin she was justly sentenced to a present death, yet, by God’s infinite mercy, and by virtue of the promised seed, she was both continued in life herself, and made the mother of all living. Adam had before called her Isha,... read more
Human disobedience (3:1-24)Since human beings were made in God’s image, and since God was unlimited, the first human couple soon showed that they too wanted to be unlimited. They had to remember, however, that they were not God; they were only creatures made in the image of God. Just as the image of the moon on the water could not exist independently of the moon, so they could not exist independently of God. Their relationship with God contained an element of dependence, or limitation, and... read more
serpent. Hebrew. Nachash, a shining one. See note on Numbers 21:6 , Numbers 21:9 . The old serpent (2 Corinthians 11:3 ) transformed as "an angel of light" (= a glorious angel, 2 Corinthians 11:14 ). Compare Ezekiel 28:14 , Ezekiel 28:17 , connected with "cherub" (Ezekiel 28:13 , Ezekiel 28:14 , Ezekiel 28:16 ), and contrasted with it here in Genesis 3:24 . See App-19 . subtil = wise. Hebrew. 'arum, a Homonym. Same as Genesis 2:25 ; here = wise (as Job 5:12 ; Job 15:5 .Proverbs 12:16 ,... read more
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Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 3:11
Genesis 3:11. Who told thee thou wast naked? That is, how camest thou to be sensible of thy nakedness as thy shame? Hast thou eaten of the tree Though God knows all our sins, yet he will know them from us, and requires from us an ingenuous confession of them, not that he may be informed, but that we may be humbled; whereof I commanded thee Not to eat of it; I thy Maker, I thy Master, I thy Benefactor, I commanded thee to the contrary. Sin appears most plain and most sinful in... read more