Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?"

1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Note"Crafty" ('arum) sounds almost identical in Hebrew to "naked" ('arummim), the word used of the man and woman in the sentence just before this one (2:25). The storyteller is linking the two by sound; English cannot carry the pun.

2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden.

2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You must not eat it, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

3But 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.

NoteThe command as it was actually given in 2:16–17 forbade eating from the tree but said nothing about touching it. The extra words appear only here, in the woman's report of it.

4The serpent said to the woman, "You will certainly not die.

4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5For God knows that on the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Note"Like God" translates 'elohim, a Hebrew word that can mean the one God, or gods, or divine beings generally, the King James Version took it as "gods." Both readings are possible here. "Knowing good and evil" is a Hebrew way of naming the two ends of a range and meaning everything in between: the full ability to judge what is good and what is harmful, the kind of discernment adults have and children do not.

6The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasing to look at, and desirable for making a person wise. She took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

NoteThe text never says what kind of fruit it was. The apple comes from later European retellings, helped along by a pun in Latin, where malum means both "apple" and "evil."

7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

NoteThe word for what they made (King James "aprons") means something tied around the waist, a belt or loincloth, not full clothing. Fig leaves are large and tough, among the biggest leaves available in that region.

8They heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool part of the day. The man and his wife hid from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "voice" also means simply "sound," so this may be the sound of God moving about in the garden rather than speech. "The cool part of the day" is literally "the wind of the day", the breeze that comes up in the late afternoon and evening in that climate.

9The LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"

9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10He said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked. And I hid myself."

10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12The man said, "The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13The LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the livestock and more than every wild animal. You will move on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed 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:

Note"You will eat dust" was a stock expression for total defeat and humiliation, used elsewhere of enemies grovelling on the ground; it is not a claim about what snakes actually feed on.

15And I will put hatred between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Note"Offspring" is Hebrew zera', literally "seed." Like the English word "offspring," it is singular in form but can refer either to one descendant or to a whole line of them, and the passage does not settle which is meant. The same Hebrew verb is used for both actions, the one the King James renders "bruise" both times, and its exact force is uncertain: it may mean crush, or strike at, or lie in wait for.

16To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing. In pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Note"Your desire will be for your husband" uses a rare Hebrew word (teshuqah) that occurs only three times in the whole Bible, and its sense is disputed: it may mean longing or attraction, or an urge to control. Translators have long disagreed. The King James "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception" renders a Hebrew phrase that pairs two words, pain and childbearing, and is usually understood as one idea: greatly increased pain in bearing children.

17And to Adam he said, "You listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from. Because of that, the ground is cursed because of you. Through painful work you will eat from it all the days of your life.

17And 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 sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Note"Adam" is not only a name; the Hebrew word 'adam means "human being" or "humankind." It also echoes 'adamah, the word for "ground" or "soil" that appears in this same sentence, roughly as if the earth-creature were being sent back to the earth.

18It will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Note"The plants of the field" means field crops that have to be sown, tended and harvested, as opposed to fruit that simply grows on a tree in a garden. The contrast with the garden is the point of the phrase.

19By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground, since you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and to dust you will return."

19In 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.

Note"Bread" in Hebrew usage stands for food in general, not one item on the table. "By the sweat of your face" is literal: sweat running down the face while working.

20The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all who live.

20And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

NoteThe name Eve is Hebrew Chawwah, which sounds like chayah, "to live" or "living." The verse is explaining the name by its sound, a very common practice in Hebrew narrative.

21The LORD God also made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he dressed them in them.

21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

22The LORD God said, "Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, he must not reach out his hand and take fruit from the tree of life as well, and eat it, and live forever…"

22And the LORD 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:

Note"One of us" is plural in the Hebrew, as in 1:26, and has been understood in several ways: God addressing a court of heavenly beings, or a plural of majesty, or a form of self-address. The text does not explain it. The sentence also breaks off unfinished in the Hebrew: the consequence is left unsaid, which the ellipsis in the reading represents.

23So the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to work the ground he had been taken from.

23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24So he drove the man out. On the east side of the garden of Eden he placed cherubim, and a flaming sword that turned in every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

NoteCherubim (the King James "cherubims" doubles the plural, since the -im ending is already plural in Hebrew) are not the plump winged infants of later European art. In the ancient Near East they were powerful composite creatures, often winged and part animal, carved flanking the entrances of temples and the thrones of kings as guardians.