Year of the Bible

Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Chapter 3:

After two chapters revealing the organization, goodness, and intimacy of God’s creation, a serpent (a word that also means dragon) appears. He subtly tempts the woman to want to be like God, even though she already is (1:26). God commanded Adam to keep/protect the Garden (2:15) and to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge (2:17), yet Adam disobeys. By rejecting God, the humans damage their intimate union with Him and with each other. Despite this, God lovingly seeks them out and outlines the consequences. The serpent now lives in the dirt and will be bruised by the woman’s descendant. Both people will have difficulty participating in God’s creative actions, and their relationship will be contorted from the partnership it was designed to be. Even though there are hardships, there is also hope. The woman receives the name Eve which means living. God protects the couple with durable garments, and He sends them from the Garden before they are tempted to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever separated from Him.

The Book of Genesis, Chapter 3:

The Fall of Man

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all
cattle,
and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head,* and you shall bruise his
heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to
the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because
of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you;
and you shall eat the plants of
the field.
19 In the sweat of your face offering of the fruit of the ground,
you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing 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”—23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

The fall (3:6) and the first good news (3:15) both come in this early chapter of Genesis. Like Eve, when we believe the devil’s lies, we empower the liar. When we believe Jesus’s words our hearts are set free! Take a moment to ask the Lord, “What lies have I come to believe about myself or about you?” And then ask Him, “What truths from the good news would you like to remind me of to replace those lies?”

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
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