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Genesis 3

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Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Genesis 3 Overview

Genesis 3 records the entrance of human sin into the biblical story. The serpent questions and contradicts God’s word; the woman and the man eat the forbidden fruit; shame and hiding follow. God questions them, pronounces judgment on the serpent, woman, and man, gives the promise concerning the woman’s seed and the serpent’s defeat, clothes Adam and Eve, and sends them from Eden so they cannot take of the tree of life in their fallen state.

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Before you read Genesis 3

Coming from

Genesis 2 ends with Adam and Eve together in Eden, under one clear command, naked and unashamed.

In this chapter

The chapter shows how distrust of God’s word leads to disobedience, shame, blame, pain, cursed ground, death, and exile—while God also gives the earliest promise of the serpent’s eventual defeat.

Leads into

Genesis 4 shows sin spreading into the next generation through jealousy, murder, vengeance, and fractured human society.

Key understanding

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

The serpent attacks God’s word before the fruit is eaten.

Truth 2

Sin brings immediate shame and alienation before the announced physical death is complete.

Truth 3

Human blame does not erase personal responsibility.

Truth 4

Genesis 3:15 introduces conflict between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed and promises the serpent’s head will be bruised.

Truth 5

God clothes the guilty pair before sending them from the garden.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Romans 5:12–21 traces sin and death through Adam and contrasts Adam with Christ.

Connection 2

2 Corinthians 11:3 recalls the serpent deceiving Eve.

Connection 3

1 Timothy 2:13–14 refers to the order of creation and deception.

Connection 4

Revelation 12 and 20 identify the old serpent with Satan and show his final defeat.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

The chapter records real guilt for both the woman and Adam; Adam’s silence and eating are not excused by Eve’s deception.

Keep this clear 2

The judgments describe consequences of sin; they are not descriptions of the world as God originally declared it very good.

Keep this clear 3

Genesis 3:15 is brief. Later Scripture develops the identity and victory of the promised seed; the verse itself should not be forced to carry every later detail by itself.

Keep this clear 4

God’s questions are not evidence of ignorance; they draw the guilty people into answering for what they have done.

Read Genesis 3 watching for…Explore deeper

How the serpent changes God’s wording.

The movement from desire to eating to shame.

Every attempt to shift blame.

The contrast between God’s judgment and God’s provision.

The new barriers between humanity, the ground, Eden, and the tree of life.

Chapter outline7 sections

1-7The serpent tempts the woman and man 8-13The man and woman hide and answer God 14-15God judges the serpent 16God speaks to the woman 17-19God speaks to Adam 20-21Adam names Eve and God clothes them 22-24God sends them out of Eden

Now 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?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may 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, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

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

For 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.

And 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.

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

And 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.

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

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

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

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

And 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.

And 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:

And 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.

Unto 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.

And 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;

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

In 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.

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

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

And 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:

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

So 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.

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Genesis 3:13

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