We see above that perhaps the GNV headings are not as useful as we thought, nevertheless we may use a modified version (modified in the way you would expect, at the very least) as a starting point. These headings would be moved and changed to taste during phase 2 and onwards.
“The Serpent”
Trying to keep things organized, we can have two kinds of notes; translation notes marked with braces such as (4a) and theological notes marked with brackets i.e. [4a]. The notes in commentary which are longer can also follow this style. Is it relevant to distinguish between the two ort only promote (from discussion) comments which have theological value of some kind?
All changes in comparison are given starting from the ASV. However, to save space and promote clarity, we will no longer be marking repetitive stylistic changes which are carried over from Genesis 1 and 2 such as changing 'Jehovah God' to 'the LORD God', or changes to markup such as adding quotation marks commas or changing colons to semicolons where appropriate. Also, all updates to archaic forms will not be marked unless they are changed away from their root word.
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “The fruit of the trees in the garden we may eat,”
3 “but the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, or you will die.'”
4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die,”
5 “for God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you shall be like God, in the knowing of good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food[a], and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took[b] of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband who was there with her[c], and he ate.
7 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.
[1] The serpent tries to deceive Eve by presenting a false (altered) word of God, to see if Eve is wise or strong enough to see through the deception. Thus we learn that God's word is our shield against sin; so long as we are clear on God's word and his will for us we have a shield against sin that we may not immediately fall into such a trap without a chance to escape.
[3] Eve's problem here is that she added to the words of God (Proverbs 30:6); she was unclear on what it was that God had said. We also learn from this the principle of fences; If Eve had said, 'God said we may eat of all the trees in the garden, but of (this tree) we may not eat, for on that day… and I prefer to stay away (to not touch) the tree so that I may not accidentally taste it (such as if a fruit falls down and I somehow taste it…)” that would be a lot different. Instead
[4] When the serpent heard Eve's mistake, he was at least able to say (and, truthfully) 'You shall not die,' (if you touch it,).
[5] Although there is midrash that the serpent pushed Eve to touch the tree and said, 'See! You didn't die,' the truth or falsehood of this event is immaterial due to [6a,b,c]; Eve touches the fruit before eating it.
[5] The intent of this statement is not to entice them that they will 'be like God' i.e. Satan's sin in Christianity, but, that they will be like God 'in the knowledge of good and evil' (see 3:22).
[6a] How did Eve 'see' or understand that the fruit was good for food? It is possible that the serpent ate some of it first, or it is possible that she knew she may eat of 'all the trees' but when deceived became confused and came to her own conclusion over whether or not it was good for food (in the same way she was deceived or became confused and believed the fruit was 'desired to make one wise', which is what the serpent explained to her). So we see here that the serpent deceived Eve but moreso the serpent was able to get Eve to listen to what it was saying; thus trusting some other source of information other than God over an important spiritual or theological issue. Why did not Eve check with God before eating the tree? See [7].
[6b] Eve touches the fruit before eating it, and is therefore deceived due to misunderstanding God's word. It does not matter how Eve touched the fruit first; either if the snake pushed her to touch it (literally or figuratively); She believed that God's word was true, but she was in error over what God's word was; therefore when her (false) idea was shown to be untrue, she lost faith in God's word and became open to disregarding it.
[6c] “lə·’î·šāh ‘im·māh” (to her husband who was there with her). It is important to note that Adam is with Eve during this event, and he does not correct her or attempt to stop her from eating the tree.
[3] Proverbs 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
[3] Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
[3] Deuteronomy 12:32 32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the breeze of the day[a]; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence[b] of the LORD God in the midst of the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called to Adam and said, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? From the tree that I commanded you, 'Thou shall not eat,' have you eaten?”
12 and Adam said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” and the woman said, “The serpent beguiled[a] me, and I ate.”
[8a] Emphasizing it is the same day.
[8a] “mip·pə·nê” (presence) lit. from before the face (of sth.(0
[10] The hebrew reads interestingly, (and I was afraid) (because) (was naked) (I) (and I hid myself). The (I) is “’ā-nō-ḵî” which is a striking use of the word, as this usage is usually reserved only for God (see. 15:1, Exodus 20:2). Thus it may read “I was afraid because I was naked in your presence, therefore I hid myself”. There is rationale for this (see 2:17c), referring to Adam's newfound shame while in God's presence.
[12] Adam says, '(I ate it because) she gave it to me!' and in doing so he does not take responsibility for his error, but blames Eve.
[13] Eve does not take responsibility for her error either, and blames the serpent. A key question is, why didn't God then ask the serpent what he had done? And why did he ask Adam and Eve? To give them a chance to repent. But instead of taking this opportunity they tried to pass the blame, each to another in series. Also, the serpent was never commanded not to eat from such a tree
[13a] “hiš·šî·’a·n” (deceived) strong support for 'deceived esp. among similar words.
[14] The serpent is called again 'a beast of the field'; is not a spiritual entity such as a 'devil'.
“The Serpent's Curse”
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, “Because thou hast done this, more cursed are you than all cattle, and moreso than every beast of the field; upon your belly you will go, and you will eat dust all the days of your life,”
15 and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your descendants and her descendants: they shall strike your head, and you shall strike their heel.
[14] What's interesting here is that the serpent was not cursed or punished in the usual sense. The passage indicates that the serpent will be lower than humans; and that it will have an endless source of food (however low); this is not a kind of punishment one would expect.
[15] This is the “Proto-Evangelion” in Christianity; A verse commonly mistranslated because in Greek there is a difference between singular and plural 'seed'. In Hebrew, the word “ze-ra‘” etc. always means descendants in the plural, much like 'sheep' or 'fish' is used for plural.
Also note that this is not a messianic passage; it does not deal with a messiah or messianic times, only the ongoing descendants. Here God paints the picture that humans will be above them; that humans may crush the head of a snake (mortal wound) while the snake may only be able to strike at the heel (minor wound).
Even if we concede all of these and allow that this passage refers to 'Jesus, who came to crush the head (of the snake)' then we may point out that Jesus did not actually do this as anyone can see “Satan's power” is still active in the world. Therefore we conclude that this passage can not refer to the Christian Jesus, as there is no evidence that jesus through his death was able to destroy the “works of the devil”.
The issue of 'the woman's seed'; this is not the only place which mentions the seed of the woman. Here God addresses the serpent in the presence of Eve; therefore he refers to Eve's seed and not Adam's seed. This same grammatical construction is seen when the angel speaks to Hagar (“..greatly multiply your seed…”, Gen. 16:10). The Angel does not say, greatly multiply Abraham's seed. Therefore we place no special theology on 'her seed'. We also see this in the story of Rebekah, when it is said “you become the mother of thousands and ten thousands, and may your seed…” (Genesis 24:60).
[15] Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
[15] Gen 7:3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed (“ze-ra‘”) alive upon the face of all the earth.
[15] Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
[15] Gen 16:10 And the Angel of the LORD said to her, I will multiply your descendants (“zar·‘êḵ;”) exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered from multitude.
[15] Many other “ze-ra‘”, “zar-‘ă-ḵā,”, “zar-‘ă-ḵem” and related: 4:25 (“another”), 9:9, 12:7, 13:15-16, 15:5,13,18, 17:7,9,9,10,13 (and many others not listed). Commonly, the promises made to Abraham refer to his “ze-ra‘” (seed, same word); his progeny, in the plural.
[15] ex. seed of the woman. Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
“The Woman's Curse”
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception: in pain you shall bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
[16] this “iṣ·ṣə·ḇō·w·nêḵ” (vs. 3:17 “bə·‘iṣ·ṣā·ḇō·wn”) also reads “with great work”, “in toil”, or also “in pain”, see 3:17. However, “bə·‘e·ṣeḇ” is a different word, which we will render 'with pain'.
“The Man's Curse”
17 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 because of you; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall yield to you; and you shall eat the herbs of the field;
19 by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; For you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.
[17] this “bə·‘iṣ·ṣā·ḇō·wn” also reads “with great work”, “in toil”, or also “in pain”, is similar to “‘iṣ-ṣə-ḇō-w-n êḵ” in Genesis 3:16 “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;”. We've chosen to use the same word here to underscore the original Hebrew. Thus, there is sorrow and toil in man's work, and sorrow and toil in woman's work.
“Unforeseen Consequences”
20 And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living people.
21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife clothing of animal skins, and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us as to the knowledge of 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 out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth of which he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
[21] this “way-ya-‘aś” (made) is the same as 1:7, 1:16 which refers specifically to creation ex nihilo ex. via “and God said,” (see cross reference). This is in opposition to the continued formation of things out of what God had already made, such as trees bearing fruit (“‘ō-śeh”, 1:11, 1:12) or God forming the rivers and lakes, or God making man out of dust (“na-‘ă-śeh”, 1:26) and (“way-yiḇ-rā” 1:21, 1:27) and (“bā-rā”, 1:27). This indicates that God did not kill an animal to create the skins but created them out of nothing (to counter the Christian shoehorn that this was a sacrifice for Adam and Eve's “sin”, also see. no sacrifice req'd for Cain's sin). Also see Jeremiah 32:27 ““Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” et al (see cf.)
This is oft misunderstood on many levels. For example, Sister Lucia of Fatima writes in “Why did God dress Adam and Eve?” (2003), “Why did God clothe the first two human beings if, before that, they were naked?” in spite of 3:7 ”…and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.“
Also see usage of same word for clothing in Exodus 28:4, 39-40; 28:41; 29:8.
[23] 'of which he was taken,' Gen 2:8-15.
[24] 'every which way', i.e. a whirling sword. This sword, whirling and flashing, has the effect of scaring or repelling man from re-entering the garden. The Cherubim is an angel of destruction (Rashi).