Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Genesis 3:1-24
The Fall Genesis 3:0 Moral evil cannot be accounted for by referring it to a brute source. Vitally important truths underlie the narrative and are bodied forth by it. But the way to reach these truths is not to adhere too rigidly to the literal meaning, but to catch the general impression. I. Variety of interpretation in details is not to be lamented. The very purpose of such representations as are here given is to suit all stages of mental and physical advancement. II. The most significant... read more
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 3:19
(19) Dust thou art . . . —It appears from this that death was man’s normal condition. A spiritual being is eternal by its own constitution, but the argument by which Bishop Butler proves the soul to be immortal equally proves the mortality of the body. Death, he says, is the division of a compound substance into its component parts; but as the soul is a simple substance, and incapable of division, it is per se incapable of death (Analogy, Part 1, Genesis 1:0). The body of Adam, composed of... read more