5. your eyes shall be opened—His words meant more than met the ear. In one sense her eyes were opened; for she acquired a direful experience of "good and evil"—of the happiness of a holy, and the misery of a sinful, condition. But he studiously concealed this result from Eve, who, fired with a generous desire for knowledge, thought only of rising to the rank and privileges of her angelic visitants. :-. THE FALL. read more
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food—Her imagination and feelings were completely won; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction, the inward commotion of mind, the increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul (James 1:15; 1 John 2:16). read more
The temptation of Eve 3:1-5As in chapters 1 and 2, the word of the Lord is very important in chapter 3. Here Adam and Eve doubted God’s integrity. This pericope also has something to teach about the acquisition of wisdom. Chapter 2 anticipated God’s gift of the Promised Land to the original readers, and chapter 3 anticipates their exile from it. [Note: Idem, "Genesis," pp. 48-49.] read more
The second step in Satan’s temptation was to deny God’s word. In denying it he imputed motives to God that were not consistent with God’s character. God’s true motive was the welfare of man, but the serpent implied it was God’s welfare at man’s expense.This added suggestion seemed consistent with what the serpent had already implied about God’s motives in Genesis 3:1. Having entertained a doubt concerning God’s word, Eve was ready to accept a denial of His word.What the serpent said about Eve... read more
1. The Garden of Eden 2:4-3:24This story has seven scenes that a change in actors, situations or activities identifies. [Note: For a different narrative analysis, see Waltke, Genesis, pp. 80-81.] Moses constructed this section of Genesis in a chiastic (palistrophic, crossing) structure to focus attention on the central scene: the Fall. The preceding scenes lead up to the Fall, and the following scenes describe its consequences. [Note: Wenham, p. 50.] A Scene 1 (narrative): God is the sole... read more
Having succumbed to temptation Eve disobeyed God’s will. Whereas the serpent initiated the first two steps, he let Eve’s natural desires (her flesh) carry her into his trap.All three avenues of fleshly temptation are present in Genesis 3:6.1. She saw that the tree was "good for food" (the lust of the flesh: the desire to do something contrary to God’s will, i.e., eat the tasty fruit).2. It was a "delight to the eyes" (the lust of the eyes: the desire to have something apart from God’s will,... read more
The Fall 3:6-8In this section the relationship that God had established with man, which is the focus of the creation story, is broken. We can gain great insight into human nature from this story. Adam and Eve’s behavior as recorded here has been repeated by every one of their descendants."It is hardly too much to say that this chapter is the pivot of the Bible . . . . With the exception of the fact of Creation, we have here the record of the most important and far-reaching event in the world’s... read more
The separation that sin produces in man’s relationship with God stands out clearly in these verses. Their new knowledge that the serpent promised would make them as God actually taught them that they were no longer even like each other. They were ashamed of their nakedness and sewed fig leaves together to hide their differences from each other (Genesis 3:7). [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 52.] Perhaps they chose fig leaves because fig leaves are large and strong.The "cool" of the day is... read more
The Temptation and the Fall of ManThis chapter describes how ’by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin’ (Romans 5:12). Although there is here no ambitious attempt to search out the origin of evil in the universe, the biblical account of the Fall pierces the depth of the human heart, and brings out the genesis of sin in man. The description, as already said, is true to life and experience.There is no certain Babylonian counterpart to the biblical narrative of the Fall.1. The... read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 3:7
Genesis 3:7. And the eyes of them both were opened, &c.— They found what the serpent had asserted to be true, Gen 3:5 but in a manner far different from expectation. Their eyes were opened, but not to a view of higher happiness: they were opened only to a sense of their sin, and consequently of their guilty shame. The phrase of their eyes being opened, in scripture, not only refers to the actual opening of the eyes, but also to men's observing or knowing any thing of which they before were... read more