And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Parallel translations
- WEB The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- BSB And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- NKJV Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
- NASB The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
- NLT The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The man blames the woman and even God for giving her to him. Sin gives rise to excuse-making rather than honest repentance.
Overview
Confronted by God, the man shifts the blame to 'the woman whom you gave to be with me,' implicating both her and God rather than confessing his own guilt. This deflection shows how sin corrupts relationships and resists taking responsibility. True restoration requires the honest confession the man avoids, the kind of repentance the gospel finally makes possible through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 28:13He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
- Jas 1:13–15Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
- Rom 10:3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
- Job 31:33If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
- Gen 2:18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
- Prov 19:3The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.
- 1 Sam 15:20–24And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
- Luke 10:29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
- Exod 32:21–24And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
- Gen 2:20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
- Gen 2:22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 3:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.