The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
- 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 who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
- Jas 1:13–15Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
- Rom 10:3For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
- Job 31:33if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
- Gen 2:18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
- Prov 19:3The foolishness of man subverts his way; his heart rages against Yahweh.
- 1 Sam 15:20–24Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
- Luke 10:29But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
- Exod 32:21–24Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
- Gen 2:20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him.
- Gen 2:22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to 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.