And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
- BSB Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
- NKJV And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
- NASB Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
- NLT Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why 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 woman blames the serpent for deceiving her. The chain of blame continues, yet sin remains everyone's responsibility.
Overview
When God questions the woman, she too deflects, saying, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.' While her account of the deception is true, it does not excuse her own disobedience. The verse shows how sin spreads blame, yet it sets up God's response in which each party, including the serpent, is held accountable.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Cor 11:3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
- 1 Tim 2:14And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
- Gen 3:4–6And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
- John 18:35Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
- Gen 4:10–12And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
- 2 Sam 12:9–12Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
- 2 Sam 3:24Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?
- Gen 44:15And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
- 1 Sam 13:11And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;
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 3:13 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.