“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
Parallel translations
- WEB The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die,
- KJV And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
- NKJV Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
- NASB The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!
- NLT “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.
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 serpent flatly denies that disobedience brings death. He directly contradicts God's clear warning.
Overview
The serpent moves from questioning God's word to openly contradicting it, declaring, 'You won't surely die.' This bold denial calls God a liar and presents disobedience as harmless. It is the original lie about sin, that we can break God's command and escape its consequences, a deception unmasked by the reality of death and reversed only in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 8:44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
- 2 Cor 11:3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
- 1 Tim 2:14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.
- 2 Cor 2:11in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
- Gen 3:13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
- 2 Kgs 1:16And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.”
- 2 Kgs 1:4Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed.
- 2 Kgs 1:6They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”
- Deut 29:19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- 2 Kgs 8:10Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.”
- Ps 10:11He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
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 3:4 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.