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Genesis 3

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Quick answer

The serpent's deception leads to humanity's first sin, with devastating consequences — and the first promise of a rescuer.

The fall fractures every relationship — with God, each other, and creation — bringing shame, blame, and exile. Yet inside the curse is the protoevangelium (3:15): the offspring of the woman who will crush the serpent's head.

Part of The Fall📖 Genesis introduction

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1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’” ✦ 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, ✦ 3but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” ✦ 4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, ✦ 5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ✦ 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. ✦ 7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. ✦ 8They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. ✦ 9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ✦ 10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” ✦ 11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ✦ 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ✦ 13Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ✦ 14Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ✦ 15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” ✦ 16To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bear children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” ✦ 17To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. ✦ 18It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. ✦ 19By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” ✦ 20The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. ✦ 21Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. ✦ 22Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” ✦ 23Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ✦ 24So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Person / place AdamPerson / place EvePerson / place The SerpentConcept The Seed of the Woman

Where this chapter connects

Gen 3 ·18Gen 2 ·142 Cor 11 ·6Gen 4 ·61 Tim 2 ·5Rev 20 ·5Matt 1 ·4Matt 4 ·4

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

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