HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 12
2.8–9 Eden means “abundance, plenty, fullness,” often referring to abundance of food, as there is in the garden of Eden. For the magnificent trees of Eden, see Ezek 31.8–9. The fruits of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are in some sense divine food, since they impart immortality and divine knowledge. Similar divine food is known from Mesopotamia (e.g., the food and water of life from the myth of Adapa) and Greece (the food of the immortals, nectar and ambrosia). The knowledge of good and evil, an ambiguous and suggestive phrase encompassing moral, spiritual, and physical (sexual) knowledge. The image of the tree of life appears in Rev 22.2 in a vision of paradise restored.
2.10–14 The four branches of the river of paradise water the whole earth—four represents wholeness. Only the Tigris and Euphrates are known rivers. This geographical aside lends a sense of realism to the story, but it is also deliberately opaque about Eden’s location. An old tradition about the gods’ sacred preserve at the Cedar Forest (as in the Gilgamesh Epic) or at the source of the two rivers in Canaanite religion may lie behind this mythic geography.
2.15–17 The man’s task as gardener in Eden is comparable to humankind’s task of doing the work of the gods in Mesopotamian creation myths. Later the man’s task will be intensified to hard agricultural labor (3.17–19). Only the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is prohibited to man, not the fruit of the tree of life, perhaps indicating that man had a chance at immortality while he lived in the Garden. The prohibition naturally anticipates that it will be violated later in the story. The threatened penalty of death for eating the fruit will not be carried out, probably due to God’s compassion for his fallible creature.
2.18–23 God’s perception of the man’s incompleteness without a helper as his partner, or “helping partner” (vv. 18, 20), shows compassion and wisdom, but his plan is not immediately successful. The animals are like man as living creatures, but they are also unlike him. The man gave names to them (v. 20), indicating his superiority in language and authority. The man also names the Woman (v. 23), which may suggest his authority over her, but this aspect of their relationship is muted until the woman’s punishment. Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, a literal description and also a metaphorical expression of kinship (see 29.14). Woman (Hebrew ’ishah), so called because she is taken from the man (’ish); these are the first explicitly gendered terms applied to the humans.
2.24–25 The creation of the woman from the body of the man provides the motive for sexuality as a way to reverse this primal separation and return to a unity of one flesh. This event provides a charter for marriage wherein the man travels to his bride’s home to negotiate the marriage contract and celebrate the wedding. This etiology for the human condition also anticipates the future sexuality of the first couple, deliberately called the man and his wife, though at present they are unaware of their sexual nature in spite of being naked (Hebrew ‘arumim; see note on 3.1–5).
GENESIS 3
The First Sin and Its Punishment
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,a knowing good and evil.” 6So when 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 of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17And to the manb he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20The man named his wife Eve,c because she was the mother of all living. 21And the LORD God made garments of skins for the mand and for his wife, and clothed them.
22Then the LORD God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—23therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
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a Or gods
b Or to Adam
c In Heb Eve resembles the word for living
d Or for Adam
3.1–24 Creation is complicated by the snake’s deception, the humans’ disobedience, and God’s punishment and exile of the humans. Painful labor and mortality are the human lot, but humans also gain the knowledge of good and evil, which makes them in some sense like God (v. 5). The exile from paradise, accompanied by the awakening of shame, sexuality, and a deeper consciousness and spirit, is in some sense the original passage from childhood to adulthood.
3.1–5 The serpent (or snake) is more crafty (‘arum, v. 1, a wordplay on ‘arumim in 2.25) than the other animals, which indicates that he too is an animal, not a demon or devil. A parallel is the snake in the Gilgamesh Epic who steals the plant of rejuvenation (and therefore sheds his skin). The snake in Eden is a trickster figure who is more clever than the other animals, can speak (like humans), and knows about divine things. He bridges the boundaries between animals, humans, and God and effectively elicits the woman’s desire to break the boundary between humans and God, to be like God (v. 5). The exchange between the snake and the woman is a masterpiece of ambiguity and half-truths.
3.6 The woman’s desire is physical, aesthetic, and intellectual. She is the focus of the stor
y as she exercises her will, while the man is her passive cohort, described as her husband, who was with her. The woman’s command over the man will be reversed in v. 16, the curse of (and justification for) male authority.
3.7 As the serpent had predicted, the eyes of both were opened, but what they see is an ironic surprise—their nakedness, of which they are now ashamed (cf. 2.25). The wordplay of naked (‘arumim) and crafty (‘arum) in v. 1 echoes here. Complicating the meaning of the knowledge gained is God’s later admission that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil (v. 22). In some manner, consciousness of nakedness and sexuality is part of the knowledge that makes one like God (or gods). This moment is also the origin of clothing, which signals the beginning of the passage from nature to culture.
3.8–13 God’s stroll in the Garden turns into a series of interrogations and admissions of guilt. The humans (who are hiding) are fearful and alienated from God. The man confesses, blames the woman, and pointedly extends the blame to God since God gave her to be with him (v. 12). The woman similarly confesses and passes blame to the snake. The snake is not given a chance to speak, perhaps because he can twist language too effectively.
3.14–19 God’s punishments reverse the order of the interrogation. They also reverse the conditions that led to the humans’ transgression. The snake will henceforth be humbled and alienated from the woman and her descendants. This explains why snakes crawl on their belly and why humans have an innate revulsion to them. The woman is punished with painful labor in childbirth, which seems to be a negative correlate to the discovery of sexuality. She is also cursed with male authority, which reverses her previous command over the man. The man (Hebrew ’adam) is now punished with painful labor on the unfruitful ground (’adamah) for food, reversing his previous easy relationship with the fruit and ground of Eden. Moreover, the man is told that he will return to the ground (’adamah, v. 19). Man seems to have been made mortal (from the dust of the ground, 2.7), but henceforth he will be conscious of his mortality, another addition to his self-knowledge.
3.20–21 The passage to the harsh life of human culture is somewhat relieved by the naming of Eve (lit., “life”) and God’s gracious act of clothing the couple. God’s anger has turned into solicitude for the humans, and the leather clothes he provides are more durable than the fig-leaf loincloths that the humans had previously made. The name of Eve and her description as the mother of all living may be related to similar names and epithets of older Near Eastern goddesses.
3.22–24 The humans are cast out of the Garden, not directly because of their disobedience, but so that they cannot also eat of the tree of life. If they had both divine knowledge and immortality, they would complete the transition to deities. God drove out the man (including the woman by association) to make permanent the separation between divine and human. Us. See note on 1.26–28. Cherubim, mixed, liminal creatures combining human, animal, and bird traits who guard the threshold of the Garden; they are related to the Egyptian sphinx and the Mesopotamian karibu. A sword flaming and turning, another mysterious weapon or creature guarding the threshold. The eastern entrance, the cherubim, and the sacred trees suggest an analogy with the Jerusalem temple, which had similar architectural and iconographic features as well as a limitation on access into it.
GENESIS 4
Cain Murders Abel
1Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produceda a man with the help of the LORD.” 2Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
8Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.”b And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. 9Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10And the LORD said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” 15Then the LORD said to him, “Not so!c Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. 16Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod,d east of Eden.
Beginnings of Civilization
17Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. 18To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech. 19Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who live in tents and have livestock. 21His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
25Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has appointede for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the LORD.
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a The verb in Heb resembles the word for Cain
b Sam Gk Syr Compare Vg: MT lacks Let us go out to the field
c Gk Syr Vg: Heb Therefore
d That is Wandering
e The verb in Heb resembles the word for Seth
4.1–16 The next generation resumes the themes of transgression, this time the first murder and exile. Many verbal echoes link this J story with the garden of Eden story. The conflict between brothers and the favor shown to the younger are themes that recur in later stories (chs. 21, 25, 27, 37, 48). There is also an ethnographic dimension to the story: Cain (qayin) is the ancestor of the Kenites (qeni), a little-known ethnic group who may at one time have been itinerant metalworkers. God (now called YHWH, rendered LORD) is mysterious, just, and compassionate.
4.1–2 Knew, a euphemism for “had sex with,” echoing the implicit relationship between sexuality and knowledge in the garden of Eden story. The first sexual act seems to occur outside of the Garden, though this is not entirely clear. The name Cain (qayin) is given a folk etymology from I have produced (qaniti). Linguistically, Cain means “metalworker.” In many traditional societies metal-workers belong to marginal ethnic groups and are looked upon with suspicion and disdain. Here Cain is initially a tiller of the ground, like his father, continuing the troubled relationship between man (’adam) and the ground (’adamah; see notes on 2.4–5; 3.14–19). Abel’s name is not explained, but in Hebrew means “emptiness, transitoriness,” which aptly describes the fate of Abel. The younger son is often a keeper of sheep (e.g., David), which has less prestige than farming. The focus on the two brothers
proceeds in chiastic order: Cain, Abel; Abel, Cain; Cain, Abel; Abel, Cain (vv. 1–5), stylistically highlighting the issue of fraternal rivalry.
4.3–5 The only obvious difference between the value of the two sacrifices is that Abel offers the firstlings, in contrast to Cain who offers the fruit (not the first fruit). This difference also highlights the issue of the honor of the firstborn son, who should have priority, though the younger son is favored here. God’s preference is not just for Abel’s offering but for Abel and his offering in contrast to Cain and his offering.
4.6–7 God’s speech to Cain has verbal echoes of his punishment of Eve (2.16), suggesting a similar nexus of temptation, sin, and punishment. Sin is an interior disposition (described as an evil inclination in 6.5), personified here as a ravenous beast or demon, which the individual can and must control. This divine instruction has profound moral and psychological insight, describing a world of individual responsibility and dark instincts, but it is lost on Cain.
4.6 Cain’s fallen countenance (lit. “face”) anticipates his later exile from the presence of God’s face (v. 14).
4.8 Cain’s speech to Abel maneuvers the unsuspecting brother to the field, away from human habitation, where he is most vulnerable to violence (see Deut 22.25–27). The stylistic repetition of brother (six times in vv. 8–11) highlights the enormity of Cain’s fratricide.
4.9–12 Where is your brother…, What have you done…, cursed from the ground, echoes of God’s interrogation and punishment of Adam and Eve (2.9–19). The curse of Cain from the ground (’adamah) is an intensification of the curse in 2.17 and means that Cain can no longer till the ground, since he polluted it with his brother’s blood. Cain’s plan to murder Abel where no one could hear his cry is foiled by Abel’s blood crying out…from the ground (v. 10). Hence God is both witness and judge. A fugitive and a wanderer (v. 12). The punishment of exile from human culture is an alternative to capital punishment when murder of kin is the offense (cf. 2 Sam 14).