17 And unto Adam H121 he said, H559 Because thou hast hearkened H8085 unto the voice H6963 of thy wife, H802 and hast eaten H398 of the tree, H6086 of which H834 I commanded thee, H6680 saying, H559 Thou shalt not eat H398 of it: cursed H779 is the ground H127 for thy sake; in sorrow H6093 shalt thou eat H398 of it all H3605 the days H3117 of thy life; H2416
For G1063 the creature G2937 was made subject G5293 to vanity, G3153 not G3756 willingly, G1635 but G235 by reason G1223 of him who hath subjected G5293 the same in G1909 hope, G1680 Because G3754 the creature G2937 itself G846 also G2532 shall be delivered G1659 from G575 the bondage G1397 of corruption G5356 into G1519 the glorious G1391 liberty G1657 of the children G5043 of God. G2316 For G1063 we know G1492 that G3754 the whole G3956 creation G2937 groaneth G4959 and G2532 travaileth in pain together G4944 until G891 now. G3568
And he called H7121 his name H8034 Noah, H5146 saying, H559 This same shall comfort H5162 us concerning our work H4639 and toil H6093 of our hands, H3027 because H4480 of the ground H127 which the LORD H3068 hath cursed. H779
G1161 His G846 lord G2962 answered G611 and said G2036 unto him, G846 Thou wicked G4190 and G2532 slothful G3636 servant, G1401 thou knewest G1492 that G3754 I reap G2325 where G3699 I sowed G4687 not, G3756 and G2532 gather G4863 where G3606 I have G1287 not G3756 strawed: G1287 Thou G4571 oughtest G1163 therefore G3767 to have put G906 my G3450 money G694 to the exchangers, G5133 and G2532 then at my coming G2064 I G1473 should G302 have received G2865 mine own G1699 with G4862 usury. G5110
For what hath H1933 man H120 of all his labour, H5999 and of the vexation H7475 of his heart, H3820 wherein H1931 he hath laboured H6001 under the sun? H8121 For all his days H3117 are sorrows, H4341 and his travail H6045 grief; H3708 yea, his heart H3820 taketh not rest H7901 in the night. H3915 This is also vanity. H1892
Now G1161 we know G1492 that G3754 what things soever G3745 the law G3551 saith, G3004 it saith G2980 to them who are under G1722 the law: G3551 that G2443 every G3956 mouth G4750 may be stopped, G5420 and G2532 all G3956 the world G2889 may become G1096 guilty G5267 before God. G2316
These things G5023 I have spoken G2980 unto you, G5213 that G2443 in G1722 me G1698 ye might have G2192 peace. G1515 In G1722 the world G2889 ye shall have G2192 G2192 tribulation: G2347 but G235 be of good cheer; G2293 I G1473 have overcome G3528 the world. G2889
And G1161 he saith G3004 unto him, G846 Out of G1537 thine own G4675 mouth G4750 will I judge G2919 thee, G4571 thou wicked G4190 servant. G1401 Thou knewest G1492 that G3754 I G1473 was G1510 an austere G840 man, G444 taking up G142 that G3739 I laid G5087 not G3756 down, G5087 and G2532 reaping G2325 that G3739 I did G4687 not G3756 sow: G4687
Then G5119 shall he answer G611 them, G846 saying, G3004 Verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 Inasmuch G1909 as G3745 ye did G4160 it not G3756 to one G1520 of the least G1646 of these, G5130 ye did G4160 it not G3761 to me. G1698
And G2532 he saith G3004 unto him, G846 Friend, G2083 how G4459 camest thou G1525 in hither G5602 not G3361 having G2192 a wedding G1062 garment? G1742 And G1161 he was speechless. G5392
But this thing H1697 commanded H6680 I them, saying, H559 Obey H8085 my voice, H6963 and I will be your God, H430 and ye shall be my people: H5971 and walk H1980 ye in all the ways H1870 that I have commanded H6680 you, that it may be well H3190 unto you. But they hearkened H8085 not, nor inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but walked H3212 in the counsels H4156 and in the imagination H8307 of their evil H7451 heart, H3820 and went backward, H268 and not forward. H6440
The earth H776 also is defiled H2610 under the inhabitants H3427 thereof; because they have transgressed H5674 the laws, H8451 changed H2498 the ordinance, H2706 broken H6565 the everlasting H5769 covenant. H1285 Therefore hath the curse H423 devoured H398 the earth, H776 and they that dwell H3427 therein are desolate: H816 therefore the inhabitants H3427 of the earth H776 are burned, H2787 and few H4213 men H582 left. H7604
And the LORD H3068 God H430 commanded H6680 the man, H120 saying, H559 Of every tree H6086 of the garden H1588 thou mayest freely H398 eat: H398 But of the tree H6086 of the knowledge H1847 of good H2896 and evil, H7451 thou shalt not eat H398 of it: for in the day H3117 that thou eatest H398 thereof thou shalt surely H4191 die. H4191
Then I looked H6437 on all the works H4639 that my hands H3027 had wrought, H6213 and on the labour H5999 that I had laboured H5998 to do: H6213 and, behold, all was vanity H1892 and vexation H7469 of spirit, H7307 and there was no profit H3504 under the sun. H8121
And I gave H5414 my heart H3820 to seek H1875 and search out H8446 by wisdom H2451 concerning all things that are done H6213 under heaven: H8064 this sore H7451 travail H6045 hath God H430 given H5414 to the sons H1121 of man H120 to be exercised H6031 therewith. I have seen H7200 all the works H4639 that are done H6213 under the sun; H8121 and, behold, all is vanity H1892 and vexation H7469 of spirit. H7307
It is vain H7723 for you to rise up H6965 early, H7925 to sit up H3427 late, H309 to eat H398 the bread H3899 of sorrows: H6089 for so he giveth H5414 his beloved H3039 sleep. H8142
For we are consumed H3615 by thine anger, H639 and by thy wrath H2534 are we troubled. H926 Thou hast set H7896 our iniquities H5771 before thee, our secret H5956 sins in the light H3974 of thy countenance. H6440 For all our days H3117 are passed away H6437 in thy wrath: H5678 we spend H3615 our years H8141 as a tale H1899 that is told.
Although affliction H205 cometh not forth H3318 of the dust, H6083 neither doth trouble H5999 spring out H6779 of the ground; H127 Yet man H120 is born H3205 unto trouble, H5999 as the sparks H1121 H7565 fly H5774 upward. H1361
For rebellion H4805 is as the sin H2403 of witchcraft, H7081 and stubbornness H6484 is as iniquity H205 and idolatry. H8655 Because thou hast rejected H3988 the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 he hath also rejected H3988 thee from being king. H4428 And Saul H7586 said H559 unto Samuel, H8050 I have sinned: H2398 for I have transgressed H5674 the commandment H6310 of the LORD, H3068 and thy words: H1697 because I feared H3372 the people, H5971 and obeyed H8085 their voice. H6963
And when the woman H802 saw H7200 that the tree H6086 was good H2896 for food, H3978 and that it H1931 was pleasant H8378 to the eyes, H5869 and a tree H6086 to be desired H2530 to make one wise, H7919 she took H3947 of the fruit thereof, H6529 and did eat, H398 and gave H5414 also H1571 unto her husband H376 with her; and he did eat. H398
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 3
Commentary on Genesis 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
The story of this chapter is perhaps as sad a story (all things considered) as any we have in all the Bible. In the foregoing chapters we have had the pleasant view of the holiness and happiness of our first parents, the grace and favour of God, and the peace and beauty of the whole creation, all good, very good; but here the scene is altered. We have here an account of the sin and misery of our first parents, the wrath and curse of God against them, the peace of the creation disturbed, and its beauty stained and sullied, all bad, very bad. "How has the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed!' O that our hearts were deeply affected with this record! For we are all nearly concerned in it; let it not be to us as a tale that is told. The general contents of this chapter we have (Rom. 5:12), "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' More particularly, we have here,
And were it not for the gracious intimations here given of redemption by the promised seed, they, and all their degenerate guilty race, would have been left to endless despair.
Gen 3:1-5
We have here an account of the temptation with which Satan assaulted our first parents, to draw them into sin, and which proved fatal to them. Here observe,
Gen 3:6-8
Here we see what Eve's parley with the tempter ended in. Satan, at length, gains his point, and the strong-hold is taken by his wiles. God tried the obedience of our first parents by forbidding them the tree of knowledge, and Satan does, as it were, join issue with God, and in that very thing undertakes to seduce them into a transgression; and here we find how he prevailed, God permitting it for wise and holy ends.
Gen 3:9-10
We have here the arraignment of these deserters before the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, who, though he is not tied to observe formalities, yet proceeds against them with all possible fairness, that he may be justified when he speaks. Observe here,
Gen 3:11-13
We have here the offenders found guilty by their own confession, and yet endeavouring to excuse and extenuate their fault. They could not confess and justify what they had done, but they confess and palliate it. Observe,
Gen 3:14-15
The prisoners being found guilty by their own confession, besides the personal and infallible knowledge of the Judge, and nothing material being offered in arrest of judgment, God immediately proceeds to pass sentence; and, in these verses, he begins (where the sin began) with the serpent. God did not examine the serpent, nor ask him what he had done nor why he did it; but immediately sentenced him,
Gen 3:16
We have here the sentence passed upon the woman for her sin. Two things she is condemned to: a state of sorrow, and a state of subjection, proper punishments of a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her pride.
Gen 3:17-19
We have here the sentence passed upon Adam, which is prefaced with a recital of his crime: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, v. 17. He excused the fault, by laying it on his wife: She gave it me. But God does not admit the excuse. She could but tempt him, she could not force him; though it was her fault to persuade him to eat, it was his fault to hearken to her. Thus men's frivolous pleas will, in the day of God's judgment, not only be overruled, but turned against them, and made the grounds of their sentence. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee. Observe,
Gen 3:20
God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth, Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve that of the living soul. The reason of the name is here given (some think, by Moses the historian, others, by Adam himself): Because she was (that is, was to be) the mother of all living. He had before called her Ishah-woman, as a wife; here he calls her Evah-life, as a mother. Now,
Gen 3:21
We have here a further instance of God's care concerning our first parents, notwithstanding their sin. Though he corrects his disobedient children, and put them under the marks of his displeasure, yet he does not disinherit them, but, like a tender father, provides the herb of the field for their food and coats of skins for their clothing. Thus the father provided for the returning prodigal, Lu. 15:22, 23. If the Lord had been pleased to kill them, he would not have done this for them. Observe,
Gen 3:22-24
Sentence being passed upon the offenders, we have here execution, in part, done upon them immediately. Observe here,