Genesis 3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 3
Origin of Evil.[a] 1 The serpent[b] was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. It said to the woman, “Is it true that God told you not to eat of any of the trees in the garden?”
2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but as for the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, God said that we must not eat it, nor even touch it, lest we die.”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “Certainly you shall not die! 5 God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing that which is good and that which is evil.”
6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to look at and desirable for imparting wisdom. She took some fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he also ate it. 7 Their eyes were opened and they realized that they were naked. They took fig leaves and sewed them together, making themselves a covering.
8 They then heard the Lord God walking in the garden toward the evening. The man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where were you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you walking in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
11 He said, “Who let you know that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man answered, “The woman whom you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.”
13 The Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me and I ate it.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,[c]
“Because you have done this, you will be the most cursed
of all the animals
and of all the wild beasts.
On your belly you shall crawl
and you shall eat dust
for all the days of your life.
15 I will establish hostility
between you and the woman,
between your line and her line.
Her offspring will crush your head
and you will bruise his heel.”[d]
16 To the woman he said,
“I will multiply your sufferings in childbirth;
with pain you shall bear your children.
You shall desire your husband,
but he shall lord it over you.”
17 To the man he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I had commanded you not to eat,
“Cursed be the soil because of you!
With effort you shall obtain food
all the days of your life.
18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for you,
and you shall eat of the plants of the field.
19 You shall have to sweat
to eat your bread
until the day when you return to the earth,
for from it you were drawn.
You are dust,
and unto dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife Eve, for she was the mother of all those who lived.
21 The Lord God made clothing for the man and woman out of animal skins and he clothed them. 22 The Lord God said, “Behold, man has become like one of us, for he has knowledge of that which is good and that which is evil. Now, we must prevent him from reaching out and taking the fruit of the tree of life lest he eat it and live forever.” 23 The Lord God cast him out of the Garden of Eden; henceforth he was to labor tilling the soil from which he had come. 24 When he expelled him, he placed cherubim[e] to the east of the Garden of Eden with flaming swords to keep watch over the way to the tree of life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:1 When human beings reject union with God, the source of being and good, they must inevitably perish. This is the meaning of the tragedy that overwhelms the human condition. Envious of human beings and their happiness, another being, like them a creature, urges them to doubt the divine word, thereby putting out the light of their faith. The biblical tradition will call this other being the “adversary” and “the father of lies” (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9). Our author, anxious to combat pagan nature-centered cults that used the serpent as a symbol and strongly attracted the Israelites, presents the adversary under the form of a serpent.
Despite the victory of evil a hope dawns, a light in which the Christian tradition sees the Savior being already announced, a Savior with whom Mary, model of womanhood, is especially associated. The Lord does not abandon fallen humankind that has barred itself from the paradise of friendship with God; but it will have to struggle to win back its happiness. - Genesis 3:1 The Semitic world attributed superhuman qualities to the serpent: the sacred serpent, the divine serpent, symbol of the divinities of the vegetative realm, protector of sanctuaries and borders, symbol of the way, guardian of life-giving plants, effective in divining the future and in black and diabolic magic. The sacred writer speaks of him instead as one of the animals that the Lord God had made, but also as the most clever of all [of them]; the connection with magic makes the serpent an appropriate symbol of activities directed against God; in addition, the serpent’s special way of entering in a hidden manner and striking by surprise makes it an appropriate and instructive image of the tempter.
- Genesis 3:14 The biblical tradition uses the serpent to represent Satan; the divine punishment is aimed at the demon. On your belly you shall crawl and you shall eat dust is a customary Semitic way of describing enemies defeated in battle and compelled to acknowledge the power of their conqueror (see Ps 72:9; Isa 49:23; Mic 7:17).
- Genesis 3:15 This verse has traditionally been regarded as the protoevangelium, the first announcement of the salvation of the human race. The offspring of the woman refers to the human race but at a higher level to Jesus Christ who is source and cause of the common victory. Consequently, the woman, while certainly signifying Eve, the mother of the human race, refers at a higher level to Mary, the mother of Jesus and the new Eve.
- Genesis 3:24 The cherubim and the flaming swords symbolize the divine prohibition. In fact, the mythical winged colossi, half animal, half human, that stood guard at palaces, temples, and thrones of gods and kings in ancient Mesopotamia (known there as karibu; in the Bible see Ex 25:20; 1 Ki 6:27; Ezek 10:14), as well as the lightning represented in the form of flames or a wavy sword on stones marking the borders of territories, meant that access to the place in question was forbidden to profane persons and defended by the gods.
