Go to Related Reading
About this book

Genesis

About this book

Disobedience and Expulsion from the Garden

Chapter 3

1 Now the serpent was shrewder than any of the wild animals⁠ that the Lord God had made.⁠ He said to the woman,⁠ “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”⁠ 2 The woman said to the serpent,⁠ “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard;⁠ 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’”⁠ 4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die,⁠ 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like God,⁠ knowing good and evil.”⁠ 6 When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye,⁠ and was desirable for making one wise,⁠ she took some of its fruit and ate it.⁠ She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her,⁠ and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.⁠ 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day,⁠ and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”⁠ 10 The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”⁠ 11 And the Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.”⁠ 13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”⁠ 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the cattle and all the living creatures of the field!⁠ On your belly you will crawl⁠ and dust you will eat all the days of your life.⁠ 15 And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”⁠ 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your labor pains;⁠ with pain you will give birth to children.⁠ You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.”⁠ 17 But to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed the voice of52 your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,⁠ ‘You must not eat from it,’ the ground is cursed because of you;⁠ in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.⁠ 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grass of the field.⁠ 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”⁠ 20 The man named his wife Eve,⁠ because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments from skin⁠ for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.⁠ 22 And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil,⁠ he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”⁠ 23 So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden⁠ to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword⁠ to guard the way to the tree of life.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 3:17 and Genesis 27:13

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

In Genesis 27, Rebekah tells Jacob to "listen to my voice," then takes and gives him what he needs to deceive Isaac, echoing Eve's actions with Adam in Genesis 3:6. Jacob complies despite having doubts, and the deception creates family conflict.

Passages

Genesis 3:17

Hebrew Bible
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.” 17 But to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed the voice of52 your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ the ground is cursed because of you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grass of the field.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Genesis 27:13

Hebrew Bible
11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!” 14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

"... The story of Jacob and Rebekah is the next instance in which Genesis employs the שמע־קול phrase. Woven into the plot to deceive Isaac, “listening to the voice” of his mother creates sufficient tension. First, she overhears Isaac’s instructions to Esau and the blessing he will receive (Gen 27:5). She then instructs Jacob, saying, “Listen to my voice as I command you” (Genesis 27:8). The lexical connections persist, commanding Jacob to take (לקח) two goats while she gives (נתן) the prepared food to Jacob. The completion of the deception also centers upon eating a meal. These lexical connections are not as closely related to the parallel between Genesis 3 and 16, but do exist as the key actions of the story. Unlike the man and Abram, Jacob flinches before listening to the voice of his mother. He questions the feasibility of this plan (Genesis 27:11–12). I should note that the next appearances of שמע־קול within this story contrast each other. The first is meant to reassure Jacob where she says, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice ...” (Genesis 27:13). However, the next instance where Esau has discovered their co-opting deceit and vows to kill Jacob contrasts the prior use of שמע־קול. Rebekah uses the emphatic imperative to save Jacob’s life: “my son, listen to my voice. Arise and flee ...” (Genesis 27:43) ..."
Dru Johnson, Epistemology and Biblical Theology: From the Pentateuch to Mark’s Gospel, Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Biblical Criticism 4 (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018), 44.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Genesis 3:17 and Genesis 27:13

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library