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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 3

1 Now the serpent was the wisest of all the brutes on the earth, which the Lord God made,⁠ and the serpent said to the woman, Why has God said, Do not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, for fear that you might die. 4 And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. 5 For God knew that in whatever day you should eat of it your eyes would be opened, and you would be as gods,⁠ knowing good and evil. 6 And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to look upon and beautiful to contemplate, and having taken of its fruit she ate, and she gave to her husband also with her, and they ate. 7 And the eyes of both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons to go round them. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon; and both Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called Adam and said to him,⁠ Adam, where are you? 10 And he said to him, I heard your voice as you walked in the garden, and I feared because I was naked and I hid myself. 11 And he said to him, Who told you that you were naked, unless you have eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it alone not to eat? 12 And Adam said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate. 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, Why have you done this? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate. 14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed above all cattle and all the brutes of the earth, on your breast and belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, he shall watch against your head, and you shall watch against his heel.⁠ 16 And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pains and your groanings; in pain you shall bring forth children, and your return shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.⁠ 17 And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it only not to eat, cursed is the ground in your labors,⁠ in pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you will eat your bread until you return to the earth out of which you were taken, for earth you are and to earth you shall return. 20 And Adam called the name of his wife Life,⁠ because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin, and clothed them. 22 And God said, Look, Adam has become as one of us, to know good and evil, and now for fear that at any time he stretch forth his hand, and take of the tree of life and eat, and so he shall live forever... 23 So the Lord God sent him forth out of the garden of Delight⁠ to cultivate the ground out of which he was taken. 24 And he cast out Adam and caused him to dwell over against the garden of Delight,⁠ and stationed the cherubs and the fiery sword that turns about⁠ to keep the way of the tree of life.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 3:16 and LXX Genesis 3:16 and Jubilees 3:24

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

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Summary

Genesis 3 says Eve will desire her husband and he will rule over her, but the Greek Septuagint changes this to say she will return or find refuge with him. Jubilees uses similar language, suggesting both were influenced by a common tradition.

Passages

Genesis 3:16

Hebrew Bible
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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

LXX Genesis 3:16

Septuagint
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, he shall watch against your head, and you shall watch against his heel. 16 And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pains and your groanings; in pain you shall bring forth children, and your return shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. 17 And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it only not to eat, cursed is the ground in your labors, in pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

Jubilees 3:24

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
23 And God cursed the serpent, and was angry with it forever. And He was angry with the woman, because she listened to the voice of the serpent, and ate; 24 and He said to her: 'I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your pains: in sorrow you shall give birth to children, and your return shall be to your husband, and he will rule over you.' 25 And to Adam also he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat of it, the ground is cursed because of you: thorns and thistles it shall produce for you, and you shall eat your bread by the sweat of your face, until you return to the earth from where you were taken; for you are earth, and you shall return to earth.'
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

References

"... God sentences Eve to bear children in sadness (i.e. in pain, Genesis 3:16), adding: Your place of refuge will be with your husband, clearly representing 'And to your husband is your return,' the understanding of Genesis 3:16 reflected in the Septuagint and other Second Temple sources. This seems to represent a different text-form, with 'your return' in place of MT’s 'your urge' ..."
James L. Kugel, A Walk through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 41.

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

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Genesis 3:16 and LXX Genesis 3:16 and Jubilees 3:24

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