---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Genesis 3"
description: "CHAPTER 3   :-. THE TEMPTATION. 1. the serpent—The fall of man
was effected by the seductions of a serpent. That it was a real
serpent is evident from the"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/3"
---

![Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible](/images/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible.jpg)

 The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
 
Include 66 books
 
Denomination: calvinism
 
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CHAPTER 3

. THE TEMPTATION.

**1. the serpent**—The fall of man
was effected by the seductions of a serpent. That it was a real
serpent is evident from the plain and artless style of the history
and from the many allusions made to it in the New Testament. But the
material serpent was the instrument or tool of a higher agent, Satan
or the devil, to whom the sacred writers apply from this incident the
reproachful name of "the dragon, that old serpent" []. Though Moses makes no mention of this wicked spirit—giving
only the history of the visible world—yet in the fuller discoveries
of the Gospel, it is distinctly intimated that Satan was the author
of the plot ([John 8:44](../../../kjv/john/8/44); [2 Corinthians 11:3](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/11/3);
[1 John 3:8](../../../kjv/1-john/3/8); [1 Timothy 2:14](../../../kjv/1-timothy/2/14);
[Revelation 20:2](../../../kjv/revelation/20/2)).
**more subtile**—Serpents
are proverbial for wisdom ([Revelation 20:2](../../../kjv/revelation/20/2)). But these reptiles were at first, probably, far superior
in beauty as well as in sagacity to what they are in their present
state.
**He said**—There being in
the pure bosoms of the first pair no principle of evil to work upon,
a solicitation to sin could come only from "without," as in
the analogous case of Jesus Christ ([Revelation 20:2](../../../kjv/revelation/20/2)); and as the tempter could not assume the human form, there
being only Adam and Eve in the world, the agency of an inferior
creature had to be employed. The dragon-serpent [BOCHART]
seemed the fittest for the vile purpose; and the devil was allowed by
Him who permitted the trial, to bring articulate sounds from its
mouth.
**unto the woman**—the
object of attack, from his knowledge of her frailty, of her having
been but a short time in the world, her limited experience of the
animal tribes, and, above all, her being alone, unfortified by the
presence and counsels of her husband. Though sinless and holy, she
was a free agent, liable to be tempted and seduced.
**yea, hath God said?**—Is
it true that He has restricted you in using the fruits of this
delightful place? This is not like one so good and kind. Surely there
is some mistake. He insinuated a doubt as to her sense of the divine
will and appeared as an angel of light ([Revelation 20:2](../../../kjv/revelation/20/2)), offering to lead her to the true interpretation. It was
evidently from her regarding him as specially sent on that errand,
that, instead of being startled by the reptile's speaking, she
received him as a heavenly messenger.

**2. the woman said, We may eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden**—In her answer, Eve extolled
the large extent of liberty they enjoyed in ranging at will amongst
all the trees—one only excepted, with respect to which, she
declared there was no doubt, either of the prohibition or the
penalty. But there is reason to think that she had already received
an injurious impression; for in using the words "lest ye die,"
instead of "ye shall surely die" [], she spoke as if the tree had been forbidden because of
some poisonous quality of its fruit. The tempter, perceiving this,
became bolder in his assertions.

**4. Ye shall not surely die**—He
proceeded, not only to assure her of perfect impunity, but to promise
great benefits from partaking of it.

**5. your eyes shall be opened**—His
words meant more than met the ear. In one sense her eyes were opened;
for she acquired a direful experience of "good and evil"—of
the happiness of a holy, and the misery of a sinful, condition. But
he studiously concealed this result from Eve, who, fired with a
generous desire for knowledge, thought only of rising to the rank and
privileges of her angelic visitants.
. THE FALL.

**6. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food**—Her imagination and feelings were
completely won; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of
Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same;
the outward object of attraction, the inward commotion of mind, the
increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation,
slavery, and ruin of the soul ([James 1:15](../../../kjv/james/1/15);
[1 John 2:16](../../../kjv/1-john/2/16)).

**8. they heard the voice of the Lord
God walking in the garden**—The divine Being appeared in the same
manner as formerly—uttering the well-known tones of kindness,
walking in some visible form (not running hastily, as one impelled by
the influence of angry feelings). How beautifully expressive are
these words of the familiar and condescending manner in which He had
hitherto held intercourse with the first pair.
**in the cool of the
day**—literally, "the breeze of the day," the evening.
**hid themselves amongst the
trees of the garden**—Shame, remorse, fear—a sense of
guilt—feelings to which they had hitherto been strangers disordered
their minds and led them to shun Him whose approach they used to
welcome. How foolish to think of eluding His notice ().
. THE
EXAMINATION.

**10. afraid, because . . .
naked**—apparently, a confession—the language of sorrow; but it
was evasive—no signs of true humility and penitence—each tries to
throw the blame on another.

**12. The woman . . . gave me**—He
blames God [CALVIN]. As
the woman had been given him for his companion and help, he had eaten
of the tree from love to her; and perceiving she was ruined, was
determined not to survive her [M'KNIGHT].

**13. beguiled**—cajoled by
flattering lies. This sin of the first pair was heinous and
aggravated—it was not simply eating an apple, but a love of self,
dishonor to God, ingratitude to a benefactor, disobedience to the
best of Masters—a preference of the creature to the Creator.
. THE SENTENCE.

**14. And the Lord God said unto the
serpent**—The Judge pronounces a doom: first, on the material
serpent, which is cursed above all creatures. From being a model of
grace and elegance in form, it has become the type of all that is
odious, disgusting, and low [LE
CLERC, ROSENMULLER];
or the curse has converted its natural condition into a punishment;
it is now branded with infamy and avoided with horror; next, on the
spiritual serpent, the seducer. Already fallen, he was to be still
more degraded and his power wholly destroyed by the offspring of
those he had deceived.

**15. thy seed**—not only evil
spirits, but wicked men.
**seed of the woman**—the
Messiah, or His Church [CALVIN,
HENGSTENBERG].
**I will put enmity between
thee and the woman**—God can only be said to do so by leaving
"the serpent and his seed to the influence of their own
corruption; and by those measures which, pursued for the salvation of
men, fill Satan and his angels with envy and rage."
**thou shalt bruise his
heel**—The serpent wounds the heel that crushes him; and so Satan
would be permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ and bring
suffering and persecution on His people.
**it shall bruise thy head**—The
serpent's poison is lodged in its head; and a bruise on that part is
fatal. Thus, fatal shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from
Christ, though it is probable he did not at first understand the
nature and extent of his doom.

**16. unto the woman he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow**—She was doomed as a wife and mother
to suffer pain of body and distress of mind. From being the help meet
of man and the partner of his affections [[Genesis 2:18](../../../kjv/genesis/2/18);
[Genesis 2:23](../../../kjv/genesis/2/23)], her condition would
henceforth be that of humble subjection.

**17-19. unto Adam he said**—made
to gain his livelihood by tilling the ground; but what before his
fall he did with ease and pleasure, was not to be accomplished after
it without painful and persevering exertion.

**19. till thou return unto the
ground**—Man became mortal; although he did not die the moment he
ate the forbidden fruit, his body underwent a change, and that would
lead to dissolution; the union subsisting between his soul and God
having already been dissolved, he had become liable to all the
miseries of this life and to the pains of hell for ever. What a
mournful chapter this is in the history of man! It gives the only
true account of the origin of all the physical and moral evils that
are in the world; upholds the moral character of God; shows that man,
made upright, fell from not being able to resist a slight temptation;
and becoming guilty and miserable, plunged all his posterity into the
same abyss ([Romans 5:12](../../../kjv/romans/5/12)). How
astonishing the grace which at that moment gave promise of a Saviour
and conferred on her who had the disgrace of introducing sin the
future honor of introducing that Deliverer ([Romans 5:12](../../../kjv/romans/5/12)).

**20. Adam called his wife's name
Eve**—probably in reference to her being a mother of the promised
Saviour, as well as of all mankind.

**21. God made coats of skins**—taught
them to make these for themselves. This implies the institution of
animal sacrifice, which was undoubtedly of divine appointment, and
instruction in the only acceptable mode of worship for sinful
creatures, through faith in a Redeemer ().

**22. And God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us**—not spoken in irony as is generally
supposed, but in deep compassion. The words should be rendered,
"Behold, what has become [by sin] of the man who was as one of
us"! Formed, at first, in our image to know good and evil—how
sad his condition now.
**and now, lest he put forth
his hand, and take also of the tree of life**—This tree being a
pledge of that immortal life with which obedience should be rewarded,
man lost, on his fall, all claim to this tree; and therefore, that he
might not eat of it or delude himself with the idea that eating of it
would restore what he had forfeited, the Lord sent him forth from the
garden.

**24. placed . . . cherbim**—The
passage should be rendered thus: "And he dwelt between the
cherubim at the East of the Garden of Eden and a fierce fire, or
Shekinah, unfolding itself to preserve the way of the tree of life."
This was the mode of worship now established to show God's anger at
sin and teach the mediation of a promised Saviour as the way of life,
as well as of access to God. They were the same figures as were
afterwards in the tabernacle and temple; and now, as then, God said,
"I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from
between the two cherubims" ().

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