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Genesis 3

7 translations · read through 12 traditions · film, song & storybook.

NCB · New Consensus Bible

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You must not eat of it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.'" 4The serpent said to the woman, "You will certainly not die, 5for God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the wind of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9The LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10He said, "I heard your sound in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid." 11He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?" 12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 14The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all livestock, and more than every wild animal of the field. On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. 15I 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." 16To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18It will yield thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return." 20The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22Then the LORD God said, "Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—" 23Therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword turning in every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

AI-generated rendering, not a human translation. Read Genesis 3 in the New Consensus Bible →

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Genesis 3

Deception enters the garden, leading the first humans to disobey, fracturing their harmony with the Creator and resulting in their exile into a harsher world.

The New Consensus Bible text of Genesis 3, read aloud over the chapter’s eight scenes. The words appear below as they are read.

Film, illustrations and song are AI-generated from this chapter’s consensus — not a depiction any tradition has approved.

What the traditions agree on

It is widely affirmed that Genesis 3:15 constitutes the Protoevangelium, the first gospel prophecy of Christ's ultimate victory over Satan. Several traditions also maintain that the expulsion from the garden and the barring of the Tree of Life were acts of divine mercy designed to prevent humanity from immortalizing their sinful state, while some traditions emphasize that God seeking out the hiding couple constitutes the initial movement of divine prevenient grace. The anthropological… Sign in to read the full consensus →

Where the traditions differ

  • The narrative of the Fall functions primarily as a mythological archetype of human estrangement rather than a literal historical event.

    anglican: QUALIFY; reformed: DENY; baptist: DENY

  • Adam acted as the federal head of humanity, breaking a Covenant of Works on behalf of all his descendants.

    reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: QUALIFY

  • Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in the transmission of inherited personal guilt to all humanity.

    catholic: QUALIFY; orthodox: DENY; reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: AFFIRM; restorationist: DENY

  • The Fall resulted in a totally corrupted human nature, rendering the human will bound and incapable of spiritual good.

    anglican: QUALIFY; lutheran: AFFIRM; reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: AFFIRM; methodist: AFFIRM; anabaptist: DENY; restorationist: DENY

  • The Fall introduced biological corruption, passibility, and physical mortality into human nature as an inherited ancestral sin, without transmitting personal guilt.

    catholic: QUALIFY; orthodox: AFFIRM; lutheran: DENY; reformed: DENY; baptist: DENY

  • Humanity suffers the physical consequences of the Fall but does not inherit a corrupted spiritual nature or guilt from Adam.

    catholic: DENY; anglican: DENY; lutheran: DENY; reformed: DENY; baptist: DENY; methodist: DENY; anabaptist: DENY; restorationist: AFFIRM

  • The Fall was a premature grasping at knowledge by spiritually immature beings rather than a fall from absolute perfection.

    orthodox: AFFIRM; lutheran: DENY; reformed: DENY

  • The progression of the woman's temptation establishes a universal pattern of sin as deliberate individual choice rather than an inherited condition.

    catholic: DENY; anglican: DENY; lutheran: DENY; reformed: DENY; baptist: DENY; methodist: DENY; restorationist: AFFIRM

  • The divine provision of animal skins points typologically to penal substitutionary atonement and the covering of sin by Christ's imputed righteousness.

    anglican: QUALIFY; lutheran: QUALIFY; reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: AFFIRM; adventist: AFFIRM

  • The Sacrament of Baptism is applied to remit the inherited guilt of Original Sin incurred in Eden.

    catholic: QUALIFY; orthodox: DENY; restorationist: DENY

How each tradition reads it

Each reading was generated in isolation — no tradition sees another’s answer.

Catholic

In this narrative, the serpent tempts the woman to doubt God's command (vv. 1-5). She and the man eat the forbidden fruit, leading to the immediate realization of their nakedness (vv. 6-7). God's interrogation results in blame-shifting (vv. 8-13) and subsequent judgments: the serpent is cursed, enmity is declared between its seed and the woman's (vv. 14-15), childbirth and marital relations are marred by pain and domination (v. 16), and the ground is cursed, ensuring human toil and physical death (vv. 17-19). God clothes them in animal skins and expels them from Eden, setting Cherubim to guard the tree of life (vv. 21-24). Reception: The Catholic communion reads this chapter through a heavily typological and dogmatic lens, though with differing emphases between its Latin and Eastern churches. The Magisterium, definitively at the Council of Trent, interprets the disobedience (vv. 6-7) as the origin of 'Original Sin,' wherein Adam lost original holiness and justice, transmitting a wounded, fallen nature to all humanity. The Eastern Catholic tradition, drawing on Fathers like Maximus the Confessor, characteristically emphasizes 'ancestral sin'—the inheritance of mortality, corruption, and passibility rather than inherited legal guilt. Verse 15 is universally received as the 'Protoevangelium' (First Gospel). Following Irenaeus of Lyons, the tradition sees a deep Eve-Mary typology. In the Latin Church, the Vulgate translation 'she shall crush thy head' profoundly shaped Mariology; Pope Pius IX cited the absolute enmity in verse 15 to dogmatically define the Immaculate Conception. Additionally, the garments of skin (v. 21) are interpreted by Eastern Fathers like Gregory of Nyssa not merely as physical clothing, but as the imposition of biological mortality and animal passions onto human nature after the Fall.

Eastern Orthodox

This narrative describes the temptation of the woman by the serpent, the transgression of the human couple in eating the forbidden fruit, and their subsequent realization of nakedness. It details God's confrontation with them, the distribution of consequences—curses upon the serpent and the ground, and multiplied pain and toil for the woman and man—and concludes with God clothing them in animal skins and expelling them from the garden to prevent them from eating from the tree of life. Reception: Eastern Orthodox reception, heavily shaped by the Greek Fathers and the Septuagint (LXX), reads this chapter through the paradigm of 'ancestral sin' (propatrikon hamartema) rather than the Augustinian framework of 'original sin.' The tradition insists that humanity inherits the condition of mortality and corruption (death) resulting from the Fall, but not the personal guilt of Adam and Eve's transgression. Irenaeus of Lyons famously argued that Adam and Eve were created in a state of spiritual infancy and that the taking of the fruit (3:5-6) was a premature grasping at a maturity they were not yet ready for, a view that forms a characteristic Orthodox emphasis on the Fall as a failure to mature rather than a fall from absolute, static perfection. God's questioning in 3:9 ('Where are you?') is read not as divine ignorance but as a therapeutic invitation to repentance. John Chrysostom notes that God sought to draw out confession, an invitation the humans rejected by shifting the blame (3:12-13). The 'coats of skins' (3:21) are profoundly allegorized by Greek patristic writers. Gregory of Nyssa interprets these garments as the addition of biological mortality, physical passibility, and the grossness of the present human condition to humanity's nature, shielding them in a fallen world. Furthermore, the expulsion from Eden and the barring of the Tree of Life (3:22-24) are deeply held to be acts of divine mercy. Gregory Nazianzen articulates the consensus that God drove humanity out so that their sin and fallen state would not become immortalized. The Orthodox also emphasize the Septuagint's rendering of Genesis 3:15. Where the Greek word for 'seed' (sperma) is neuter, the LXX translators utilized the masculine pronoun 'he' (autos) for 'he shall bruise your head,' which the tradition receives as a direct, explicit prophecy of Christ.

Oriental Orthodox

The narrative recounts the serpent's deception of the woman, who eats the forbidden fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden and gives it to her husband. Upon eating, their eyes are opened to their nakedness, prompting them to sew fig leaves together. Hearing God in the garden, they hide. God's interrogation leads to judgments: the serpent is cursed to crawl and eat dust, with enmity placed between its seed and the woman's seed; the woman faces multiplied sorrow in childbirth and subjection to her husband; the ground is cursed for the man, requiring painful toil for food until his return to dust. God makes coats of skins for the couple and expels them from Eden, placing cherubim and a flaming sword to block access to the Tree of Life. Reception: In the Oriental Orthodox tradition, this chapter is interpreted profoundly through Alexandrian and Syriac typologies of ontological corruption and incarnational restoration. The Alexandrian Fathers, particularly Athanasius, understand the Fall not merely as a juridical infraction but as an ontological catastrophe: by turning away from the contemplation of the divine Word toward sensible things, humanity slipped toward non-being and the corruption of death (Genesis 3:19). In the Syriac tradition, Ephrem the Syrian emphasizes that Adam and Eve were originally clothed in a divine 'garment of glory' or 'light.' Their sudden realization of nakedness (Genesis 3:7) was the devastating stripping of this radiant grace. Consequently, the 'coats of skins' (Genesis 3:21) are understood typologically as the dense mortality, fleshly vulnerability, and corruptibility of the post-lapsarian state, which the Word must later assume to heal. Genesis 3:15 is received as the protoevangelium, fulfilled when Christ, the New Adam, crushes the serpent. Furthermore, the expulsion and the barring of the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24) are viewed paradoxically as acts of divine mercy, preventing humanity from living endlessly in a state of corrupted sin, thus preserving them for the future resurrection.

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Every translation

The same chapter in 7 public-domain translations.

WEB · World English Bible

1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” 4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” 16To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. 18It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. 19You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” 20The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 21Yahweh God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. 22Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 23Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

KJV · King James Version

1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

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Differences that change the meaning (58)
  • v1 [lexical]: translation of the Hebrew connective — “Now” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “And” (YLT, DARBY)
  • v1 [lexical]: translation of 'sadeh' vs 'erets' — “field” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “beasts of the earth” (DRC)
  • v1 [interpretive]: handling of the divine name YHWH Elohim — “the Lord God had” (KJV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “Yahweh” (WEB) vs “Jehovah” (ASV) vs “Jehovah hath” (YLT) vs “Jehovah Elohim” (DARBY)
  • v1 [grammatical]: (vv 1, 4, 9) phrasing and tense of dialogue tag — “to” (WEB, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “And he said unto” (KJV, ASV) vs “saith” (YLT) vs “it to” (DARBY)
  • v1 [lexical]: translation of 'kol' — “every” (KJV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “any” (WEB, ASV)
  • v1 [lexical]: (vv 1, 3, 8, 10, 23, 24) translation of 'gan' as garden vs paradise — “the garden” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “paradise” (DRC)
  • v2 [grammatical]: (vv 2, 24) preposition choice — “of” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “from” (WEB)
  • v3 [grammatical]: connective and negative phrasing — “But of” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “not” (WEB) vs “and” (YLT)
  • v3 [stylistic]: (vv 3, 11) relative pronoun choice — “which” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “that” (DARBY)
  • v3 [stylistic]: synonymous noun choice — “midst” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “middle” (WEB)
  • v3 [grammatical]: pronoun choice and mood — “ye” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you” (WEB) vs “perhaps we” (DRC)
  • v4 [grammatical]: handling of the Hebrew infinitive absolute construction — “Ye shall not surely” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “You won’t really” (WEB) vs “Dying do” (YLT) vs “will certainly” (DARBY) vs “No you” (DRC)
  • v5 [lexical]: translation of the connective 'ki' — “For” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “but” (DARBY)
  • v5 [stylistic]: auxiliary vs simple present tense — “doth know” (KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “knows” (WEB, DARBY)
  • v5 [grammatical]: phrasing of the temporal clause — “the” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “what” (DRC)
  • v5 [grammatical]: (vv 5, 7) syntax of the subordinate clause — “ye eat thereof then” (KJV, ASV) vs “of it” (DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you it” (WEB) vs “of” (YLT) vs “soever you shall” (DRC)
  • v5 [grammatical]: (vv 5, 18) verb tense and mood — “shall be” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “will” (WEB, DARBY) vs “have been” (YLT)
  • v6 [lexical]: translation of 'maakal' — “for food” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “to eat” (DRC)
  • v6 [interpretive]: translation of 'lehaskil' — “make one wise” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “and” (YLT) vs “give intelligence and” (DARBY) vs “behold and” (DRC)
  • v6 [grammatical]: verb tense and partitive phrasing — “took” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “some” (WEB) vs “taketh” (YLT)
  • v6 [grammatical]: possessive pronoun vs definite article — “its” (WEB, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “the” (KJV, ASV, DRC)
  • v7 [grammatical]: phrasing of possessive vs definite article — “And the” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “Their” (WEB)
  • v7 [grammatical]: verb tense and voice — “were” (WEB, KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “are” (YLT) vs “perceived themselves to be” (DRC)
  • v7 [grammatical]: syntax of the sewing action — “fig-leaves” (ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “sewed fig leaves together” (WEB, KJV) vs “sew fig-leaves” (YLT) vs “together” (DRC)
  • v7 [lexical]: translation of 'hagorot' — “made” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, DRC) vs “coverings for” (WEB) vs “make to” (YLT) vs “for” (WEBSTER)
  • v8 [interpretive]: translation of 'ha-adam' and 'ruach' — “the man” (WEB, ASV, YLT) vs “day and Adam” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “Man” (DARBY) vs “afternoon air” (DRC)
  • v8 [lexical]: translation of 'pene' — “presence” (WEB, KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “face” (YLT, DRC)
  • v9 [stylistic]: (vv 9, 11, 14) archaic vs modern pronoun and verb form — “art thou” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “are you” (WEB)
  • v10 [grammatical]: explicit subject and syntax — “And he said” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “The man” (WEB) vs “saith Thy sound” (YLT)
  • v10 [grammatical]: verb tense and causal connective — “was afraid because” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “am for” (YLT) vs “feared” (DARBY)
  • v10 [grammatical]: (vv 10, 12, 13, 20) verb tense — “was” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “am” (YLT, DARBY)
  • v11 [grammatical]: explicit vs implicit subject — “And he said” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “God” (WEB) vs “saith” (YLT) vs “to him And” (DRC)
  • v11 [grammatical]: verb phrasing and syntax — “told thee” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you” (WEB) vs “hath declared to” (YLT) vs “hath” (DRC)
  • v12 [grammatical]: partitive phrasing — “of” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “fruit from” (WEB)
  • v13 [lexical]: translation of 'nasha' — “deceived” (WEB, DARBY, DRC) vs “beguiled” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “hath caused” (YLT)
  • v14 [grammatical]: prepositional choice — “above” (WEB, KJV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “art thou” (ASV, YLT) vs “among” (DRC)
  • v14 [lexical]: translation of 'behemah' — “cattle” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “livestock” (WEB) vs “the” (YLT)
  • v14 [lexical]: translation of 'chayyah' — “above every beast” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “animal” (WEB) vs “beasts” (DRC)
  • v14 [stylistic]: (vv 14, 17, 19) archaic vs modern possessive pronoun — “thy” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “your” (WEB)
  • v15 [stylistic]: (vv 15, 16) archaic vs modern pronoun — “thee” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “you” (WEB)
  • v16 [stylistic]: (vv 16, 19) preposition choice — “To” (WEB, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “Unto” (KJV, ASV, YLT)
  • v16 [grammatical]: verb tense and phrasing — “shall rule” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “will” (WEB) vs “doth” (YLT) vs “have dominion” (DRC)
  • v17 [lexical]: translating 'le-adam' as proper name vs common noun — “To” (WEB, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “And unto Adam” (KJV, ASV) vs “to the man” (YLT)
  • v17 [grammatical]: prepositional phrasing — “of which” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “about” (WEB) vs “concerning” (YLT) vs “whereof” (DRC)
  • v17 [grammatical]: object phrasing — “of it” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “from with much labor” (WEB) vs “thereof” (DRC)
  • v18 [grammatical]: singular vs plural — “herb” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “herbs” (DRC)
  • v18 [lexical]: translation of 'sadeh' — “field” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “earth” (DRC)
  • v19 [lexical]: translation of 'adamah' and surrounding syntax — “ground for” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you were taken” (WEB) vs “earth” (DRC)
  • v22 [grammatical]: syntax of the infinitive/participle — “to know” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “knowing” (WEB, DRC) vs “as the knowledge of” (YLT)
  • v22 [lexical]: translation of 'shalach' — “put forth” (KJV, ASV, DRC) vs “reach out” (WEB) vs “send” (YLT) vs “stretch out” (DARBY) vs “should” (WEBSTER)
  • v22 [lexical]: translation of 'le-olam' — “live for ever” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “forever” (WEB) vs “lived to the age” (YLT)
  • v23 [stylistic]: prepositional phrasing — “forth from” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “out” (WEB) vs “out of” (DRC)
  • v23 [interpretive]: translating 'Eden' as proper name vs its meaning — “Eden” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “pleasure” (DRC)
  • v23 [lexical]: translation of 'adamah' — “ground” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “earth” (DRC)
  • v23 [stylistic]: relative adverb choice — “which” (WEB, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “whence” (KJV, ASV)
  • v24 [lexical]: connective choice — “So” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “And” (DARBY, DRC) vs “yea” (YLT)
  • v24 [lexical]: translation of 'garash' — “drove” (WEB, KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “casteth” (YLT) vs “cast” (DRC)
  • v24 [lexical]: translation of 'shamar' — “keep” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “guard” (WEB, YLT, DARBY)

Teaching on Genesis 3

Real teaching on this chapter, published by each tradition itself and checked live — links to other people’s work, not endorsements.

Catholic

Eastern Orthodox

Oriental Orthodox

Lutheran

Anglican / Episcopal

Presbyterian / Reformed

Baptist

Anabaptist / Mennonite

Methodist / Wesleyan

Pentecostal / Charismatic

Seventh-day Adventist

Churches of Christ / Restorationist

Latter-day Saint (LDS)

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Messianic Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Reform Judaism

Academic (historical-critical)

Non-denominational Evangelical

Behind this page

Source text. Hebrew/Aramaic (Westminster Leningrad Codex tradition, via STEPBible TAHOT). Westminster Leningrad Codex (Hebrew)

Divine names: YHWH (the LORD), Elohim (God) — render YHWH and Elohim distinguishably.

Also consulted, but not counted in the consensus

Academic textual-historical analysis

Genesis 3 presents a continuous narrative concerning the violation of a divine prohibition. A serpent, described as crafty, initiates a dialogue with the woman regarding the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden. Concluding that the tree is desirable for food and wisdom, the woman eats its fruit and gives some to her husband. The immediate consequence is a newfound awareness of their nakedness, prompting them to sew fig leaves together. Upon hearing Yahweh God walking in the garden, the humans hide. An interrogation sequence follows, leading the deity to pronounce specific consequences: the serpent is condemned to crawl and eat dust, the woman is subjected to multiplied pain in childbirth and subordination, and the man is consigned to grueling agricultural labor from the cursed ground until his death. Finally, the deity clothes the humans in animal skins, notes that they have become like divine beings in knowing good and evil, and expels them from the garden, placing cherubim and a flaming sword to block their return to the tree of life.

Jewish interpretation

The narrative describes the first human couple in the Garden of Eden and their encounter with a subtle serpent. Deceived by the serpent's claim that eating from the forbidden tree will grant them divine wisdom and not result in death, the woman eats the fruit and gives some to the man. They immediately realize their nakedness and attempt to hide from God. When God questions them, they assign blame down the chain: the man blames the woman (and God for giving her), and the woman blames the serpent. God pronounces consequences for each: the serpent is cursed to crawl on its belly and face enmity with humanity; the woman faces multiplied pain in childbirth and subjugation to her husband; the man is cursed to labor in sorrow over thorn-yielding ground until he returns to the dust. God clothes them in animal skins and expels them from Eden, stationing cherubim and a flaming sword to block their access to the Tree of Life.

Latter-day Saint

Genesis 3 relates the narrative of the first human disobedience and the origin of mortal conditions. The serpent, described as subtle, tempts the woman to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (vv. 1-5). She partakes and gives the fruit to her husband (v. 6). Realizing their nakedness, they fashion coverings and hide from God (vv. 7-10). God confronts them, resulting in consequential pronouncements: the serpent is cursed, the woman will experience multiplied sorrow in childbearing and her husband will rule over her, and the man will toil against a cursed earth to eat (vv. 14-19). The man names his wife Eve, the mother of all living (v. 20). God clothes them in animal skins (v. 21) and, declaring that the man has become 'as one of us,' expels them from Eden, placing cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the tree of life lest they eat and live forever (vv. 22-24).

Jehovah's Witnesses

In the Watch Tower Society's reading, Genesis 3 recounts the literal, historical rebellion of the first human pair in the Garden of Eden. An invisible spirit creature uses a literal serpent as a mouthpiece to deceive the woman, questioning God's command and directly contradicting His warning of death (verses 1-4). The serpent impugns God's motives, suggesting He is withholding knowledge and independence (verse 5). Following the woman's and the man's willful disobedience (verse 6), their relationship with Jehovah God is immediately fractured, evidenced by their shame and hiding (verses 7-10). Jehovah conducts a judicial hearing (verses 11-13) and pronounces sentences: the serpent is cursed (verse 14), a profound enmity and future conflict are foretold between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed (verse 15), and the humans are sentenced to hardship and eventual death (verses 16-19). Finally, Jehovah expels them from Eden to prevent them from taking from the tree of life, sealing their loss of everlasting physical life (verses 22-24).

Translation choices the NCB made (39)
  • v1: Now — Indicates a new phase in the narrative discourse naturally in English syntax
  • v1: crafty — Accurately conveys cunning intelligence while accepting the loss of the source wordplay with 'naked' ('erummim)
  • v1: wild animal — Distinguishes undomesticated creatures of the field from livestock in contemporary English
  • v1: the LORD God — Translates the compound divine name according to standard mapped conventions
  • v1: any tree — Accurately translates the Hebrew 'kol' in a negative clause to mean 'any' rather than 'every'
  • v1: Did God really say — Captures the incredulous or questioning force of the Hebrew particle combination
  • v1: Neutral narrative rendering — Leaves the claim that the narrative functions primarily as a mythological archetype of human estrangement disputed among traditions
  • v3: in the middle — Uses contemporary spatial terminology rather than archaic phrasing
  • v3: or else — Updates the negative purpose clause into modern conditional phrasing
  • v4: You will certainly not — Expresses the emphatic negation of the Hebrew infinitive absolute construction naturally
  • v5: like God — Maintains the singular reference to the deity previously mentioned by the serpent
  • v6: for gaining wisdom — Captures the causative force of the hiphil infinitive in a natural English gerund phrase
  • v6: Neutral rendering of the eating — Leaves the claim that Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in the transmission of inherited personal guilt to all humanity disputed among traditions
  • v6: Neutral rendering of their awakening — Leaves the claim that the Fall resulted in a totally corrupted human nature, rendering the human will bound and incapable of spiritual good disputed among traditions
  • v6: Neutral translation of taking the fruit — Leaves the claim that the Fall was a premature grasping at knowledge by spiritually immature beings rather than a fall from absolute perfection disputed among traditions
  • v6: Neutral rendering of the temptation sequence — Leaves the claim that the progression of the woman's temptation establishes a universal pattern of sin as deliberate individual choice rather than an inherited condition disputed among traditions
  • v7: coverings — Translates the result of the sewing action as general bodily garments
  • v8: wind of the day — Retains the literal meteorological reference of the source language
  • v9: Where are you? — Leaves the claim that God seeking the couple constitutes prevenient grace disputed among traditions
  • v11: from which — Updates archaic relative pronouns to standard contemporary English
  • v13: deceived — Uses a standard contemporary verb for being tricked or misled
  • v14: livestock — Broadens the term beyond bovines to all domesticated herd animals
  • v15: hostility — Updates the archaic 'enmity' to a modern equivalent for active, mutual opposition
  • v15: strike — Applies a single English verb that can describe both a human blow to a head and a snake's bite to a heel, maintaining the Hebrew chiasm
  • v15: Neutral rendering of the mutual striking — Accommodates the claim that this constitutes the Protoevangelium, which enjoys a broad reception
  • v16: pain in childbearing — Treats the two nouns as a hendiadys rather than two entirely separate curses
  • v17: to Adam — Translates as a proper name in continuity with subsequent chapters, while leaving the claim of Adam acting as federal head in a Covenant of Works disputed among traditions
  • v17: in toil — Connects the root to the physical exhaustion of agricultural work rather than just emotional grief
  • v18: plants — Uses a broader contemporary term for green vegetation over the archaic 'herb'
  • v19: Literal translation of return to dust — Leaves the claim that the Fall introduced biological corruption, passibility, and physical mortality into human nature as an inherited ancestral sin, without transmitting personal guilt disputed among traditions
  • v19: Neutral rendering of the curse of death — Leaves the claim that humanity suffers the physical consequences of the Fall but does not inherit a corrupted spiritual nature or guilt from Adam disputed among traditions
  • v20: Eve — Retains the traditional English name while acknowledging the loss of the direct phonetic pun with 'living'
  • v21: Neutral rendering of God making garments — Leaves the claim that the animal skins typologically point to penal substitutionary atonement disputed among traditions
  • v22: Look — Updates the archaic 'behold' to modern contemporary English
  • v22: like one of us — Updates the preposition for modern idiomatic expression while preserving the plural pronoun
  • v22: Neutral rendering of the concern for immortality — Accommodates the claim that the expulsion was an act of divine mercy, which enjoys a broad reception
  • v23: work — Maintains the lexical connection to the physical labor described earlier in the agricultural curse
  • v24: stationed — Reflects the hiphil causative form in a military or guarding context
  • v24: Neutral description of being driven out — Leaves the claim that the Sacrament of Baptism is applied to remit the inherited guilt of Original Sin incurred in Eden disputed among traditions
Limits worth knowing
  • This is AI-generated and source-grounded, and it is approved by no community that holds these traditions.
  • The readings were produced in isolated calls that do not see one another. Isolation prevents anchoring; it does not make them independent witnesses.
  • The Nicene-Trinitarian boundary, and the decision not to seat non-denominational Evangelicalism separately (it is a cross-traditional movement already present within several voting profiles), are editorial choices.
  • The roster, the grouping into three families, and the rule that families (not seat counts) carry consensus all shape the result. A different roster would produce a different synthesis.
  • One profile cannot exhaust a tradition; the synthesis reflects what the profiles said, not everything the traditions hold.
  • The non-voting panels (Academic, Jewish) never vote; LDS and Jehovah's Witness readings are a comparative appendix only.
  • Any profiles excluded for this chapter after failing the audit are named on the page and removed from the eligible roster for it.
  • The rendering is unreviewed by any tradition, and every contested wording it settled is listed in Choices Made — where the text forced a decision, the decision is documented rather than hidden behind a claim of preserved ambiguity.

See the full step-by-step working → · AI-generated Jul 15, 2026, gemini-3.1-pro-preview (high thinking) — every stage, v4 spec + Addendum B (claim-audited, cross-stage-checked)