1- Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field 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’?”
Serpent is “Nachash,” #5175 in the Strong’s. It is a snake, from its hiss, from #5172. To hiss, whisper a magic spell, enchanter.
Bullinger cites nachash as a shining one. The old serpent from 2 Cor. 11.3 transformed as “an angel of light” (= a glorious angel, 2 Cor. 11.14.) See appendix 19 in the Companion Bible.
Subtil is “aruwm,” #6175 in the Strong’s Concordance. It means cunning, in a bad sense. Crafty. Bullinger notes this as wise.
2- And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But 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.'”
Again there is a separation from the trees “etsin” and the tree “atseh” which dwells in the midst of the garden. The etsin are regular trees. The atseh is a man; in this case, the serpent or Satan.
Touch here is “Naga,” #5060 of the Hebrew dictionary in the Strong’s Concordance. It means touch but it also means; to lie with a woman. This gives us an indication to the nature of the sin in the garden.
4- And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Satan’s second utterance is contrary to God’s word.
5- For 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.”
This is the foundation for this second lie. Satan convinces people that they can become like God through knowledge, technology or some other false means.
6- And 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.
See the first Epistle of John, 1 John 2:16, “Lust of the flesh”, and “lust of the eyes”, also compare Matthew 4:3 and 4:5. This is further indication of the nature of the sin in the garden. It is not an apple.
See 2 Cor 11:3; Paul writes “But I fear. lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty…”. The word beguiled in the Greek is “exapatao” #1818 in the Greek dictionary of the Strong’s Concordance. It means to seduce wholly. Paul is clarifying the sin in the garden and explaining that it was in fact a sexual act between Satan and Even, then also Adam.
7- And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
The word aprons only occurs here. It shows that they covered the parts that sinned with fig leaves.
8- And 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.
9- And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, “Where art thou?”
10- And he said, ” I heard Thy voice in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11- And He said, “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”
12- And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.”
Note that Adam is not only blaming his wife here, but also God for providing him with the woman.
13- And 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.”
The word beguiled here is “nasha” #5377 in the Hebrew dictionary of the Strong’s Concordance. It means to lead astray, to delude or (morally) to seduce.
This cryptic translation of the sin in the garden may somewhat be explained in the note to the reader of the original 1611 English translation of the King James Bible. It states that some of the text has been dulled down to protect children and the innocent. The original manuscripts read more matter of fact. This can be seen now with the use of the Strong’s Concordance, making it a critical tool to understanding the original word and meaning. Perhaps this is all part of God’s plan, so as only those who wish to study more in depth will the truth be revealed.
14- And 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:
The phrase, “upon thy belly,” is a figure of speech which implies the utmost humiliation, as in Ps 44:25. See appendix 19 in the Companion Bible for Bullingers explanation.
15- And I will put emnity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”
Notice the capital Seed for the woman and the capital His for heel. This is referring to Christ, whom will come from the woman’s Seed. Again, see appendix 19 in the Companion Bible for a full explanation. Satan’s seed will crucify Christ, thus bruising his heel, but in so doing; Satan will suffer death for the transgression.
16- Unto 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.”
17- And 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;
18- Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19- In 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.”
20-And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
The name Eve occurs 4 times; here, 4:1, 2 Cor 11:3, and 1 Tim 2:13. Eve is “chavvah” in the Hebrew, #2332 in the Strong’s. It means, life giver. Eve is the mother of all living because she will bring forth Christ, who will provide salvation and everlasting life for all whom believe.
21- Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22- And the Lord God said, ” Behold, the man is become 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: -“
Take is not the same as touch earlier.
23- Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Adam and his descendants are farmers, to till the ground.
24- So 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.
The tree of life is again Jesus, and the sword is his tongue according to Revelations 1:15-16. It cuts both ways.