Genesis 3 · The Lantern

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

As for the serpent's speech, either Adam understood the serpent's own mode of communication, or Satan spoke through it, or the serpent posed the question in his mind and speech was given to it, or Satan sought from God that speech be given to the serpent for a short time.

The serpent signifies the devil, who was certainly not simple. His cleverness is indicated by the fact that he is said to be wiser than all the beasts. The serpent was not said to be in paradise, though the serpent was among the beasts that God made. For paradise signifies the happy life, from which the serpent was absent, because it was already the devil.

When God had established man in the happiness of paradise in both sexes, namely male and female, the devil, envying man, having assumed the form of a serpent, attacked the woman—first by questioning: Why has God commanded you not to eat?

And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:

(32) Did the serpent speak with a human voice? [Gen 3:2] In the first place, it may be the fact that at the beginning of the world even the other animals besides man were not entirely destitute of the power of articulate speech, but only that man excelled them in a greater fluency and perspicuity of speech and language.

Although you are aware that the serpent is wiser than all creatures, his cunning is especially noticeable here. As he sets his snares, he pretends to give utterance to the words of God, for God had already said: 'From every tree of the garden you may eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for the day you eat of it you must die.

Let us, however, listen to what she says to him in reply. That is, when he said, "'Why is it that God said, Do not eat of any tree of the garden?'" the woman replied to the serpent, "'We do eat of every tree of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, Do not eat or even touch it in case you die.'" [ Gen 3:2, Gen 3:3 ] Do you see his malice?…

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.

(35) Why, when it was commanded them to avoid eating of one plant alone, the woman made also a further addition to this injunction, saying, "He said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it?" (#Ge 3:3). In the first place she says this, because taste and every other sense after its kind consists in the touch appropriate to it.

The tempter then turned its mind to the commandment of the One who had set down the commandment. Adam and Eve were commanded not only to not eat from the tree, but they were not even to draw near to it. The serpent then realized that God had forewarned them about even looking at it lest they become entrapped by its beauty.

The manner in which the devil proceeded in the temptation was of great cunning, because he proceeded by testing, impelling, and enticing. For he conducted his test through questioning, he impelled through assurance, and he enticed through promise.

And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.

(34) Why the serpent tells the woman lies, saying, "God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the Paradise," when, on the contrary, what God really had said was, "Ye shall eat of every tree in the Paradise, except one?" (#Ge 3:4).

Do you see how the devil led her captive, handicapped her reasoning and caused her to set her thoughts on goals beyond her real capabilities, in order that she might be puffed up with empty hopes and lose her hold on the advantages already accorded her?

The devil attacked the woman—first by questioning: Why has God commanded you not to eat? second by asserting: You shall not die at all: third by promising: You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil: wishing by this temptation to cast down the weaker woman and through her afterwards to overthrow the male sex.

For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.

(36) What is the meaning of the expression, "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil?" (#Ge 3:5). Whence was it that the serpent found the plural word "gods," when there is only one true God, and when this is the first time that he names him?

And indeed pride, although it be in itself a great sin, is of such sort in itself alone apart from others, that it for the most part follows after and steals with more rapid foot, not so much upon sins as upon things which are actually well done.

Adam with his wife contracted the vice of curiosity, when the devil said to them: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil": he also contracted the vice of carnality, when he ate of the fruit: he also contracted the vice of vanity, when he wished to be as gods.

And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.

That the Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation which is supported by Himself, and was making a recapitulation of that disobedience which had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience which was [exhibited by Himself when He hung] upon a tree, [the effects] also of that deception being done away with,…

Through [Christ] a pattern of life has been given us, that is to say, a sure path by which we may come to God. For we who have fallen through pride could only return to God through humility.

The woman, consenting to the diabolic temptation, desired knowledge and excellence after the manner of God, and desired no less to experience the sweetness of the forbidden tree; and at length she fell into transgression of the precept.

And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.

The case of Adam, however, had no analogy with this, but was altogether different. For, having been beguiled by another under the pretext of immortality, he is immediately seized with terror, and hides himself; not as if he were able to escape from God; but, in a state of confusion at having transgressed His command, he feels unworthy to appear before and to hold converse with…

If someone asks, therefore, why God allowed man to be tempted when he foreknew that man would yield to the tempter, I cannot sound the depths of divine wisdom, and I confess that the solution is far beyond my powers. There may be a hidden reason, made known only to those who are better and holier than I, not because of their merits but simply by the grace of God.

The man and the woman immediately after their fault felt the penalty of rebellion and shame in the flesh; and therefore to cover their shameful parts they made for themselves loincloths.

And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.

Rather they discerned the approach of the Lord by a certain breeze. As soon, therefore, as they had sinned, God appeared to them, producing consciousness of their sin, and calling them to repentance.

See the Lord's loving kindness and the surpassing degree of his longsuffering. I mean, though being in a position to begrudge such great sinners the right of reply and rather than to consign them at once to the punishment he had determined in anticipation of their transgression, he shows patience and withholds action.

Adam and his wife hid themselves, he says, from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden. "When God inwardly turns away his face, let us not wonder that these things happen which are similar to madness, through excessive shame and fear, with that secret impulse also not being at rest, so that they did things unknowingly which signify something, for the s…

And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?

God calls out to Adam, Genesis 3:9, 11 Where are you? as if ignorant where he was; and when he alleged that the shame of his nakedness was the cause (of his hiding himself), He inquired whether he had eaten of the tree, as if He were in doubt. By no means; God was neither uncertain about the commission of the sin, nor ignorant of Adam's whereabouts.

From the very enquiry it behooves us to marvel at God's surpassing love, not so much that he called him, but that he personally called him something human beings would never stoop to in the case of their fellows who share the same nature with themselves.

And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: Where are you? Certainly, he did not ask out of ignorance but admonished by rebuking, so that he might consider where he was wherein God was not. For now that he had eaten from the forbidden tree, he was dead in the death of the soul, when it is said that his life had deserted her.

And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

"And they heard the sound [or voice] of the Lord as He walked in Paradise at the turn of the day; and they hid themselves from the Lord's presence among the trees in Paradise." [ Gen.

When Adam heard God's voice, he answered that he hid because he was naked. His answer was a wretched error, as if a man naked, as God had made him, could be displeasing to him. It is a distinguishing mark of error that whatever anyone finds personally displeasing he imagines is displeasing to God as well.

Do you see, dear friend, how patient God is? For when he said, "Adam, where are you?" and when Adam did not at once confess his sin but said, "I heard your voice, O Lord, and realized that I am naked and hid myself," God was not angered, nor did he immediately turn away. Rather, he gave him the opportunity of a second reply and said, "Who told you that you are naked?

And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

When [Adam and Eve] had been questioned and were both found to be wanting in remorse or true contrition, God went down to the serpent, not to make inquiry but to render punishment. For where there is opportunity for repentance, it would be right to inquire, but to one who is a stranger to repentance, judgment is fitting.

(Verse 14.) You shall tread upon your chest and your stomach. The Septuagint translators added the stomach, but in Hebrew it only has the chest, to reveal the cunning and cunning thoughts, that all his steps are wickedness and deceit. But also what follows: You shall eat dust. In Hebrew it is written 'Aphar,' which we can say is ashes and dust.

And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle and beasts of the earth. Because the serpent was not asked why he did this, it can be seen that he did not do it by his own nature and will, but the devil had worked through and from him, who was already destined for the fire because of his sin of impiety and pride.

I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

He has therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as thou canst perceive in Genesis that God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall be on the watch…

Enmities are not set between the serpent and the man but between the serpent and the woman. This is surely not because he fails to deceive and tempt men, is it? On the contrary, it is clear that he does deceive them. Or is it because he did not deceive Adam but his woman?

The blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is strong and valiant as one valiantly fighting. In Genesis: "The Lord said to the serpent: I will put enmities between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed; she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel." Bernard says of the glorious Virgin: "She crushed the head of the ancient serpent, when she…

To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

Up to the fall of man, therefore, from the beginning God was simply good; after that He became a judge both severe and, as the Marcionites will have it, cruel. ... Immediately the earth is also cursed, which before was blessed. Immediately spring up briers and thorns, where once had grown grass, and herbs, and fruitful trees.

(Verse 17.) Cursed is the ground because of your actions. The works here do not refer to cultivating the land, as many think, but rather sins are signified. As it is written in Hebrew: And Aquila does not disagree, saying: Cursed is the soil because of you. And Theodotion: Cursed is the earth because of your transgression.

By divine judgment, the man incurred the penalty of labor and anguish, the penalty of hunger and want, the penalty of death and dissolution into dust, as Scripture says: Cursed is the earth in your work.

Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

We say, therefore, that the body falls to the ground by death, as indeed facts themselves show, in accordance with the law of God. For to the body it was said, ("Till you return to the ground, for out of it were you taken; for) dust you are, and unto dust shall you return." That, therefore, which came from the ground shall return to the ground.

Because the devil was envious and the woman was gullible, humankind was immediately cast out of paradise. It was made to walk the very earth from which Adam had just been created, inheriting sweat, toil and hard labor. Along with Adam, the earth and all living things that followed were subjected to evil, being restrained like a horse that is bridled.

Because on account of the good of the flesh man chose to be separated from the good of the mind, therefore by the just judgment of God the soul is unwillingly separated from the flesh through death and incineration—and through this, just as God had given to man according to the order of nature a body subject to the soul, capable of propagation without lust, capable of sustenanc…

And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.

The woman who initiated transgression was called "Life," because she was responsible for the succession of those who came to birth and sinned. She thus became mother of the righteous and unrighteous alike. Each one of us shows himself to be just or willfully renders himself disobedient.

WHAT DOES THE PROPHET MEAN WHEN HE SAYS, “REJOICE, O BARREN ONE WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND CRY ALOUD, YOU WHO DO NOT LABOR, BECAUSE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE ARE MORE THAN THOSE OF HER WHO HAS A HUSBAND." — Since the children of earthly Jerusalem have fallen away from God, joy cannot be ascribed to her, but rather sorrow.

And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And it is established that Adam gave his wife this name by divine instinct, which very fittingly corresponds to the Holy Church, in whose unity alone, which is called Catholic, the door to life is open to all.

And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

But not only are vestments needful for the priestly insignia, but also girdles. But before we begin to speak of the very kind of the vestments, I should like to compare those unhappy garments with which the first man, when he had sinned, was clothed, with these holy and faithful garments.

In other words, take the case of a kindly father with a son of his own who was brought up with every care, who enjoyed every indulgence, had the run of a fine house, was clad in a silken tunic, and had free access to his father's substance and wealth; later, when he saw him tumble headlong from this great indulgence into an abyss of wickedness, he stripped him of all those asse…

And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife tunics of skins, and clothed them. And this was done for the sake of significance, yet it was indeed done. For by this kind of garment, the Lord indicates that they had already been made mortal; for skins, which are not stripped from animals unless they are dead, contain the figure of death.

And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.

Having finished this it says, "Behold, Adam has become like one of us, knowing good and evil." [ Gen. 3:22 ] By saying that "he has become like one of us," Scripture also revealed symbolically something about the Trinity.

And how will that statement of the Lord stand, after the sin of the first man: "Behold, Adam is become like one of us, knowing good and evil?" For he must not to be thought to have been such before the sin that he was wholly ignorant of good.

"Now, therefore, lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever, the Lord sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the ground from which he was taken. The above words are God's; but this action followed because of those words.

And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.

Now, although Adam was by reason of his condition under law subject to death, yet was hope preserved to him by the Lord's saying, "Behold, Adam is become as one of us;" that is, in consequence of the future taking of the man into the divine nature. Then what follows?

When Adam sinned God cast him forth from paradise, but in his grace he granted him the low ground beyond it, settling him in the valley below the foothills of paradise; but when mankind even there continued to sin they were blotted out, and because they were unworthy to be neighbors of paradise, God commanded the ark to cast them out on Mount Qardu.

"And then, lest Adam stretch forth his hand to the tree of life and live forever, God dismissed him from paradise." It is well put, "he dismissed," and not "he excluded," so that he might seem to be drawn down by the weight of his own sins to a place that suits him.

And he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Throughout martyrdom Jesus is with you to show you the way to the paradise of God and how you may pass through the cherubim and the flaming sword that turns every way and guards the way to the tree of life. For both, even if they guard the way to pass through to the tree of life, guard it so that no one unworthy may turn that way to pass through to the tree of life.

(Verse 24.) And Adam was cast out, and he made him dwell opposite the paradise of pleasure. And he established Cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned to guard the way to the tree of life. There is much more meaning in the Hebrew than is understood here.

That remedy ought to have had efficacy first upon those who believed in Christ, and by believing hoped, and by hoping loved; and on this account He ought to have descended to the nether regions immediately for their liberation.

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