| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Now the serpent was more subtle 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? |
Now the serpent – Satan possessed the serpent. R5150:4
Was more subtle – Did not creep, but was next in intelligence to man. R5238:3
And he – This was evidently the time of Satan's fall. R2839:6
Said – Perhaps by his actions: "Actions speak louder than words." PD10/17; OV299:2; R3925:2, R5150:4, R5238:5
Probably the serpent ascended the tree and ate of its fruit under Satan's guidance. R3925:5
Unto the woman – His first ambassador, and often used as his mouthpiece, as evidenced by Spiritism and Christian Science. Exalted by him in Egypt as Isis, in Assyria as Ashtaroth, in Greece as Diana, in Pagan Rome as Juno, and in Mariolatry. F266
Posing as her friend. R3925:4
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| 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: |
Of the trees – In the garden were all kinds of trees. R3925:3
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| 3 But 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. |
In the midst – One of marked peculiarity. R3925:3
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| 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: |
Not surely die – This is the first affirmation of the doctrine of inherent immortality. SM129:1; OV215:T, R1642:6
This is the foundation of ancestor worship, purgatory and Spiritism. SM99:1; R3926:3
Satan probably believed this lie, having first deceived himself as most deceivers do. R1686:5
Whoever may be inclined to condemn Mother Eve should reflect that the great majority today are believing Satan's lie and rejecting God's message. R3926:2
Error, combined with Satan's falsehood, has made the waters of truth brackish, unpalatable, unhealthful. R4758:4, R5801:5
Christian Science is in full agreement with this lie. R4743:3
A falsehood perpetuated by the teaching that death is merely an avenue to another plane of consciousness. HG700:1*
Humanity of every grade and language has accepted Satan's deceptive statement. SM110:1; R4792:1
Our first parents chose to believe Satan and the responsibility was their own. God wished to teach a great lesson to angels and to men. OV394:1
Satan has very assiduously propagated this lie ever since. R5909:6; SM129:1
From the beginning Satan was a murderer and a liar. (John 8:44). Q765:4
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| 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. |
Shall be opened – Confidence in their Creator should have been complete, and such disloyal thoughts promptly spurned. R5150:4
Shall be as gods – Shall be wise as gods. R2180:3
If you have a theory you want to prove to yourself, the great Adversary will be ready to assist you in every conceivable manner. R1223:1
Good and evil – She did indeed get a great increase of knowledge, but with condemnation, sorrow, pain and tears. R3925:5
Any knowledge which may come to us along any lines out of accord with the divine testimony would be costly knowledge indeed. CR65:4
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| 6 And 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. |
Was good for food – The serpent ate of the forbidden fruit in the sight of the woman and then manifested its wisdom, its sagacity. PD10/17; OV299:2; R5150:4
To make one wise – Satan endeavored to show that the fruit was most desirable to give wisdom, to make them as gods. PD10/17; OV15:6; Q706:T, R5150:4, R5238:6
Ambition to appear wiser and abler than others is a danger which especially besets the elders. F267
Satan's wisdom is "earthly, sensual, devilish." (James 3:15) R2180:3
Took of the fruit – Originally sin was inspired by Eve's desire to secure knowledge in advance of the Creator's arrangement. SM156:1
She surmised that her husband would not consent, so she ate alone. PD10/1 7; R5150:5
She was not deceived as respects the wrong doing, but was deceived regarding the results. R5150:5
And he did eat – The first tragedy of earth was disobedience to God. R5150:2
Adam could discern right from wrong, not from experience, but from the perfection of his being. CR500:2
"The man was not deceived;" he ate knowingly, to share his wife's penalty; he was a suicide. CR378:4; R5150:5, R2841:5; PD10/17
No doubt God would have arranged some way for the recovery of his companion. R3926:1
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| 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. |
They were naked – Eating the forbidden fruit evidently so engulfed our first parents in passion as to lead to a misuse of a knowledge of which previously they had not been entirely ignorant. R2840:3
Fig leaves together – Indicating penitence and an effort to establish and maintain virtue. R1610:5
Aprons – Typifying our own righteousness, the flimsy, worthless cove-ring for sins. R387:6
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| 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. |
Voice of the LORD God – The Logos, the word or voice of God, our Lord Jesus in his prehuman condition. R5622:4; Q361:2
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| 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? |
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| 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. |
Hid – Motivated by the spirit of fear. R5093:6
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| 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? |
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| 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. |
And I did eat – Adam did not blame the transgression upon his wife, he simply told the truth plainly. R2841:4
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| 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.
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| 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: |
Unto the serpent – Figuratively Satan, symbolizing all the powers of evil, everything adverse to humanity. R1610:5, R4963:3
Upon thy belly – Figurative of Satan; no longer upright, respected and honored among the angelic sons of God, as previously. R1610:5
No injustice was done to the serpent; God made the serpent a synonym for sin, and provided a lesson in humility. R5238:6, R5239:4
Shalt thou go – Literally, the serpent experienced some kind of change of form and locomotion. R3926:4
Dust shalt thou eat – Another way of saying "Lick the dust," "Bite the dust.". R2842:1
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| 15 And 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. |
And her seed – Jews and Christians understand the seed of the woman to be the Messiah. CR267:5; R431:3
Christ. SM88:1; F353
Christ and the Church, "the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." (Rom. 16:20) OV224:1; Q642:4; CR461:6
Not until the "marriage" when Christ and his Bride are made one will the promised seed be perfected. HG38:3; HG343:3
It – Christ, the seed of the woman, not the seed of the man. R1610:6
Bruise thy head – Bring vital injury , crush out all evil in due time. R5768:3; SM44:2; OV184:1, OV305:5; CR460:2; CR459:4; R4451:3, R4963:3, R3926:6
An intimation of the ultimate recovery of mankind from the power of Satan. A57, A98; SM88:1; PD12/20; R4964:6
The man Jesus did not bruise the serpent's head. CR460:2
Christ and his followers must be faithful unto death before they can enjoy their victory of crushing the evil one. R2778:1
There can be no crushing of the evil one and his power until all the sacrifice for sin, the ransom price, shall be paid. R2778:1
Bruise his heel – Not injure him vitally. CR460:2; R3926:4
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| 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. |
And thy conception – The race has multiplied more heavily as it has become more degenerate and weak. F41
In sorrow – As a part of the curse. F558
And thy desire – Inclination to seek and obey righteous authority. F493
Rule over thee – This prophecy, that man in his fallen state would exercise tyranny over woman, has been abundantly fulfilled. R1548:6
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| 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; |
Because thou hast – "Adam was not deceived." (1 Tim. 2:14). E22
Cursed – Unprepared to perpetuate human life. R3031:3
That is why we have all the disadvantages in the world. CR201:2
God left the earth outside Eden in an imperfect condition. R4973:1
Is the ground – All the ground outside this specially prepared garden in which you have been living, and from which you are now to be expelled. CR66:1; R4973:1, R5068:1, R3031:6
For thy sake – The earth in general is in its present imperfect condition for man's profit and experience. R1124:6, R5058:1; Q265:2
Idleness is injurious to fallen beings. PD34/45; R5376:3; A169, A337
The poverty of the world has assisted in keeping mankind back from greater depths of iniquity. R5058:1
Shalt thou eat – By feeding upon the less nourishing and poisonous foods of the unprepared earth man gradually suffered the penalty of death. HG509:6; HG510:1
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| 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; |
Thorns also and thistles – Obtainable without labor, choking the herbs which would only come by forceful labor. R1476:6
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| 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. |
Sweat of thy face – The curse, the result of sin. R4991:5, R5112:3, R5154:6
Being done away with by modern inventions.
For dust thou art – And in no sense of the word a spirit being. R2841:1
Shalt thou return – With no hint of any subsequent torment. SM28:1; R4552:2, R5063:6; F333; CR269:5
To die by gradual processes. R5417:6
A death penalty was effected by his being cast out of Eden. CR278:2; SM88:T
There could be no escape from the divine sentence except through Jesus. R5578:3
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| 20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. |
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| 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. |
Made coats of skins – Suggested a future covering provided by the death of some unknown Redeemer--the seed of the woman. R5768:5; A57; R1614:2
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| 22 And 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: |
One of us – The Elohim. R5210:4
To know good – Before the entrance of sin into the world. A120
And evil – As a result of the curse. A120
For Adam and Eve, first good, then evil; for their posterity, first evil, then good. HG393:5
Proves that God knows good and evil. R5210:4
Also of the tree – Trees or grove (plural). Q6:2; E340, E390
And live for ever – By eating continuously they would have lived forever, even though sinners. Q6:2; R5150:1; E340
Though Adam was perfect in his organism it was necessary for him to sustain life by partaking of the fruit of the trees of life. HG330:3
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| 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. |
Sent him forth – So that the death penalty might take effect. A209; R4792:5, R5417:3
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| 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. |
Drove out the man – The death sentence was upon all of Adam's race from the time he was cast out of Eden. R5150:1, R5179:2
Of the tree – Grove, woods, orchard. R2840:1
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