Good evening!

Tonight we will be moving on to the next part of our journey. Since we are now stepping into the main narrative, there is something important which should be said about the Book of Genesis. Many have noticed that time in Genesis moves extremely quickly. We get from the beginning to Abraham in just a few pages. However, there is an extreme attention to detail and a lot could be derived from them. 

At the same time, we often forget about this when reading the first few chapters. Often, this is due to how we portray the story and how it is told in Sunday schools and churches. They give us the impression that Adam and Eve are created and on the next day they are tempted by the serpent. However, this idea is incompatible with the structure of the narrative, which assumes that a lot of time is passing, unless otherwise stated. So, let us keep in mind that years, maybe decades could have passed in between the creation of Adam and Eve and what we are about to read. With an open mind, let us begin.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which Yahuah Elohim had made. And he said unto the woman "Indeed, has Elohim said 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" And the woman said unto the serpent "We may eat of the fruit of every tree of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die'." And the serpent said unto the woman "Ye shall not surely die! For Elohim knows that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as elohim, knowing good and evil."

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 man with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of Yahuah Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his woman hid themselves from the presence of Yahuah Elohim amongst the trees of the garden. And Yahuah Elohim called unto Adam and said unto him "Where are you?" And he said "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." And he said "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?"

And the man said "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat!" And Yahuah Elohim said unto the woman "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat!"

And Yahuah Elohim said unto the serpent "Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly you shall go and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel."

Unto the woman he said "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your man, and he shall rule over you."

And unto Adam he said "Because you have hearkened unto the voice of your woman and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying 'You shall not eat of it'; cursed is the ground for your sake. In sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of our face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground, for out of it were you taken: for dust you are and unto dust shall you return.'"

And Adam called his woman's name Chuah (Havah), because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam and to his woman did Yahuah Elohim make coats of skins, and clothed them.

And Yahuah Elohim 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 forever;" Therefore Yahuah Elohim sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Keruviym, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life.

This concludes the third portion of our Bible Study! I will upload a commentary very soon, where I will talk about some issues linked to Genesis 3. We will discuss the identity of the serpent - who was able to deceive Adam and Eve? Were they fully deceived, or is that only half the truth, as told by Eve as an excuse? Why were the two punished so harshly? What did they do that demanded such judgement?

These are some of the questions I will try and answer from my understanding.

See you soon and have a blessed rest!