Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Genesis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God, Humanity, and Creation
Mistrust, Disobedience, and Death
Covenants and Faith in God’s Promises
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
The serpent, the craftiest animal, speaks to the woman, asking her about God’s command—did God say they couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden? The woman clarifies that they’re not supposed to eat from, or even touch, the tree in the middle of the garden, or else they will die. But the serpent claims that they won’t actually die. God, the serpent claims, knows that if humans eat from that tree, then their eyes will be opened, and they’ll become like God—knowing good and evil.
The story shifts abruptly from the introduction of the woman to the appearance of a talking serpent. It’s not clear where the serpent comes from, why it talks, or what its intentions are. It just questions the woman about what God has told her, and offers hints about what God might really have meant by his prohibition. In particular, the serpent suggests that maybe God just wanted to stop humans from becoming more like him. (Of course, the previous chapter underscored that humans are already made in God’s image—unlike the snake—and they are supposed to exercise dominion over creatures, not obey them.)
Themes
Looking at the tree, the woman sees that it is beautiful, and its fruit looks appetizing, especially since eating it will supposedly make her wise. So she takes fruit from the tree and eats it. She also offers some fruit to the man, and he eats it as well. Then, their eyes are opened, and they realize they’re naked. They sew loincloths out of fig leaves to cover themselves.
Looking away from the many trees that God has provided for the humans’ delight, the woman focuses on the one she can’t have—a step into mistrust and disobedience. The man, too, goes along with this rebellion against God’s command. Eating the fruit does open their eyes to good and evil, but this turns out to be far less enticing than the serpent made it sound. For the man and the woman, eating from the tree results in an awareness of wrongdoing (sin), which is further manifested in their newfound feeling of shame over their nakedness.
Themes
In the evening, the man and the woman hear the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hide from him. The LORD God calls to the man. The man explains that when he heard God, he was afraid, because he knew he was naked. The LORD God asks the man how he knew he was naked—did he eat from the forbidden tree? The man says that the woman gave him fruit from the tree. In turn, the woman says that the serpent tricked her.
In Genesis, God is sometimes presented as being anthropomorphic, or having human characteristics. In this passage, for example, God doesn’t appear as a booming voice or larger-than-life presence—he’s seen walking through the garden much like a human would. When the man and the woman hide from God, it shows their newfound knowledge of good and evil: they’re aware that they’ve done something wrong and wanted to avoid the consequences of it. When God questions the couple about their guilt, they both try to cast the blame elsewhere. The harmony between God and humans (and between humans and other creatures) has been broken.
Themes
The LORD God pronounces a curse on the serpent because it has done this. The serpent will crawl on its belly in the dust, and there will be “enmity” between the serpent and the woman’s offspring—her offspring “will strike your head, / and you will strike his heel.”
God curses each of them for disobeying his command, beginning with the serpent. Though this curse refers to humanity’s dread of snakes, Christian interpreters view the “striking” to refer to Christ’s defeat of the serpent (Christ being the woman’s offspring many centuries later).
Themes
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Then the LORD God curses the woman, saying that her pain in childbirth will be greatly increased, and that her husband will rule over her. And because the man has listened to his wife and eaten from the forbidden tree, the ground he works will be cursed, and he will bring forth food with much toil, eventually returning to the dust himself—“you are dust, / and to dust you shall return.”
God’s curses on the two humans further illustrate the breakdown in harmony among creation—between the man and woman, between humans and nature, and between humans and God. Natural phenomena like childbirth and work will become laborious. Most of all, death enters the world, returning human beings to the elements from which they were created.
Themes
The man names his wife Eve, because she is the mother of all living people. Then the LORD God makes clothing for both the man and his wife. He drives the man and his wife out of Eden because they have become like God, knowing good and evil—and now they might also eat from the tree of life and live forever. God places the cherubim at the entrance to Eden, with a flaming sword.
The Hebrew word for “Eve” is close to the word for “living,” hence the idea that she’s the matriarch of all living people. After cursing the couple, God immediately shows care for them in the provision of clothing—showing that his curse is not meant for their destruction but as a means to uphold justice. However, they are driven from the garden in which they previously enjoyed a peaceful life of dependence upon God.
Themes
