Genesis 3:13

“And YHWH Elohim said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.””
Genesis 3:13 · direct translation from the Hebrew

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God asks, and each one points to someone else: nobody wants to own what was doneTemptation

With the Hebrew beneath

AndוַYHWHיְהוָהElohimאֱלֹהִיםsaidיֹּאמֶרto the woman,לָאִשָּׁה“Whatמַהisthisזֹּאתyou have done?”עָשִׂיתAndוַthe womanהָאִשָּׁהsaid,תֹּאמֶר“The serpentהַנָּחָשׁdeceivedהִשִּׁיאַme,נִיand I ate.”וָאֹכֵל

Explicit type · 2 Corinthians 11:3

Go to 2 Corinthians 11:3

Paul compares the danger facing the Corinthians with the serpent’s deception of Eve. Genesis 3:13 also uses “deceive”: “the serpent deceived me.”

The biblical author himself makes the connection, in these words:

ὡς ὁ ὄφις ἐξηπάτησεν Εὕαν “as the serpent deceived Eve” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

נָּחָשׁnajashH5175ὄφιςophisG3789“serpent”
הִשִּׁיאַhishiaH5377ἐξηπάτησενexēpatēsenG1818“deceive”

Theme · 1 Timothy 2:14

Go to 1 Timothy 2:14

1 Timothy 2:14 says that it was the woman who was deceived; in Genesis 3:13 she is the one who says it: “the serpent deceived me.”

The same term appears in both passages.

הִשִּׁיאַhishiaH5377ἐξαπατηθεῖσαexapatētheisaG1818“deceive”
אִשָּׁהishaH802γυνὴgynēG1135“woman, wife”

Genesis 3:13, word by word

YHWHיְהוָהyehva

YHWH

The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.

Where else “yehva” appears

Elohimאֱלֹהִיםelohim

Elohim

The one true God, the Creator; the word is plural but means one.

Where else “elohim” appears

saidיֹּאמֶרyomer

say

To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.

Where else “yomer” appears

to the womanאִשָּׁהisha

woman

An adult female person: single, married or widowed.

Where else “isha” appears

you have doneעָשִׂיתasit

To carry out an act or to deal with someone in a certain way, for good or ill.

Where else “asit” appears

“The serpentנָּחָשׁnachash

serpent

A legless reptile that crawls and often bites with venom.

Where else “nachash” appears

deceivedהִשִּׁיאַhishia

deceive

To make someone believe something false.

Where else “hishia” appears

and I ateאֹכֵלochel

eat

To bring food to the mouth and swallow it, above all at a shared table.

Where else “ochel” appears

The context

12And the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

13 · This verse (above)

14And YHWH Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you from among all the livestock and from among every animal of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

Read all of Genesis 3

To study Genesis 3 in a group

1. What it says
What did the serpent say to the woman, and what did she and the man do afterward (vv. 1-6)?
2. What it means
What changed between the man, the woman, and Elohim after they ate the fruit (vv. 7-10)?
3. How I live it
When you fail, how can you come near to Elohim instead of hiding, as the man did (v. 8)?

How to use it