Genesis 2:16–17
God warns the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or he will die
Study it word by word16And YHWH Elohim commanded the man, saying, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from it, for in the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”
In its context
14And the name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15And YHWH Elohim took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it.
…
18And YHWH Elohim said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make for him a helper corresponding to him.”
19And YHWH Elohim formed from the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called it, as a living being, that was its name.
Its words in the original
- יְצַוyetsav· command
Command, give an order; give charge to someone.
- יְהוָהyehva· 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.
- אֱלֹהִיםelohim· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- אָדָםadam· human being, man, Adam
The Hebrew word "adam". It has three uses: (1) humanity in general, men and women alike: "human beings" (Genesis 1:27); (2) a particular man; in Genesis 2-4, the first man, "the man"; (3) the personal name of that first man, "Adam". In Hebrew "adam" sounds like "adamah", the ground he was formed from (Genesis 2:7).
- אמֹרmor· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- עֵץets· tree, wood
Tree; also wood and what is made of it (a stick, a pole).
- גָּןgan· garden
Garden: an enclosed and tended piece of land, with trees and water.
- אָכֹלachol· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- דַּעַתdaat· knowledge
Knowledge: knowing something, and also knowing it by experience.
- טוֹבtov· good
Good in the widest sense: pleasant, beautiful, useful, right, of good quality. As a noun, "good", "good things", "well-being".
- רָעra· evil, bad, harm
Bad; evil. It includes what is morally wrong and also what does harm: misfortune, disaster, distress.
- יוֹםyom· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- מוֹתmot· die
Die. In the causative form, kill, put to death. Hebrew can repeat the verb for emphasis ("dying you will die" = "you will surely die").