Genesis 3:11–13
God asks, and each one points to someone else: nobody wants to own what was done
Study it word by word11And he said, “Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12And the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
13And YHWH Elohim said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
In its context
9And YHWH Elohim called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10And he said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked; and I hid.”
…
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.
15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel.”
Its words in the original
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- הִגִּידhigid· tell, declare
Tell, make known, report, declare; also explain.
- עֵירֹםerom· naked
Naked; also nakedness.
- עֵץets· tree, wood
Tree; also wood and what is made of it (a stick, a pole).
- צִוִּיתִיtsiviti· command
Command, give an order; give charge to someone.
- אֲכָלachal· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- 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).
- אִשָּׁהisha· woman, wife
Woman; with a possessive ("his woman"), wife. In Hebrew it is "ishah", which sounds like "ish", man.
- נָתַתָּהnatata· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- עִמָּדִimadi· with me
With me, beside me.
- 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.
- עָשִׂיתasit· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- נָּחָשׁnachash· serpent
Serpent, snake. In Genesis 3 the text presents it as one of the animals of the field that God had made, and it speaks. Later the Bible calls the devil "the ancient serpent" (Revelation 12:9; 20:2).
- הִשִּׁיאַhishia· deceive
Deceive, mislead, make someone believe something false.