Genesis 3:17–19
Because he ate from the tree, Adam hears that the ground is cursed and work will be toil
Study it word by word17And to Adam he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; with toil you will eat from it all the days of your life.
18And thorns and thistles it will make sprout for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return.”
In its context
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.”
16To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your toil and your pregnancies; with pain you will give birth to children; and toward your husband will be your desire, and he will rule over you.”
…
20And the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21And YHWH Elohim made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them.
Its words in the original
- אָדָםadam· Adam
Adam, the personal name of the first man. It is the same Hebrew word "adam" (human being), used as a name. Also a town by the Jordan.
- אָמַרamar· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- שָׁמַעְתָּshamata· hear, listen, obey
Hear, listen. In the Bible listening truly includes paying heed; so it often means "obey". In the causative form, make heard, proclaim.
- קוֹלkol· voice, sound
Voice or sound: what is heard, from a person, an animal or a thing (thunder, steps).
- אִשְׁתֶּishte· woman, wife
Woman; with a possessive ("his woman"), wife. In Hebrew it is "ishah", which sounds like "ish", man.
- תֹּאכַלtochal· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- 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.
- אֲרוּרָהarura· curse
Curse: declare someone or something under punishment, deprived of blessing. It is the opposite of bless.
- אֲדָמָהadama· ground, land
The ground, the soil that is tilled; also the territory where people live. In Hebrew "adamah" sounds like "adam", the human being formed from it.
- עִצָּבוֹןitsavon· painful toil
Toil, labor that hurts and wearies; pain. The same word is used for the pain of the woman in childbirth and for the man's labor with the ground (Genesis 3:16-17).
- יְמֵיyeme· 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").
- חַיֶּיchaye· living, animal, life
Living, alive; also fresh (of water). As a noun, "living thing" or "animal" (above all wild animals); in the plural, "life".
- קוֹץkots· thorn
Thorn, thornbush.
- דַרְדַּרdardar· thistle
Thistle, prickly weed.
- תַּצְמִיחַtatsmiach· sprout
Sprout, spring up; begin to grow.
- עֵשֶׂבesev· plants, vegetation
Small plants, herbs and crops that serve as food for people and animals.
- שָּׂדֶהsade· field
Field: open country, cultivated or not.
- זֵעַתzeat· sweat
Sweat.
- אַפֶּיape· anger, nose
Nose, nostrils. Since breathing grows hard in anger, the same word also means "anger"; sometimes "face".
- לֶחֶםlechem· bread, food
Bread; in a wide sense, food.
- שׁוּבְshuv· return, turn back
Turn back, return. Also turn away; in the causative form, bring back, give back, answer. Figuratively, turn back to God (change course). Often adverbial: "again".
- לֻקָּחְתָּlukachta· take
Take: seize, take along, receive. Also "take a wife" (marry).
- עָפָרafar· dust
Dust, loose dry earth; also the plaster that covers walls. It recalls what the human being is made of: "you are dust, and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19).