In whatever way we define “the image of God” after which Adam was made and whatever may be our understanding of moral status of the first parents, the fact is that Adam and Eve were tempted and sinned. They disobeyed God, becuase they were free to choose; they had free will given by God. What use is it if they had free will, but nothing to choose? What is the use of having a knife, if there is nothing to cut with? Yes, before they sinned, they were without sin, but they had the possibility to sin because of the free will they had. And they did sin!

Commentary by Jayant Christian
Posted on: 1/16/2010 00:45 am

I’ve been told that before the Fall, man (and woman) were morally perfect. A question that arises for me out of this text relates to how a “morally perfect” person (man or woman) could alter the word of God before the eating of the tree in verse 6. I have been led to re-examine what being the “image of God” really means because of this verse.

Also interesting here is that the woman drops the YHWH from the YHWH Elohim in the passages both before and after this exchange.

Commentary by T Newton
Posted on: 11/2/2009 19:15 pm

I would like to add something more in the post # 2 made by Terik Q.Genesis 2:9 says that the tree of life was in the midst of the Garden. But Eve says in Gen. 3:3,”But of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” It is clearly stated that the tree of life is in the midst of the Garden and it’s fruit was not forbidden to eat. It seems that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was also near it. Eve should have said that the Lord has forbidden us to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thus she also makes mistake in simply telling that the Lord has forbidden them to eat the tree in the midst of the evil.

And yet, Eve tells that thi was what God had told! Many a times, we are used to say, “This is what the Bible says!” But when we refer the text itself we are wrong. We may over state, unstate or may pervert. We should be careful to use the word of God and can a the most say,”This is my understnding of the Bible.” Oh, Lord, teach to be humble and obediant!

Commentary by Jayant Christian
Posted on: 3/5/2009 06:16 am

People try to twist the word of God to their advantage.But it is indeed very dangerous to do so, as it always brings death and destruction. God’s word is proven and needs no editing or private intepretaion from men.

Commentary by Jayant Christian
Posted on: 3/5/2009 05:54 am

Square Pegs:
Gen 3:2-3
There have been a few occasions in the past when I made the mistake of not carefully reading the directions to something as I was putting it together. In one case I could tell that two parts fit together, so I went ahead and joined them. Problem was a third piece had a hole and the first two pieces were supposed to go through the hole and then be joined together. So I spent the next half hour trying to get the pieces apart. In another case I had to turn screws into predrilled holes. Problem was I used the wrong screws and almost made the holes too big for the correct screws. Sometimes we try to put a square peg in a round hole despite instructions to the contrary. We might even get the pieces to seem like they fit — we either round off the square, or we make the hole bigger, or both. A similar problem happens with Scripture and we’ve even been warned about it: “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deut 4:2) Eve is the first of many to make this error. First she takes away from God’s command. She said “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden”, but God said they could “freely eat”. Second she adds to God’s command. She said “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die”. God didn’t say anything about not touching the tree. This begs the questions: What did Eve know about the command? When did Eve learn about the command? Perhaps Adam told her the rule, but he got it wrong. Perhaps he told it correctly, but Eve got flustered when dealing with Satan. I think that Eve can be considered accountable because she was not yet taken from Adam’s rib when he received the command. Adam not only received the command alone, but he also named the animals alone. Did he have to tell Eve all of the animal names once she was created? The main point remains: People must correctly know God’s commands to obey Him and to be prepared for temptation

Commentary by Terik Q
Posted on: 3/4/2009 16:31 pm

This is an embellishment of God’s command from Genesis 2:17, where He tells Adam that if he eats of the fruit of this tree, he will surely die. Whether Adam embellished to Eve to make his point or Eve misspoke to the serpent is unclear. In any event, by not accurately repeating God’s command, Eve was opening herself up to the serpent’s deception.

Commentary by David
Posted on: 7/5/2007 03:31 am