And the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made. And it said to the woman, Is it even so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
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And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Eve answers the serpent, and at first her words look right. But commentators see in them the point where her trust in God began to slip. They also ask why she answered him at all.
Before we weigh what Eve said, writers ask whether she should have spoken. The serpent's question attacked God's goodness, and she knew better.
The Bible TreasuryThe enemy's approach was indeed subtle. It was to awaken distrust of God in Eve's heart. Could it be good to refuse man the fruit of any tree in the garden? Distrust of God opens the door to every sin. Eve ought at once to have turned away. She knew the goodness of the LORD God. Why then talk a moment longer with one who questioned it? To allow it was to sit in judgment on Him, to doubt His love, to accept the serpent as a better friend.
Even a fair-sounding reply was a loss, because she entered the argument at all.
Hamilton SmithIf you do not want temptation to defeat you, do not argue with Satan. When Eve began to argue the case with the serpent, he was too strong for her. The devil reasoned her right out of Paradise. If you enter into a discussion with him, you give him half the victory.
Eve keeps the sense of God's permission, but not its full warmth. One writer treats the words she dropped as proof that the serpent's hint had already landed.
The Bible TreasuryBut Eve's first reply has two sad features. First, it was not made up of God's own words. Second, the two she left out were the ones that show the tempter's suggestion had already begun to take effect. Her answer shows that her thoughts of God's generosity are already smaller and poorer than His own words. The thin edge of the wedge was already inserted. All the rest, sadly, was easy.
Eve names the trees she may eat, then moves straight to the one she may not. Notice also where she places that tree — "in the midst of the garden" — though Genesis put the tree of life there.
Frederick W. GrantHere we see a soul that has lost its balance. It wavers, and flounders all the more as it tries to regain it. What tree had God put into "the midst" of the garden? According to the inspired account, it was the tree of life. Prohibition — was that at the very heart of paradise? Did everything there radiate, so to speak, from the threat of death? Sadly, slight as the matter may seem, it tells us where the woman's soul is. For how easily with us does one forbidden thing blot out of our view a thousand blessings!
As her reply runs on, she widens the ban and softens the penalty. One writer counts both moves as damage to the truth.
William KellyHad she held fast the sense of her responsibility to obey, she would have resented the question rather than answered it. And her answer lets us see that Satan's evil intent did not fail of its effect. She adds to the prohibition, and takes from the penalty. The LORD had not said a word about touching the forbidden fruit. But He had threatened death, in the most certain terms, on the day they ate it. Exaggerating truth is no more the truth than reducing it; either weakens it, and both are Satan's work.
One writer supplies the reply Eve could have given — an answer resting wholly on God's goodness.
C. H. MackintoshSimple rest in the infinite goodness of God would have kept Eve safe from all this reasoning. She should have said to the serpent, "I have the fullest confidence in God's goodness. So I think it impossible that He could withhold any real good from me. If that fruit were good for me, I would surely have it. But God has forbidden it, and that proves I would be no better off by eating it — I would be much worse off. I am convinced of God's love, and I am convinced of God's truth. And I believe you are an evil one, come to draw my heart away from the fountain of goodness and truth. Get behind me, Satan." This would have been a noble reply. But it was not given.
- Doubt — the serpent's question targeted God's goodness. Letting it in was already the wound, since distrust of God opens the door to every sin.
- Debate — arguing with the tempter hands him half the victory before anyone takes a bite. The safe move was to turn away at once.
- Diminish — her retelling makes God's generosity smaller than His own words had made it.
- Distort — she then tightens the ban and softens the penalty. Stretching the truth weakens it just as cutting it does.
- Displace — one forbidden thing now fills her view, and a garden of blessings drops out of sight. All the rest came easily.
but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, and ye shall not touch it, lest ye die.
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And the serpent said to the woman, Ye will not certainly die;
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but God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil.
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And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a pleasure for the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to give intelligence; and she took of its fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
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And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
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