Chapter commentary
Genesis Chapter 3
1
Ge 3:1-5.
English original
Ge 3:1-5.
THE TEMPTATION.
1. the serpent--The fall of man was effected by the seductions of a serpent. That it was a real serpent is evident from the plain and artless style of the history and from the many allusions made to it in the New Testament. But the material serpent was the instrument or tool of a higher agent, Satan or the devil, to whom the sacred writers apply from this incident the reproachful name of "the dragon, that old serpent"
[Re 20:2].
Though Moses makes no mention of this wicked spirit--giving only the history of the visible world--yet in the fuller discoveries of the Gospel, it is distinctly intimated that Satan was the author of the plot
(Joh 8:44; 2Co 11:3; 1Jo 3:8; 1Ti 2:14; Re 20:2).
more subtile--Serpents are proverbial for wisdom
(Mt 10:16).
But these reptiles were at first, probably, far superior in beauty as well as in sagacity to what they are in their present state.
He said--There being in the pure bosoms of the first pair no principle of evil to work upon, a solicitation to sin could come only from "without," as in the analogous case of Jesus Christ
(Mt 4:3);
and as the tempter could not assume the human form, there being only Adam and Eve in the world, the agency of an inferior creature had to be employed. The dragon-serpent [BOCHART] seemed the fittest for the vile purpose; and the devil was allowed by Him who permitted the trial, to bring articulate sounds from its mouth.
unto the woman--the object of attack, from his knowledge of her frailty, of her having been but a short time in the world, her limited experience of the animal tribes, and, above all, her being alone, unfortified by the presence and counsels of her husband. Though sinless and holy, she was a free agent, liable to be tempted and seduced.
yea, hath God said?--Is it true that He has restricted you in using the fruits of this delightful place? This is not like one so good and kind. Surely there is some mistake. He insinuated a doubt as to her sense of the divine will and appeared as an angel of light
(2Co 11:14),
offering to lead her to the true interpretation. It was evidently from her regarding him as specially sent on that errand, that, instead of being startled by the reptile's speaking, she received him as a heavenly messenger.
2
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2. 女人说，园中树上的果子我们可以吃——夏娃在回答中称颂他们所得自由之广阔，可以随意取用一切的树——只有一棵除外；关于这一棵，她宣告无论禁令或刑罚都毫无疑问。但有理由认为她已经受了不良的影响；因为她用了“免得你们死”的话，而不是“你们必定死”
[Ge 2:17]，
她说话的样子，仿佛那树被禁，是因它果子有某种毒性。诱惑者察觉了这一点，便更大胆地断言。
English original
2. the woman said, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden--In her answer, Eve extolled the large extent of liberty they enjoyed in ranging at will amongst all the trees--one only excepted, with respect to which, she declared there was no doubt, either of the prohibition or the penalty. But there is reason to think that she had already received an injurious impression; for in using the words "lest ye die," instead of "ye shall surely die"
[Ge 2:17],
she spoke as if the tree had been forbidden because of some poisonous quality of its fruit. The tempter, perceiving this, became bolder in his assertions.
4
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4. 你们不一定死——他进而不仅保证她绝对无罪可罚，还答应她吃了将得大益处。
English original
4. Ye shall not surely die--He proceeded, not only to assure her of perfect impunity, but to promise great benefits from partaking of it.
5
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5. 你们的眼睛就明亮了——他的话所含比耳朵所听的更多。在一种意义上，她的眼睛确实明亮了；因她得了关于“善恶”的可怕经历——关于圣洁状态之福与有罪状态之苦的经历。但他刻意向夏娃隐瞒这结果；夏娃被对知识的慷慨渴望所激发，只想升到与她那些天使访客同等的等级和特权。
English original
5. your eyes shall be opened--His words meant more than met the ear. In one sense her eyes were opened; for she acquired a direful experience of "good and evil"--of the happiness of a holy, and the misery of a sinful, condition. But he studiously concealed this result from Eve, who, fired with a generous desire for knowledge, thought only of rising to the rank and privileges of her angelic visitants.
6
Ge 3:6-9.
Ge 3:6-9.
堕落。
6. 于是女人见那棵树的果子好作食物——她的想象和情感完全被胜过；夏娃的堕落随即导致亚当的堕落。每一次试探、每一次犯罪的历史都是相同的：外面吸引之物，里面的心思翻腾，情欲的增强与得胜；结果是灵魂的卑贱、奴役和毁灭
(Jas 1:15； 1Jo 2:16)。
English original
Ge 3:6-9.
THE FALL.
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food--Her imagination and feelings were completely won; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction, the inward commotion of mind, the increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul
(Jas 1:15; 1Jo 2:16).
8
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8. 他们听见耶和华神在园中行走的声音——神性的显现与从前一样——发出那熟悉的慈声，以某种可见的形像行走（不是像被怒气所催促的那样急忙奔跑）。这些话何等优美地表达了他从前与第一对人交通时所用的亲密谦和的方式。
天起了凉风——直译“日间的微风”，即傍晚。
就藏在园的树木中——羞耻、悔恨、恐惧——罪的感觉——这些他们从未有过的感觉扰乱了他们的心，使他们躲避那位他们从前欢迎其临近的主。想要逃避他的鉴察是何等愚昧
(Ps 139:1-12)。
English original
8. they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden--The divine Being appeared in the same manner as formerly--uttering the well-known tones of kindness, walking in some visible form (not running hastily, as one impelled by the influence of angry feelings). How beautifully expressive are these words of the familiar and condescending manner in which He had hitherto held intercourse with the first pair.
in the cool of the day--literally, "the breeze of the day," the evening.
hid themselves amongst the trees of the garden--Shame, remorse, fear--a sense of guilt--feelings to which they had hitherto been strangers disordered their minds and led them to shun Him whose approach they used to welcome. How foolish to think of eluding His notice
(Ps 139:1-12).
10
Ge 3:10-13.
Ge 3:10-13.
审问。
10. 惧怕……赤身露体——表面是认罪——忧伤之言；却是推诿的——没有真正谦卑悔改的迹象——人人都试图把罪责推给别人。
English original
Ge 3:10-13.
THE EXAMINATION.
10. afraid, because . . . naked--apparently, a confession--the language of sorrow; but it was evasive--no signs of true humility and penitence--each tries to throw the blame on another.
12
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12. 你所赐给我……的女人——他把责任推给神〔CALVIN〕。因这女人既赐给他作伴侣和帮助，他是出于爱她才吃那树上的果子；又见她已败坏，便决意不要后她而死〔M'KNIGHT〕。
English original
12. The woman . . . gave me--He blames God [CALVIN]. As the woman had been given him for his companion and help, he had eaten of the tree from love to her; and perceiving she was ruined, was determined not to survive her [M'KNIGHT].
13
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13. 引诱——被谄媚的谎言所欺骗。第一对人这罪是重大且加重的——并不只是吃了一个苹果，而是自爱、对神的不敬、对恩主的忘恩、对至善之主的悖逆——偏爱受造之物过于创造主。
English original
13. beguiled--cajoled by flattering lies. This sin of the first pair was heinous and aggravated--it was not simply eating an apple, but a love of self, dishonor to God, ingratitude to a benefactor, disobedience to the best of Masters--a preference of the creature to the Creator.
14
Ge 3:14-24.
Ge 3:14-24.
判决。
14. 耶和华神对蛇说——审判者宣告了灾祸：首先，对物质的蛇，它比一切牲畜野兽更受咒诅。它本来在形态上是优雅优美的模范，如今却成了一切可憎、可厌、卑下之物的典型〔LE CLERC, ROSENMULLER〕；或者说，咒诅已将其天然状态变为刑罚；如今它被烙上恶名，被人惊惧地避开；其次，对属灵的蛇——那诱惑者。他已经堕落，却要更被降卑，其权势将完全被他所欺骗之人的后裔所毁。
English original
Ge 3:14-24.
THE SENTENCE.
14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent--The Judge pronounces a doom: first, on the material serpent, which is cursed above all creatures. From being a model of grace and elegance in form, it has become the type of all that is odious, disgusting, and low [LE CLERC, ROSENMULLER]; or the curse has converted its natural condition into a punishment; it is now branded with infamy and avoided with horror; next, on the spiritual serpent, the seducer. Already fallen, he was to be still more degraded and his power wholly destroyed by the offspring of those he had deceived.
15
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15. 你的后裔——不仅是邪灵，也是恶人。
女人的后裔——弥赛亚，或他的教会〔CALVIN, HENGSTENBERG〕。
我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇——神之所以如此说，只能因他任凭“蛇和他的后裔受自己腐败的影响；又因那些为救人而采取的措施，使撒但和他的众使者满怀嫉妒和怒气”。
你要伤他的脚跟——蛇伤那踏碎它的脚跟；照样，撒但将获准苦害基督的人性，并使他的百姓受苦受逼迫。
他要伤你的头——蛇的毒在其头；伤及这部位便是致命的。照样，基督将给撒但的打击是致命的；不过他起初大概不明白自己厄运的性质和范围。
English original
15. thy seed--not only evil spirits, but wicked men.
seed of the woman--the Messiah, or His Church [CALVIN, HENGSTENBERG].
I will put enmity between thee and the woman--God can only be said to do so by leaving "the serpent and his seed to the influence of their own corruption; and by those measures which, pursued for the salvation of men, fill Satan and his angels with envy and rage."
thou shalt bruise his heel--The serpent wounds the heel that crushes him; and so Satan would be permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ and bring suffering and persecution on His people.
it shall bruise thy head--The serpent's poison is lodged in its head; and a bruise on that part is fatal. Thus, fatal shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from Christ, though it is probable he did not at first understand the nature and extent of his doom.
16
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16. 耶和华神对女人说，我必多多加增你怀胎的苦楚——她被定罪为妻为母要受身心的痛苦。从前的地位是作男人的帮助、与他同心
[Ge 2:18, 23]，
今后的地位则是谦卑的顺服。
English original
16. unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow--She was doomed as a wife and mother to suffer pain of body and distress of mind. From being the help meet of man and the partner of his affections
[Ge 2:18, 23],
her condition would henceforth be that of humble subjection.
17
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17-19. 耶和华神对亚当说——使他靠耕种土地为生；但在他堕落之前他以轻松愉快所作的，在他堕落后便不能不借痛苦的坚持努力才能完成。
English original
17-19. unto Adam he said--made to gain his livelihood by tilling the ground; but what before his fall he did with ease and pleasure, was not to be accomplished after it without painful and persevering exertion.
19
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19. 直到你归了土——人成了必死的；虽然他并非一吃禁果即死，他的身体却发生了变化，这变化将导致分解；他的灵魂与神之间的联合既已分解，他便成了今世一切苦难以及永远地狱之苦的对象。这在人类历史上是何等可悲的一章！它给出了世上一切物理和道德之恶的唯一真起源；维护了神的道德品格；表明人本来正直，却因不能抵挡一个轻微的试探而堕落；既成为有罪又可悲的，便把自己所有的后裔都投入同一深渊
(Ro 5:12)。
何等奇妙的恩典，在那一刻便赐下了救主的应许，并将引进那拯救者的将来尊荣，赐给了那有引进罪之耻辱的她
(1Ti 2:15)。
English original
19. till thou return unto the ground--Man became mortal; although he did not die the moment he ate the forbidden fruit, his body underwent a change, and that would lead to dissolution; the union subsisting between his soul and God having already been dissolved, he had become liable to all the miseries of this life and to the pains of hell for ever. What a mournful chapter this is in the history of man! It gives the only true account of the origin of all the physical and moral evils that are in the world; upholds the moral character of God; shows that man, made upright, fell from not being able to resist a slight temptation; and becoming guilty and miserable, plunged all his posterity into the same abyss
(Ro 5:12).
How astonishing the grace which at that moment gave promise of a Saviour and conferred on her who had the disgrace of introducing sin the future honor of introducing that Deliverer
(1Ti 2:15).
20
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20. 亚当给他妻子起名叫夏娃——大概是因她作所应许之救主的母亲，也是作全人类的母亲。
English original
20. Adam called his wife's name Eve--probably in reference to her being a mother of the promised Saviour, as well as of all mankind.
21
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21. 神为亚当和他妻子用皮子做衣服——教他们自己制作皮衣。这意味着设立了动物献祭，这无疑是出于神的定规，也是教导有罪的受造之物，借着信靠救赎主，惟一可蒙悦纳的敬拜方式
(来 9:22)。
English original
21. God made coats of skins--taught them to make these for themselves. This implies the institution of animal sacrifice, which was undoubtedly of divine appointment, and instruction in the only acceptable mode of worship for sinful creatures, through faith in a Redeemer
(Heb 9:22).
22
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22. 耶和华神说，看哪，那人已经与我们相似——这不是如一般所想的出于讽刺，而是出于深深的怜悯。这话应当译作："看哪，那曾与我们相似的人〔因罪〕如今成了何等模样！"他原是照我们的形像造的，为要分别善恶——如今他的光景何等可悲。
现在恐怕他伸手又摘生命树的果子吃——这棵树既是不朽生命（顺服所当得的赏赐）的凭据，人堕落之后便丧失了对这树的一切权利；因此，为免他吃了它，或妄想吃它能恢复他所失丧的，主便将他赶出园外。
English original
22. And God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us--not spoken in irony as is generally supposed, but in deep compassion. The words should be rendered, "Behold, what has become [by sin] of the man who was as one of us"! Formed, at first, in our image to know good and evil--how sad his condition now.
and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life--This tree being a pledge of that immortal life with which obedience should be rewarded, man lost, on his fall, all claim to this tree; and therefore, that he might not eat of it or delude himself with the idea that eating of it would restore what he had forfeited, the Lord sent him forth from the garden.
24
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24. 安设……基路伯——这段经文应当译为："祂便住在伊甸园东边的基路伯之间，并有一团烈火，或舍金那，展开自己，把守生命树的道路。"这就是当时所设立的敬拜方式，为要表明神对罪的愤怒，并教导人借着所应许的救赎主为中保，乃是得生命以及亲近神的道路。这些形像与后来在会幕和圣殿中的一样；如今正如那时，神说："我要在那里与你相会，从二基路伯中间"
(出 25:22)。
English original
24. placed . . . cherbim--The passage should be rendered thus: "And he dwelt between the cherubim at the East of the Garden of Eden and a fierce fire, or Shekinah, unfolding itself to preserve the way of the tree of life." This was the mode of worship now established to show God's anger at sin and teach the mediation of a promised Saviour as the way of life, as well as of access to God. They were the same figures as were afterwards in the tabernacle and temple; and now, as then, God said, "I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims"
(Ex 25:22).
Ge 3:1-5.
试探。
1. 蛇——人的堕落是因蛇的诱惑而成就的。那是一条真实的蛇，从这段历史平实无华的笔法，以及新约中多次提及，都可看出。但这物质的蛇，不过是更高权势——撒但即魔鬼——的工具；圣史们因这事而用“那龙，就是古蛇”这含有斥责之意的名字来称呼他
[Re 20:2]。
摩西虽未提及这邪恶的灵——只记可见世界的历史——但在福音更完备的启示中，清楚指明撒但是这阴谋的发起者
(Joh 8:44； 2Co 11:3； 1Jo 3:8； 1Ti 2:14； Re 20:2)。
比一切更狡猾——蛇以智慧著称
(Mt 10:16)。
但这些爬物起初大概在美丽和聪敏上，都远胜于现今的状态。
说——第一对夫妇纯洁的心中既无邪恶的原理可供利用，诱惑犯罪的冲动只能来自“外面”，正如耶稣基督类似的例证
(Mt 4:3)；
又因当时世上除亚当和夏娃外别无他人，诱惑者不能取人的形像，便只好借用一个低等受造之物。龙蛇〔BOCHART〕似乎最适合这卑劣的目的；那容许试炼临到的主，也许可魔鬼从它口中发出清晰的话语。
对女人说——这是攻击的对象，因他知道她的软弱，知道她在世上不久，对动物的认识有限，更因她独自一人，没有丈夫的同在和忠告作为防护。她虽无罪且圣洁，却是个有自由意志的人，能受试探和诱惑。
神岂是真说？——他真的限制了你们使用这可爱之地的果子吗？这不像一位如此良善仁慈之神的作为。一定是有些误会。他暗示她对神旨的理解有疑，又装作光明的天使
(2Co 11:14)，
表示要引导她明白真意。显然，正因她看他为特派而来传达信息的使者，她非但没有因爬物开口说话而惊惧，反而接待他作天上的使者。