Genesis 3:11
in Genesis 3“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
KJV
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
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This verse in Genesis 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Who told you that you were naked
on Genesis 3:11-13
God asks the man who told him he was naked, and whether he has eaten from the tree. The man answers by naming the woman, and behind her the God who gave her to him. The woman answers by naming the serpent, who deceived her. Both of them finish the same way, by saying that they ate.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoTWO BOOKS ON GENESIS AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS 2.16.24 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
When Adam heard God's voice, he answered that he hid because he was naked. His answer was a wretched error, as if a man naked, as God had made him, could be displeasing to him. It is a distinguishing mark of error that whatever anyone finds personally displeasing he imagines is displeasing to God as well. We should understand in a lofty sense the words of the Lord, "Who told you that you were naked, unless because you have eaten from that tree about which I told you that from it alone you should not eat?" Before he was naked of any dissimulation and clothed with the divine light. From this light he turned away and turned toward himself. This is the meaning of his having eaten from that tree. He saw his nakedness, and it was displeasing to himself because he did not have anything of his own.
You see, since he was not unaware of the truth when he asked them but rather knew, and knew very well, he shows consideration for their limitations so as to demonstrate his own loving kindness, and he invites them to make admission of their faults.
A commentator
John ChrysostomCommentary (church-history corpus) · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Where could you have got the knowledge of this, he says, and be covered in such confusion, unless you have been so intemperate as to despise my command? Notice, dearly beloved, the excess of God's goodness, how, in this manner of one friend communing with another and remonstrating with him over transgression of his instructions, he enters into dialog with Adam. "'Who told you that you are naked unless you have eaten from that one tree I told you not to eat from?'" Even the phrase, "that one tree," bears a slight nuance: Surely I didn't inhibit your enjoyment? it is saying. Did I not relieve you of every need, give you authority over everything in the garden, and only instruct you to keep away from that one thing so that you might be in a position to know that you are subject to direction and required to show some obedience? So what kind of terrible in difference is this that, despite your having such great enjoyment, you could not bear to keep away from that one thing but rather hastened in that manner to violate the command given you by me and envelop yourself in so many excesses? What good was that to you? Hadn't I warned you of that in advance? Wasn't it my intention to check you be forehand with fear of punishment and so make you more cautious? Didn't I tell you what would be likely to happen? Didn't I for that reason forbid your eating that fruit so that you wouldn't fall victim to those faults? Who could consider you deserving of excuse now that you've proved to be so unresponsive despite so many directions?
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do you see, dear friend, how patient God is? For when he said, "Adam, where are you?" and when Adam did not at once confess his sin but said, "I heard your voice, O Lord, and realized that I am naked and hid myself," God …
Therefore, the Lord willing now to punish sinners asked according to the manner of justice more than that penalty, from which they were already compelled to be ashamed, For he says, Who told you that you were naked, unless you have eaten from the tree …
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I commanded thee to the contrary." Sin appears most plain and most sinful in the glass of the commandment, therefore God here sets it before Adam; and in it we should see our faces. The question put to the woman was, What is this that thou hast done?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And he said,....
I commanded thee to the contrary." Sin appears most plain and most sinful in the glass of the commandment, therefore God here sets it before Adam; and in it we should see our faces. The question put to the woman was, What is this that thou hast done?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Bilti with a lamed prefixed to it ( le-vilti ) means “not to.” Without this lamed ( bilti ) it means “only.”
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The sense of it is to say: “The woman whom Thy Honor Himself gave me for a help, she gave me of the tree, and I thought that whatever she says to me is a help and benefit to me.
ואירא, this feeling of fear is similar to that experienced by the Jewish people in Exodus,30 when, because of the sin of the golden calf, the people were afraid to face him after his face radiated light when he returned from Mount Sinai.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִ֚י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הִגִּ֣יד | higid | did he tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְךָ֔ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עֵירֹ֖ם | ʾeirom | [were] naked | H5903 → | 10 times |
| אָ֑תָּה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הֲמִן־ | hamin- | ¿ from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעֵ֗ץ | haetz | the tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוִּיתִ֛יךָ | tzivitikha | I commanded you | H6680 → | 494 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֥י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| אֲכָל־ | ʾakhol- | to eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נּוּ | mimenu | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| אָכָֽלְתָּ׃ | ʾakhalta | have you eaten | H398 → | 810 times |
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מִ֚יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
הִגִּ֣ידdid he tell
higidH5046 →370 times
לְךָ֔to <the> you
lekha
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
עֵירֹ֖ם[were] naked
ʾeiromH5903 →10 times
אָ֑תָּהyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
הֲמִן־¿ from
hamin-H4480 →1188 times
הָעֵ֗ץthe tree
haetzH6086 →328 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
צִוִּיתִ֛יךָI commanded you
tzivitikhaH6680 →494 times
לְבִלְתִּ֥יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
אֲכָל־to eat
ʾakhol-H398 →810 times
מִמֶּ֖נּוּfrom it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
אָכָֽלְתָּ׃have you eaten
ʾakhaltaH398 →810 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 3:20Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.
it leads to
- Galatians 2:16
know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in…
- Acts 13:39
Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
- Romans 3:28
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
- Galatians 2:19
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.
- Romans 4:15
because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
- Galatians 2:16
Through
Genesis 4:10“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:24
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
- Psalms 72:14
He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight.
- Hebrews 12:24
Through
Psalms 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
it leads to
- Romans 2:4–5
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- Romans 2:4–5
Where this verse is studied
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About Genesis
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, TWO BOOKS ON GENESIS AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS 2.16.24; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 17.22; John Chrysostom, Commentary (church-history corpus); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Symeon the New Theologian, DISCOURSES 5.5.