Genesis 3:13
in Genesis 3Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
KJV
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 3
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThat fault is pardonable which is followed by an admission of guilt. The woman, therefore, is not to be despaired of, who did not keep silent before God, but who preferred to admit her sin-the woman on whom was passed a sentence that was salutary. It is good to suffer condemnation for our sins and to be scourged for our crimes, provided we are scourged along with other men. Hence, Cain, because he wanted to deny his guilt, was judged unworthy to be punished in his sin.
This 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.
This site's exposition
The serpent deceived me
The woman answered the LORD God by naming the serpent that deceived her, and she said that she ate. Paul twice says Eve was deceived, at 2 Corinthians 11:3 and 1 Timothy 2:14. Matthew Henry held that the serpent's craft did not clear the woman of her sin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
When Adam was unwilling to confess his fault, God went down to Eve with a question, saying to her, "What is this that you have done?"
Since Adam did not wish to confess his folly, God came down to question Eve and said to her, "What is this that you have done?"
Again, after Adam had done wrong God gave him a chance to repent and be forgiven, and yet he kept on being stiff-necked and unrepentant. For God came to him and said, "Adam, where are you?"
A commentator
John ChrysostomCommentary (church-history corpus) · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Accordingly, when he had addressed himself at sufficient length to Adam, and the latter made excuses for his sins by transferring, as he thought, the guilt to his wife, behold the good Lord, how much considerateness he employs again and deems her also worthy of a response from him: "God said to the woman." the text goes on "What is this you have done?" [ Gen 3:13 ] You heard your husband, he says, transferring the responsibility to you and putting all the blame on you, given to him though you were as his template and created for the purpose of providing him with comfort from your person inasmuch as you have the same being as he and share in the same nature. So why did you do this, O woman? For what reason did you become the cause of such dreadful shame to your self and your husband? What advantage did you gain from such intemperance? What benefit came to you from the deception which you willingly embraced and made your husband sharer in? So what did the woman reply? "the serpent deceived me, and I ate." See her overcome by great fear and making excuses for her sins: just as her husband seemed to transfer the blame to his wife in the words, "My wife brought it and gave it to me and I ate it," so she too, finding no way out admits what happened and says, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." That evil creature, she says, brought that disaster upon us, his baleful advice led us to that shame, he deceived me and I ate. Don't pass these words by heedlessly, dearly beloved; instead, let us study them precisely and gain much benefit from them. I mean, a tribunal is a fearful thing, capable of arousing terror, and we must listen carefully to everything and lay up in our minds the great treasure to be gained from what is said.
The Medieval Church1 voice
When God had left Adam, he came to Eve. He wanted to show her that she too would be cast out, if she was unwilling to repent. So he said, "What is this that you have done?"
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
And the Lord God said to the woman: Why have you done this? She answered: The serpent deceived me, and I ate. She also does not confess her sin, but refers it to another, of an unequal sex, with equal pride, saying: The serpent deceived …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Sin deceives us, and, by deceiving, cheats us. It is by the deceitfulness of sin that the heart is hardened. (2.) That though Satan's subtlety drew us into sin, yet it will not justify us in sin: though he is the tempter, we are the sinners; and indeed it is our own lust that draws us aside and entices us, Jam. i.
And the Lord God said unto the woman,....
Sin deceives us, and, by deceiving, cheats us. It is by the deceitfulness of sin that the heart is hardened. (2.) That though Satan's subtlety drew us into sin, yet it will not justify us in sin: though he is the tempter, we are the sinners; and indeed it is our own lust that draws us aside and entices us, Jam. i.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
WHAT IS THIS THOU HAST DONE to transgress My commandment? For the woman was included in the admonition given to Adam since at that time she was yet bone of his bones, and similarly she was included in his punishment.
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.
From a study of this verse, Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Chananya derived the fact that a serpent gives birth once in seven years; 394 Bechoroth 8a. See my Hebrew commentary, p. this they investigated and found to be so. 395 See Bereshith Rabbah:7.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֛ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לָאִשָּׁ֖ה | laishah | to the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֹּ֣את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| עָשִׂ֑ית | ʾasit | have you done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה | haishah | the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| הַנָּחָ֥שׁ | hanachash | the snake | H5175 → | 31 times |
| הִשִּׁיאַ֖נִי | hishiani | <it> deceived me | H5377 → | |
| וָאֹכֵֽל׃ | vaokhel | and I ate | H398 → | 810 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהִ֛יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לָאִשָּׁ֖הto the woman
laishahH802 →781 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
זֹּ֣אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
עָשִׂ֑יתhave you done
ʾasitH6213 →2628 times
וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙and she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
הָֽאִשָּׁ֔הthe woman
haishahH802 →781 times
הַנָּחָ֥שׁthe snake
hanachashH5175 →31 times
הִשִּׁיאַ֖נִי<it> deceived me
hishianiH5377 →
וָאֹכֵֽל׃and I ate
vaokhelH398 →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
2 Corinthians 11:3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
it leads to
- Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Galatians 1:6
I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
- Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Colossians 2:4
I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
- Colossians 2:8
Through
1 Timothy 2:14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
- Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
- Genesis 3:12–13
And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies25
On this verse
On this chapter
Show the next 6 titles
About Genesis
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On Paradise, 14.71-15.73; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Dorotheos of Gaza, SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS 1; Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary (church-history corpus); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 2.28-29; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; 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 5.6.