Genesis 3:10
in Genesis 3“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
KJV
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
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This verse in Genesis 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,.... The voice of thy Word, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan: this was not the true cause of his hiding himself; he had heard his voice in the garden before, when it did not strike him with terror, but gave him pleasure: and I was afraid, because I was naked.
This site's exposition
the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden
on Genesis 3:8-10
The man and his wife hide among the trees when they hear the LORD God in the garden. God calls and asks where the man is. The man answers that he heard, that he was afraid, and that he hid himself because he was naked. He never names the tree.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Adam was afraid, because he was naked; not only unarmed, and therefore afraid to contend with God, but unclothed, and therefore afraid so much as to appear before him. We have reason to be afraid of approaching to God if we be not clothed and fenced with the righteousness of Christ, for nothing but this will be armour of proof and cover the shame of our nakedness.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I was afraid, because I was naked - See the immediate consequences of sin. 1. Shame, because of the ingratitude marked in the rebellion, and because that in aiming to be like God they were now sunk into a state of the greatest wretchedness. 2. Fear, because they saw they had been deceived by Satan, and were exposed to that death and punishment from which he had promised them an exemption. How worthy is it of remark that this cause continues to produce the very same effects!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Bilti with a lamed prefixed to it ( le-vilti ) means “not to.” Without this lamed ( bilti ) it means “only.”
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
10 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 |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קֹלְךָ֥ | kolecha | sound your | H6963 → | 506 times |
| שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי | shama'ti | I heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בַּגָּ֑ן | bagan | in the garden | H1588 → | 42 times |
| וָאִירָ֛א | vaira' | and I was afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עֵירֹ֥ם | ʾeirom | [was] naked | H5903 → | 10 times |
| אָנֹ֖כִי | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| וָאֵחָבֵֽא׃ | vaechave' | and I hid myself | H2244 → | 33 times |
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קֹלְךָ֥sound your
kolechaH6963 →506 times
שָׁמַ֖עְתִּיI heard
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
בַּגָּ֑ןin the garden
baganH1588 →42 times
וָאִירָ֛אand I was afraid
vaira'H3372 →315 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עֵירֹ֥ם[was] naked
ʾeiromH5903 →10 times
אָנֹ֖כִיI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
וָאֵחָבֵֽא׃and I hid myself
vaechave'H2244 →33 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
Psalms 119:120My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:16
I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…
- Daniel 10:8–11
So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
- Hebrews 12:21
The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
- Hebrews 12:28–29
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
- Philippians 2:12
Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
- Habakkuk 3:16
Through
Genesis 2:25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
it leads to
- Genesis 3:7
And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.
- Genesis 3:10–11
“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
- Romans 10:11
It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Genesis 3:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies25
On this verse
On this chapter
- Adam to Noah
- Angelology
- Bread
- Cain and Abel: Genesis 4
- The Covenants
- Creation to New Creation
- Eden
- Eve: The Mother of All Living
- Heaven
- The New Jerusalem
- Satan
- The Names of Satan
- Satan Across the Testaments
- The Scarlet Thread
- The Seed Promise
- The Canaanite Conquest
- The Garment & the Robe
- The Groaning Creation
- The Seed
- The Sword
- The Tree
- The Woman and the Dragon
- The Throne Room
- Trees: Eden, Cross, New Jerusalem
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.