3:17 But to Adam 3 he said,
“Because you obeyed 4 your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground 5 thanks to you; 6
in painful toil you will eat 7 of it all the days of your life.
3:1 Now 8 the serpent 9 was more shrewd 10
than any of the wild animals 11 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 12 God 13 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 14
15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield 15 and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 16
7:7 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ 17
7:8 Having no regard 18 for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” 19 7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up 20 your tradition.
14:8 A 21 second 22 angel 23 followed the first, 24 declaring: 25 “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! 26 She made all the nations 27 drink of the wine of her immoral passion.” 28
14:9 A 29 third angel 30 followed the first two, 31 declaring 32 in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 14:10 that person 33 will also drink of the wine of God’s anger 34 that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur 35 in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 14:11 And the smoke from their 36 torture will go up 37 forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have 38 no rest day or night, along with 39 anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 14:12 This requires 40 the steadfast endurance 41 of the saints – those who obey 42 God’s commandments and hold to 43 their faith in Jesus. 44
1 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
2 tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).
3 tn Since there is no article on the word, the personal name is used, rather than the generic “the man” (cf. NRSV).
4 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” often means “obey.” The man “obeyed” his wife and in the process disobeyed God.
5 sn For the ground to be cursed means that it will no longer yield its bounty as the blessing from God had promised. The whole creation, Paul writes in Rom 8:22, is still groaning under this curse, waiting for the day of redemption.
6 tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ (ba’avurekha) is more literally translated “on your account” or “because of you.” The idiomatic “thanks to you” in the translation tries to capture the point of this expression.
7 sn In painful toil you will eat. The theme of eating is prominent throughout Gen 3. The prohibition was against eating from the tree of knowledge. The sin was in eating. The interrogation concerned the eating from the tree of knowledge. The serpent is condemned to eat the dust of the ground. The curse focuses on eating in a “measure for measure” justice. Because the man and the woman sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, God will forbid the ground to cooperate, and so it will be through painful toil that they will eat.
8 tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.
9 sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”
10 tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.
11 tn Heb “animals of the field.”
12 tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”
13 sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [
14 tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.
15 sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.
16 tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).
17 sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.
18 tn Grk “Having left the command.”
19 tc The majority of
20 tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë1 28 565 2542 it sys,p Cyp. The majority of
21 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
22 tc There are several different variants comprising a textual problem involving “second” (δεύτερος, deuteros). First, several
23 tn Grk “And another angel, a second.”
24 tn The words “the first” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
25 tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.
26 sn The fall of Babylon the great city is described in detail in Rev 18:2-24.
27 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
28 tn Grk “of the wine of the passion of the sexual immorality of her.” Here τῆς πορνείας (th" porneia") has been translated as an attributive genitive. In an ironic twist of fate, God will make Babylon drink her own mixture, but it will become the wine of his wrath in retribution for her immoral deeds (see the note on the word “wrath” in 16:19).
29 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
30 tn Grk “And another angel, a third.”
31 tn Grk “followed them.”
32 tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.
33 tn Grk “he himself.”
34 tn The Greek word for “anger” here is θυμός (qumos), a wordplay on the “passion” (θυμός) of the personified city of Babylon in 14:8.
35 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
36 tn The Greek pronoun is plural here even though the verbs in the previous verse are singular.
37 tn The present tense ἀναβαίνει (anabainei) has been translated as a futuristic present (ExSyn 535-36). This is also consistent with the future passive βασανισθήσεται (basanisqhsetai) in v. 10.
38 tn The present tense ἔχουσιν (ecousin) has been translated as a futuristic present to keep the English tense consistent with the previous verb (see note on “will go up” earlier in this verse).
39 tn Grk “and.”
40 tn Grk “Here is.”
41 tn Or “the perseverance.”
42 tn Grk “who keep.”
43 tn The words “hold to” are implied as a repetition of the participle translated “keep” (οἱ τηροῦντες, Joi throunte").
44 tn Grk “faith of Jesus.” The construction may mean either “faith in Jesus” or “faithful to Jesus.” Either translation implies that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is to be taken as an objective genitive; the difference is more lexical than grammatical because πίστις (pistis) can mean either “faith” or “faithfulness.”