Genesis 3:12-13

3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave ¹  me some fruit ²  from the tree and I ate it.” 3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this ³  you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent ⁴  tricked ⁵  me, and I ate.”

Exodus 32:24

32:24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, break it off.’ So they gave it ⁶  to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” ⁷ 

James 3:14-16

3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. 3:15 Such ⁸  wisdom does not come ⁹  from above but is earthly, natural, ¹⁰  demonic. 3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice.

[3:12]  ¹ tn The Hebrew construction in this sentence uses an independent nominative absolute (formerly known as a casus pendens). “The woman” is the independent nominative absolute; it is picked up by the formal subject, the pronoun “she” written with the verb (“she gave”). The point of the construction is to throw the emphasis on “the woman.” But what makes this so striking is that a relative clause has been inserted to explain what is meant by the reference to the woman: “whom you gave me.” Ultimately, the man is blaming God for giving him the woman who (from the man’s viewpoint) caused him to sin.

[3:12]  ² tn The words “some fruit” here and the pronoun “it” at the end of the sentence are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:13]  ³ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun is enclitic, serving as an undeclined particle for emphasis. It gives the sense of “What in the world have you done?” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[3:13]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew word order puts the subject (“the serpent”) before the verb here, giving prominence to it.

[3:13]  ⁵ tn This verb (the Hiphil of נָשָׁא, nasha) is used elsewhere of a king or god misleading his people into false confidence (2 Kgs 18:29 = 2 Chr 32:15 = Isa 36:14; 2 Kgs 19:10 = Isa 37:10), of an ally deceiving a partner (Obad 7), of God deceiving his sinful people as a form of judgment (Jer 4:10), of false prophets instilling their audience with false hope (Jer 29:8), and of pride and false confidence producing self-deception (Jer 37:9; 49:16; Obad 3).

[32:24]  ⁶ tn Here “it” has been supplied.

[32:24]  ⁷ sn Aaron first tried to blame the people, and then he tried to make it sound like a miracle – was it to sound like one of the plagues where out of the furnace came life? This text does not mention it, but Deut 9:20 tells how angry God was with Aaron. Only intercession saved his life.

[3:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “This.”

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.