Did Eve add to God's words? Genesis 3:3

[franklinmonroe]

Eve's reply to the serpent --

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:2-3, KJV) ​

Did God actually say "neither shall ye touch it"? or has Eve added to God's words (lied/sinned) before she ate of the fruit?

We know what God said to Adam (before Eve was created) --

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Gen 2:16-17, KJV)​

 

[Yeshua1]

Eve's reply to the serpent --

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:2-3, KJV) ​

Did God actually say "neither shall ye touch it"? or has Eve added to God's words (lied/sinned) before she ate of the fruit?

We know what God said to Adam (before Eve was created) --

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Gen 2:16-17, KJV)​

Yes she did! great principle to see in this, as we need to learn and do what God actually says in the Bible, not what our tradition and theology might have us reading as saying!

 

[preachinjesus]

She does add to the text in the narrative, but she also changes the singular verb "to eat" to a plural in the Hebrew.

Her rendering is a dynamic equivalency of the original language used. It seems Eve is making the prohibition more stringent, not less.

 

[HeirofSalvation]

Eve's reply to the serpent --

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:2-3, KJV) ​

Did God actually say "neither shall ye touch it"? or has Eve added to God's words (lied/sinned) before she ate of the fruit?

We know what God said to Adam (before Eve was created) --

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Gen 2:16-17, KJV)​

She decidedly adds more to the prohibition than God had placed on it...but I would not say she "lied". According to the narrative, we KNOW that God told Adam what the rule was, but Eve may not have heard God's command directly. It is possible she misunderstood, or that she recieved the command from Adam and Adam may have told her not to touch it. It is signifigant that the Serpent replies "yea hath God said?". A key point to remember, is that she was truly deceived by the serpent, and Adam was not:

1Ti 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

My best guess is that Eve received the prohibition from Adam, and Adam probably added the caveat not to touch it. This would not have been outside of Adam's purview as her husband and would not have been wrong either (probably even wise)...but God said: "don't eat" and Adam said: "don't eat NOR touch". I believe the serpent truly cast doubt about the prohibition by exposing her own confusion in the matter.

 

[Van]

Speculation is the mother of false doctrine. We do not know if the "do not touch" restriction is something wide of the mark, an addition, or reflects part of God's admonition not found in the other passage.

Frequently the CT finds that copyists make changes to make one passage read like another, and here we seem to have folks saying Eve added this because it does not read like the other passage. Same faulty thinking in my opinion.

Eve did sin in that she did what God had told her (directly or indirectly) not to do. But because she was deceived, either her sin was not reckoned as sin, or the consequence was mitigated because of the deception, because her eyes were not opened when she ate the fruit. However, when Adam ate the fruit knowing that he was violating God's admonition, then both Adam and Eve's eyes were opened. Also note that "sin" entered the world through Adam, not Adam and Eve, or through Eve.

The whole issue of deception is problematic for Calvinism for how can people be led astray if they were not seeking on some level to walk on God's paths of righteousness. See Ephesians 5:6, Col. 2:8.

 

[IANMO(IAMNTMYOWN)]

Often there is a sequence to actions beginning with the mind and heart. Quite obviously, after Eve relented to the temptation of the fruit, she would initially begin with touching it. God might not have said this, but it is possible that Eve made the connection.

 

[Yeshua1]

Speculation is the mother of false doctrine. We do not know if the "do not touch" restriction is something wide of the mark, an addition, or reflects part of God's admonition not found in the other passage.

Frequently the CT finds that copyists make changes to make one passage read like another, and here we seem to have folks saying Eve added this because it does not read like the other passage. Same faulty thinking in my opinion.

Eve did sin in that she did what God had told her (directly or indirectly) not to do. But because she was deceived, either her sin was not reckoned as sin, or the consequence was mitigated because of the deception, because her eyes were not opened when she ate the fruit. However, when Adam ate the fruit knowing that he was violating God's admonition, then both Adam and Eve's eyes were opened. Also note that "sin" entered the world through Adam, not Adam and Eve, or through Eve.

The whole issue of deception is problematic for Calvinism for how can people be led astray if they were not seeking on some level to walk on God's paths of righteousness. See Ephesians 5:6, Col. 2:8.

Not at All! adam and eve at this time were still innocent, no sin natures within them, spiritually alive to God!

 

[franklinmonroe]

... We do not know if the "do not touch" restriction is something wide of the mark, an addition, or reflects part of God's admonition not found in the other passage. ...

I agree. We do not know that God did not say it since certainly there are many things that God said that are not recorded for us.

But for those that disagree, I think there is a theological problem since the Scripture clearly indicate that the first sin was that of eating of the tree. If she added to God's words then wasn't it a sin (intentional or not)? Was her false statement also excused in some way?

 

[Van]

Not at All! adam and eve at this time were still innocent, no sin natures within them, spiritually alive to God!

So the deception mentioned in Colossians 2:8 and Ephesians 5:6 refer to Adam and Eve before the fall? Give me a break.

 

[Van]

I agree. We do not know that God did not say it since certainly there are many things that God said that are not recorded for us.

But for those that disagree, I think there is a theological problem since the Scripture clearly indicate that the first sin was that of eating of the tree. If she added to God's words then wasn't it a sin (intentional or not)? Was her false statement also excused in some way?

Yes sin entered the world could refer to "the first sin" but I do not think we should bet the farm. We know that it was Adam's volitional sin that resulted in the many being made sinners, not Eve's prior "sinful" act.

 

[Mlinar13b]

Adam is to blame for sin entering the world, but Eve ADDING to God's word shows how devastating it can be to simply add too, subtract, or change God's word!

 

[MNJacob]

Is "neither shall ye touch it" a quote or Eve's emphasis and understanding of the seriousness of God's command?

There isn't any way to tell.

 

[franklinmonroe]

So, is it a sin to add to God's words or not?

If it is, then 'perfect' Eve sinned without any deception involved. If it is not, why wasn't it a sin for Eve to add to God's words then? Could that reason be applicable today?

 

[Mlinar13b]

If it is, then 'perfect' Eve sinned without any deception involved.QUOTE]

That's a good question! I think another question is 'Was Eve "perfect" or "sinless"?' Adam and Eve were sinless and not perfect. If they were perfect then they would have made the right choice. As far as Eve "sinning" by adding to God's word, maybe her act of sinning was not as important as Adam's sin since God's original commission was with Adam and not Eve.

 

[Mlinar13b]

Is "neither shall ye touch it" a quote or Eve's emphasis and understanding of the seriousness of God's command?

There isn't any way to tell.

If it was important enough that they shouldn't have touched the fruit either, don't you think Moses would have written that in Genesis? I mean, Moses was extremely specific with God's Law given to Moses, so why wouldn'd Moses be specific about God's "Law" to Adam?

 

[robycop3]

Nowhere do we see Eve cited by God for adding to His word. Scripture doesn't mention if He spoke directly to her after he made her, or if she had a "database" of God's commands to Adam already built in.
I believe people make a mistake by insisting Eve added to God's words. That woulda been a sin, and again, NOWHERE do we see God's accusing her of adding to His commands. I do NOT believe it woulda gone unrecorded.

 

[Mlinar13b]

Gen. 3:17! The Lord accused her of giving to adam to eat. The Lord's "What is this that thou hast done" pretty much includes EVERYTHING she did wrong.

 

[Mlinar13b]

Nowhere do we see Eve cited by God for adding to His word. Scripture doesn't mention if He spoke directly to her after he made her, or if she had a "database" of God's commands to Adam already built in.
I believe people make a mistake by insisting Eve added to God's words. That woulda been a sin, and again, NOWHERE do we see God's accusing her of adding to His commands. I do NOT believe it woulda gone unrecorded.

Nobody is INSISTING that Eve added to God's word. It's biblical FACT. Gen. 2:16-17 is God's command. Gen. 3:2-3 is FAR different than what God originally said. Eve subtracted "freely" and added "touch".

 

[Oldtimer]

Genesis 3: KJB

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

The Bible doesn't tell us about all the conversations that happened in the cool of the evenings that they may have walked and talked together. Just as the NT doesn't give us the record of everything Jesus said during His ministry.

 

[Mlinar13b]

If the Bible "doesn't tell us about all conversations that happened" (which obviously in a lot of cases it doesn't), then all sinners (mankind) can justify ALL sin by using the argument such as, "God said THIS here, but we don't know of all the conversing that took place and he may have changed his mind." (which God has done before)