Genesis 3:14-24
Promise & Consequence
Read the passage
Genesis 3:14-24 · 11 verses
Read the passage
Genesis 3:14-24 · 11 verses
Genesis 3:14-24
14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. to thy...: or, subject to thy husband
17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; bring...: Heb. cause to bud
19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Eve: Heb. Chavah: that is Living
21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
God comes to the garden knowing what has happened, and the consequences that follow are real and lasting — exile, pain, toil, and death. Yet embedded inside the very first curse, before the gate is closed and the cherubim take their post, something extraordinary is spoken: a promise. One sentence, aimed at the serpent, contains the seed of the whole gospel. A woman's descendant will crush the serpent's head, though the serpent will wound His heel. Christian readers in every age have called it the protoevangelium — the first gospel — because it is: the earliest word of hope after the worst moment in history, spoken by God Himself before the exile even begins.