From dust you came from and dust you will become

* Cursed is the ground: the punishment affects the manвЂ™s relationship to the ground ( вЂ™adam and вЂ™adamah). A tension is set up in which her urge (either sexual urge or, more generally, dependence for sustenance) is for her husband but he rules over her. He shall rule over you: the punishment also affects the womanвЂ™s relationship with her husband. * ToilвЂ¦pain: the punishment affects the woman directly by increasing the toil and pain of having children. In Christian art Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent. вЂњSheвЂќ was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, вЂњshe,вЂќ and is reflected in JeromeвЂ™s Vulgate. 130вЂ“200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Because вЂњthe Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devilвЂќ ( 1В Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the protoevangelium. The snake was identified with the devil ( Wis 2:24 Jn 8:44 Rev 12:9 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Christian tradition has seen in this passage, however, more than unending hostility between snakes and human beings. * They will strikeвЂ¦at their heel: the antecedent for вЂњtheyвЂќ and вЂњtheirвЂќ is the collective noun вЂњoffspring,вЂќ i.e., all the descendants of the woman. It must now move on its belly, is more cursed than any creature, and inspires revulsion in human beings (v. The snake previously stood upright, enjoyed a reputation for being shrewder than other creatures, and could converse with human beings as in vv. * Each of the three punishments (the snake, the woman, the man) has a double aspect, one affecting the individual and the other affecting a basic relationship. * The breezy time of the day: lit., вЂњthe wind of the day.вЂќ Probably shortly before sunset.

* Like gods, who know: or вЂњlike God who knows.вЂќ The couple seek to be вЂњwiseвЂќ but end up knowing that they are вЂњnaked.вЂќ * Cunning: there is a play on the words for вЂњnakedвЂќ ( 2:25) and вЂњcunning/wiseвЂќ (Heb.

*Дў1The L ORD God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them.Дў2Then the L ORD God said: See! The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil! Now, what if he also reaches out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life, and eats of it and lives forever? j 23The L ORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken.Дў4He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life. In pain * you shall bring forth children.ДЎ7To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it,ДЎ8Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you,ДЄnd you shall eat the grass of the field.Дў0The man gave his wife the name вЂњEve,вЂќ because she was the mother of all the living. I will intensify your toil in childbearing d 9The L ORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you?ДЎ0He answered, вЂњI heard you in the garden but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.вЂќДЎ1Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?ДЎ2The man replied, вЂњThe woman whom you put here with me-she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.вЂќДЎ3The L ORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, вЂњThe snake tricked me, so I ate it.вЂќ eДЎ5I will put enmity between you and the woman, c 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.ДЁWhen they heard the sound of the L ORD God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, * the man and his wife hid themselves from the L ORD God among the trees of the garden. So she took some of its fruit and ate it and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. He asked the woman, вЂњDid God really say, вЂYou shall not eat from any of the trees in the gardenвЂ™?вЂќДўThe woman answered the snake: вЂњWe may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden ДЈ a it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, вЂYou shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.вЂ™вЂќД¤But the snake said to the woman: вЂњYou certainly will not die! b 5God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know * good and evil.вЂќД¦The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom.

1Now the snake was the most cunning * of all the wild animals that the L ORD God had made.

From dust you came from and dust you will become