EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Genesis 2:17
17But you must not eat any fruit from the tree that gives knowledge of good and evil. If you do eat fruit from that tree, that day you will certainly die.’
Genesis 2:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
- New King James Version (NKJV)but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Context of Genesis 2:17
15The Lord God took the man and he put him in the Garden of Eden. God wanted the man to work in the garden and to take care of it. 16Then the Lord God told the man, ‘You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, as much as you like. But you must not eat any fruit from the tree that gives knowledge of good and evil. If you do eat fruit from that tree, that day you will certainly die.’ 18Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.’ 19The Lord God took soil from the ground and he made all the animals and birds. He brought them to the man. God wanted to know what names the man would call them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name.
Read all of Genesis 2Genesis 2:17 word by word
וּמֵעֵ֗ץ הַדַּ֙עַת֙ ט֣וֹב וָרָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּ֗י בְּי֛וֹם אֲכָלְךָ֥ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 2:17
- Genesis 2:9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground there. The trees were beautiful to look at. The fruit from the trees was good for people to eat. In the middle of the garden were two special trees. One was the tree that gives life. The other was the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is evil.
- Genesis 3:1The Lord God made many wild animals. But the snake was the most clever of them all. The snake asked the woman, ‘Did God say, “You must not eat the fruit from any tree in the garden”? Is that really true?’
- Genesis 3:3But God said, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it. If you do that, you will die.” ’
- Genesis 20:7You must now give her back to her husband. He is a prophet and he will pray for you. Because of that, you will not die. But if you do not give her back, you and all your people will surely die.’
- Numbers 26:65The Lord had said about those men, ‘They will certainly die in the desert.’ Among all those men, only Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun were still alive.
- Deuteronomy 27:26‘God will curse anyone who refuses to obey all the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’
- 1 Samuel 14:39The Lord is the one who rescues Israel. As surely as the Lord lives, I promise that I will punish the man who has done this bad thing. Whoever it is must die, even if it is my own son Jonathan.’ But nobody in the army said anything.
- 1 Samuel 20:31You will never rule as king while that son of Jesse is still alive. Send men to go and bring him to me now. He must die!’
- 1 Samuel 22:16But King Saul said, ‘Ahimelech, you must die, together with all your family.’
- 1 Kings 2:37If you ever leave the city and you cross the Kidron stream, you will certainly die. That will be a death that you choose for yourself.’
- Jeremiah 26:8Jeremiah said everything that the Lord had commanded him to say to all the people. Just as he finished, some of the priests, the prophets, and the people took hold of him. They shouted, ‘You deserve to die!
- Ezekiel 3:18I may say to a wicked person, “Your punishment will be death.” Then you must warn that person. You must tell him to stop doing wicked things so that he may save his life. If you do not tell the wicked person this, he will die because of his sins. But I will say that you are guilty, as if you had killed him yourself.
- Ezekiel 18:4Everyone who lives belong to me. I have authority over the life of the father and over the life of the son. It is the people who do wrong things who will die because of their sins.
- Ezekiel 33:8I might say to a wicked person, “You will certainly die because of your sins.” Then you must warn that wicked person to stop doing wicked things. If you do not warn him, he will die because of his sins. But I will say that you are guilty of his death.
- Romans 1:32These people understand God's message about what is right. They know that people who do bad things like this ought to die. But they still continue to do those bad things. They are even happy when other people do those bad things too.
- Romans 5:12It was because of one man, Adam, that sin came into the world. Death was the result of Adam's sin. Because of that, death came to all people, because everyone failed to obey God.
Commentaries on Genesis 2:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Of the tree of the knowledge - thou shalt not eat - This is the first positive precept God gave to man; and it was given as a test of obedience, and a proof of his being in a dependent, probationary state. It was necessary that, while constituted lord of this lower world, he should know that he was only God's vicegerent, and must be accountable to him for the use of his mental and corporeal powers, and for the use he made of the different creatures put…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15-17Verses 15-17 - XII. The Command 15. נוּח nûach “rest, dwell.” עבד ‛ābad “work, till, serve.” שׁמר shāmar “keep, guard.” We have here the education of man summed up in a single sentence. Let us endeavor to unfold the great lessons that are here taught. Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man. - The same omnipotent hand that made him still held him. “And put him into the garden.” The original word is “caused him to rest,” or dwell in the garden as an abode…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-17Verses 16-17 Let us never set up our own will against the holy will of God. There was not only liberty allowed to man, in taking the fruits of paradise, but everlasting life made sure to him upon his obedience. There was a trial appointed of his obedience. By transgression he would forfeit his Maker's favour, and deserve his displeasure, with all its awful effects; so that he would become liable to pain, disease, and death. Worse than that, he would lose…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17but you must not eat: This rule is given in the same way as Israel’s Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–21). The Lord included law and obedience in his covenant with humanity. the knowledge of good and evil: See study note on 2:9. you will surely die: Disobedience would bring immediate spiritual death (loss of relationship with God) and eventual physical death (see 3:22–23; Ecclesiastes 12:6–7).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. thou shalt not eat of it ... thou shalt surely die--no reason assigned for the prohibition, but death was to be the punishment of disobedience. A positive command like this was not only the simplest and easiest, but the only trial to which their fidelity could be exposed.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 2:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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