Genesis 3:19

Genesis 3:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)In 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.
• New International Version (NIV)By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
• New King James Version (NKJV)In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Context of Genesis 3:19

17Then God said to Adam, ‘You listened to your wife and you did what she said. You ate fruit from the tree after I told you, “You must not eat fruit from this tree.” Because you did that, I will curse the ground. You will have to work very hard to make plants grow in it for your food. It will be like this for your whole life. 18Thorn bushes and thistles will grow in the ground. But you will eat plants that grow in the fields. You will have to work hard for a long time before you have any food to eat. You will do this for your whole life until you die. Then you will return into the ground. That is where you came from. I made you from the soil of the ground, and you will become soil again.’ 20Adam gave his wife a name. He called her Eve. This was because she would become the mother of all people. 21The Lord God made clothes for Adam and Eve to wear. He used the skins from animals to make them.

Genesis 3:19 word by word

בְּזֵעַ֤ת אַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ תֹּ֣אכַל לֶ֔חֶם עַ֤ד שֽׁוּבְךָ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה כִּ֥י מִמֶּ֖נָּה לֻקָּ֑חְתָּ כִּֽי־עָפָ֣ר אַ֔תָּה וְאֶל־עָפָ֖ר תָּשֽׁוּב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• In the sweatזֵעָהzê‛âh · sweatH2188
• of thy faceאַף'aph · faceH639
• shalt thou eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
• tillעַד‛ad · tillH5704
• thou returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• unto the groundאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
• for out of it wast thou takenלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• for dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• thouאַתָּ֫ה'attâh 'attâ 'ath 'attîy 'attem 'atten 'attênâh 'attênnâh · you(m.s.)H859

Cross-references for Genesis 3:19

• Ecclesiastes 1:3People work very hard while they live on the earth. But in the end, what do they receive in return for their work?
• Ephesians 4:28Any of you who robbed people before must now stop taking things. Instead, you should work hard with your own hands. Then you will be able to share what you have with people who are poor.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:9Our Christian friends, remember how we worked so hard to help you. We worked during the day and even during the night. We did not want to cause any problems for you. So we taught you God's good news and we did not ask you to give us anything in return.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:10Even when we were there with you, we told you this rule: ‘If anyone refuses to work, you should not give food to him.’
• Job 1:21He said, ‘When I was born, I had nothing. When I die, I will take nothing with me. The Lord has given me all the things that I have. The Lord may choose to take those things away. I will continue to praise the name of the Lord!’
• Psalms 90:3People return to dust in the ground when they die. You say, ‘Become dust again, you people.’
• Psalms 104:29When you turn away from them, they become very afraid. When you take away their breath, they die and they return to the dust.
• Ecclesiastes 5:15When people are born, they bring nothing with them. When they die, they take nothing away with them. All their hard work finally leaves them with nothing.
• Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and he made a man. He breathed air into the nose of the man to give him life. So the man became alive.
• Genesis 18:27Then Abraham spoke again. He said, ‘I have been brave enough to speak to the Lord. I know that I am nothing more than dust and ashes.
• Genesis 23:4‘I am living as a stranger among you. Please, sell me some land here, so that it belongs to me. Then I can use it to bury my wife properly.’
• Job 17:13The only home that I hope to go to is my grave. I will lie down to sleep there in the dark.
• Job 19:26Illness may completely destroy my skin. But after that happens, I know that in this body I will see God.
• Job 21:26But they all die one day and their bodies lie under the ground. Worms cover their bodies, whoever they are.
• Job 34:15If he did that, everyone that is alive would die. As humans, we would become dirt again.
• Psalms 22:15My mouth has become dry like a piece of a broken pot. My tongue sticks to my mouth. You have left me down in the dirt, as good as dead!

Commentaries on Genesis 3:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19In the sweat of thy face - Though the whole body may be thrown into a profuse sweat, if hard labor be long continued, yet the face or forehead is the first part whence this sweat begins to issue; this is occasioned by the blood being strongly propelled to the brain, partly through stooping, but principally by the strong action of the muscles; in consequence of this the blood vessels about the head become turgid through the great flux of blood, the fibres…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8-21Verses 8-21 - XVI. The Judgment 15. שׁוּף shûp “bruise, wound.” ͂ (= ͂ ?) tērein ̓́ ektribein Job 9:17, ͂ katapatein Psalm 139:11, ́ suntribein Romans 16:20. 16. תשׁוּקה teshûqâh “desire, inclination.” ́ apostrofee ̓́ epistrophē Genesis 3:8-13; the sentence pronounced upon each, Genesis 3:14-19; and certain particulars following thereupon, Genesis 3:20-21. Genesis 3:8-9 The voice, we conceive, is the thunder of the approach of God and his call to Adam…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-19Verses 16-19 The woman, for her sin, is condemned to a state of sorrow, and of subjection; proper punishments of that sin, in which she had sought to gratify the desire of her eye, and of the flesh, and her pride. Sin brought sorrow into the world; that made the world a vale of tears. No wonder our sorrows are multiplied, when our sins are so. He shall rule over thee, is but God's command, Wives, be subject to your own husbands. If man had not sinned, he…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-19God emphasized his first command not to eat the fruit by mentioning eating several times in 3:17–19. The judgment made it harder for humans to get food. This matched their sin of eating what God had forbidden. cursed is the ground: The man's relationship with the ground (see study note on 2:7) became hostile as judgment affected his main role (2:5, 15). He must work hard to cultivate the ground, but with less success than before. Human sin impacts all of…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-1917-19. unto Adam he said--made to gain his livelihood by tilling the ground; but what before his fall he did with ease and pleasure, was not to be accomplished after it without painful and persevering exertion.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 3:19

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Agriculture
• Corruption
• Curse
• Death
• Dust
• Fall of Man
• God
• Ground
• Judgments
• Labor
• Sin
• Sweat
• Temptation
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Above
• Adam
• Beguile
• Bread
• Clothe
• Coat
• Conception
• Death
• Dust
• Enmity

Commentaries on Genesis 3

• 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