God’s Word Translation
Genesis 3:17
17Then he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, although I commanded you, ‘You must never eat its fruit.’ The ground is cursed because of you. Through hard work you will eat ⌞food that comes⌟ from it every day of your life.
Genesis 3:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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;
- New International Version (NIV)To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
Context of Genesis 3:17
15I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.” 16He said to the woman, “I will increase your pain and your labor when you give birth to children. Yet, you will long for your husband, and he will rule you.” Then he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, although I commanded you, ‘You must never eat its fruit.’ The ground is cursed because of you. Through hard work you will eat ⌞food that comes⌟ from it every day of your life. 18The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat wild plants. 19By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
Read all of Genesis 3Genesis 3:17 word by word
וּלְאָדָ֣ם אָמַ֗ר כִּֽי־שָׁמַעְתָּ֮ לְק֣וֹל אִשְׁתֶּךָ֒ וַתֹּ֙אכַל֙ מִן־הָעֵ֔ץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר צִוִּיתִ֙יךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ אֲרוּרָ֤ה הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּֽעֲבוּרֶ֔ךָ בְּעִצָּבוֹן֙ תֹּֽאכֲלֶ֔נָּה כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And unto Adamאָדָם'âdâm · AdamH121
- he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Because thou hast hearkenedשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- unto the voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
- of thy wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- and hast eatenאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- of the treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
- of whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
- I commanded theeצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
- of it: cursedאָרַר'ârar · to curseH779
- the groundאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- for thy sake; in sorrowעִצָּבוֹן‛itstsâbôn · toilH6093
- it allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
- the daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- of thy lifeחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416
Cross-references for Genesis 3:17
- 1 Samuel 15:23The sin of black magic is rebellion. Wickedness and idolatry are arrogance. Because you rejected the Lord’s word, he rejects you as king.”
- Matthew 22:12He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without proper wedding clothes?’ “The man had nothing to say.
- Matthew 25:26“His master responded, ‘You evil and lazy servant! If you knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted and gather where I haven’t scattered,
- Luke 19:22“The king said to him, ‘I’ll judge you by what you’ve said, you evil servant! You knew that I was a tough person to get along with. You knew that I take what isn’t mine and harvest grain I haven’t planted.
- Romans 3:19We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God.
- Genesis 3:6The woman saw that the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
- Genesis 2:16The Lord God commanded the man. He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.
- Jeremiah 7:23But I did tell them this, ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live the way I told you to live so that things will go well for you.’
- Genesis 5:29He named him Noah [Relief], and said, “This child will bring us relief from the work and painful labor of our hands since the Lord has cursed the ground.”
- Psalms 127:2It is useless to work hard for the food you eat by getting up early and going to bed late. The Lord gives ⌞food⌟ to those he loves while they sleep.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2“Absolutely pointless!” says the spokesman. “Absolutely pointless! Everything is pointless.”
- Ecclesiastes 2:11But when I turned to look at all that I had accomplished and all the hard work I had put into it, I saw that it was all pointless. ⌞It was like⌟ trying to catch the wind. I gained nothing ⌞from any of my accomplishments⌟ under the sun.
- Isaiah 24:5The earth is polluted by those who live on it because they’ve disobeyed the Lord’s teachings, violated his laws, and rejected the everlasting promise.
- Romans 8:20Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope
- Job 5:6Certainly, sorrow doesn’t come from the soil, and trouble doesn’t sprout from the ground.
- Job 14:1“A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.
Commentaries on Genesis 3:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Unto Adam he said - The man being the last in the transgression is brought up last to receive his sentence: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife - "thou wast not deceived, she only gave and counseled thee to eat; this thou shouldst have resisted;" and that he did not is the reason of his condemnation. Cursed is the ground for thy sake - from henceforth its fertility shall be greatly impaired; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it - be in…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 3:17
In the dictionaries
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
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