Genesis 3:22

Genesis 3:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And 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:
• New International Version (NIV)And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—"
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

Context of Genesis 3:22

20Now the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”-- 23therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:22 word by word

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ פֶּן־יִשְׁלַ֣ח יָד֗וֹ וְלָקַח֙ גַּ֚ם מֵעֵ֣ץ הַֽחַיִּ֔ים וְאָכַ֖ל וָחַ֥י לְעֹלָֽם׃Read the interlinear

• Then the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Beholdהֵןhên · look!H2005
• the manאָדָם'âdâm · the man (Adam)H120
• has becomeהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• like oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• Us, knowingיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• goodטוֹבţôb · goodH2896
• and evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• and nowעַתָּ֫ה‛attâh · nowH6258
• he mightפֶּן־pên · lestH6435
• reachשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• with his handיָדyâd · handH3027
• and takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• alsoגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• the treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• and eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• foreverעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769

Cross-references for Genesis 3:22

• Genesis 3:5For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”
• Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”
• Genesis 11:6And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be impossible for them.
• Isaiah 19:12Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of armies Has planned against Egypt.
• Isaiah 47:12“Persist now in your spells And in your many sorceries With which you have labored from your youth; Perhaps you will be able to benefit, Perhaps you may cause trembling.
• Jeremiah 22:23You who live in Lebanon, Nested in the cedars, How you will groan when sharp pains come on you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!
• Genesis 2:9Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• Proverbs 3:18She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are those who hold on to her.
• Revelation 2:7The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’
• Revelation 22:2in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
• Psalms 22:26The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. May your heart live forever!
• John 6:48I am the bread of life.

Commentaries on Genesis 3:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Behold, the man is become as one of us - On all hands this text is allowed to be difficult, and the difficulty is increased by our translation, which is opposed to the original Hebrew and the most authentic versions. The Hebrew has היה hayah, which is the third person preterite tense, and signifies was, not is. The Samaritan text, the Samaritan version, the Syriac, and the Septuagint, have the same tense. These lead us to a very different sense, and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22-24Verses 22-24 - XVII. The Execution 24. כרוּב kerûb ברך in Aramaic: “carve, plow”; Persian: “grip, grasp.” This word occurs about eighty-seven times in the Hebrew scriptures; in sixty of which it refers to carved or embroidered figures; in twenty-two to the living being in the vision of Ezekiel Ezekiel 28:14, Ezekiel 28:16; in two to a being on which the Lord is poetically described as riding 2 Samuel 22:11; Psalm 18:11; and in the present passage…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-24Verses 22-24 God bid man go out; told him he should no longer occupy and enjoy that garden: but man liked the place, and was unwilling to leave it, therefore God made him go out. This signified the shutting out of him, and all his guilty race, from that communion with God, which was the bliss and glory of paradise. But man was only sent to till the ground out of which he was taken. He was sent to a place of toil, not to a place of torment. Our first…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22like one of Us: The plural likely shows God speaking with his heavenly court of angels (see study note on 1:26). the tree of life … live forever: God showed mercy by preventing the humans from eating from the tree of life and living forever in a sinful condition. But through Jesus Christ, eternal life is available again (see Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. And God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us--not spoken in irony as is generally supposed, but in deep compassion. The words should be rendered, "Behold, what has become [by sin] of the man who was as one of us"! Formed, at first, in our image to know good and evil--how sad his condition now. and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life--This tree being a pledge of that immortal life with which obedience should be…Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 3:22

• Adam
• Banishment
• Knowledge
• Life
• Sin
• Tree
• Trinity

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Tree of life
• Above
• Adam
• Beguile
• Bread
• Clothe
• Coat
• Conception

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