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

20The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21The Lord God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Beholdהֵןhên · look!H2005
• the manאָדָם'âdâm · the man (Adam)H120
• is become as oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• of us, to knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• goodטוֹבţôb · goodH2896
• and evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• and now, lest he put forthשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: reachH7971
• his handיָדyâd · handH3027
• and takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• also of the treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• of lifeחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416
• and eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• and liveחָיַיchâyay · to liveH2425
• for everעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769

Cross-references for Genesis 3:22

• Genesis 3:5for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.”
• Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”
• Genesis 11:6And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.
• Isaiah 19:12But where, oh where, are your wise men? Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
• Isaiah 47:12Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful – maybe you will scare away disaster.
• Jeremiah 22:23You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you will groan when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby.
• Genesis 2:9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)
• Proverbs 3:18She is like a tree of life to those who obtain her, and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed.
• Revelation 2:7The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will permit him to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.’
• Revelation 22:2flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
• Psalms 22:26Let the oppressed eat and be filled! Let those who seek his help praise the Lord! May you 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