New International Version
Genesis 3:22
22And 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.”
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:
- 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”—
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”
Context of Genesis 3:22
20Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. 21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 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.” 23So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Read all of Genesis 3Genesis 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 3:5“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
- Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
- Genesis 11:6The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
- Isaiah 19:12Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.
- Isaiah 47:12“Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.
- Jeremiah 22:23You who live in ‘Lebanon,’ who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor!
- Genesis 2:9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life 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; those who hold her fast will be blessed.
- Revelation 2:7Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
- Revelation 22:2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
- Psalms 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts 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
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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