New Living Translation
Genesis 3:17
17And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
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
15And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 18It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 19By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
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 15:23Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
- Matthew 22:12‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply.
- Matthew 25:26“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,
- Luke 19:22“‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant,
- Romans 3:19Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.
- Genesis 3:6The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
- Genesis 2:16But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
- Jeremiah 7:23This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’
- Genesis 5:29Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the Lord has cursed.”
- Psalms 127:2It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
- Ecclesiastes 2:11But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
- Isaiah 24:5The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant.
- Romans 8:20Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
- Job 5:6But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
- Job 14:1“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how 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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