New Living Translation
Genesis 3:22
22Then 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!”
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
20Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. 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!” 23So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed 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“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
- Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
- Genesis 11:6“Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!
- Isaiah 19:12Where are your wise counselors, Pharaoh? Let them tell you what God plans, what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is going to do to Egypt.
- Isaiah 47:12“Now use your magical charms! Use the spells you have worked at all these years! Maybe they will do you some good. Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
- Jeremiah 22:23It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace paneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish— anguish like that of a woman in labor.
- Genesis 2:9The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- Proverbs 3:18Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
- Revelation 2:7“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
- Revelation 22:2It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
- Psalms 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
- John 6:48Yes, I 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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