Tree of Life Version
Genesis 3:19
19By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.”
Genesis 3:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
- New International Version (NIV)By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
- New King James Version (NKJV)In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Context of Genesis 3:19
17Then to the man He said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate of the tree which I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground because of you— with pain will you eat of it all the days of your life. 18Thorns and thistles will sprout for you. You will eat the plants of the field, By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.” 20Now Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. 21Adonai Elohim made Adam and his wife tunics of skin and He clothed them.
Read all of Genesis 3Genesis 3:19 word by word
בְּזֵעַ֤ת אַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ תֹּ֣אכַל לֶ֔חֶם עַ֤ד שֽׁוּבְךָ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה כִּ֥י מִמֶּ֖נָּה לֻקָּ֑חְתָּ כִּֽי־עָפָ֣ר אַ֔תָּה וְאֶל־עָפָ֖ר תָּשֽׁוּב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- In the sweatזֵעָהzê‛âh · sweatH2188
- of thy faceאַף'aph · faceH639
- shalt thou eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
- tillעַד‛ad · tillH5704
- thou returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- unto the groundאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- for out of it wast thou takenלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- for dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
- thouאַתָּ֫ה'attâh 'attâ 'ath 'attîy 'attem 'atten 'attênâh 'attênnâh · you(m.s.)H859
Cross-references for Genesis 3:19
- Ecclesiastes 1:3What does a person gain in all his labor that he toils under the sun?
- Ephesians 4:28The one who steals must steal no longer—instead he must work, doing something useful with his own hands, so he may have something to share with the one who has need.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:9For you recall, brothers and sisters, our labor and hardship—working night and day, so as not to burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the Good News of God.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10For even when we were with you, we would give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
- Job 1:21Then he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. Adonai gave and Adonai has taken away; blessed be the Name of Adonai.”
- Psalms 90:3You turn mankind back to dust, saying, “Return, children of Adam!”
- Psalms 104:29But when You hide Your face— they are dismayed. You take away their breath— they perish, and return to their dust.
- Ecclesiastes 5:15This too is a grievous wrong. Just as he came, so will he go, so what does he gain, from his toiling for the wind?
- Genesis 2:7Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being.
- Genesis 18:27Then Abraham answered and said, “Look, pray, I have decided to speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes.
- Genesis 23:4“I am an outsider and a sojourner among you. Give me a gravesite among you so that I may bury my dead from before my presence.”
- Job 17:13If I hope for Sheol as my home, if I make my bed in darkness,
- Job 19:26Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
- Job 21:26Together they lie in the dust and worms cover over them.
- Job 34:15all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to dust.
- Psalms 22:15I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax— melting within my innards.
Commentaries on Genesis 3:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19In the sweat of thy face - Though the whole body may be thrown into a profuse sweat, if hard labor be long continued, yet the face or forehead is the first part whence this sweat begins to issue; this is occasioned by the blood being strongly propelled to the brain, partly through stooping, but principally by the strong action of the muscles; in consequence of this the blood vessels about the head become turgid through the great flux of blood, the fibres…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 3:19
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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Commentaries