EOB: Official Site of the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible (Old and New Testament)

Genesis 3:6

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

EOB Footnote:

The MT adds “she also gave to her husband with her” where the LXX reads simply “she gave also to her husband with her,” though the difference is minimal. The MT phrase “good for food” corresponds to the LXX “good for eating.” The Hebrew word rendered “desirable” or “to be desired” in the MT (from the root meaning “to covet” or “long for”) corresponds to the LXX term meaning “pleasing to look upon” or “beautiful to contemplate” — the LXX emphasizes visual appeal while the MT suggests active desire. The MT phrase often translated “to make one wise” uses a word meaning “to give insight” or “to cause to prosper,” while the LXX renders this as “beautiful to contemplate” or “fair to see,” effectively combining or reinterpreting the Hebrew concept of gaining wisdom through the fruit into an aesthetic quality.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

WEB (World English Bible):

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to look upon and beautiful to contemplate, and having taken of its fruit, she ate, and she gave to her husband also with her, and they ate.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

And the woman sees that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make one wise, and she takes of its fruit and eats, and gives also to her husband with her, and he eats.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

THE FALL AND THE MYSTERY OF HUMAN CHOICE

This verse stands as one of the most consequential in all of Scripture, marking the moment when humanity departed from communion with God. The Eastern Fathers understood this not merely as a historical event but as a revelation of the fundamental dynamics of temptation and sin that continue to operate in every human soul.

THREEFOLD PATTERN OF TEMPTATION: Saint John the Theologian’s teaching in his first epistle concerning the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life finds its archetype here. Eve saw that the tree was good for food (desire of the flesh), pleasing to the eyes (desire of the eyes), and desirable for gaining wisdom (vainglory). This same threefold pattern appears in Christ’s temptation in the wilderness, where the New Adam overcomes precisely where the first Adam and Eve fell.

CHRISTOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The Fathers consistently read this passage in light of the Incarnation. Where Eve took the forbidden fruit and gave it to her husband unto death, the Theotokos received the Word of God and gave Him to the world unto life. Saint Irenaeus develops this parallel extensively, showing how Mary’s obedience reverses Eve’s disobedience. The tree of transgression finds its antidote in the Tree of the Cross, from which flows not death but eternal life.

PATRISTIC UNDERSTANDING: Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes that Adam was not deceived as Eve was, making his transgression more grievous in one sense, for he sinned with full knowledge out of misguided love for his wife. Saint Ephrem the Syrian notes the tragic irony that in seeking to become like God through disobedience, humanity lost the very likeness of God they already possessed through grace.

LITURGICAL CONNECTIONS: The Sunday of Forgiveness, which inaugurates Great Lent, features the commemoration of Adam’s expulsion from Paradise. The hymns of this day poignantly depict Adam sitting outside Eden, weeping for what was lost. The entire Lenten journey becomes a return to Paradise, culminating in Pascha when Christ opens the gates that were closed by this primordial transgression.

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION: The Holy Fathers teach that this verse reveals how sin operates through the corruption of natural desires. The fruit was genuinely beautiful and the desire for wisdom genuinely good, yet both were pursued outside of God’s will and timing. Orthodox asceticism does not condemn creation or natural desires but seeks to reorder them according to divine wisdom, healing the distortion introduced in this moment of ancestral transgression.

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