In the previous post and the one before that, we looked at the same passage as in this post. We first studied the serpent in the garden and then did an analysis of temptation. Now we turn to the final study of this remarkably rich text, in which we will look at what was really gained and lost when the first humans ate the forbidden fruit.

Hebrew text:

1 וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃

2 וַתֹּ֥אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁ֖ה אֶל־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ מִפְּרִ֥י עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן נֹאכֵֽל׃

3 וּמִפְּרִ֣י הָעֵץ֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּתוֹךְ־הַגָּן֒ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים לֹ֤א תֹֽאכְלוּ֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בּ֑וֹ פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן׃

4 וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַנָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא־מ֖וֹת תְּמֻתֽוּן׃

5 כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכָלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃

6 וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ וַתֹּאכַ֑ל וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ וַיֹּאכַֽל׃

7 וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙ עֵינֵ֣י שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּ כִּ֥י עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם הֵ֑ם וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ עֲלֵ֣ה תְאֵנָ֔ה וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם חֲגֹרֹֽת׃

Transliteration:
1 wə·han·nā·ḥāš hā·yāh ‘ā·rūm, mik·kōl ḥay·yaṯ haś·śā·ḏeh, ’ă·šer ‘ā·śāh Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hîm; way·yō·mer ’el- hā·’iš·šāh, ’ap̄ kî- ’ā·mar ’ĕ·lō·hîm, lō ṯō·ḵə·lū, mik·kōl ‘êṣ hag·gān.
2 wat·tō·mer hā·’iš·šāh ’el- han·nā·ḥāš; mip·pə·rî ‘êṣ- hag·gān nō·ḵêl.
3 ū·mip·pə·rî hā·‘êṣ ’ă·šer bə·ṯō·wḵ- hag·gān ’ā·mar ’ĕ·lō·hîm, lō ṯō·ḵə·lū mim·men·nū, wə·lō ṯig·gə·‘ū bōw; pen- tə·mu·ṯūn.
4 way·yō·mer han·nā·ḥāš ’el- hā·’iš·šāh; lō- mō·wṯ tə·mu·ṯūn.
5 kî yō·ḏê·a‘ ’ĕ·lō·hîm, kî, bə·yō·wm ’ă·ḵā·lə·ḵem mim·men·nū, wə·nip̄·qə·ḥū ‘ê·nê·ḵem; wih·yî·ṯem kê·lō·hîm, yō·ḏə·‘ê ṭō·wḇ wā·rā‘.
6 wat·tê·re hā·’iš·šāh kî ṭō·wḇ hā·‘êṣ lə·ma·’ă·ḵāl wə·ḵî ṯa·’ă·wāh- hū lā·‘ê·na·yim, wə·neḥ·māḏ hā·‘êṣ lə·haś·kîl, wat·tiq·qaḥ mip·pir·yōw wat·tō·ḵal; wat·tit·tên gam- lə·’î·šāh ‘im·māh way·yō·ḵal.
7 wat·tip·pā·qaḥ·nāh ‘ê·nê šə·nê·hem, way·yê·ḏə·‘ū, kî ‘ê·rum·mim hêm; way·yiṯ·pə·rū ‘ă·lêh ṯə·’ê·nāh, way·ya·‘ă·śū lā·hem ḥă·ḡō·rōṯ.

NIV:
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
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.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Study:
The first consequence of eating the forbidden fruit is, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.” In the study of Genesis 2.21-25 we did not really look at v. 25, which reads, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” There is a wordplay here that is impossible to replicate in English and that is obscured by the chapter division. In Genesis 2.25 the word for ‘naked’ is עָרֹם (arom) while in Genesis 3.1 the word for ‘crafty’ is עָרוּם (arum).¹ Perhaps the text is hinting that the story will show how the ‘crafty’ serpent will target the ‘nakedness’ of the humans even though the humans were originally unashamed despite being naked. In other words, the crafty serpent will soon reveal to the humans something about their nakedness, which was originally acceptable, that it will become a source of shame.
The two statements about the nakedness of the humans are curious. In the first instance, the humans were naked, but felt no shame. And we, who are ashamed to be naked before others wonder how this could be. How is it that the man and the woman felt no shame despite being naked? But when we read the consequence in Genesis 3.7, we are led to believe that they realized they were naked because their eyes were opened.
The logical conclusion is that, in some way, prior to eating the forbidden fruit, their eyes were closed and they did not realize they were naked. However, after eating the forbidden fruit, their eyes are opened and the first thing they realize is that they are naked, then quickly taking steps to cover their nakedness. We need to understand what it was to which their eyes were opened. That is, we need to understand what knowledge was gained in the act of eating the forbidden fruit and why that led them to make fig-leaf aprons.
The bible often uses the metaphor of clothes or even the reality of clothes to indicate one’s spiritual condition. Those who are righteous are often said to be clothed with white garments. Before the first humans disobeyed God, they were in a spiritually neutral condition. Some people call it a state of innocence. However, I think it is best to think of their condition as neutral because the humans and God knew that they were naked and yet none of them thought clothes were necessary. The condition in which they were did not require them to be clothed.
However, once they disobey God they recognize something as a result of which their spiritual condition changed. What they realized is that they were now exposed and in need of being clothed. More to the point, what they realized is that humans were always supposed to be clothed.² Let me explain.
Humans were created to bear the image of God. They were supposed to represent God to creation and creation to God. In other words, they were supposed to be priests. But if a priest went into office as himself or herself, the priest would divert attention from God to the priest. The vestments of a priest are intended to avoid the focus of the devotees from being drawn to the personality of the priest. They are a uniform worn so that the devotees would know that the priest is there not as himself or herself but as a representative of God. While wearing the vestments the priest is supposed to bear the presence of God for the devotees. Hence, created to be priests of God for the rest of creation, humans were always supposed to be clothed.
However, at the time of Genesis 3, they had not yet been ‘ordained’ to the office. So Genesis 2.25 should be seen as declaring just this. They were unclothed. But since they had not yet been commissioned as priests they were not ashamed. They were then in a condition that did not require them to be clothed.
When they eat the forbidden fruit, however, their eyes are opened. They realized that priests cannot fulfil their vocation unless they wear clothes of the office. Now they realize that it is evil for priests to attempt to fulfil their office while being unclothed. And they then attempt to address this by making fig-leaf aprons. But they know that what they have made is not quite up to the mark and so they hide, implicitly declaring that they know that in their current state of nakedness they cannot fulfill their priestly vocation.
The desire to be appropriately clothed is a good desire that stems from our being priests. However, this good desire has now been corrupted and has become a way of drawing attention to oneself, which is decidedly not what should happen with priestly vestments.
So what exactly is it that eating the fruit changed in the first humans? What the first humans gained is the knowledge that they were naked priests, incapable of fulfilling their vocation in that state. What they lost was the training process God had in mind that would have led to their full ordination with proper clothes befitting their vocation. But that would take us beyond the text for this post. But for now we can see that the crafty serpent used the good pre-ordination nakedness of the humans against them by enticing them to eat the forbidden fruit, which led to their discovering that priests are supposed to be clothed. They obtained knowledge through a shortcut as it were and this short circuited the training process that God had in store for them.

Prayer:
Our loving, almighty Father. We are thankful that you have, in the wisdom, created us to be your priests for the rest of creation. But we realize that when we represent you, we need to do that in a self-effacing way, not calling attention to ourselves but pointing toward you. Enable us to recognize that you always have a process in mind for us and that, if we take shortcuts, we run the risk of short circuiting those plans. Give us the patience and fortitude to stick to your processes and not give in to the temptation to take shortcuts. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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^{1. Kelly J. Murphy. Sex and Nakedness in Eden. (Accessed on 6 July 2019)↩}

^{2. Larry Solomon. Why did nudity become shameful after the fall? (Accessed on 6 July 2019)↩}