Genesis 3:14

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהֹוָ֨ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהִ֥ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
said	וַיֹּאמֶר֩ vai.yo.Mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
serpent	הַנָּחָשׁ֮ ha.na.Chash	H5175	a snake (from its hiss) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
thou	אַתָּה֙ 'a.Tah	H859	thou and thee · personal pronoun, 2nd person masculine singular
done	עָשִׂ֣יתָ 'a.Si.ta	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
cursed	אָר֤וּר 'a.Rur	H779	to execrate · verb, qal passive participle, masculine singular absolute
cattle	הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה ha.be.he.Mah	H929	properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
beast	חַיַּ֣ת chai.Yat	H2416	alive · noun, common feminine singular construct
field	הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה ha.sa.Deh	H7704	a field (as flat) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
belly	גְּחֹנְךָ֣ ge.cho.ne.Kha	H1512	the external abdomen · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
dust	וְעָפָ֥ר ve.'a.Far	H6083	dust (as powdered or gray) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eat	תֹּאכַ֖ל to.Khal	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
days	יְמֵ֥י ye.Mei	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
life	חַיֶּֽיךָ chai.Yei.kha	H2416	alive · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Micah 7:17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our Go…
Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall n…
Psalms 72:9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
Isaiah 29:4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as o…
Genesis 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Leviticus 20:25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls ab…
Deuteronomy 28:15-20 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statut…
Exodus 21:28-32 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:14-15

The prisoners being found guilty by their own confession, besides the personal and infallible knowledge of the Judge, and nothing material being offered in arrest of judgment, God immediately proceeds to pass sentence; and, in these verses, he begins (where the sin began) with the serpent. God did not examine the serpent, nor ask him what he had done nor why he did it; but immediately sentenced him, 1. Because he was already convicted of rebellion against God, and his malice and wickedness were notorious, not found by secret search, but openly avowed and declared as Sodom's. 2. Because he was to be for ever excluded from all hope of pardon; and why should any thing be said to convince and hu…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:14

THE SENTENCE. (Gen 3:14-24) And the Lord God said unto the serpent--The Judge pronounces a doom: first, on the material serpent, which is cursed above all creatures. From being a model of grace and elegance in form, it has become the type of all that is odious, disgusting, and low [LE CLERC, ROSENMULLER]; or the curse has converted its natural condition into a punishment; it is now branded with infamy and avoided with horror; next, on the spiritual serpent, the seducer. Already fallen, he was to be still more degraded and his power wholly destroyed by the offspring of those he had deceived.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:14

And the Lord God said unto the serpent - The tempter is not asked why he deceived the woman; he cannot roll the blame on any other; self-tempted he fell, and it is natural for him, such is his enmity, to deceive and destroy all he can. His fault admits of no excuse, and therefore God begins to pronounce sentence on him first. And here we must consider a twofold sentence, one on Satan and the other on the agent he employed. The nachash, whom I suppose to have been at the head of all the inferior animals, and in a sort of society and intimacy with man, is to be greatly degraded, entirely banished from human society, and deprived of the gift of speech. Cursed art thou above all cattle, and abov…

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The Church Fathers

(Verse 14.) You shall tread upon your chest and your stomach. The Septuagint translators added the stomach, but in Hebrew it only has the chest, to reveal the cunning and cunning thoughts, that all his steps are wickedness and deceit. But also what follows: You shall eat dust. In Hebrew it is written 'Aphar,' which we can say is ashes and dust.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

"Cursed are you above every beast," because you deceived those who rule over all the beasts. Instead of being more clever than all the beasts you will be more cursed than all the beasts and "on your belly shall you go," because you brought birth pangs upon the race of women. And "dust you shall eat all days of your life," because you deprived Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life.
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 2.29.2

And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle and beasts of the earth. Because the serpent was not asked why he did this, it can be seen that he did not do it by his own nature and will, but the devil had worked through and from him, who was already destined for the fire because of his sin of impiety and pride. Therefore, what is said to the serpent is also without a doubt figurative and refers to him who worked through the serpent. For in these words, the tempter is described as he would be to the human race.
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Adam — Red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent…
Curse — Denounced by God against the serpent (Gen. 3:14), and against Cain (4:11). These divine maledictions carried their effect with them. Prophetical curses were sometimes pronounced by holy men (Gen.…
Devil — (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also “the accuser of the brethen” (Rev. 12:10). In Lev. 17:7 the word “devil” is…
Gilead — Hill of testimony, (Gen. 31:21), a mountainous region east of Jordan. From its mountainous character it is called “the mount of Gilead” (Gen. 31:25). It is called also “the land of Gilead” (Num.…
Serpent — (Heb. nahash; Gr. ophis), frequently noticed in Scripture. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia. The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob’s blessing on Dan (Gen.…
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil — Stood in the midst of the garden of Eden, beside the tree of life (Gen. 2, 3). Adam and Eve were forbidden to take of the fruit which grew upon it. But they disobeyed the divine injunction, and so…
Animals · Un — Un
Curse · .Against the serpent — .Against the serpent
Devil, The · The author of the fall — The author of the fall
Fall Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
God · .To Adam — .To Adam

Genesis 3:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:14-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:14

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 3:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:14-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:14

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 3:14

John Calvin on Genesis 3:14

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 3:14-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 3:14-19