Genesis 3:18

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
also	וְק֥וֹץ ve.Kotz	H6975	a thorn · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
thistles	וְדַרְדַּ֖ר ve.dar.Dar	H1863	a thorn · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
forth	תַּצְמִ֣יחַֽ tatz.Mi.ach	H6779	to sprout (transitive or intransitive · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
eat	וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ ve.'a.khal.Ta	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
herb	עֵ֥שֶׂב 'E.sev	H6212	grass (or any tender shoot) · noun, common masculine singular construct
field	הַשָּׂדֶֽה ha.sa.Deh	H7704	a field (as flat) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute

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

Job 5:5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
Psalms 104:14-15 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
Isaiah 7:23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even…
Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
Joshua 23:13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps…
Job 31:40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
Proverbs 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
Isaiah 5:6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:17-19

We have here the sentence passed upon Adam, which is prefaced with a recital of his crime: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, Gen 3:17. He excused the fault, by laying it on his wife: She gave it me. But God does not admit the excuse. She could but tempt him, she could not force him; though it was her fault to persuade him to eat, it was his fault to hearken to her. Thus men's frivolous pleas will, in the day of God's judgment, not only be overruled, but turned against them, and made the grounds of their sentence. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee. Observe, I. God put marks of his displeasure on Adam in three instances: - 1. His habitation is, by this sentence, cur…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:17

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.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:18

Thorns also and thistles, etc. - Instead of producing nourishing grain and useful vegetables, noxious weeds shall be peculiarly prolific, injure the ground, choke the good seed, and mock the hopes of the husbandman; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field - thou shalt no longer have the privilege of this garden of delights, but must go to the common champaign country, and feed on such herbs as thou canst find, till by labor and industry thou hast raised others more suitable to thee and more comfortable. In the curse pronounced on the ground there is much more implied than generally appears. The amazing fertility of some of the most common thistles and thorns renders them the most proper ins…

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John Gill on Genesis 3:18

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee,.... Not for his advantage, but to give him more trouble, and cause him more fatigue and sorrow to root them up: these include all sorts of noxious herbs and plants, and troublesome weeds, which added to man's labour to pluck up, that those more useful might grow and flourish: and Rabbi Eliezer (e) was of opinion, that if there had not been a new blessing upon the earth, it would have brought forth nothing else, as that which is rejected and nigh unto cursing does, Hebrews 6:8 and this curse continued, at least it was not wholly removed, until the times of Noah, Genesis 8:21 which made it hard and difficult to the antediluvian patriarchs…

The Church Fathers

There, too, is that distinction between the serpent who is said to eat the earth and Adam, to whom God said: ' You shall eat in sadness the herbs of the field.' [ Gen 3:18 ] We may note here a certain gradation. When we eat the earth, it seems that we are in a sort of warfare. when we eat the herbs, there is a certain advance. when finally, we eat bread, then our life of trial has reached it terminus. Let us experience a series of advancements in this life as Paul did: ' It is now no longer I that live,' that is, not I who before this ate the earth, not I who ate grass, for 'all flesh is grass,' but 'Christ lives in me.' [ Gal 2:20 ] This signifies that living bread which comes from heaven, [ John 6:50 ] and that wisdom, too is living, together with grace, justice, and resurrection. Again, consider the fact that it is the serpent and not man who is cursed. And the earth is not curses in itself but is 'cursed in your work.' This is said in refernece to the soul. The earth is cursed if your works are earthly, that is of this world. It is not cursed as a whole. It will merely bring forth thorns and thistles, if it is not diligently cared.
— Ambrose of Milan, On Paradise, 15.76-77

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…
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…
Herb — (1.) Heb. ‘eseb, any green plant; herbage (Gen. 1:11, 12, 29, 30; 2:5; 3:18, etc.); comprehending vegetables and all green herbage (Amos 7:1, 2). (2.) Yarak, green; any green thing; foliage of trees…
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.…
Thistle — (1.) Heb. hoah (2 Kings 14:9; Job 31:40). In Job 41:2 the Hebrew word is rendered “thorn,” but in the Revised Version “hook.” It is also rendered “thorn” in 2 Chr. 33:11; Prov. 26:9; Cant. 2:2;…
Thorn — (1.) Heb. hedek (Prov. 15:19), rendered “brier” in Micah 7:4. Some thorny plant, of the Solanum family, suitable for hedges. This is probably the so-called “apple of Sodom,” which grows very…
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…
Afflictions · Consequent upon the fall — Consequent upon the fall
Afflictions And Adversities · .Consequent upon the fall — .Consequent upon the fall
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Rendered laborious by the curse on the earth — Rendered laborious by the curse on the earth

Genesis 3:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:17-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:17

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:18

John Gill on Genesis 3:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 3:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:17-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:17

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:18

John Gill on Genesis 3:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 3:18

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 3:16-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 3:17-19

Rashi on Genesis 3:16