an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct
both
שְׁנֵיהֶ֔םshe.nei.Hem
H8147
two · cardinal number, both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
opened
וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙va.ti.pa.Kach.nah
H6491
to open (the senses · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
they
הֵ֑םHem
H1992
they (only used when emphatic) · personal pronoun, 3rd person masculine plural
knew
וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּvai.Ye.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
naked
עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם'ei.ru.Mim
H5903
nudity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
sewed
וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙vai.yit.pe.Ru
H8609
to sew · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
fig
תְאֵנָ֔הte.'e.Nah
H8384
the fig (tree or fruit) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
leaves
עֲלֵ֣ה'a.Leh
H5929
a leaf (as coming up on a tree) · noun, common masculine singular construct
together
תָּפַרtâphar
H8609
to sew
themselves
וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּvai.ya.'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
aprons
חֲגֹרֹֽתcha.go.Rot
H2290
a belt (for the waist) · noun, common feminine plural 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
Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Isaiah 59:6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act o…
Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Job 9:29-31 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
Genesis 3:10-11 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Isaiah 28:20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
2 Kings 6:20 And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD o…
Deuteronomy 28:34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:6-8
Here we see what Eve's parley with the tempter ended in. Satan, at length, gains his point, and the strong-hold is taken by his wiles. God tried the obedience of our first parents by forbidding them the tree of knowledge, and Satan does, as it were, join issue with God, and in that very thing undertakes to seduce them into a transgression; and here we find how he prevailed, God permitting it for wise and holy ends.
I. We have here the inducements that moved them to transgress. The woman, being deceived by the tempter's artful management, was ringleader in the transgression, Ti1 2:14. She was first in the fault; and it was the result of her consideration, or rather her inconsideration. 1. She…
THE FALL. (Gen 3:6-9)
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food--Her imagination and feelings were completely won; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction, the inward commotion of mind, the increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul (Jam 1:15; Jo1 2:16).
Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:7
The eyes of them both were opened - They now had a sufficient discovery of their sin and folly in disobeying the command of God; they could discern between good and evil; and what was the consequence? Confusion and shame were engendered, because innocence was lost and guilt contracted.
Let us review the whole of this melancholy business, the fall and its effects.
1. From the New Testament we learn that Satan associated himself with the creature which we term the serpent, and the original the nachash, in order to seduce and ruin mankind; Co2 11:3 Rev 12:9 Rev 20:2.
2. That this creature was the most suitable to his purpose, as being the most subtle, the most intelligent and cunning of all bea…
And indeed, the fig tree sometimes in Scriptures insinuates the sweetness of heavenly love, whence it is written: "He who keeps the fig tree eats its fruit; and he who guards his master will be honored" (Prov. XXVII); but because our first parents, confused by the guilt of transgression, made for themselves coverings of fig leaves, the fig tree can not incongruously signify the sweetened habit of sinning in humanity...
It was not in order to see outward things that "their eyes were opened," because they could see such things already. It was in order that they might see the difference between the good they had lost and the evil into which they had fallen. That is why the tree is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They had been forbidden to touch it because if they did it would bring on the experience of this distinction. It takes the experience of the pains of sickness to open our eyes to the pleasantness of health.
Then they saw that they were naked by perverted eyes. Their original simplicity, signified by the term nakedness, now seemed to be something to be ashamed of. And so that they might no longer be simple, they made aprons for themselves from the leaves of the fig tree, as if to cover their private parts, that is, to cover their simplicity, of which that cunning pride was ashamed. The leaves of the fig tree signify a certain itching, if this is correctly said in the case of incorporeal things, which the mind suffers in wondrous ways from the desire and pleasure of lying. As a result those who love to joke are even called "salty" in Latin. For in jokes pretense plays a primary role.
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…
Apron — Found in the Authorized Version in Gen. 3:7, of the bands of fig-leaves made by our first parents. In Acts 19:12, it denotes the belt or half-girdle worn by artisans and servants round the waist for…
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…
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
Fig — First mentioned in Gen. 3:7. The fig-tree is mentioned (Deut. 8:8) as one of the valuable products of Palestine. It was a sign of peace and prosperity (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zech. 3:10). Figs were…
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…
Conscience · .Of Adam and Eve, after they sinned — .Of Adam and Eve, after they sinned
Disobedience To God · .Of Adam and Eve, eating the forbid — .Of Adam and Eve, eating the forbid
Dress · Of fig leaves — Of fig leaves
And the eyes of them both were opened,.... Not of their bodies, but of their minds; not so as to have an advanced knowledge of things pleasant, profitable, and useful, as was promised and expected, but of things very disagreeable and distressing. Their eyes were opened to see that they had been deceived by the serpent, that they had broke the commandment of God, and incurred the displeasure of their Creator and kind benefactor, and had brought ruin and destruction upon themselves; they saw what blessings and privileges they had lost, communion with God, the dominion of the creatures, the purity and holiness of their nature, and what miseries they had involved themselves and their posterity i…
And the eyes of them both were opened. It was necessary that the eyes of Eve should be veiled till her husband also was deceived; but now both, being alike bound by the chain of an unhappy consent, begin to be sensible of their wretchedness although they are not yet affected with a deep knowledge of their fault. They are ashamed of their nakedness, yet, though convinced, they do not humble themselves before God, nor fear his judgements as they ought; they even do not cease to resort to evasions. Some progress, however, is made; for whereas recently they would, like giants, assault heaven by storm; now, confounded with a sense of their own ignominy, they flee to hiding-places. And truly this…
"Then the eyes of them both were opened" (as the serpent had foretold: but what did they see?), "and they knew that they were naked." They had lost "that blessed blindness, the ignorance of innocence, which knows nothing of nakedness" (Ziegler). The discovery of their nakedness excited shame, which they sought to conceal by an outward covering. "They sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons." The word תּאנה always denotes the fig-tree, not the pisang (Musa paradisiaca), nor the Indian banana, whose leaves are twelve feet long and two feet broad, for there would have been no necessity to sew them together at all. חגרת, περιζώματα, are aprons, worn round the hips. It was here tha…
Shame is opposite to the naked innocence Adam and Eve enjoyed prior to their rebellion (2:25). Their relationship with one another and with God was fractured. • sewed fig leaves together: These covered their physical bodies, but not their shame. They could not mend their broken relationships (see also 3:21 and study note).
Eve · Clothed with fig leaves — Clothed with fig leaves
Fall Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fall Of Man, The · Man in consequence of: Conscious of guilt — Man in consequence of: Conscious of guilt
Fig · Aprons ma — Aprons ma
Fig Tree, The · Leaves of, used by Adam for covering — Leaves of, used by Adam for covering
Garments · Origin of — Origin of
Innocency · Contrasted with guilt, compare — Contrasted with guilt, compare
Man · Disobeyed God by eating part of the forbidden fruit — Disobeyed God by eating part of the forbidden fruit
Serpent · Satan appears to Eve in the form of — Satan appears to Eve in the form of
Sin · Entered into the world by Adam — Entered into the world by Adam
Temptation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Women · Fall of, and curse upon — Fall of, and curse upon
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
