And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
12. The woman, &c.] The man, unable to deny the charge, seeks to excuse himself by laying the blame primarily on the woman, and secondarily on Jehovah Himself, for having given him the woman as his companion. Guilt makes the man first a coward, and then insolent.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. And the man said, c.] We have here some farther proofs of the fallen state of man, and that the consequences of that state extend to his remotest posterity. 1. On the question, Hast thou eaten of the tree? Adam is obliged to acknowledge his transgression but he does this in such a way as to shift off the blame from himself, and lay it upon God and upon the woman! This woman whom THOU didst give to be with me, immadi, to be my companion, (for so the word is repeatedly used,) she gave me, and I did eat. I have no farther blame in this transgression; I did not pluck the fruit; she took it and gave it to me. 2. When the woman is questioned she lays the blame upon God and the serpent, (nachash.) The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Thou didst make him much wiser than thou didst make me, and therefore my simplicity and ignorance were overcome by his superior wisdom and subtlety; I can have no fault here, the fault is his, and his who made him so wise and me so ignorant. Thus we find that, while the eyes of their body were opened to see their degraded state, the eyes of their understanding were closed, so that they could not see the sinfulness of sin; and at the same time their hearts were hardened through its deceitfulness. In this also their posterity copy their example. How few ingenuously confess their own sin! They see not their guilt. They are continually making excuses for their crimes; the strength and subtlety of the tempter, the natural weakness of their own minds, the unfavourable circumstances in which they were placed, c., &c., are all pleaded as excuses for their sins, and thus the possibility of repentance is precluded for till a man take his sin to himself, till he acknowledge that he alone is guilty, he cannot be humbled, and consequently cannot be saved. Reader, till thou accuse thyself, and thyself only, and feel that thou alone art responsible for all thy iniquities, there is no hope of thy salvation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I have eaten, not by my own choice and inclination, but by the persuasion of this woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, as a meet help, a faithful friend, and constant companion, supposing that it was not good for me to be alone, which the event shows would have been much better for me. Thus Adam excuseth himself, and chargeth God foolishly with his sin.
I did eat, out of complacency to her, not from any evil design against thee.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. The woman . . . gave meHeblames God [CALVIN]. Asthe woman had been given him for his companion and help, he had eatenof the tree from love to her; and perceiving she was ruined, wasdetermined not to survive her [M’KNIGHT].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the man said,…. Not being able any longer to conceal the truth, though he shifts off the blame as much as possible from himself:
the woman whom thou gavest to be with me: to be his wife and his companion, to be an help meet unto him, and share with him in the blessings of paradise, to assist in civil and domestic affairs, and join with him in acts of religion and devotion:
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat; she first ate of it herself, through the solicitations of the serpent, and then she persuaded me to eat of it; and accordingly I did, I own it. By this answer Adam endeavours to cast the blame partly upon his wife, and partly upon God; though in what he said he told the truth, and what was matter of fact, yet it carries this innuendo, that if it had not been for his wife he had never ate of it, which was a foolish excuse; for he, being her head and husband, should have taught her better, and been more careful to have prevented her eating of this fruit, and should have dissuaded her from it, and have reproved her for it, instead of following her example, and taking it from her hands: and more than this he tacitly reflects upon God, that he had given him a woman, who, instead of being an help meet to him, had helped to ruin him; and that if he had not given him this woman, he had never done what he had: but at this rate a man may find fault with God for the greatest blessings and mercies of life bestowed on him, which are abused by him, and so aggravate his condemnation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. The boldness of Adam now more clearly betrays itself; for, so far from being subdued, he breaks forth into coarser blasphemy. He had before been tacitly expostulating with God; now he begins openly to contend with him, and triumphs as one who has broken through all barriers. Whence we perceive what a refractory and indomitable creature man began to be when he became alienated from God; for a lively picture of corrupt nature is presented to us in Adam from the moment of his revolt.
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Every one,’ says James, ‘is tempted by his own concupiscence,’ (Jas 1:14😉
and even Adam, not otherwise than knowingly and willingly, had set himself, as a rebel, against God. Yet, just as if conscious of no evil, he puts his wife as the guilty party in his place. ‘Therefore I have eaten,’ he says, ‘because she gave.’ And not content with this, he brings, at the same time, an accusation against God; objecting that the wife, who had brought ruin upon him, had been given by God. We also, trained in the same school of original sin, are too ready to resort to subterfuges of the same kind; but to no purpose; for howsoever incitements and instigations from other quarters may impel us, yet the unbelief which seduces us from obedience to God is within us; the pride is within which brings forth contempt.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12, 13) She gave me . . . There is again in Adam the same passiveness which we noticed on Gen. 3:6. He has little sense of responsibility, and no feeling that he had a duty towards Eve, and ought to have watched over her, and helped her when tempted. It is a mistake to suppose that he wished to shift the blame, first upon Eve, and then upon God, who had given her to him; rather, he recapitulates the history, as if, in his view, it was a matter of course that he should act as he had done (see on Gen. 3:20), and as if he had no sense that there was any blame whatever attaching to any one. His conscience still seems utterly unmoved. Far nobler is the womans answer. She acknowledges that she had been led astray, and, under the influence of the serpents deceit, had broken Gods commandment.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me Observe the natural effort of a fallen nature to excuse its own guilt by casting the blame on another . And not only is the woman blamed, but a sinister reflection on Jehovah himself appears in the words whom thou gavest to be with me .
This woman by my side, whom thou gavest to be my companion and helper, she has been the occasion of my eating the forbidden fruit.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” ’
What an accurate picture of a man suffused in guilt. He seeks to place the blame anywhere but on himself. ‘The woman –’. She is the one who is to blame. She gave it to me. ‘Whom you gave to be with me.’ It was really your fault, God, it was you who gave her to me. ‘She gave me fruit from the tree.’ What else could I do? It would not have been nice to refuse. ‘And I ate.’ In the end he has to admit a tiny bit of blame for himself.
So it is clear that the real culprits are the woman, and to some extent God. The fact, of course, was that the man himself was largely to blame. He was not deceived. He had been appointed by God and told that the fruit of the tree was banned. The tree was holy to the Lord. Had he stood firm, how the course of history would have changed. But he was deliberately disobedient. Possibly his only real excuse was that the woman was very beautiful and persuasive. But like the woman, he should have run away with his fingers in his ears.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 3:12. The woman thou gavest me, &. Here observe again another evil fruit of sin: what sad disturbance and overthrow it makes in the once calm, even, and innocent mind! With disingenuous ingratitude Adam attempts to throw all the guilt of his offence even upon his Divine Benefactor, by taxing his best gift, the woman, with being the cause of itTHIS woman, whom THOU gavest to be with me. Instead of acknowledging, with an ingenuous shame, his deep and almost inexcusable violation of his Creator’s law; instead of imploring pardon for so aggravated a crime, he craftily transfers it all to Him, who had given him so mischievous a gift as the woman, to seduce and betray him. And let us ask, are not the effects of sin still and always found the same?
Let it be just remarked, that the same disposition is notorious in Eve also, who takes no shame to herself, but transfers it all to the serpent, Gen 3:13. How few freely and ingenuously confers their guilt without seeking every idle palliation of vain self-love!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Ver. 12. The woman whom thou gavest. ] Here he rejects the fault upon the woman, and, through her, upon God, who gave her to be with him, or before him; or such another as himself (with reference to that Kenegdo ,) Gen 2:20 or a help meet for him. This she might have been to him, had he been (as he ought to her) a manly guide in the way to heaven. He should have rebuked her, as Job did his wicked wife, for transgressing God’s law and tempting him to the like. Then had her sin been personal, resting upon herself, and gone no further, had not he hearkened to her voice. But he not only did thus, but instead of agnising his fault, seeks to transfer it upon God; that, since he could not be like unto God in the divinity, which he aimed at, he might make God like unto himself in iniquity; which was to fill up the measure of his sin, that wrath might have come upon him to the utmost, but that God’s mercy was then, and is still, over all his own good, and our bad, works.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the man. Hebrew. Ha ‘adham = the man Adam. App-14.
the woman. Characteristic of fallen man (Job 31:33. hence Deu 13:6).
Thou gavest. Implying blame to Jehovah as well as to his wife.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 2:18, Gen 2:20, Gen 2:22, Exo 32:21-24, 1Sa 15:20-24, Job 31:33, Pro 19:3, Pro 28:13, Luk 10:29, Rom 10:3, Jam 1:13-15
Reciprocal: Gen 3:6 – and he did eat Gen 16:2 – hearkened Exo 32:24 – So they Jdg 2:2 – why have 1Sa 15:13 – I have performed 1Sa 15:15 – for 1Sa 15:24 – obeyed 2Sa 14:32 – if there 2Sa 19:9 – strife Job 2:9 – his wife Jer 2:23 – How canst Jer 44:19 – without 1Ti 2:14 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou {k} gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
(k) His wickedness and lack of true repentance appears in this that he blamed God because he had given him a wife.