And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
20. Eve ] Heb. avvah, that is, Living, or Life. The man is represented as calling his wife by this name, because she was the mother of the whole human race. The word is evidently of great antiquity; for it is not found with this spelling in Biblical Hebrew, but in the form of ayyah. The sound of the name “avvah” (Eve) was sufficiently close to that of the root meaning “Life” ( ay) to suggest connexion. Whether avvah was an old form, or a name taken over from the primitive people of Palestine, we have no means of deciding.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20 21. These two verses are a parenthesis interrupting the thread of the narrative. Probably they contain materials current in some other thread of tradition, and inserted here at the close of the judicial sentence.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 3:20
Adam called his wifes name live
Mans undying hope
Consider that aspect of this terrible calamity which is afforded us in the action of Adam.
It is clear that he understood what was involved in the act he had just committed. Scarcely are the words uttered by God, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, etc., than he seems to turn to his wife and say, Eve, the mother, the living one; because she is mother of all living. There is no defiance here. It is not because the man refused to accept the judgment of God, not because he refused to submit to the doom. He did not refuse, he did not set himself up against God. He caught the tenderness of the Divine voice even as it pronounced the judgment. He saw the gleam of grace in the darkness of the doom. It is then that he turned to his wife and said, Eve, the living one. Her seed shall bruise the serpents head; shall yet triumph over the evil power that has almost destroyed her; and though this day we die, beyond is a life eternal, for she is the mother of all that shall live. How true this is to human nature! It is illustrated, it is constantly illustrated, in the experience through which we pass. Who has not known it?–Men turning back to their wives in the hour of trouble. Man, suddenly stripped of his glory and possessions, stands amongst the wreck of all his life; that moment, with a fresh trust, he puts his hand in his wifes and says, Well, the future is still before us, we shall not lose hope. Eve, the living one. Mother of all that live. Is there not, in the first place, a recognition of the dignity of the woman? Her name is not mentioned before. She is simply the woman; the other side of human nature–the man and the woman. Adam had his name, the general name of humanity centring in him. But when the loss comes, woman takes her place. She is no longer woman only, she is Eve. She is herself. Bound by a closer tie than ever to her husband, but with a dignity of her own. And is it not also the assertion of the dignity of motherhood? What is womans highest dignity? To be the mother of men. She had been the wife of man before, but a wife is not perfected until she is a mother. And so she receives her name when she is recognized as mother. It is also the immediate acceptance on the part of Adam of the promise of God. God has confirmed his earthly nature. Earth thou art. God had also declared that there was to be a continuance of the race by reference to immediate hope. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. But had there not been before this these words: I shall put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shaft bruise his heel? Then came the judgment upon the man, and yet, the moment the judgment is uttered, he calls his wife Eve. He sees the promise that is contained in the motherhood, and in the conflict of the seed and the serpent. He seals with his own word the promise of God. The chief subject of our consideration, however, is the aspect in which Adam seemed to regard his wife, mother of all living! As we speak the word, there rises before us the vast multitude of the human race! The mother of all living–all who shall live! All in the past–all now–all in the future! Mother of all living! How the generations move along the road of life in the great march of mankind–like a river rolling swift with ever broadening stream into the vast ocean of eternity! Wave after wave rolls up and breaks upon the shore of time from the exhaustless tide of life! The life that is around us, in our own city. Multiply these teeming millions by all the cities of the world, or all the ages of human existence, and think of them all gathered up within this womans name. Has our first father been prophetic? Did he, for a moment, see down the vistas of centuries, the masses of humanity enfolded in the motherhood of Eve? Then the thought would come that all these living ones would die. You remember the story of Darius, who, when he reviewed those mighty hosts that followed his standard when he marched to the invasion of Greece, was observed to weep. The squadrons were there, their arms all flashing in the sun, and round about them in the outlying regions the multitudes of followers that attend an army. Magnificent battle array! Vast concourse of men all obedient to his will, and yet the monarch weeps! Why weepest thou, O king? I weep because in one hundred years not one of this great host will be alive. And many feel as felt the king when they contemplate a crowd. When the people are out upon a gala day, and from some high window we look down upon them, a strange melancholy creeps into the heart. When we visit foreign lands, and passing from city to city behold everywhere human life teeming in countless millions, a sense of awe comes over the spirit, and a sense of sorrow. And yet, I am not quite sure that this is right. I would rather catch the gleams of light that the eye of Adam saw shining in the promise of God. I would rather hear the words of cheer of our first father when he gathers up the hope of humanity within his soul, and though the judgment had been only a moment uttered, called her who stood beside him–Eve, because she was the mother of all living, and seals his acceptance of the promise and the hope, in the name he gave to his wife. And man generally has been true to this Divine instinct of the Father. The hope of human life has been unquenchable. Read history, and you will find that no misfortune has daunted men. They remain always hopeful. In the increase of poverty, in the presence of disaster, after war, accidents, oppression, life reasserts itself, and in that up-springing of life, mankind declares its hope. You never can crush it out. Today, the victorious foe may spread desolation over the homes of people whom they destroy, but let the tide of war roll back, and hope will return, and the very battlefield will grow green with harvest promise, and the streets down which the destroying legions thundered, echo with the voice of the children at their play. You cannot crush out life, you cannot destroy mans hope in himself. This name of Eve, the mother of all living, is only the hope that sprang to being in Adams breast, and which, since that moment, has never died from human hearts. Hence it seems to me that human nature is a perpetual gospel. Life is full of evangel. The very vastness and fulness of humanity are the large letters in which Gods promise and Adams interpretation of it, are written out that all may read. (L. D. Bevan, D. D.)
Observations
I. GOD LEAVES NOT HIS CHILDREN WITHOUT MEANS TO SUPPORT THEM IN THEIR WORST CONDITION.
II. THE GRACE WHICH GOD ESPECIALLY WORKS AND PRESERVES IN HIS CHILDRENS HEARTS, IS FAITH.
III. GODS PROMISES MUST BE EMBRACED BY FAITH, AS REAL PERFORMANCES.
IV. A GODLY MAN MUST BE CAREFUL TO PRESERVE MEMORIALS OF GREAT MERCIES. To this end God ordained the Sabbath, and divers other festivals, as likewise did the Church in imitation of Him (Est 9:20-21; Est 9:27-28); for the same end they gave names to the places where those mercies were performed (1Sa 7:12; 2Ch 20:26). Upon the same ground God appoints a pot of manna to be kept in the tabernacle, to remind posterity of that miraculous feeding of their fathers with bread from heaven (Exo 16:33).
V. IT IS FIT IN GIVING NAMES, TO MAKE CHOICE OF SUCH AS MAY GIVE US WITHAL SOMETHING FOR OUR INSTRUCTION. Of this God Himself gives us a precedent, in changing Abrahams and Sarahs name (Gen 17:5; Gen 17:15), and Jacobs (Gen 32:28), in giving Solomon his name (1Ch 21:9), and the name of Jesus to our Saviour (Mat 1:21), which holy persons have followed (Gen 21:3; Gen 21:6; Gen 29:32). Reason
1. We need all helps, to mind us either of Gods mercies, and acts of His providence, or of our own duties; which God Himself implied, in causing His people to write the commandments on the posts and gates of their houses (Deu 11:20), and to make fringes to their garments, to put them in mind of them (Num 15:38-39).
2. And there is no readier means to mind us of such things than our names, which we have daily in our mouths and memories. (J. White, M. A.)
Eve habited by Adam
The fact that it was not God but Adam that gave the name to Eve teaches us much. Why did not God give Eve her name, as He had done to Adam? God did not allow Adam to name himself, even in his innocence; yet now in his fall He permits him to name the woman, nay, sanctions his so doing. This was for such reasons as the following–
1. To show His grace. What grace, what tender love is displayed in allowing man to give a name to his wife–and such a name–Eve–LIFE!
2. To show that Adam was not to be deprived of his headship. He was still to be head of the woman, even in his fall, and as such he names her.
3. To show, that though Adam had so cruelly flung blame upon her before God, yet no estrangement had followed. She was still bone of his bone. They had been companions in guilt, they were to be companions in sorrow, and they were fellow heirs of the hope just held out to them. Thus they were reunited in new bonds of mingled sadness and joy.
4. To show the direction in which Adams thoughts were running, that from this manifestation of the current of his thoughts we might learn how the promise had taken hold of him. This verse gives us unequivocal insight into the state of Adams feelings. It exhibits him to us as one who understood, believed, prized, rested on the Divine promise which he had just heard. He stands before us as a believing man; and we might say of him, By faith Adam called his wifes name Eve. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
Coats of skins
Man clothed by God
The whole mystery of justification is wrapped up in the details of this story.
I. We have the fact as in a parable that MAN IS UTTERLY IMPOTENT TO BRING TO PASS ANY SATISFYING RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS OWN. He can see his shame, but he cannot effectually cover or conceal it. The garments of our own righteousness are fig leaves all, and we shall prove them such. Let God once call to us, and we shall find how little all these devices of our own can do for us. We shall stand shivering, naked and ashamed, before Him.
II. While we thus learn that man cannot clothe himself, we learn also that GOD UNDERTAKES TO CLOTHE HIM. As elsewhere He has said in word, I am the Lord that healeth thee, so here He says in act, I am the Lord that clotheth thee. He can yet devise a way by which His banished shall return to Him.
III. We note in this Scripture that the clothing which God found for Adam could only have been obtained AT THE COST OF A LIFE, and that the life of one unguilty, of one who had no share or part in the sin which made the providing of it needful. We have here the first institution of sacrifice; God Himself is the Institutor. It is a type and shadow, a prelude and prophecy of the crowning sacrifice on Calvary.
IV. Are not the LESSONS which we may draw from all this plain and palpable enough?
1. There is no robe of our own righteousness which can cover us and conceal our shame.
2. That righteousness which we have not in ourselves we must be content and thankful to receive at the hands of God.
3. Not Christ by His life, but by His life and death, and mainly by His death, supplies these garments for our spirits need. (Archbishop Trench.)
Man clothed by God
I come, then, to the conclusion that these vestments which the Lord God provided for our first parents, are emblematic of nothing less than the sacrifice and righteousness of Christ. But there might be a second object in thus arraying our first parents in coats of skin; and that was, to keep alive in their minds the sentence of death, which would be ultimately executed upon them. The dying struggles of the poor animals, whose skins they were to appropriate to themselves, could not fail to remind them of their own deserts; but then this feeling might be too soon effaced; it was essential, therefore, to their continuance in humility, that they should carry with them wherever they went a memorial that death was come into the world–a death which was the effect of sin, a death to which they must at last submit. And sadly they must have gazed upon the throes of every slaughtered creature, as they beheld the fate to which they were hastening themselves. Yet there was a wonderful provision made for securing both the glory of God and the comfort of His creatures. Death was the fruit of sin, sin was the work of Satan; and I may say concerning the honour of the Creator, that Satan may not triumph as a destroyer, it was so ordained that the first things which died should be emblematical of the death of Christ, by whom death itself should be virtually abolished. (F. J. Stainforth, M. A.)
Sin and civilization
I. The clothing of the first man and woman in skins of beasts, is in the first place, symbolical of the dominance of that nature which is the sole possession of the beast. In the beast, there is only a life, which informs the body for the purpose of bodily ends. In the man there is a spirit, which informs the body through the soul, for the ultimate ends of the higher and spiritual life. The body of the beast is for itself. The body of the man is for the spirit. It is the spirits instrument. But, by sin, man had set body against spirit, over spirit. Man had chosen the material instead of the spiritual.
II. It was, also, the insistence of God upon the propriety of the shame, which had prompted them to cover themselves with clothes. It is as if God had said: You are right; the material body which you have put on over the spiritual–conceal it! You have set it in the forefront; put it in the rear. Cover it! hide it!
III. It is, besides, the symbol of the conflict between the higher and lower, which makes up the whole of mans moral discipline.
IV. But there was still another meaning in this clothing of skins, for it is to be noted that while Adam and Eve covered themselves with leaves God makes coats of skins and clothed them. Were it only for the purpose of symbolism, they might have worn these clothes of leaves. Why must these coats of skins have been made for them? I shall not raise here questions as to mans relation to the animals in his innocent state. Naturally, by physical constitution, man is a flesh-eating animal, and I cannot accept the opinion, that till his sin, he was fed only by the food of the garden. But, at last, the narrative brings out a striking distinction between the demand made on mans powers, when innocent, and that which was made upon him after the Fall. In the garden all seemed spontaneously easy. He had only to put forth his hand, and take the food, the fruit. It was simple work–gathering a few leaves: fastening them together and making a covering. But now, there is the further difficulty of securing the skins of beasts. These must supply their coverings; they will have to be captured, killed, and the skins prepared. There may be some relation here to sacrifice as well as to food. At least the idea is suggested of man coming into relation to the animal world. The creatures must be caught and trained, and fed, and slain. Now this is the elementary fact of all material civilization. Mans first victory over the world is over the animals. Man makes his first step in culture in conquering the brutes. The domesticity of the lower world, and the dominance of the human race over the animal, is the first step in progress. It is, then, with no fanciful interpretation that I base upon this passage some thoughts concerning the progress of humanity in material civilization, as related to the Fall. Mans fallen condition has certainly borne in some way upon his material development. I am anxious to show that in Gods mercy the Fall has been the condition of a greater rising.
1. The historic proof of this doctrine. If you review the history of civilization and the physical progress of man, you will find that it has been rendered in a large degree possible by sin, and, we may almost say that, had it not been for sin, man could not have advanced to the degree, or in the manner, in which that advance has been made. We do not say that material development necessarily accompanies a sinful condition of humanity. This is disproved by the fact that the highest form of material civilization has been pressed into service of the highest moral and spiritual life, and the further fact that the noblest instances of culture have been found to manifest the most distinguished virtues. Still, the general relation of religious and material well-being has been such as to suggest, what we think the incident of our text indicates, that the presence of sin in our human nature has been the condition upon which God has made the development of mans external good to be dependent. Had it not been for sin, we had not been so wise, or so wealthy, or strong, nor smitten with so many passions–not summoned to such weary conflicts; but also, and by reason of these, not such masters of an external world of use and ornament, of beauty and grace.
2. That which is shown in this historical review is also seen in the nature of the case. Let us restate the position we are endeavouring to sustain. Out of the Fall God has caused to issue mans material well-being. We have seen, that the essence of the first sin consisted in the elevation of the physical nature into the supreme regard. Thereupon God thrust man out into a world which demanded his energy to conquer its hostile forces, and to bring it into subservience to his will. Civilization is the result of the assertions of mans physical needs, and the endeavour on the part of man to compel the physical world to supply those needs. When, in the person of his first parents, he set the body above the spirit, then he lost his natural condition. Now, he must win back this material empire; he must overcome everything, himself included. Nothing submits freely, spontaneously. His nature, especially his physical nature, becomes imperative, he hungers, he thirsts; his passions are imperious, and yet there is no response from the things about him. In Eden, hunger would have been immediately satisfied, thirst immediately assuaged. I doubt if ever there was hunger or thirst. All the emotions of the soul would have been in complete rhythm and harmony, and the spirit, and the soul, and the body, would have been in perpetual melody of goodness and innocence. But now he must set himself to contrive. He has to contend. He must become an artist. He must call in the aid of his fellows. He must unite with others, and here is the source of organization, development of art, the inventions of science, the formation of political arrangement, the submission of the governed, the rule of the king. All must be produced to content the cravings of that nature which has been aroused and will be satisfied. There is no government among the angels, except the immediate government of God. There can be no art among beings who are not created at once in fellowship with the Divine, and yet part of the material world about them. Government and art are the result of the fact that this lower nature of ours has been lifted into supremacy. They are the means of supplying its desires; the answer to its emphatic claim. But, moreover, the lower nature thus aroused, heightened, intensified, must again be brought under the control of the higher nature. If that does not result, there will be confusion, chaos, death. The body has been made prominent, brought forth; it must be set back, hidden. God taught man this lesson first, when He made coats of skins and clothed him. Hence there follows not only the development of the physical, but the subjugation of this physical to the spiritual. CONCLUSION:
1. Are we not taught here the lesson, which no age more than our own has needed, that a civilization which is chiefly materialistic must have in it the gravest perils?
2. And will not these thoughts help us to understand the meaning of the perplexed and changeful condition through which the development of the race has moved? Is it some strange and malicious spirit that has driven man to struggle with the beasts, and compelled him to the arduous conflict, often renewed, with the hard outer world? Not at all. It is the will of God, wise and loving, which would thus cover his nakedness and Jet once more the brutal nature in its proper place of retirement and subjection. Every race decay and national decline is only part of the discipline of man. It is a long struggle to regain the proper relation of spirit and body. But it is the Divine will.
3. It shows us, too, the need of a Divine help for the undoing of the evil man has brought upon himself, and which the clothes of his own invention will not supply. The man had already clothed himself with leaves. But man found hiding of shame to be not enough. A devil brought the sin, and a God must make its covering. Mans leaf garment is a poor defence against the cold, hard world into which he is driven. God therefore gives him clothes of skins. And so ever He is ready to supply that remedy, that salvation which man must find or perish, but which no man can himself secure.
4. And so, finally, I learn by these words to fill all things with the evangel which God proclaims in the very utterance of doom. Some men go everywhere only to find a Divine law and a Divine condemnation. Wherever I turn I see written up Gods gospel. I know no human story which is not a comment upon grace. I know no voice, even though it comes from the deeps of hell, which is not an echo of the pity of our God. (L. D.Bevan, D. D.)
Lessons
1. In the midst of death Gods thoughts have been to direct sinners unto life.
2. Gods thoughts are not only to give life but to reveal it in His own way.
3. Gods goodness prevented sin from turning all into disorder. He keeps relations.
4. Grace makes the same instrument be for life, which was for death (Gen 3:20).
5. God pitieth His creatures in the nakedness which sin hath made.
6. God makes garments where man makes nakedness.
7. Garments are a covering of nakedness, but a discovery of sin.
8. Raiment should humble and not make men proud. The mischief of sin is to forget nakedness under fine clothes. It makes nakedness appear fine.
9. Suitable clothing was Gods work for several sexes. For Adam and his wife. The law afterwards showeth this.
10. Gracious providence puts on clothes upon sinners backs. Much of love (Gen 3:21). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Observations
I. THE VERY CLOTHES THAT WE WEAR ARE GODS PROVISION.
II. NECESSARY PROVISION IS AS MUCH AS WE CAN LOOK FOR AT GODS HAND.
III. OUR CLOTHES FOR THE MOST PART ARE BORROWED FROM OTHER CREATURES.
1. To humble and keep our hearts low, when we consider that we have nothing but what we borrow, and that of our basest vassals.
2. To move us to take care of the creature, without the help whereof we must need starve with hunger and cold. (J. White, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.] A man who does not understand the original cannot possibly comprehend the reason of what is said here. What has the word Eve to do with being the mother of all living? Our translators often follow the Septuagint; it is a pity they had not done so here, as the Septuagint translation is literal and correct: , “And Adam called his wife’s name Life, because she was the mother of all the living.” This is a proper and faithful representation of the Hebrew text, for the Chavvah of the original, which we have corrupted into Eve, a word destitute of all meaning, answers exactly to the of the Septuagint, both signifying life; as does also the Hebrew chai to the Greek , both of which signify the living.
It is probable that God designed by this name to teach our first parents these two important truths:
1. That though they had merited immediate death, yet they should be respited, and the accomplishment of the sentence be long delayed; they should be spared to propagate a numerous progeny on the earth.
2. That though much misery would be entailed on his posterity, and death should have a long and universal empire, yet ONE should in the fulness of time spring from the woman, who should destroy death, and bring life and immortality to light, 2Ti 1:10. Therefore Adam called his wife’s name Life, because she was to be the mother of all human beings, and because she was to be the mother of HIM who was to give life to a world dead in trespasses, and dead in sins, Eph 2:1, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The word signifies either a living, or, the giver or preserver of life. Though for her sin justly sentenced to a present death, yet by Gods infinite mercy, and by virtue of the promised Seed, she was both continued in life herself, and
was made the mother of all living men and women that should be after her upon the earth; who though in and with their mother they were condemned to speedy death, yet shall be brought forth into the state and land of the living, and into the hopes of a blessed and eternal life by the Redeemer, whose mother or progenitor she was.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. Adam called his wife’s nameEveprobably in reference to her being a mother of the promisedSaviour, as well as of all mankind.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve,…. Whom he had before named “Ishah”, a woman, because taken from him the man, Ge 2:23 and now gives her a new name upon this scene of things, which had taken place; which is derived not from “Chavah”, to “show forth”, to “declare”; as if she was called so, because of her discourse with the serpent, being loquacious and talkative, and telling everything she knew, according to some Jewish writers g; but from “Chayah, to live”, as the reason given in the text shows. She is called Aeon “(Aevum)” by Philo Byblius, the interpreter of Sanchoniatho h. The word “Eve” is retained in many Heathen writers, and used to be frequently repeated in the Bacchanalian rites, when the idolaters appeared with serpents platted on their heads i; which plainly refers to the affair between the serpent and Eve; hence Bacchus is sometimes called Evius k: the reason of Adam’s giving her this name follows,
because she was the mother of all living; which reason is either given by Moses, when from her had sprung a numerous offspring, and would be continued to the end of the world; or if given by Adam was prophetic of what she would be; and so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, “because she would be the mother of all living”; and the ground of this faith and persuasion of his, that he and his wife should not die immediately for the offence they had committed, but should live and propagate their species, as well as be partakers of spiritual and eternal life, was the hint that had been just given, that there would be a seed spring from them; not only a numerous offspring, but a particular eminent person that should be the ruin of the devil and his kingdom, and the Saviour of them; and so Eve would be not, only the mother of all men living in succeeding generations, but particularly, or however one descending from her, would be the mother of him that should bring life and immortality to light, or be the author of all life, natural, spiritual, and eternal; and who is called , “the life”, which is the same word by which the Greek version renders Eve in the preceding clause. It was with pleasure, no doubt, that Adam gave her this name; and it appears that this affair of her being seduced by the serpent, and of drawing him into the transgression, did not alienate his affection from her; and the rather he must needs cleave unto her, and not forsake her, since her seed was to break the serpent’s head, and procure life and salvation for them; and by means of her there would be a race of living men produced, which would propagate his species to the end of time: for all living can only respect them, and not other animals, though in some sense they may be included, as our English poet l hints.
g Apud Fagium in loc. vid. Baal Hatturim in loc. h Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 34. i Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6. v. 518, 519. Pers. Satyr 1. v. 101, 102. vid. Clement. Alex. ad Gentes, p. 9. k Horat. Carmin. l. 2. ode 11. v. 17. l Mother of all things living, since by thee Man is to live, and all things live for man. Milton’s Paradise Lost. B. 11. l. 160, 161.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As justice and mercy were combined in the divine sentence; justice in the fact that God cursed the tempter alone, and only punished the tempted with labour and mortality, mercy in the promise of eventual triumph over the serpent: so God also displayed His mercy to the fallen, before carrying the sentence into effect. It was through the power of divine grace that Adam believed the promise with regard to the woman’s seed, and manifested his faith in the name which he gave to his wife. Eve, an old form of , signifying life ( , lxx), or life-spring, is a substantive, and not a feminine adjective meaning “the living one,” nor an abbreviated form of , from = (Gen 19:32, Gen 19:34), the life-receiving one. This name was given by Adam to his wife, “ because,” as the writer explains with the historical fulfilment before his mind, “ she became the mother of all living,” i.e., because the continuance and life of his race were guaranteed to the man through the woman. God also displayed His mercy by clothing the two with coats of skin, i.e., the skins of beasts. The words, “God made coats,” are not to be interpreted with such bare literality, as that God sewed the coats with His own fingers; they merely affirm “that man’s first clothing was the work of God, who gave the necessary directions and ability” ( Delitzsch). By this clothing, God imparted to the feeling of shame the visible sign of an awakened conscience, and to the consequent necessity for a covering to the bodily nakedness, the higher work of a suitable discipline for the sinner. By selecting the skins of beasts for the clothing of the first men, and therefore causing the death or slaughter of beasts for that purpose, He showed them how they might use the sovereignty they possessed over the animals for their own good, and even sacrifice animal life for the preservation of human; so that this act of God laid the foundation for the sacrifices, even if the first clothing did not prefigure our ultimate “clothing upon” (2Co 5:4), nor the coats of skins the robe of righteousness.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth, Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve that of the living soul. The reason of the name is here given (some think, by Moses the historian, others, by Adam himself): Because she was (that is, was to be) the mother of all living. He had before called her Ishah–woman, as a wife; here he calls her Evah–life, as a mother. Now, 1. If this was done by divine direction, it was an instance of God’s favour, and, like the new naming of Abraham and Sarah, it was a seal of the covenant, and an assurance to them that, notwithstanding their sin and his displeasure against them for it, he had not reversed that blessing wherewith he had blessed them: Be fruitful and multiply. It was likewise a confirmation of the promise now made, that the seed of the woman, of this woman, should break the serpent’s head. 2. If Adam did it of himself, it was an instance of his faith in the word of God. Doubtless it was not done, as some have suspected, in contempt or defiance of the curse, but rather in a humble confidence and dependence upon the blessing. (1.) The blessing of a reprieve, admiring the patience of God, that he should spare such sinners to be the parents of all living, and that he did not immediately shut up those fountains of the human life and nature, because they could send forth no other than polluted, poisoned, streams. (2.) The blessing of a Redeemer, the promised seed, to whom Adam had an eye, in calling his wife Eve–life; for he should be the life of all the living, and in him all the families of the earth should be blessed, in hope of which he thus triumphs.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 20, 21:
Following the fall, and preceding the birth of their first child, Adam gave a name,.-to his wife: Eve (chavvah or chayyah), meaning “to live, or living.” This was in recognition of her role as the “mother of all living,” those who live in the human family.
Jehovah Elohim provided “coats” (cathnoth, from cathan, to cover) to cover Adam and Eve. The fig-leaf garments of their own making were insufficient to cover their guilt. God slaughtered animals and from their sins fashioned tunics or garments, as an object lesson to teach the only Divinely-accepted way to cover man’s sin-guilt. The innocent must die for the guilty, the just for the unjust, 1Pe 3:18; And the covering of the innocent substitute provides covering for the guilt of the sinner. Thus in the shadow of Eden Jehovah God taught all humanity the first lesson of the Substitutionary Atonement by which the Coming One would provide satisfaction and cleansing for the sins of humanity.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
20. And Adam called, etc. There are two ways in which this may be read. The former, in the pluperfect tense, ‘Adam had called.’ If we follow this reading, the sense of Moses will be, that Adam had been greatly deceived, in promising life to himself and to his posterity, from a wife, whom he afterwards found by experience to be the introducer of death. And Moses (as we have seen) is accustomed, without preserving the order of the history, to subjoin afterwards things which had been prior in point of time. If, however we read the passage in the preterite tense, it may be understood either in a good or bad sense. There are those who think that Adam, animated by the hope of a more happy condition, because God had promised that the head of the serpent should be wounded by the seed of the woman, called her by a name implying life.’ (210) This would be a noble and even heroic fortitude of mind; since he could not, without an arduous and difficult struggle, deem her the mother of the living, who, before any man could have been born, had involved all in eternal destruction. But, because I fear lest this conjecture should be weak, let the reader consider whether Moses did not design rather to tax Adam with thoughtlessness, who being himself immersed in death, yet gave to his wife so proud a name. Nevertheless, I do not doubt that, when he heard the declaration of God concerning the prolongation of life, he began again to breathe and to take courage; and then, as one revived, he gave his wife a name derived from life; but it does not follow, that by a faith accordant with the word of God, he triumphed, as he ought to have done, over death. I therefore thus expound the passage; as soon as he had escaped present death, being encouraged by a measure of consolation, he celebrated that divine benefit which, beyond all expectation, he had received, in the name he gave his wife. (211)
(210) “ Vocasse eam vivificam.”
(211) It is probable, however, that more than this is here meant. The Hebrew word חוה, ( chavah,) Eve, is in the Septuagint rendered ζωή, life; and, as Fagius observes, Adam comforted himself in his wife, because he should, through Eve, produce a posterity in which (as parents in their children) they should be permanently victorious. — Pol. Syn. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Adam called his wifes name Eve.Heb., Chavvah; in Greek, Zo. It has been debated whether this name is a substantive, Life (LXX.), or a participle, Life-producer (Symm). Adams condition was now one of death, but his wife thereby attained a higher value in his sight. Through her alone could human life be continued, and the womans seed be obtained who was to raise up man from his fall. While, then, womans punishment consists in the multiplication of her sorrow and conception, she becomes thereby only more precious to man; and while her desire is to her husband, Adam turns from his own punishment to look upon her with more tender love. He has no word for her of reproach, and we thus see that the common interpretation of Gen. 3:12 is more than doubtful. Adam throws no blame either on Eve or on his Maker, because he does not feel himself to blame. He rather means, How could I err in following one so noble, and in whom I recognise Thy best and choicest gift? And with this agrees Gen. 3:6, where Adam partakes of the fruit without hesitation or thought of resistance. And so here he turns to her and calls her Chavvah, his life, his compensation for his loss, and the antidote for the sentence of death.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Eve the mother of all living The account of man’s original sin concludes with four statements too important and suggestive to have been accidental . The new naming of the woman, (comp . Gen 2:23,) the first clothing, the expulsion from the garden of Eden, and the two sacred symbols placed at the gate, are full of significance . The name Eve, , Hhavvah, from the intensive stem , signifies life-spring, or quickener of life . Given in the very face of the death foreshadowed by the penal sentence, it seems to have arisen from Adam’s faith in the promise that the woman’s Seed should wound the serpent’s head . In Gen 2:23 he named her Woman, in view of her origin; here he names her Eve, in view of her hopeful destiny.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.’
The man recognises that God has shown mercy to him and that, in spite of all, life will therefore go on. And by revealing his willingness to carry out God’s command to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen 1:28), he is making a statement of faith. ‘The man called his wife’s name ‘Chawwa’ (‘life’ – ch as in loch) because she is to be the mother of all who will live’ (‘chay’). Suddenly tragedy has been tempered by hope. All is not yet lost. Although they have lost everlasting life, they will live on in their children.
But the change of name also reflects the change in situation. She has previously been ‘woman’ in relation to ‘man’, the suggestion of an idyllic relationship, now she becomes the ‘life’ bearer who through pain and anguish will produce children. The renaming further stresses the woman’s new relationship to the man, ‘your desire will be to your husband and he will rule over you’. By renaming her the man is exerting his new authority. She is now not just subordinate, but in subjection.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Man Driven Out of paradise
v. 20. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all living. v. 21. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. v. 22. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, v. 23. therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken. v. 24. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Gen 3:20
Arraigned, convicted, judged, the guilty but pardoned pair prepare to leave their garden homethe woman to begin her experience of sorrow, dependence, and subjection; the man to enter upon his life career of hardship and toil, and both to meet their doom of certain, though it might be of long-delayed, death. The impression made upon their hearts by the Divine Clemency, though not directly stated by the historian, may be inferred from what is next recorded as having happened within the precincts of Eden ere they entered on their exile. And Adam called (not prior to the fall, reading the verb as a pluperfect (Calvin), nor after the birth of Cain, transferring the present verse to Gen 4:2 (Knobel), but subsequent to the promise of the woman’s seed, and preceding their ejection from the garden) his wife’s name Eve. Chavvah, from chavvah = chayyah, to live (cf. with the organic root chvi the Sanscrit, giv; Gothic, quiv; Latin, rive, gigno, vigeo; Greek, , &c; the fundamental idea being to breathe, to respireFurst), is correctly rendered lifeWork) by the LXX; Josephus, Philo, Gesenins, Delitzsch, Macdonald, &c. Lange, regarding it as an abbreviated form of the participle mechavvah, understands it to signify “the sustenance, i.e. the propagation of life; while Knobel, viewing it as an adjective, hints at woman’s peculiar function to quicken seed (Gen 19:1-38 :82) as supplying the explanation. Whether appended by the narrator (Delitzsch, Lange) or uttered by Adam (Kalisch, Macdonald), the words which follow give its true import and exegesis. Because she was the mother (amGreek, ; Welsh, mani; Copt; man; German and English, mama;Gesenius) of all living.
(1) Of Adam’s children, though in this respect she might have been so styled from the beginning; and
(2) of all who should truly live in the sense of being the woman’s seed, as distinguished from the seed of the serpent. In Adam’s giving a second name to his wife has been discerned the first assertion of his sovereignty or lordship over woman to which he was promoted subsequent to the fall (Luther), though this seems to be negatived by the fact that Adam exercised the same prerogative immediately on her creation; an act of thoughtlessness on the part of Adam, in that, “being himself immersed in death, he should have called his wife by so proud a name” (Calvin); a proof of his incredulity (Rupertus). With a juster appreciation of the spirit of the narrative, modern expositors generally regard it as a striking testimony to his faith.
Gen 3:21
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats (cathnoth, from cathan, to cover; cf. ; Sanscrit, katam; English, cotton) of skin (or, the skin of a man, from ur, to be naked, hence a hide). Neither their bodies (Origen), nor garments of the bark of trees (Gregory Nazianzen), nor miraculously-fashioned apparel (Grotius), nor clothing made from the serpent’s skin (R. Jonathan), but tunics prepared from the skins of animals, slaughtered possibly for food, as it is not certain that the Edenie man was a vegetarian (Gen 1:29), though more probably slain in sacrifice. Though said to have been made by God, “it is not proper so to understand the words, as if God had been a furrier, or a servant to sew clothes” (Calvin). God being said to make or do what he gives orders or instructions to be made or done. Willet and Macdonald, however, prefer to think that the garments were actually fashioned by God. Bush finds in the mention of Adam and his wife an intimation that they were furnished with different kinds of apparel, and suggests that on this fact is based the prohibition in Deu 22:5 against the interchange of raiment between the sexes. And clothed them.
1. To show them how their mortal bodies might be defended from cold and other injuries.
2. To cover their nakedness for comeliness’ sake; vestimenta honoris (Chaldee Paraphrase).
3. To teach them the lawfulness of using the beasts of the field, as for food, so for clothing.
4. To give a rule that modest and decent, not costly or sumptuous, apparel should be used.
5. That they might know the difference between God’s works and man’s inventionbetween coats of leather and aprons of leaves; and,
6. To put them in mind of their mortality by their raiment of dead beasts’ skinstalibus indici oportebat peccatorem ut essent mortalitatis indi-cium: Origen” (Wilier).
7. “That they might feel their degradationquia vestes ex ca materia confectae, belluinum quiddam magis saperent, quam lineae vel laneaeand be reminded of their sin” (Calvin). “As the prisoner, looking on his irons, thinketh on his theft, so we, looking on our garments, should think on our sins” (Trapp).
8. A foreshadowing of the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Delitzsch, Macdonald, Murphy, Wordsworth, Candlish; cf. Psa 132:9, Psa 132:16; Isa 61:10; Rom 13:14; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10). Bonar recognizes in Jehovah Elohim at the gate of Eden, clothing the first transgressors, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, as the High Priest of our salvation, had a right to the skins of the burnt offerings (Le Deu 7:8), and who, to prefigure his own work, appropriated them for covering the pardoned pair.
Gen 3:22
And the Lord God said. Verba insultantis; ironica reprobatio (Calvin). But “irony at the expense of a wretched, tempted soul might well befit Satan, but not the Lord” (Delitzsch), and is altogether inconsistent with the footing of grace on which man was placed immediately upon his fall. Behold, the man is become as one of us. Not the angels (Kalisch), but the Divine Persons (cf. Gen 1:26). It is scarcely likely that Jehovah alludes to the words of the tempter (Gen 3:5). To know good and evil. Implying an acquaintance with good and evil which did not belong to him in the state of innocence. The language seems to hint that a one-sided acquaintance with good and evil, such as that possessed by the first pair in the garden and the unfallen angels in heaven, is not so complete a knowledge of the inherent beauty of the one and essential turpitude of the other as is acquired by beings who pass through the experience of a fall, and that the only way in which a finite being can approximate to such a comprehensive knowledge of evil as the Deity possesses without personal contactcan see it as it lies everlastingly spread out before his infinite mindis by going down into it and learning what it is through personal experience (cf. Candlish, in loco). And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. On the meaning of the tree of life v/de Gen 2:9. Neither
(1) lest by eating of the fruit he should recover that immortal life which he no longer “it possessed (Kalisch), as is certain that man would not have been able, had he even devoured the whole tree, to enjoy life against the will of God” (Calvin); nor
(2) lest the first pair, through participation of the tree, should confer upon themselves the attribute of undyingness, which would not be the of salvation, but its opposite, the of the accursed (Keil, Lange, T. Lewis, Wordsworth); but either
(3) lest man should conceive the idea that immortality might still be secured by eating of the tree, instead of trusting in the promised seed, and under this false impression attempt to take its fruit, which, in his case, would have been equivalent to an attempt to justify himself by works instead of faith (Calvin, Macdonald); or
(4) lest he should endeavor to partake of the symbol of immortality, which he could not again do until his sin was expiated and himself purified (cf. Rev 22:14; Candlish). The remaining portion of the sentence is omitted, anakoloutha or aposiopesis being not infrequent in impassioned speech (cf. Exo 32:32; Job 32:13; Isa 38:18). The force of the ellipsis or expressive silence may be gathered from the succeeding words of the historian.
Gen 3:23, Gen 3:24
Therefore (literally, and) the Lord God sent (or cast, shalach in the Piel conveying the ideas of force and displeasure; cf. Deu 21:14; 1Ki 9:7) him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground (i.e. the soil outside of paradise, which had been cursed for his sake) whence he was taken. Vide Gen 3:19. So (and) he drove out the man (along with his guilty partner); and he placed (literally, caused to dwell) at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim.
1. Griffins, like those of Persian and Egyptian mythology, which protected gold-producing countries like Eden; from carav, to tear in pieces; Sanscrit, grivh; Persian, giriften; Greek, , ; German, grip, krip, greif (Eichhorn, Fib.st).
2. Divine steeds; by metathesis for rechubim, from rachab, to ride (Psa 18:11; Gesenius, Lange).
3. “Beings who approach to God and minister to him,” taking cerubkarov, to come near, to serve (Hyde).
4. The engravings or carved figures; from carav (Syriac), to engrave (Taylor Lewis); from an Egyptian root (Cook, vide Speaker’s Commentary). Biblical notices describe them as living creatures (Eze 1:5; Rev 4:6) in the form of a man (Eze 1:5), with four (Eze 1:8; Eze 2:1-10 :23; Eze 10:7, Eze 10:8-21) or with six wings (Rev 4:8), and full of eyes (Eze 1:18; Eze 10:12; Rev 4:8); having each four faces, viz; of a man, of a lion, of an ox, of an eagle (Eze 1:10; Eze 10:16); or with one face eachof a man, of a lion, of a calf, and of an eagle respectively trey. Gen 4:7). Representations of these chayathLXX; were by Divine directions placed upon the Capporeth (Exo 25:17) and curtains of the tabernacle (Exo 26:1, Exo 26:31; Exo 36:8, Exo 36:35), and afterwards engraved upon the walls and doors of the temple (1Ki 6:29, 1Ki 6:32, 1Ki 6:35). In the Apocalypse they are depicted as standing in the immediate neighborhood of the throne trey. Gen 4:6; Gen 5:6; Gen 7:11), and as taking part in the acts of adoration and praise m which the heavenly hosts engage (1Ki 5:11), and that on the express ground of their redemption (1Ki 5:8, 1Ki 5:9). Whence the opinion that most exactly answers all the facts of the case is, that these mysterious creatures were symbolic not of the fullness of the Deity (Bahr), nor of the sum of earthly life (Hengstenberg), nor of the angelic nature (Calvin), nor of the Divine manhood of Jesus Christ (Wordsworth), but of redeemed and glorified humanity (Jamieson, Fairbairn, Macdonald, Candlish). Combining with the intelligence of human nature the highest qualities of the animal world, as exhibited in the lion, the ox, and the eagle, they were emblematic of creature life in its most absolutely perfect form. As such they were caused to dwell at the gate of Eden to intimate that only when perfected and purified could fallen human nature return to paradise. Meantime man was utterly unfit to dwell within its fair abode. And a flaming sword, which turned every way. Literally, the flame of a sword turning itself; not brandished by the cherubim, but existing separately, and flashing out from among them (cf. Eze 1:4). An emblem of the Divine glory in its attitude towards sin (Macdonald). To keep (to watch over or guard; cf. Gen 2:15) the way of the tree of life. “To keep the tree of life might imply that all access to it was to be precluded; but to keep the way signifies to keep the way open as well as to keep it shut“ (Macdonald).
HOMILETICS
Gen 3:20-24
First fruits of the promise.
I. FAITH (Gen 3:20). The special significance of Adam’s renaming his wife at this particular juncture in his history is best discerned when the action is regarded as the response of his faith to the antecedent promise of the woman’s seed.
1. It is the place of faith to succeed, and not to precede, the promise. Faith being, in its simplest conception, belief in a testimony, the testimony must ever take precedence of the faith. “In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Eph 1:13).
2. As to the genesis of faith, it is always evoked by the promise, not the promise by the faith. Adam’s faith was the creation of God’s promise; so is that of every true believer. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17).
3. With regard to the function of faith, it is not that of certifying or making sure the promise, but simply of attesting its certainty, which it does by reposing trust in its veracity. “He that receiveth his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true” (Joh 3:33). And this was practically what was done by Adam when he called his wife’s name Eve.
4. The power of faith is seen in this, that while it cannot implement, it is able to anticipate the promise, and, as it were, to enjoy it beforehand, in earnest at least, as Adam did when he realized that his spouse should be the mother of all living. Even so “faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb 11:1).
II. ACCEPTANCE (Gen 3:21).
1. In the Divine scheme of salvation acceptance ever follows on the exercise of faith. See the language of the New Testament generally on the subject of a sinner’s justification. The covering of our first parents with coats of skin, apart altogether from any symbolical significance in the act, could scarcely be regarded as other than a token of Jehovah’s favor.
2. According to the same scheme the clothing, era sinner ever accompanies the act of his acceptance. In New Testament theology the Divine act of justification is always represented as proceeding on the ground that in the eye of God the sinner stands invested with a complete covering (the righteousness of Christ) which renders him both legally and morally acceptable. That all this was comprehended with perfect fullness and clearness by the pardoned pair it would be foolish to assert; but, in a fashion accommodated to their simple intelligences, the germ of this doctrine was exhibited by the coats of skin with which they were arrayed, and it is at least possible that they had a deeper insight into the significance of the Divine action than we are always prepared to allow.
3. In the teaching of the gospel scheme the providing of a sinner with such a covering as he requires must ever be the work of God, Though not improbable that the coats of skin were furnished by the hides of animals, now for the first time offered in sacrifice by Divine appointment, the simple circumstance that they were God-provided, apart from any other consideration, was sufficient to suggest the thought that only God could supply the covering which was needed for their sin.
III. DISCIPLINE (Gen 3:22-24). Rightly interpreted, neither the language of Jehovah nor that of Moses warrants the idea that the expulsion was designed as a penal infliction; but rather as a measure mercifully intended and wisely adapted for the spiritual edification of the pardoned pair. Three elements were present in it that are seldom absent from the discipline of saints.
1. Removal of comforts. The initial act in the discipline of Adam and his wife was to eject them from the precincts of Eden. And so oftentimes does God begin the work of sanctification in his people’s hearts by the infliction of loss. In the case of Adam and his spouse there were special reasons demanding their removal from the garden, as, e. g.,
(1) its non-suitability as a home for them now that their pure natures were defiled by sin; and
(2) the danger of their continuing longer in the vicinity of the tree of life. And the same two reasons will frequently be found to explain God’s dealings with his people when he inflicts upon them loss of creature comforts; the non-suitability of those comforts to their wants as spiritual beings; and the presence of some special danger in the things removed.
2. Increase of sorrow. Besides being ejected from the garden, the first pair were henceforth to be subjected to toil and trouble. Adam in tilling the ground, and Eve in bearing children. And this, too, was a part of God’s educational process with our first parents; as, indeed, the sufferings of this present life inflicted on his people generally are all commissioned on a like errand, viz; to bring forth within them the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and to make them partakers of his holiness.
3. Sentence of death. The words “whence he was taken” have an echo in them of “dust thou art,” &c; and must have extinguished within the breasts of Adam and his wife all hope of returning to Eden on this side the grave; perhaps, too, would assist them in seeking for a better country, even an heavenly. To prevent saints from seeking Edens on the earth seems to be one of the main designs of death.
IV. Here (Gen 3:24). Though excluded from the garden, man was not without cheering ingredients of hope in his condition.
1. The Divine presence was still with him. The cherubim and flaming sword were symbols of the ineffable majesty of Jehovah, and tokens of his presence. And never since has the world been abandoned by the God of mercy and salvation.
2. Paradise was still reserved for him. The cherubim and flaming sword were appointed “to keep the way of the tree of life;” not simply to guard the entrance, but to protect the place. So is heaven a reserved inheritance (1Pe 1:4).
3. The prospect of readmission to the tree of life was yet before him. As much as this was implied in the jealous guarding of the gate so long as Adam was defiled by sin. It could not fail to suggest the idea that when purified by life’s discipline he would no longer be excluded (cf. Rev 22:14).
4. The gate of heaven was still near him. He was still permitted to reside in the vicinity of Eden, and to commune with him who dwelt between the cherubim, though denied the privilege as yet of dwelling with him in the interior of his abode. If debarred from the full inheritance, he had at least its earnest. And exactly this is the situation of saints on earth, who, unlike those within the veil, who see the Lord of the heavenly paradise face to face, can only commune with him, as it were, at the gate of his celestial palace.
Learn
1. To believe God’s promise of salvation.
2. To be grateful for God’s gift of righteousness.
3. To submit with cheerfulness to God’s paternal discipline.
4. To live in hope of entering God’s heaven.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY
Gen 3:21
Covering.
God’s chief promises generally accompanied by visible signs or symbolical acts; e.g; bow in the cloud, furnace and lamp (Gen 15:17), passover, &c. The time here spoken of specially called for such a sign. Man had fallen; a Deliverer was promised; it was the beginning of a state of grace for sinners. Notice four facts:
1. Man unfallen required no covering.
2. Man fallen became conscious of need, especially towards God.
3. He attempted himself to provide clothing.
4. God provided it.
Spiritual meaning of clothing (Rev 3:18; Rev 7:14; 2Co 5:3). And note that the root of “atonement” in Hebrew is “to cover.” Thus the covering is a type of justification; God’s gift to convicted sinners (cf. Zec 3:4, Zec 3:5; Luk 15:22; and the want of this covering, Mat 22:11). With Adam’s attempt and God’s gift compare the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. Abel’s sacrifice of life accepted through faith (Heb 11:4), i.e. because he believed and acted upon God’s direction. Thus atonement, covering, through the sacrifice of life (cf. Le Gen 17:11), typical of Christ’s sacrifice, must have been ordained of God. And thus, though not expressly stated, we may conclude that Adam was instructed to sacrifice, and that the skins from the animals thus slain were a type of the covering of sin through the one great sacrifice (Rom 4:7). We mark then
I. THE HELPLESSNESS OF MAN TO SAVE HIMSELF FROM SIN. The natural thought of a heart convicted is, “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Vain endeavor. The “law of sin” (Rom 7:21, Rom 7:24) is too strong; earnest striving only makes this more clear (cf. Job 9:30; Isa 64:6). History is full of man’s efforts to cover sins. Hence have come sacrifices, austerities, pilgrimages, &c. But on all merely human effort is stamped failure (Rom 3:20).
II. THE LOVE OF GOD FOR SINNERS (Rom 5:8). A common mistake that if we love God he will love us. Whereas the truth is, 1Jn 4:10-19. We must believe his free gift before we can serve him truly. The want of this belief leads to service in the spirit of bondage.
III. THE PROVISION MADE BY GOD (Joh 3:14-17). That we might be not merely forgiven, but renewed (2Co 5:21). The consciousness that “Christ hath redeemed us” is the power that constrains to willing service (1Jn 3:3).M.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Gen 3:24
The dispensation of redemption.
Notice
I. THE MERCY WITH JUDGMENT. He did not destroy the garden; he did not root up its trees and flowers.
II. He “DROVE OUT THE MAN” into his curse that he might pray for and seek for and, at last, by Divine grace, obtain once more his forfeited blessing.
III. AT THE EAST OF THE GARDEN HE PLACED THE CHERUBIMS AND THE FLAMING SWORD TURNING EVERY WAY, emblems of his natural and moral governments, which, as they execute his righteous will amongst men, do both debar them from perfect happiness and yet at the same time testify to the fact that there is such happiness for those who are prepared for it. Man outside Eden is man under law, but man under law is man preserved by Divine mercy.
IV. The PRESERVING MERCY IS THE REDEEMING MERCY. The redemption is more than deliverance from condemnation and death; it is restoration to eternal life. “Paradise lost“ is not paradise destroyed, but shall be hereafter “paradise regained.”
V. There is a special significance in the description of “THE WAY OF THE TREE OF LIFE” as closed and guarded, and therefore a way which can be afterwards opened and made free.
VI. Without pressing too closely figurative language, it is impossible, surely, to ignore in such a representation the reference to a POSITIVE REVELATION as the MEDIUM OF HUMAN DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION. The whole of the Scripture teaching rests upon that foundation, that there is “a way, a truth, and a life“ which is Divinely distinguished from all others. Gradually that eastward gate of Eden has been opened, that road leading into the center of bliss has been made clear in “the man Christ Jesus.”R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 3:20. And Adam called, &c. Adam had probably expected the immediate infliction of the punishment denounced, thou shalt die; and finding it respited, and that he and his wife were to be the parents of the human race, he therefore gave her this name, in testimony of his joyfulness, Eve, the mother of all living human creatures. But still further: being raised from despair and the fear of death, and being assured of a restoration to life for himself and his posterity, and of a victory over the serpent by him who was to be the seed of the woman, he gave her this name in reference to that great and expected event: Eve, the mother of all, or universal life; for the Hebrew will bear this sense; and Jesus Christ is universal life, the life of the world. The LXX render the word Eve, by life. The gloss of Michaelis is Eve, quasi vivificatrix per Messiam, i.e.. Eve, the giver of new life by the Messiah. See Joh 1:4.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
I would desire the Reader to pause over this verse and compare it with Gen 2:23 . In that place, our first father called his wife (Ishak) Woman; meaning, that as the name Adam, signifies earth; so, Woman, signifies part of the same perishing materials. If, therefore, by this new name of (Evah, or Eve) which signifies life, as a mother, Adam meant an allusion to that reviving promise, (Gen 3:15 ) as the mother of our Lord, after the flesh, it forms a most illustrious instance of faith, in the promised redemption; for it proves that he believed God, and looked upon Eve, as the mother of Him who was to come, as the Life and Light of men. And if it was by God’s appointment was it not a sign or seal of the promise, as God did by Abraham and Sarah; see Gen 17:15Gen 17:15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Ver. 20. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve.] That is, Life, or Living. Not, per antiphrasim, as some would have it; much less out of pride and stomach, in contempt of the divine sentence denounced against them both, that they should surely die, as Rupertus would have it: but because she was to be mother of all living, whether a natural or a spiritual life; and likewise for a testimony of his faith in, and thankfulness for, that lively and lifegiving oracle. a Gen 3:15
The mother of all living.
a , i.e., .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 3:20-21
20Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
Gen 3:20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living The husband’s dominion over his wife is now symbolized by his naming her. Etymologically, the words Eve (hawwa) and the living (haya) are very similar and this was probably a popular Hebrew word play. These word plays on Adam, Eve, Cain-Nod show the literary nature of these early accounts. It is ironical that she is called Eve which means living when instead of life, she brought death.
Gen 3:21 It is unusual that humans needed this clothing unless climate and/or other radical changes awaited mankind outside the garden of Eden.
This first death, instituted by God for mankind’s need, clearly shows God’s care and provision as well as the reality of judgment and consequence! (See Special Topic below)
SPECIAL TOPIC: WHY GOD CLOTHED ADAM AND EVE IN ANIMAL SKINS
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Eve = Hebrew. Chavvah = Life, Life-spring. Showing that he believed God. The name “Eve” occurs 4 times: here; Gen 4:1; 2Co 11:3; and 1Ti 2:13.
all = all who should live after her. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eve
i.e. living, or life-giver.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Adam: Gen 2:20, Gen 2:23, Gen 5:29, Gen 16:11, Gen 29:32-35, Gen 35:18, Exo 2:10, 1Sa 1:20, Mat 1:21, Mat 1:23
Eve: Heb. Chavah; that is, living
of: Act 17:26
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 3:20. God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth; Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Thus Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve, of the living soul. Though for her sin she was justly sentenced to a present death, yet, by Gods infinite mercy, and by virtue of the promised seed, she was both continued in life herself, and made the mother of all living. Adam had before called her Isha, woman, as a wife; here he calls her Evah, life, as a mother. Now, 1st, If this name were given her by divine direction, it was an instance of Gods favour, and, like the new naming of Abraham and Sarah, it was a seal of the covenant, and an assurance to them, that, notwithstanding their sin, he had not reversed that blessing wherewith he had blessed them. Be fruitful and multiply. It was likewise a confirmation of the promise now made, that the seed of the woman, of this woman, should break the serpents head. 2d, If Adam did it of himself, it was an instance of his faith in the word of God.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Additional effects on Adam and Eve 3:20-21
Adam and Eve accepted their judgment from God and did not rebel against it. We see this in Adam naming Eve the mother of all living, a personal name that defines her destiny (Gen 3:20). He believed life would continue in spite of God’s curse. This was an act of faith and an expression of hope. He believed God’s promise that she would bear children (Gen 3:16). His wife’s first name "woman" (Gen 2:23) looked back on her origin, whereas her second name "Eve" anticipated her destiny.
1. Note that before God sent Adam and Eve out into a new environment He provided them with clothing that was adequate for their needs (cf. Rom 3:21-26). Their own provision (Gen 3:7) was not adequate. He did for them what they could not do for themselves.
". . . he [Adam] had to learn that sin could be covered not by a bunch of leaves snatched from a bush as he passed by and that would grow again next year, but only by pain and blood." [Note: Marcus Dods, The Book of Genesis, p. 25.]
2. Furthermore, God prevented Adam and Eve from living perpetually in their fallen state (Gen 3:22-24).