3:17-19 — 17To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,`You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
[T - OL ]
These verses take up Yahweh's judgement on the man Adam, in reverse order to their appearance on the scene. Of the three sentences, this one is the longest and fullest, appropriately since he was appointed "keeper" of the Garden (2:15), and it was to him personally that the commandment not to eat of the tree was given (2:17). In many ways his sentence echoes that meted out on the serpent, emphasizing again, that though the woman was deceived, it was the man's failure to lead on which Yahweh took a dim view and he was held most responsible (see my comments on 3:6 and the reference to 1 Tim 2:9 there). This is reflected in the structure of the three pronouncements and in the repeated words (because (ki) you , cursed, you will eat, all the days of your life and dust) in the pronouncements on the serpent and the man:
The Serpent: Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
The Woman: I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
The Man: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
The pronouncement is framed chiastically, beginning with the reason for it, and in it, Adam's failure is highlight by pitching his "listening to the voice" of his wife rather than listening to Yahweh's command (17a) and ending with the reason why he would return to the ground (19b):
A. Reason for the Sentence: "because [ki] you listened to the voice of your wife . . ."
B. Impact on the Ground: "cursed is the ground [ha'adamah] because of you"
C. Impact on Adam: through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life"
D. The Loss of Eden's Bounty: "it will produce thorns and thistles for you"
D'. The Loss of Eden's Bounty: "you will eat the plants of the field"
C'. Impact on Adam: "by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food"
B'. Impact on the Ground: "until you return to the ground [ha'adamah]"
A'. Reason for the Sentence: "since [ki] from the it you were taken; for [ki] dust you are and to dust you will return."
Yahweh would not curse the man; doing so would make any future redemption very difficult if not impossible. Instead the ground is cursed (B). By virtue of the fact that Adam was taken from the ground, the impact of the curse would mean he would one day "return to the ground" (B'). Already death is pronounced, even if it is delayed. But if a person's effective life is ended the day his death is pronounced, then Yahweh was telling the truth when He warned the man "the day you eat of it you will surely die" (2:17). The immediate impact of this curse on the ground on Adam would be that his life from now on will be "painful toil" (C) and every meal will come through "the sweat of your brow" (C'), but most important of all, the loss of Eden's bounty (D & D'). Implied in both of the D's is the possible loss of residence in the Garden of Eden, and life henceforth would be as diametrically different as "thorns and thistles . . . and plants of the field" are from "all kinds of trees . . . that were pleasing to the eye and good for food" (2:9). The "plants of the field" ('et-'aseb hashshadeh) in v18, we must remember, were already mentioned in 2: as not yet having sprouted "for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth" (2:5). There is nothing of the Garden of Eden at all in the sentence on the man, but plenty of allusions to life outside Eden from whence God took the man and re-residenced him.
Made of dust, the man was nothing but a worthless vessel. Yet made alive with the breathe of God he was given the highest honour as keeper of God's own Garden, His own Sacred Space—what glory! By his rebellion his place shall once again be consigned to dust when the breathe of God leaves him. What a fall! (Notice the small 'f'!)
You may wish to read the following commentaries-expositions:
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2016