Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
The woman's response, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate," reveals a subtle attempt to shift responsibility, not just to the serpent, but indirectly to God who created the serpent. She's essentially saying, "The tool you provided led me astray."
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Lord God, having discovered the disobedience of Adam and Eve, begins the judgment by questioning the woman. She immediately shifts the blame to the serpent, confessing she ate the forbidden fruit only because it deceived her. This exchange highlights the immediate attempt to evade full responsibility for their actions.
The Lord asks a direct question, but the answer dodges true responsibility. What does this tell us about how we handle our own mistakes?
When God asks Adam and Eve, 'What is this that you have done?' (Genesis 3:13), it’s not because God doesn't know. He’s seeking a confession, an acknowledgment of their fault. Adam points to Eve, and Eve points to the serpent. Notice how neither of them fully owns their action: 'The woman whom thou gavest me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate' (Genesis 3:12) and 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate' (Genesis 3:13). Their responses are confessions of fact, but not confessions of guilt or true remorse. They are attempts to shift blame, revealing a deep-seated human tendency to avoid accountability for our choices.
Eve blames the serpent, but what was the nature of its deception, and how does it still work today?
Eve’s defense, 'The serpent deceived me,' is crucial. The serpent didn’t force her hand; it used lies and misrepresentation to twist God's word and make disobedience seem desirable and safe. It played on her desire for wisdom and perhaps a sense of entitlement, making God’s command seem unfair and restrictive. This wasn't a simple trick; it was a sophisticated attack on God’s character and truth. The serpent's method—casting doubt on God’s word, questioning His motives, and minimizing the consequences—is a tactic that is still very much alive today. Whenever we are tempted to believe that God’s commands are hindering us or that His promises are not trustworthy, we are hearing echoes of the serpent’s deception.
Understand the original words
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YHWH Elohim · Hebrew Noun phrase
The covenant name of God (Yahweh). It denotes His personal, faithful, and redemptive relationship with His people, emphasizing His holiness and His active role as Creator and Judge.
nasha' · Hebrew Verb
To lead astray, beguile, or seduce. It implies a subtle twisting of truth that results in moral failure and disconnection from God’s stated will.
This verse captures the immediate aftermath of the Fall, revealing humanity's first instinct to shift blame rather than take full responsibility. It highlights the foundational moment when the broken relationship between God and humanity, and the subtle ways sin operates, began.
Unknown, prior to humanity
Rebellion of Satan and fallen angels
Satan, a created angelic being, rebelled against God. He was cast out of heaven along with other rebellious angels.
Creation week
Creation of the first humans
God created Adam and Eve in His image, placing them in the Garden of Eden with freedom to eat from any tree except one.
Immediately after creation— this verse
Temptation and Fall of Humanity
The serpent (Satan) deceived Eve, who then ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam, who also ate. This act brought sin and death into the world.
Immediately after the Fall
God's Judgment and Pronouncement of Curses
God confronted Adam and Eve and the serpent, pronouncing curses upon each for their disobedience.
Post-Fall
Expulsion from Eden
Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever in their fallen state.
This passage echoes the woman's sentiment of being deceived and acting on that deception, highlighting how sin uses commands to lead us astray.
2 Corinthians 11:3It directly references this event, showing how Satan's cunning can corrupt even sincere minds, much like he did with Eve.
1 Timothy 2:14This verse also refers to Genesis 3, emphasizing that Adam was not deceived but the woman was, and connecting it to the origin of sin.
Genesis 3:17-19This passage immediately follows the woman's confession, showing the consequences of her actions and the subsequent chain of blame and judgment that affected creation.
wesleyGenesis 3:13: "And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."
3:13 What is this that thou hast done? - Wilt thou own thy fault? Neither of them does this fully. Adam lays all the blame upon his wife: She gave me of the tree - Nay, he not only lays the blame upon his wife, but tacitly on God himself. The woman thou gavest me, and gavest to be with me as my companion, she gave me of the tree. Eve lays all the bl…
calvinGenesis 3:1-24: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Porro serpens erat callidior omni bestia agri, quam fecerat Jehova Deus: et dixit ad mulierem, Etiamne dixit…
The woman's response, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate," reveals a subtle attempt to shift responsibility, not just to the serpent, but indirectly to God who created the serpent. She's essentially saying, "The tool you provided led me astray."
The Lord God, having discovered the disobedience of Adam and Eve, begins the judgment by questioning the woman. She immediately shifts the blame to the serpent, confessing she ate the forbidden fruit only because it deceived her. This exchange highlights the immediate attempt to evade full responsibility for their actions.
The Lord God, having discovered the disobedience of Adam and Eve, begins the judgment by questioning the woman. She immediately shifts the blame to the serpent, confessing she ate the forbidden fruit only because it deceived her. This exchange highlights the immediate attempt to evade full responsibility for their actions.
"Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”" — The woman's response, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate," reveals a subtle attempt to shift responsibility, not just to the serpent, but indirectly to God who created the serpent. She's essentially…
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Last reviewed October 2026