Genesis 3:22 - interpretation

[Prince_Hal]

Genesis 3:22 (RSV) says:

"…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”

What does this mean ?

1. 
   
   Does it refer to both Adam and Eve ?
   Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
   Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?
   
   Any assistance is gratefully accepted.
   
   Kindest Regards,
   
   Hal.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Genesis 3:22 (RSV) says:

"…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”

What does this mean ?

I’m not entirely sure, but I understand it to mean Adam and Eve now have the concept of evil in their mind. Beforehand they knew about it only by way of warning not to eat. If someone told you not to eat dirt because it taste bad, that would form once understanding in your mind, if you went ahead and ate dirt you would have a fuller understanding in mind (as well as suffer the effects).

Does it refer to both Adam and Eve ?
Yes. Mankind as a whole.

Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
The Blessed Trinity.

Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?
I understand it to mean the expanded knowledge. A child should be protected (by their parents) from horrific imagery which the parent is fully aware exists, however if the child views such imagery they “become like” their parent in that knowledge. Thats how I understand it, I welcome any other views (esp from the Church Fathers).

 

[thistle]

Genesis 3:22 (RSV) says:

"…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”

What does this mean ?

1. 
   
   Does it refer to both Adam and Eve ?
   Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
   Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?
   
   Any assistance is gratefully accepted.
   
   Kindest Regards,
   
   Hal.

1. 
   D-R Bible, Haydock Commentary:
   
   Ver. 22. Behold Adam, &c. This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God. (Challoner) — “These are the words of God, not insulting over man, but deterring others from an imitation of his pride.” (St. Augustine, de Gen. xi. 39.) — For ever. The sentence is left imperfect: (Calmet) but by driving man from Paradise, God sufficiently shewed how he would prevent from eating of the tree of life, (Haydock) which Adam had not yet found. As he was now condemned to be miserable on earth, God, in mercy, prevented him from tasting of that fruit, which would have rendered his misery perpetual. (Menochius) — He would suffer him to die, that, by death, he might come, after a life of 930 years, spent in sorrow and repentance, to the enjoyment of himself. (Haydock) — Lest perhaps. God does not exercise his absolute power, or destroy free-will, but makes use of ordinary means and precautions, to effect his designs. (St. Augustine) (Worthington)

 

[rcjones]

Genesis 3:22 (RSV) says:

"…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”

What does this mean ?

1. 
   
   Does it refer to both Adam and Eve ?
   Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
   Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?
   
   Any assistance is gratefully accepted.
   
   Kindest Regards,
   
   Hal.

1. 
   The word “know” is a different form when the serpent uses it and when God does.
   
   It also has the meaning of “declare”.
   
   By declaring what is good and evil for himself, rather than acknowledging God, he has made himself as God, being the measure of all things. This is why God is angry in Romans 1:18 ff. When we make the rules for ourselves rather than listen to what God says, we commit the same sin.
   
   Being in his lost state, in open rebellion against God, had he been permitted to live forever, there would be rebellion for ever.

 

[COPLAND_3]

Tertullian says…

“Behold the man is become as one of us,” Genesis 3:22 He is either deceiving or amusing us in speaking plurally, if He is One only and singular. Or was it to the angels that He spoke, as the Jews interpret the passage, because these also acknowledge not the Son? Or was it because He was at once the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, that He spoke to Himself in plural terms, making Himself plural on that very account? Yes, it was because He had already His Son close at His side, as a second Person, His own Word, and a third Person also, the Spirit in the Word, that He purposely adopted the plural phrase, “Let us make;” and, “in our image;” and, “become as one of us.” For with whom did He make man? and to whom did He make him like? (The answer must be), the Son on the one hand, who was one day to put on human nature; and the Spirit on the other, who was to sanctify man. With these did He then speak, in the Unity of the Trinity, as with His ministers and witnesses.

 

[COPLAND_3]

Ephrem the Syrian says

Having finished this it says, “Behold, Adam has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” Gen. 3:22 ] By saying that “he has become like one of us,” Scripture also revealed symbolically something about the Trinity. But at the same time God was actually addressing Adam ironically, seeing that Adam had been told, “you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”

However, although Adam and Eve became aware of both these things from eating the fruit, prior to the fruit they were in practice only aware of the good, hearing about evil by report, but after eating it there was a change, so that they only heard by report of the good, whereas they tasted evil in practice. For the glory in which they had been wrapped left them, and the pains which had previously been kept away from them now dominated them.

 

[peary]

Genesis 3:22 (RSV) says:

"…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”

What does this mean ?

1. 
   
   Does it refer to both Adam and Eve ?
   Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
   Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?
   
   Any assistance is gratefully accepted.
   
   Kindest Regards,
   
   Hal.

1. 
   "…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”
   
   Adam & Eve were one with God in the sense that they were oblivious to anything evil and existed in a heavenly spiritual state even though their bodies were physical. When they sinned, they became self-aware and all that brings with it, including shame. God, being eternal, knows good and evil. Now, the primal parents do too.
   
   Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
   
   God is a Trinity, remember?
   
   Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?
   
   Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, our human attributes also tell us something about God. Knowing good and evil is something we have to learn because of the state we are in now. It doesn’t come automatically. But we are aware of it nonetheless.

 

[tm30]

Genesis 3:22 (RSV) says:

"…Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…”

What does this mean ?
Does it refer to both Adam and Eve ?
Who are the “us” since God is one God ?
Why does knowing good and evil make us like God ?

Any assistance is gratefully accepted.

Kindest Regards,

Hal.

What does it mean? It means that Adam and Eve were no longer perfectly united to God’s will and decided to become masters of their own universe. Ironically, they listened to the serpent, who promised them the eternal life THEY ALREADY ENJOYED - and they ended up with death instead, by turning their attention to his suggestions.

The “us” could refer to the Trinity, but it could also simply be an employment of the royal “us”. The Trinity is already alluded to in Chapter One: The Creator Father, the spirt of God moving over the waters, and the Word (“And God said… and God said… and God said…”) The “us” could also refer to God and the Angels who serve Him. (See the paragraph below)

Knowing good and evil made us like God because the knowledge of the demonic fall from grace (thus, evil) was known only to God Himself and the angels (good and bad) themselves. In which case, becoming “like us” refers to knowledge of the fall of Satan. Once the fall of Satan is known (i.e., there’s a perverse alternative to self-giving Love), man can choose that self-serving “love” instead, with his free will. And up until that point, only God and the angels were aware of “evil”.

 

[Prince_Hal]

Many thanks everyone. This has been a great help.

 

[Prince_Hal]

The word “know” is a different form when the serpent uses it and when God does.

It also has the meaning of “declare”.

By declaring what is good and evil for himself, rather than acknowledging God, he has made himself as God, being the measure of all things. This is why God is angry in Romans 1:18 ff. When we make the rules for ourselves rather than listen to what God says, we commit the same sin.

Being in his lost state, in open rebellion against God, had he been permitted to live forever, there would be rebellion for ever.

Thank you for this. Are you able to expand at all ? Where do you get the meaning “declare” from.

I hope that you are able to answer. This is a very interesting thought.

Hal.

 

[rcjones]

Thank you for this. Are you able to expand at all ? Where do you get the meaning “declare” from.

I hope that you are able to answer. This is a very interesting thought.

Hal.

Just from the dictionary:

03045 edy yada‘ yaw-dah’

a primitive root; v; {See TWOT on 848}

AV-know 645, known 105, knowledge 19, perceive 18, shew 17, tell 8, wist 7, understand 7, certainly 7, acknowledge 6, acquaintance 6, consider 6, **declare **6, teach 5, misc 85; 947

---

It made no sense to me that the serpent should tell the truth since he is the Father of lies. So I dug deeper.

There are four points to his lie.

1. You shall not die
2. Your eyes will be opened
3. You shall be like God
4. You shall know good and evil

Various groups claim that one or more of these points are true.
But if you consider them closely, each point is both true and false depending whether you see it in the flesh or the spirit.

In the flesh:

1. They did not die but lived many years after
2. Their eyes were opened and they knew new things
3. They became self-determinate like God
4. They now had experienced both good and evil

In the spirit:

1. They died the same day they ate. God is not a liar. So they dies spiritually. When we are born in the image and likeness of Seth as he was of Adam, we are born with living bodies and ‘dead’ spirits which is why we must be born again.
2. They became blind just as ‘the spirit of the age has blinded them’
3. They became slaves to sin and death.
4. They now could only do evil all day long, being slaves to sin.

Once we understand the double entendre of the lie, or how to lie by telling the truth, then the minority meaning for “to know” makes more sense when God uses it.