Genesis 3

Hey guys,
No one has posted yet, so I guess I'll be the first one to comment on the readings thus far. One of the passages that I continue to always slow down to read is Genesis 3. The last few days I had the chance to reflect once again on this chapter, and it has once again humbled me. Though God has certainly brought me a long way from where I started over eight years ago, I continue to see in myself the same struggle and rebellion that began with our first parents so many centuries ago. Their desire for wisdom and knowledge, apart from God's design and purposes, continues to rise up in my heart almost daily. Like them, I often imagine what godliness might be, and aim for that, instead of believing God and His way of godliness, leaving me less like God and without him, rather than growing in his image and with him.
As far canonical issues in this chapter, I don't think any of us need to be reminded of the immense weight these first few chapters in Genesis carry for a proper biblical theology. One only needs to look at how later texts reflect back on them (e.g., Rom. 6, Eph. 2, and Ja. 1) to see their importance for a proper understanding of the nature of sin and of the depravity of man. But, more than that, Genesis 3 is primarily about wisdom. One of the treasures I've taken away from paying close attention to the Hebrew of Genesis is the wordplay on "naked" throughout Genesis 3 that just isn't translated into English. Since that is the case, I thought I might make a brief note on it here. I deal with it far more in my Sunday school class, which is posted at www.andywittonline.com/genesis.
Unlike English, Hebrew had several nuanced words for "naked." One of them is used in Genesis 2:25, and refers to simply being naked, with no connotations attached. The other word used for naked is in Genesis 3:7, 10, and 11, which carries with it a connotation of guilt. For example, in Deut. 28:48 the same word is used of nakedness in the midst of a whole chapter commenting on on God's future judgment of Israel for their disobedience (note, the punishment of Israel in Dt. 28 is eerily similiar to the punishment of Adam and Eve). Thus, in Genesis 3, we have a word play on what it means to be "naked": before gaining the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were "naked and unashamed", but afterwards were naked and afraid of Yhwh. In the midst of this wordplay is another between "naked" (2.25) and "crafty" (3.1). The man and woman were naked in regards to wisdom (c.f. Prov. 1:4; the Hebrew word for "naked" is the same word used for "simple"), while the serpent was crafty, or smart. In the end, when we desire to grow in wisdom outside of God's design we end up cursed and without God, but when we listen to him, believe him, and obey his commands, then we find ourselves with God, and growing up into the image of his Son.

...and these are but the fringes...

I hope you all are enjoying these chapters as I am. Blessings, Andy