exegetical · Gen 3:8–13 · ✓ Approved

The Lord God walks in the garden and questions the man and the woman (Genesis 3:8–13)

Says The man and his wife hear קוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִתְהַלֵּךְ בַּגָּן, the sound or voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם. The BSB has “the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day” (3:8). מִתְהַלֵּךְ is used, in the same stem, of God's presence among Israel (Leviticus 26:12; Deuteronomy 23:14, MT 23:15; 2 Samuel 7:6–7). They hide among the trees. The Lord God calls אַיֶּכָּה, “Where are you?” (3:9, BSB), and asks who told the man he was naked, whether he has eaten of the tree, and what the woman has done. The man blames the woman God gave him; the woman says, “The serpent deceived me” (3:13, BSB). Each answer ends and I ate. The verb is הִשִּׁיאַנִי, deceived me. See the Hebrew note, and the note on Romans 7:11.

Uncertain What לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם means is treated in the Hebrew note: the evening or afternoon breeze, as in the BSB, the Greek τὸ δειλινόν, toward evening, and Keil; a storm-wind of judgment; or the hour only. No lean is taken here.

Uncertain The lean taken here, with Keil, is that the questions draw a confession rather than seek information: the reader already knows of the eating and the hiding, and each answer ends in an admission. The main alternative reads them as a genuine inquiry, like a hearing, or as a narrative device, since the story does not say what God knew.

Claims

SaysThe man and his wife hear the voice or sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day; they hide; the Lord God calls Where are you? and asks who told the man he was naked, whether he has eaten, and what the woman has done; the man blames the woman God gave him, and the woman says the serpent deceived her; each answer ends and I ate.
UncertainWhat in the breeze of the day means is treated in the Hebrew note: the evening breeze (Keil), a storm-wind of judgment, or the hour only. No lean is taken here.
UncertainThe lean taken here, with Keil, is that the questions draw a confession rather than seek information; the main alternative reads them as a genuine inquiry or as a narrative device, since the story does not say what God knew.

Citations

BSB public domain Gen 3:1–24
OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 3:1–24 (WLC/OSHB), cantillation removed
LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 3:1–24, vol. 1, pp. 4–6 (oldtestamentingr01swetuoft, viewer leaves n35–n37); Swete numbers ENG 2:25 as 3:1a and ENG 3:1 as 3:1b; read on the page images
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 3:8–9, p. 97 (n100); read on the page image; “to bring him to a confession of his sin” quoted, otherwise paraphrased

Sources Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain

Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits

2026-11-10

Open in Reader All notes on this passage