Terrence L Pounds Study Edition · Developing edition · October 20, 2026
Your Terrence L Pounds Study Edition and commentary remain below. WEB Classic already uses Yahweh. External translations retain their published wording.
Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which Yahweh Elohim had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath Elohim said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Compare KJV wording
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?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Compare KJV wording
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For Elohim doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Compare KJV wording
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of Yahweh Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh Elohim amongst the trees of the garden.
Compare KJV wording
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And Yahweh Elohim called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And Yahweh Elohim said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Compare KJV wording
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.
14 And Yahweh Elohim said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did Yahweh Elohim make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Compare KJV wording
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
The Garments and Their Transmission
Editor’s study connection. I understand the garments the Most High made for Adam and his wife as having a supernatural significance that becomes clearer when I read the additional writings. Their later transmission and theft belong in this study because I do not understand them as merely ordinary clothing with no further part in the story.
Genesis foundation. Genesis 3:21 says that Yahweh Elohim made garments of skin and clothed Adam and his wife. This verse does not identify the animal species, describe powers attached to the garments, or trace their later owners.
Jasher comparison. In the identified 1840 English text, Jasher 7:24–30 traces the garments from Adam and his wife through Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah. Ham steals them from Noah, gives them secretly to Cush, and Cush later gives them to Nimrod. Verse 30 connects Nimrod putting them on with his becoming strong, while explicitly crediting God with giving him might. Jasher 27:7–11 describes Esau killing Nimrod and taking the garments.
The editor reads this account as showing the garments’ supernatural significance. The attribution to Jasher remains explicit: these details are not inserted into the wording of Genesis 3:21 or presented as if Genesis itself narrates the chain of possession. Compare also Genesis 10:8–9 on Nimrod, without assuming that Genesis independently supplies Jasher’s garments explanation.
Source. Jasher citations refer to CCEL’s reproduction of the 1840 English translation, identified on its chapter pages. They do not reproduce the Cepher’s wording.
22 And Yahweh Elohim said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore Yahweh Elohim sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Compare KJV wording
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The Two Trees and Guarded Access to Life
Editor’s reflection. Two trees stand out in this account: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. The prohibition concerned eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That leaves a question I want readers to consider: why did they not pursue the Tree of Life? People today pursue longer life and ways to extend it dramatically, yet the Tree of Life was already part of the garden account. After their expulsion, access to it was guarded.
Reading the sequence. Genesis 2:9 identifies both trees and places the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden. In Genesis 2:16–17, permission to eat from the garden’s trees is followed by one named food prohibition: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Genesis 2:15 also gives the human a responsibility to cultivate and keep the garden, so the tree prohibition should not be described as the only instruction of any kind.
Genesis 3:22 explicitly connects taking and eating from the Tree of Life with living forever. Verses 23–24 then describe the expulsion and the cherubim and flaming sword guarding the way to that tree. The narrative identifies restricted access as deliberate; it does not describe the Tree of Life as merely another ordinary food tree.
What remains a question. Genesis does not explain why Adam and his wife did not first choose the Tree of Life, nor does it give a complete record of everything they ate before the transgression. Their motives should not be invented to answer the editor’s question. The study can examine the permission, the prohibition, the choice narrated, and the later restriction without claiming details the account does not supply.
Additional writing to compare. In 1 Enoch 24–25, especially 25:4–6, the fragrant tree is reserved until the great judgment and then given to the righteous, with its fruit associated with long life. This is a related account about a life-giving tree and restricted access. Its wording, setting, and description of longevity remain distinct from Genesis 3:22’s live forever.
Sources. Genesis 2:9–17; Genesis 3:22–24; R. H. Charles’s Enoch translation at CCEL. No independent New Testament teaching is required for this study.