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Genesis 3:4

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

KJV

Dixit autem serpens ad mulierem : Nequaquam morte moriemini.

Vulgate

καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ὄφις τῇ γυναικί Οὐ θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε·

LXX

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

ASV

וַ/יֹּ֥אמֶר הַ/נָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל הָֽ/אִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא מ֖וֹת תְּמֻתֽוּ/ן

Hebrew

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In the original Hebrew

6 distinct Hebrew words appear in this verse.

אֶל
'l
preposition · 5475×
הוּ
hv
verb · 834×
וֹ
v
noun · 780×
יֹּ֣אמֶר
y'mr
verb · 5290×
לֹ֣א
l'
proper_noun · 5171×
נָּחָ֖שׁ
nchsh
noun · 31×

Historic Christian voices

8 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§391Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.266 Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil".267 The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally go…
§397Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.278 All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.
The devil is well practised in falsehood, by which Adam having been led astray, sinned on the sixth day of the creation, in which day also he has been renewed by Christ. 1. He had indeed been already accustomed to lie against God, for the purpose of leading men astray. For at the beginning, when God had given to man a variety of things for food, while He commanded him not to ea…
2. But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery. What mystery? For surely Christ says, Matthew 10:27. ηκούσατε rec. text ἀκούετε What you have heard in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops. How then does he call it a mystery? Because that neither angel nor archangel, nor any other…
The serpent is pleasure (hedone), the most dangerous enemy of the rational soul. The serpent attacks through the senses — represented by Eve — to corrupt the mind — represented by Adam. Philo argues that pleasure does not approach the mind directly but works through sense-perception, which is why the serpent speaks first to the woman. The fall is the universal human story of re…

Cross-references

  • 1Kgs 13:18 — He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he
  • 1Tim 2:14 — And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
  • 2Cor 2:11 — Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
  • 2Cor 11:3 — But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
  • 2Cor 11:3 — But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
  • 2Kgs 1:4 — Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
  • 2Kgs 1:4 — Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
  • 2Kgs 1:6 — And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Isr
  • 2Kgs 1:16 — And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefor
  • 2Kgs 8:10 — And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
  • Deut 29:19 — And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thir
  • Ezek 13:22 — Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
  • Ezek 33:8 — When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thin
  • Gen 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.
  • Gen 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.
  • John 8:44 — Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
  • Mark 8:33 — But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
  • Rev 12:9 — And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.