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Genesis 3 General Notes
Structure and formatting
This chapter continues the second creation account that began in Gen. 2:4. But a new section of this account begins in 3:1. The ULB reads, "Now the serpent was more shrewd than any other beast of the field which Yahweh God had made," because this is how the Scriptures introduce the serpent into the account. However, many languages prefer different ways to introduce new characters or things into stories, for example, "One of the wild animals made by God was the serpent" or "This is about the serpent, one of the wild animals that God had made."
Scholars typically refer to the events of this chapter as "the fall" or "the fall of man" because sin is introduced into creation. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin)
Special concepts in this chapter
Curses
In this chapter, God curses the man, the woman, and the serpent for their sins. In general, cursing is calling down God's punishment on someone or something. In this chapter, however, it is God himself who is doing the cursing. Of course, he does not call down punishment on the man, the woman, and the serpent from someone else. Instead, he is promising that he himself will punish them. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/curse)
Serpent
Most scholars believe that the serpent is Satan, even though his name is not used in this chapter. There are other places in Scripture where the serpent is used as an image for Satan. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/satan and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit))