“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.” (Genesis 3:13, KJV).

God Turns to the Woman

The woman was unnoticed by God until Adam brought His attention to her in the previous verse, saying, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:12, KJV). The reflection on Genesis 3:12 was the most challenging piece I’ve written. It came with psychical, emotional, and spiritual trauma within me that I had to dwell in. Within that pain, try to communicate with love and grace as I looked at Adam’s actions and separated the deed from the person. To give him the respect he neither earned nor deserved, like the woman God made for him, who is now the center of God’s attention. 

The last time God laid eyes on her was probably when He made her before bringing her to Adam in the previous chapter, Genesis 2:22. Since then, God entrusted her to Adam’s care as He did the garden and the animals before her. I find it interesting that God asked the Woman to recount her actions when God asked Adam to repeat what was told, “What did I command you?” (Genesis 3:11 referring to Genesis 2:17).

What did you do?

“What is it that thou has done?” This is the first instance in which God talks to the woman directly. She told the serpent in Genesis 3:2-3 that God said she couldn’t eat off the tree's fruit or even touch it. From Genesis 2:17, we learned that God spoke to Adam about the fruit before the Woman was created later in Genesis 2:22. She also recounted the information wrong. She said that she couldn’t even touch it or else she would die. 

I’ve been pondering if God told her what to do. What was it like to be made by God while Adam lay sleeping (Genesis 2:21) before He brought her unto Adam (Genesis 2:22). Did He show her what to do? Did they sing and dance, and did He laugh and play with her? Did He show her how to love and tell her to mirror what He taught her unto Adam? Did she forget it all?

Does it still linger in a distant part of her spirit and ring in her soul? Did He recap to her the events before her creation? Did He show her around and introduce her to the animals He made and the plants He formed? Did she get a chance to smell all the flowers and bathe in the rivers? Did they play and bond before He gave her to Adam?

Did God teach the Woman how to act and Adam how to think? This makes me wonder if she did not fully comprehend what God said. God told Adam, and he told her. The classic game of telephone went wrong, and only three individuals were involved. Anything God wants to be done poorly, He can entrust into human hands. When is He going to learn that He’s got to do the job for it to be done right.

Image: Rousseau, Henri. Le rêve. 1910, Oil on Canvas.