Translation
And to ADAM
Go to footnote numberHe said,
“Because you have heeded
Go to footnote numberthe voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying, ‘You shall not eat of
it,’ cursed is the ground on account of you, in toil
Go to footnote number
you shall eat of it
all the days of your life.
Paraphrase
Then He said to THE RED MAN MADE FROM DIRT,
“Because you have followed your wife rather than leading her, and have eaten some of the fruit from the tree regarding which I gave you this specific command, ‘You are not allowed to eat from it,’ the ground is cursed because of you, therefore, great hardship will be required in order for you to be able to get food from the ground, and this will be true throughout your entire life.
Footnotes
1
This time it is “Adam,” not “the adam,” therefore it is being used as a personal name.
2
The word means “to hear, understand, or obey.” In this context the full meaning of “obey” seems to be what is intended. The first part of obeying is to hear and understand the command, and you will know if the person heard the command when you see them obey. This is another reference to Adam’s lack of leadership. Adam is being punished in part because he did not lead, he followed.
3
This is the same word that was used twice in the curse given to the woman. It means “toil, hardship or pain.” Here “hardship” seems to fit best. The idea being communicated is that it will be hard for him to get the food he needs from the ground because the ground will not cooperate, it will act in a way that shows loathing for the man. The ground always remembers what Adam did and the consequence God pronounced, and that is why farming and gardening are hard work. If you get to know a farmer you will soon realize that his life is difficult, frustrating and very unpredictable. The ground and the sky do not like to cooperate with his efforts to produce food. This is the reason life is so hard. When I am struggling financially and I don’t seem to have enough energy or time to get everything done, I remember that it is because of sin that life is so hard.