Genesis 3:17–19

Context

In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree they had been forbidden to eat, God pronounces sentence in turn on the serpent (vv. 14–15), the woman (v. 16), and the man (vv. 17–19). This passage is the last of these, the sentence on the man. The curse falls not on the man himself but on "the ground." The account of the man's expulsion from the garden follows (vv. 22–24).

In the Hebrew text, "man" (adam) and "ground" or "soil" (adamah) sound alike, so the statement that the man formed from the ground will return to it forms a wordplay (compare Genesis 2:7). The Hebrew word rendered "sorrow" (or "toil") in verse 17 is understood to be the same word used in verse 16 for the woman's "sorrow" (or "pain"). In Korean Bible translation, the Korean Revised Version used an older term meaning "food," which the New Korean Revised Version replaced with a plainer expression meaning "something to eat."

Interpretation

• Traditional Protestant reading: Many denominations, including Presbyterian and Methodist churches, read this passage as a declaration of the consequences of the Fall: through sin, toil and death entered human life. Linking it with Paul's teaching that sin and death entered through the one man Adam (Romans 5:18–19), they treat it as one of the scriptural bases for the doctrine of original sin.
• Reading on work: Work was a mandate given even before the Fall (Genesis 2:15). Many interpreters therefore hold that work itself is not a curse. They stress that it is the ground that was cursed, and that labor became arduous and its fruit uncertain. The doctrine of vocation that originated with Luther and Calvin also rests on this distinction.
• Reading on the restoration of creation: The statement that the ground was cursed because of man is read together with the "groaning" creation of Romans 8:19–23 and is taken as support for the view that salvation extends not only to human beings but also to the restoration of the created world.
• Christ-centered reading: Some preaching traditions connect the "thorns" with the crown of thorns Jesus wore (Matthew 27:29) and read the passage alongside Galatians 3:10–14, which teaches that Christ bore the curse of the law on behalf of others.

Controversies and Issues

The meaning of death in verse 19 is disputed in the creation and evolution debate. Young-earth creationists read the passage as teaching that there was no death of living creatures, humans included, before the Fall. Other positions, such as theistic evolution, hold that the passage refers to human death, or to a state of broken relationship with God, and distinguish it from biological death in general. Whether "Adam" in verse 17 should be taken as a proper name or as the common noun "the man" is another point on which translations and interpretations diverge.

Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.

In Korean churches, the words "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" are frequently read at funeral services, especially during the committal at the graveside. Korean churches that observe the church year, such as the Anglican Church of Korea and the Lutheran Church in Korea, along with some Presbyterian and Methodist churches that have adopted it, use language drawn from this passage when ashes are placed on the forehead on Ash Wednesday.

Related Passages

• Genesis 2:15: the mandate of work given before the Fall
• Romans 8:19–23: the groaning of creation and the hope of its restoration
• 1 Corinthians 15:22–26: death in Adam and life in Christ
• Revelation 22:3: "And there shall be no more curse"