Genesis 3:17–19

Context

In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree from which 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 is directed not at the man himself but at "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) are similar-sounding words, so the statement that the man formed from the ground will return to the ground forms a wordplay (compare Genesis 2:7). The Hebrew word rendered "toil" in verse 17 (KJV "sorrow") is understood to be the same word used in verse 16 for the woman's "pain" (KJV "sorrow"). The Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Hangeul) uses the term sikmul, meaning "food" (食物), which the New Korean Revised Version changed to meogeul geot, "something to eat."

Interpretation

• Traditional Protestant reading: Many denominations, including Presbyterians and Methodists, read this passage as a declaration of the consequences of the Fall—that through sin, toil and death entered human life. Linking it with Paul's statement that sin and death entered through the one man Adam (Romans 5:18–19), they treat it as one of the proof texts 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 emphasize that it is the ground that was cursed, and that labor became arduous and its fruit uncertain. The concept of vocation originating 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 in our place.

Controversies and Issues

The meaning of death in verse 19 is a point of contention in the creation and evolution debate. Young-earth creationists read the passage as teaching that there was no death of living creatures, including humans, 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, distinguishing 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.

In the Korean Church

The words "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" are frequently read at funeral services, especially at the committal rite. 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 congregations 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"