Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. In Paradise man had everything that he needed for the proper development of his nature and for the fulfillment of his object in life. But now temptation came to him from outside. Just as in other parts of the Bible animals are characterized by certain physical or mental features, so the serpent is here described as being cunning or crafty by nature, this fact distinguishing it from the other animals of the field. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? The devil, or Satan, chief among the fallen angels, made use of the natural cunning of the serpent and spoke out of her mouth in order to seduce man. The words of the Tempter are: Should God really have made such a statement? or: Even if God did make that statement, intending to add that such a prohibition on God's part was unbelievable. He is interrupted before he has finished his thought:
Related Commentaries of Genesis 3:1
Genesis 3:1
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,a hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?