And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;
Ver. 17. Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife.] Our English historian, a relating the deadly difference that fell out beteen those two noble Seymours (the Lord Protector, and the Admiral his brother) in Edward VI's time, through the instigation of their ambitious wives, passionately cries out, "O wives! The most sweet poison, the most desired evil in the world," &c. "Woman was first given to man for a comforter," saith he, "not for a counsellor, much less a controller and director." And therefore in the first sentence against man, this cause is expressed, "Because thou hast obeyed the voice of thy wife," &c.
Cursed is the ground for thy sake.] Hence the Greeks and Latins borrow their words b for ground of the Hebrew word that signifieth cursed. The curse of emptiness and unsatisfyingness lies upon it, that no man hath enough, though never so much of it. The curse also of barrenness, or unprofitable fruits, "whose end is to be burned." Heb 6:8 The whole earth and the works therein shall be burnt up. 2Pe 3:10 It was never beautiful, nor cheerful, since Adam's fall. At this day it lies bedridden, waiting for the coming of the Son of God, that it may be delivered from the bondage of corruption Rom 8:20
a Sir John Heywood in the Life of King Edward VI ., p. 84.
b ' Aρουρα et Arvum ab Heb. ארר ארץ