Reading Between the Lines of Genesis 3:6-7 (A Novelization)

When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food… she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them opened…

To be honest, now Adam was hurt. It was personal now. He had told her that God put this tree off-limits, yet she violated his boundary right in front of his face! If God wouldn’t allow him to eat of the tree, how could Adam allow her to eat from it? It was as though she had no respect for Adam’s words.

His heart pounding, Adam didn’t know what to think. All of a sudden, he was very unsure of himself. Eve had taken a bite of the fruit and lovingly extended the remainder to him. For the first time, he doubted God. This tree was the only boundary God had set and Eve just crossed it… or had she? God had never set this boundary with her directly. Adam had told her what God had told only to him—he never withheld anything from Eve.

Now with “bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh” still apparently alive on the other side of God’s boundary, was it possible that God had lied? Surely, God would not have given her the ability to do something he couldn’t! Perhaps God changed his mind when he created her? He accepted her offer.

He and she were one flesh. She came out of his side. Why should her fate be any different from his? She had tested the waters and found them to be sweet in her own eyes. Eve had acted outside of what Adam had empowered her to do. If she could eat and still live, then it must be all right for him to grant authority to her decision and follow her lead. Besides, if she did somehow die later, could he bear to not have her by his side? Perhaps he actually loved her more than he loved God. With stoic consent, he took and ate of the fruit from her hand and for the first time tasted regret.