Passage Overview · Free · Genesis 3:1–5
The Serpent’s Lie — The Fall and the Bible’s Explanation of Sin
Genesis 3:1–6 turns the creation story from trust to suspicion. The serpent questions God’s word, contradicts the warning of death, and persuades the woman to take the forbidden fruit; the man eats as well. The immediate scene is brief, but later Scripture repeatedly returns to it when explaining deception, sin, death, and the need for Christ.
Paul explicitly recalls the event in 2 Corinthians 11:3: “as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,” so the Corinthians also might be corrupted from sincere devotion to Christ. First Timothy 2:14 likewise says that the woman was deceived and came into transgression. These are direct New Testament interpretations of the Genesis event, not merely later parallels.