Why did Satan tempt Eve to eat the forbidden fruit instead of Adam?
Clarify
•
Share
•
Report
•
Asked October 16 2013
•
Johnny lam
Community answers are sorted based on votes. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is.
Jae Park
The following is my opinions based on Genesis 3. In order for us to understand Satan’s strategy, we must understand God’s original plan [Creation Order] I believe the reason Satan approached [attacked] Eve, not Adam, was to destroy the creation order. I. God established Creation Order [Gen 2:7,18] a) Male Leadership [Worship Leader, Bible teacher] God created Adam first [Gen 2:7; 1Tim 2:13; 1Cor 11:8] God gave His command only to Adam, Not Eve [Gen 2:16,17] Male has a leadership responsibility from God [1 Tim 2:13, 1Cor 11:3] b) Female Submission [Supporter (Helper), Co-worshiper, learner] God made Eve as a suitable helper to Adam [Gen 2:18,22, 1Cor 11:7,9] God wanted Eve to learn His word by Adam [Gen 2:15-17, 1Cor 14:33b-35, 1Tim 2:11-14] Female has a submission responsibility [1Cor 11:10, Eph 5:22-24,1Tim 2:11] c) Male and female were equal before God [Gen 1:27]. Male is not superior to female. Female is not inferior to male. But they have different roles at home, in the church by God’s good and perfect design. d) God intended Mutual Dependency in relationship between Adam and Eve [Gen 2:18] God made Eve to be suitable/comparable helper to Adam. [Gen 2:18] To help Adam, Eve should be equal and adequate to Adam. [Gen 1:27] Adam needs to get help from Eve; Eve needs to help Adam. Adam and Eve both need each other to fulfill God’s blessing II. Creation Order is Repeated in the Bible a) Creation Order: Adam and Eve [Gen 2] b) Family Order: Husband and Wife [Eph 5] c) Church Order: Elders and Church members [1Tim 2] d) Heaven Order: Christ and Church [Rev 19-22] I believe Creation order was given in order to establish the family order and church order on earth. Family order and church order was given to us so that we can understand the Heaven Order more deeply through practicing these orders on earth. III. Satan’s Attack to God’s Order a) Creation Order was attacked by the Serpent in the beginning. b) Family Order has been attacked by male Chauvinist and by female Feminists. c) Church Order has been attacked by Liberal theologians including female Feminists. d) but Heaven Order will stand firm forever. IV. How did Satan attack the creation order? a) Satan approached Eve only, not Adam He attacked Adam’s leadership by approaching Eve. b) He put them in the position where they could be out of God’s order Eve was in the position to act independently. Adam was in the position to follow Eve. c) Eve was out of God’s Creation Order Eve failed to talk to Adam [discuss with Adam] She acted independently without him. She made the very important decision by herself. [Gen 3:6] d) Adam was out of God’s Creation Order Adam ignored his leadership responsibility. Adam failed to lead/protect Eve from the Satan. Instead, he followed Eve and disobeyed God. [Gen 3:6,12,17] e) When Satan disrupted Creation Order, Adam and Eve were more vulnerable. Satan knew about their weakness very well. If Adam and Eve would stay in Creation Order, Eve would talk to [discuss with] Adam Adam would protect her and lead her to the obedience to God. Historically, because of sinfulness of men [male chauvinist], sinfulness of women [Female Feminists], sinfulness of human [liberal theologians] Satan has been easily attacking the creation order, family order and church order. When the creation order was destroyed, they could not understand the heaven order deeply. But Christ restored this creation order, family order and church order. Now we can deeply understand the Heaven Order in Christ. Therefore we desire this Heaven Order be established more than anything else.
Singapore Moses
Adam tried to cover his sin by blaming the woman (Job 31:33; Prov. 28:13). Adam wasn’t deceived (1Tim. 2:12-15). He implied blame on God also, because if God hadn’t given him Eve he wouldn’t have sinned. Blaming others is a trait of the natural man. "The man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat!" Gen 3:12 "With me" proves Adam was present when Eve was tempted but didn’t protect her because he himself wanted to eat (Gen. 3:6). Adam was with her and therefore without excuse (cp. 1Tim. 2:14). He should have spoken up and protected his mate and his dominion. Five Commands before the Fall 1. Be fruitful (Gen. 1:28). 2. Multiply (Gen. 1:28). 3. Replenish (Gen. 1:28; cf. Gen. 9:1-2). 4. Exercise dominion and do not give it to another (Gen. 1:28; 2:15). 5. Do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). The last two were broken in Gen. 3. Only the last was a source of temptation, challenging man’s will and arousing his curiosity. The others needed no warning, so the penalty was attached to the last. Man’s duty was to cultivate and keep (preserve) the garden from all intruders. "Keep" is from the Hebrew shamar (H8104), to hedge about, guard, protect (Gen. 3:24; 6:19-20; 7:3; 17:9-10; 18:19; 28:15,20; Ps. 17:8). This is the first hint of an enemy of God and man. Adam failed to "keep" the garden, so sin entered and Satan became the pseudo-ruler of the restored earth (Mt. 4:1-11; 12:24-25; Rom. 5:12-21; 2Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:10-18). His final defeat is pictured in Rev. 12:7-12; 20:1-10.
Vincent Mercado
Supporter
Interesting, yet false, assumption that Satan only tempted Eve and not Adam. I say Satan tempted them both, yet spoke only to Eve. Adam was standing right there! Genesis 3:6. Eve turned her husband and gave him the fruit. As a husband, if a snake talks to my wife, I would immediately step in between and protect my wife. Any husband would. In Adam's case, he didn't - maybe out of fear. Popular images of this scene will show man talking to a garden snake, but the original hebrew word was "nahash" and the nahash was not a tiny snake. The Book of Revelations describes the nahash as a dragon. Maybe Adam didn't speak because he was afraid of death - speaking to a nahash, death is what you would expect. Jesus, the New Adam, reversed all this - he is not afraid of death. He willingly give his life to save his bride, the Church.
Doron Bond
Satan didn't tempt Eve instead of Adam, but rather Satan tempted Eve while Adam was standing right there, and Adam remained silent.
Olusegun Tanimonu
Silence to evil is extremely dangerous. Romance with the Tempter is worst. The Devil had lost God's glory and he wanted man to fall along with him. Eve was made from Adam and what comes out of him is him, hence Adam was also tempted. He failed to protect and carry away his bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh from satanic deception and the fall became inevitable. The devil simply chose the most desirable part of man to create his fall - his woman. He ignored the call to fight against the devil's deception towards crumbling marriages. Speaking to Eve is synonymous to speaking with Adam, and we see in Genesis 3:6 that he was with his wife when the whole drama took place.
Mi Shad Ow
I'm amazed at how many people think this played out like a stack of dominos falling in line. Yes, they were both in the garden. But this was no back yard garden it had 4 rivers. Satan planted doubt in Eve first by questioning what was the instruction she received from Adam. If Adam was there, then why is there no response recorded of him affirming what God had said "he was not with her at the time that is why". As time went on she pondered this "what Satan had planted Gen 3:1-5" in her mind, never bring it up for discussion to Adam her equal, or to God. Once this had time to take root "she saw the fruit was good" then she ate it. Now this is where I think the confusion comes in b/c it says she gave to Adam and he did eat. But we can not ignore the punctuation marks in the Bible they are very important Matt 5:18. All of this happened over time, no the Bible dose not say it out right. But the punctuation in the story does. Satan used Eve as a back door to steal Adams confidence in God. Once Adam saw that nothing had happened to Eve for eating the fruit, he willingly ate it as well. So to answer the question. God already told us the answer in verse 1 "the serpent was more subtle.
Ezekiel Kimosop
Why did Satan tempt Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and not Adam? The Bible does not provide a direct answer to this question. We are not given any Biblical reason why Eve became the first to be tempted. I guess it may have been a matter of chance because looking at his part in the sin (eating of what the woman gave him) Adam himself may not have passed the test either even if he were the first to be tempted! Some have argued that the woman was naturally more vulnerable to temptation but this argument is difficult to prove from the Bible because both the man and woman were of the same nature. Both sinned before God but under the Federal Headship theology Adam assumed full responsibility for the actions of his wife as well as his own. However God served each of them their portion of punishment and Adam’s seed automatically shared in the guilt though all ages until Christ. It is important to understand that the serpent must have been used by Satan who had been created by God much earlier before Adam and Eve. Having served in the presence of God before his fall, Satan was familiar with God and his divine nature and certainly knew what was right and wrong. His pride led him to attempt to overthrow God and he was thrown down from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15; Luke 10:18). Another related question is whether Eve was tempted while she was side by side with Adam? There are two plausible explanations for this question. The Hebrew text translates “she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat” (Genesis 3:6b, YLT). The common interpretation of this verse is that the two were together physically and Adam was therefore fully aware of what transpired between the serpent and his wife but did nothing to save the woman from the temptation. This interpretation seems plausible untill we consider that the Garden of Eden may have been large and expansive and the two may have been far apart at that time. Another possible interpretation which I consider most appropriate is that his being with her was not necessarily in terms of physical proximity at the time of her temptation. In Hebrew thought both were together in the garden as husband and wife (one flesh) In the same way that we speak of a married couple as being together even where they live miles apart because of occupations. This suggests that Adam may not have been physically beside her as is often depicted in classical Christian art. This interpretation supposes that Adam could have been on another tree feeding or perhaps just having his usual stroll in another section of the garden since there was no physical threat that necessitated that they be physically together all the time. The Hebrew text for Genesis 3:6b may also suggests that the woman influenced or made the man to eat of the fruit perhaps hours later but the fact that Adam willingly ate in disobedience to God's express command puts him squarely on a common footing with the woman. Both were guilty. The argument that the prohibition in Gen 2:15 applied only to Adam is also false because Eve's answer in Gen 3:2-3 leaves no doubt that she was fully aware of the consequences of the transgression.
Bryan Myers
The context of the Hebrew text is that Adam was in the garden with Eve, but not necessarily present with her when she was tempted. Satan in the form of a serpent first placed doubt after Eve reinterpreted the ban on eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Here is a lesson for Christians: Adam told Eve what the LORD had said, Eve put her own twist to it. Too many Christians rely upon another to tell them what the Bible says, instead of reading it for themselves. My point being, if you do not know the Scriptures how can you follow them?
Casper Mcconnell
What was this forbidden fruit? We are told that it looked beautiful to the eye, that it would help her be more like the loving caring Jesus that she knew and loved. What could be wrong with that, especially if it made her a better person.... What does the bible say about eyes and ears? Faith comes by hearing the word, but temptation is often visual. Hearing the word works on the mind, seeing temptation speaks to the heart, and thats where all sin starts. Heres a controversial thought: men are better thinking about one thing at a time, they often don't notice mess but women love beauty, tidyness and looking good. If I were the devil I would whisper doubt in a man's ear, but try to make a woman envious by showing her good and beautiful things that she could desire. And unless you think about it and say no to the hearts desire, then what could possibly be wrong with having personal opinions on what is right or wrong for me and my family? How could that harm anyone if I decide to be independent and do it my own way?
Add your Answer
All answers are REVIEWED and MODERATED.
Please ensure your answer MEETS all our guidelines.
A good answer provides new insight and perspective. Here are guidelines to help facilitate a meaningful learning experience for everyone.
- Adhere to the eBible Statement of Faith.
- Your answer should be complete and stand-alone.
- Include supporting arguments, and scripture references if possible. Seek to answer the "why".
- Adhere to a proper tone and spirit of love and understanding.
- For more info see The Complete Guide to eBible