¹ sn This is the first time in the Bible that the verb tsavah (צָוָה, “to command”) appears. Whatever the man had to do in the garden, the main focus of the narrative is on keeping God’s commandments. God created humans with the capacity to obey him and then tested them with commands.

² tn The imperfect verb form probably carries the nuance of permission (“you may eat”) since the man is not being commanded to eat from every tree. The accompanying infinitive absolute adds emphasis: “you may freely eat,” or “you may eat to your heart’s content.”

³ tn The word “fruit” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied as the direct object of the verb “eat.” Presumably the only part of the tree the man would eat would be its fruit (cf. 3:2).

⁴ tn There is a notable change between what the Lord God had said and what the woman says. God said “you may freely eat” (the imperfect with the infinitive absolute, see 2:16), but the woman omits the emphatic infinitive, saying simply “we may eat.” Her words do not reflect the sense of eating to her heart’s content.

⁵ tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”

⁶ tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.

⁸ tn Heb “blessed be.”

⁹ tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.

¹¹ tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.