Bonus Extended Cut — Genesis 3

When God Spoke Clearly, and We Added a Little More

In Genesis 2:16–17, God speaks plainly to Adam:

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

The command is generous, precise, and sufficient. Life is offered freely; death is warned honestly. God does not explain Himself. He does not hedge His words. He simply tells the truth.

But in Genesis 3:3, when the woman recounts God’s command, something has changed:

“You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”

God never said, “neither shall you touch it.”

This small addition weake ...