Genesis 3:3 | Pastor Burns' Study Notes

Eve continues her answer. God had said they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16-17 records the original command: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.”

Some have said Eve added to the Word of God when she said, “neither shall ye touch it.” But the expression can carry the idea of consuming or handling in connection with eating. The point is that Eve understood the tree was forbidden.

Adam had received this command directly from God, and Adam would have communicated it to Eve.

Still, Eve’s response may seem somewhat casual. It may suggest that her confidence was beginning to waver. She was standing before temptation, answering the serpent, and the devil was ready to pounce.