And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
All Commentaries on Genesis 3:8 Go To Genesis 3
John Chrysostom
AD 407
WE HAVE SAID ENOUGH, I would think, as far as our abilities lie, in giving our explanation lately of the tree, to teach you, dearly beloved, what was the reason why Sacred Scripture called it the knowledge of good and evil. So today I want to proceed to what follows, so that you may learn God's unspeakable love and the degree of considerateness he employs in his care for our race. Everything, you see, he made and arranged so that this rational being created by him had the good fortune to be of the greatest importance, and far from being in any way inferior to the life of the angels, enjoyed in the body their immunity from suffering.
When, however, he saw them both through negligence transgress the commands he had given them, despite the warnings he had conveyed by threatening them and putting them more on the alert, he did not stop loving them at that point. Instead, faithful to his own goodness, he is like a loving father who sees his own son through negligence committing things unworthy of his upbringing and being reduced from his eminent position to the utmost depravity: he is stirred to the depths of his being as a father, yet, far from ceasing to care for him, he displays further concern for him in his desire to extricate him gradually from his abasement and return him to his previous position of dignity. Well, in just the same way does the good God, too, have pity on man for the plot to which he fell victim with his wife after being deceived and accepting the devil's advice through the serpent. Like a
doctor treating a sick and suffering patient confined to bed, who needs much healing and the doctor's attention, he goes immediately to his side.
In order, however, that you may learn God's ineffable considerateness, from the words themselves you must listen to the reading. "They heard the sound of the Lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening; both Adam and his wife hid from the Lord's presence amongst the trees of the garden." [ Gen 3:8 ] Let us not, dearly beloved, pass heedlessly by the words from Sacred Scripture, nor re main at the level of their expression, but consider that the ordinariness of their expression occurs with our limitations in mind and that everything is done in a manner befitting God for the sake of our salvation. I mean, tell me this: were we prepared to follow the drift of the words without taking what is said in a sense befitting God, how could many absurdities be avoided? See now, let us consider this from the very beginning of the reading: "They heard the sound of the Lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening, and they hid." What are you saying God strolls? Are we assigning feet to him? Have we no exalted conception of him? No, God doesn't stroll perish the thought: how could he, present as he is everywhere and filling everything with his presence? Can he, for whom heaven is his throne and earth his footstool, be confined to the garden? What right-minded person could say this?
So what is the meaning of this statement, "They heard the sound of the Lord God as he strolled in the garden in the evening "? He wanted to provide them with such an experience as would induce in them a state of anguish, which in fact happened: they had so striking an experience that they tried to hide from the presence of God. Sin, you see, appeared and transgression, and they were covered in confusion. After all, that incorruptible judge conscience, I mean in taking a stand against the accused cried out in unmistakable tones, leveled its accusation, brought forward evidence, and as if before their very eyes wrote down details of their sins in all their magnitude. For this reason, you see, the loving Lord from on high, in forming human beings right from the be ginning, implanted conscience in them as a tireless accuser, proof against dissuasion and deception at ally time.
Even if someone were able to escape the notice of all human beings in committing sin and perpetrating improper conduct, he could not escape that accuser; he would go his wicked way with this accuser ever present within him to trouble him, tear at him and flay him, never resting, be it in public, in company, at table, sleeping or rising, demanding justice for felonies committed, bringing into focus the impropriety of sin and the punishment due to it. Like a skillful physician it does not cease from applying its remedies; and should it find itself rebuffed, it does not take no for an answer but continues its ministrations unremittingly. This, after all, is its role, to make memory proof against dissuasion and not permit us to lay our sins to rest but keep them in focus so that even by this means it may make us reluctant to fall into the same ones again. You see, if we find an ally in conscience and get assistance from it as the forthright accuser innate within us, our scourge, tearing at our vitals, bringing more weight to bear on us than a public executioner, and yet in many cases we still fall victims to our indifference, to what extremes would we not be taken if we were deprived of such assistance?
This, then, is the reason why in the present case the firstformed human being immediately hides on receiving this impression and realizing the presence of the Lord. Why so, tell me? Because he saw that stern accuser conscience, I mean taking his position against him. He had no one else as prosecutor and witness of his felonies with the sole exception of the one that he carried around within him. They were, however, taught through their nakedness the magnitude of the sins they had committed by the removal of the glory that had previously draped them like a garment, as well as by the accusation of conscience. So since they were covered in confusion after that grievous sin, they tried to hide. "they heard the sound of the lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening; both Adam and his wife hid from the Lord's presence in the middle of the garden."
Nothing is worse than sin, dearly beloved: once it appears it not merely fills us with shame but also robs of their senses people previously sensible and full of great intelligence. I mean, consider, I ask you, the depth of folly now displayed by this person previously endowed with intelligence, who had demonstrated the intelligence granted him in the actions he performed, and who had given vent to such inspired utterances. "Hearing the sound of the Lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening, he and his wife hid from the Lord's presence amongst the trees of the garden." What depths of folly does this not reveal for this man to endeavor to hide from the God who is present every where, the Creator who brings all things from nonbeing into being, who knows things that lie hidden, who alone fashions people's hearts and understands all their works, [ Ps 33:15 ] who tests hearts and minds, [ Ps 7:9 ] who understands the movements of our heart? [ Ps 43:22 ] But do not wonder, dearly beloved. For that is the nature of sinners. Even if they are not able to hide, they try earnestly to hide. That you may know that they did this because they had been denuded of their glory, unable to endure the shame which enveloped them after their sin, consider where they hid themselves: In the midst of paradise. Just like heedless slaves and ones due for a whipping, when they are unable to hide from their master, try to run hither and thither into the corners of the house when their minds are shaking with fear, likewise these two ran around in that abode, that is in Paradise, but without finding any escape.
It is not without purpose, however, that the time is specified: "They heard the sound of the Lord God," the text says, remember, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening." The purpose was for you to learn the Lord's loving kindness, that he didn't postpone action in the slightest; instead, once he saw what had happened and sized up the gravity of the ulcer, he at once set in motion the healing process lest the ulcer spread and open up an incurable wound. So he moved to catch it at an early stage and at once took action against the spread of the ulcer, not for a moment leaving the victim deprived of his prompt attention, out of fidelity to his own goodness. What I mean is that the enemy of our salvation had displayed such rage in his unfailing envy of our advantages that he concocted his plot from the very beginning and, through his disastrous advice, he robbed those two of their wonderful way of life. But God, ever anxious to try something new, watching over our affairs in his wisdom, saw, on the one hand, the malice practiced by the devil and, on the other hand, the man's negligence, which was the means of covering him in such shame once he had been prevailed on by his wife; so God takes his position as a gentle and loving judge presiding over a tribunal that causes fear and trembling, and conducts his examination in detail teaching us through this approach not to condemn our fellows before we have conducted a detailed examination.
loving kindness and human beings' severity towards their fellows
