And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die:
All Commentaries on Genesis 3:4 Go To Genesis 3
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Let us learn, therefore, that the temptations of the Devil are full of guile. Of the things that he promised, scarcely one of them seems to be true. He contrived falsehoods, as we can see if we read elsewhere: 'And the serpent said to the woman, you shall not die.' [ Gen 3:4 ] Here we have one falsehood, for man, who followed the promises of the serpent, is subject to death. Hence he added: 'For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.' [ Gen 3:5 ] This alone is true, because further on we read: 'They both ate and their eyes were opened.' [ Gen 3:7 ] But the truth is that as a result of this act harm followed. Hence, opening one's eyes is not to everyone's advantage, for it is written: 'They will see and will not see.' [ Isa 6:9 ] But the serpent was quick to attach a falsehood to his statement, when he said: 'And you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.' [ Gen 3:5 ] Hence you may note that the serpent is the author of idolatry, for his cunning seems to be responsible for man's error in introducing many gods. His deceit lay in stating that they will be like gods, for not only have men ceased to be like gods, but even those men who were like gods (to whom it was spoken, 'I have said you are gods') [ Ps 81:6 ] have fallen from His favor.
'And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes and beautiful to gaze upon.' [ Gen 3:6 ] She showed her weakness in passing judgment on what she had not tasted. It is not easy under any circumstance to make such an assumption without deep reflection and a careful examination of the facts. 'She took of its fruit,' we are told, 'and ate it and also gave some to her husband and they both ate.' [ Gen 3:6 ] Omission is made, and rightly so, of the deception of Adam, since he fell by his wife's fault and not because of his own.
'And their eyes were opened,' we are told, 'and they realized that they were naked.' [ Gen 3:7 ] They were naked, it is true, before this time, but they were not devoid of the garments of virtue. They were naked because of the purity of their character and because nature knows nothing of the cincture of deceit. Now, on the other hand, the mind of man is veiled in many folds of deception. When, therefore, they saw that they had been despoiled of the purity and simplicity of their untainted nature, they began to look for objects made by the hand of man wherewith to cover the nakedness of their minds and hearts. They added gratification so as to increase the idle pleasures of this world, sewing, as it were, leaf upon leaf in order to conceal and cover the organ of generation. But how explain the fact that Adam had his bodily eyes closed, whereas he was able to see all living creatures and confer names upon them? Well, just as by way of an inner and deeper knowledge they were able to realize, not that they were without garments, but that the protective covering of virtue was no longer theirs.
'So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.' [ Gen 3:7 ] We are taught by the content of holy Scripture how we should interpret the meaning of the word 'fig' in this passage. Scripture relates that the saints are those who find rest beneath the vine and the fig. [ Mich 4:4 ] Solomon has said: 'Who plants the fig tree and does not eat the fruit thereof?' [ Prov 27:18 ] Yet the owner may come to the fig tree and may be offended by finding there merely leaves and no fruit. I have information from Adam himself, in fact, about the significance of the leaves. He proceeded to make a covering for himself out of the leaves of the fig tree after he had sinned, whereas he should have had its fruit instead. The just man chooses the fruit; the sinner, the leaves. What is the fruit? We read: 'The fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, modesty, continency, love.' [ Gal 5:22 ] He who possessed no fruit possessed no joy. The person who violated the command of God did not have faith, and he who ate of the forbidden tree did not have the virtue of continency.
Whoever, therefore, violates the command of God has become naked and despoiled, a reproach to himself. He wants to cover himself and hide his genitals with fig leaves, making use, as it were of empty and idle talk which the sinner interweaves word after word with fallacies for the purpose of shielding himself from his awareness of his guilty deed. Desiring to conceal his fault, he throws leaves over himself, at the same time indicating that the Devil is responsible for his crime. He offers allurements of the flesh or the recommendations of another individual as excuses for his wrongdoing. He frequently produces examples from holy Scripture, citing them as instances of how a just man may fall into sin, the sin of adultery: 'And Abraham lay with his handmaid and David loved a strange woman whom he made his wife.' [ Gen 16:13; 2 Kings 11:4 ] He patches together examples for his purposes from the list of prophetical books of Scripture. He sees the leaves and ignores the fruit.
Do not the Jews seem to you to be patchers of leaves when they interpret in a material manner the words of the spiritual Law? Their interpretation, condemned to eternal aridity, loses all the characteristic greenness of the fruit. There is a correct interpretation, therefore, which points to a fruitful and spiritual fig tree beneath which just men and saints find their rest. [ Micah 4:4 ] Whoever plants this tree in the souls of every man will eat the fruit thereof, as Paul says: 'I have planted, Apollos watered.' [ 1 Cor 3:6 ] But the wrong interpretation will not confer the fruit nor conserve its viridity.
It was a serious matter, therefore, when, following this interpretation, Adam girded himself in that place where it would have been better that he havhad girded himself with the fruit of chastity. Seeds of generation are said to exist in our loins around which we bind our garments. Hence, Adam did wrong on that occasion when he girded himself with leaves that have no utility, inasmuch as by this act he implied, not the fruit of a future generation, but certain sins which remained until the coming of our Lord and Saviour. But, when the master came, He found the fig tree uncultivated. Elsewhere, when requested that he should order it to be cut down, the owner of the fig tree allowed it to be cultivated. [ Matt 21:19; Luke 13:6-9 ] And so we gird ourselves, not with leaves, but with the divine Word, as the Lord Himself says: 'Let your loins be girt about and your lamps burning.' [ Luke 12:35 ] Wherefore He prohibits us to carry money even in our girdles. [ Matt 10:9 ] Our girdles ought not to store up worldly objects, but things of eternal nature.
