And the LORD God said unto the woman,
What is this that you have done?
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
All Commentaries on Genesis 3:13 Go To Genesis 3
Dorotheos of Gaza
AD 565
Again, after Adam had done wrong God gave him a chance to repent and be forgiven, and yet he kept on being stiffnecked and unrepentant. For God came to him and said, “Adam, where are you?” instead of saying, “From what glory are you come to this? Are you not ashamed? Why did you sin? Why did you go astray?”—as if urging him sharply to say, “Forgive me!” But there was no sign of humility. There was no change of heart but rather the contrary. He replied, “The wife that you gave me”—mark you, not “my wife”—“deceived me.” “The wife that you gave me,” as if to say, “this disaster you placed on my head.” So it is, my brethren, when a man has not the guts to accuse himself, he does not scruple to accuse God himself. Then God came to Eve and said to her, “Why did you not keep the command I gave you?” as if saying, “If you would only say, ‘Forgive me,’ to humble your soul and be forgiven.” And again, not a word! No “forgive me.” She only answered, “The serpent deceived me!”—as if to say, if the serpent did wrong, what concern is that to me? What are you doing, you wretches? Kneel in repentance, acknowledge your fault, take pity on your nakedness. But neither the one nor the other stooped to selfaccusation, no trace of humility was found in either of them. And now look and consider how this was only an anticipation of our own state! See how many and great the evils it has brought on us—this selfjustification, this holding fast to our own will, this obstinacy in being our own guide.
