Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 3:17-19
I. God put marks of his displeasure on Adam in three instances:? 1. His habitation is, by this sentence, cursed: Cursed is the ground for thy sake; and the effect of that curse is, Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee. It is here intimated that his habitation should be changed; he should no longer dwell in a distinguished, blessed, paradise, but should be removed to common ground, and that cursed. The ground, or earth, is here put for the whole visible creation, which, by the sin... read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 3:18
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ,.... Not for his advantage, but to give him more trouble, and cause him more fatigue and sorrow to root them up: these include all sorts of noxious herbs and plants, and troublesome weeds, which added to man's labour to pluck up, that those more useful might grow and flourish: and Rabbi Eliezer F5 Apud fa*gium in loc. was of opinion, that if there had not been a new blessing upon the earth, it would have brought forth nothing else,... read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 3:18
Thorns also and thistles, etc. - Instead of producing nourishing grain and useful vegetables, noxious weeds shall be peculiarly prolific, injure the ground, choke the good seed, and mock the hopes of the husbandman; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field - thou shalt no longer have the privilege of this garden of delights, but must go to the common champaign country, and feed on such herbs as thou canst find, till by labor and industry thou hast raised others more suitable to thee and more... read more
John Calvin
John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 3:18
Verse 18 18.Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth. He more largely treats of what he has already alluded to, namely, the participation of the fruits of the earth with labor and trouble. And he assigns as the reason, that the earth will not be the same as it was before, producing perfect fruits; for he declares that the earth would degenerate from its fertility, and bring forth briers and noxious plants. Therefore we may know, that whatsoever unwholesome things may be produced, are not... read more
Spence, H. D. M., etc.
The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 3:8-19
The first judgment scene. I. THE FLIGHT Or THE CRIMINALS . 1. It is the instinct of sinful men to flee from God . "Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God" ( Genesis 3:8 ). So "Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord" ( Jonah 1:3 ). 2. It is God ' s habit to pursue transgressors . As he pursued Adam and Eve in the garden by his voice (verse 9), and Jonah on the deep by a wind ( Jonah 1:4 ), and David by his... read more
Spence, H. D. M., etc.
The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 3:9-24
The word of God in the moral chaos. These verses bring before us very distinctly the elements of man's sinful state, and of the redemptive dispensation of God which came out of it by the action of his brooding Spirit of life upon the chaos. I. THE WORD OF GOD ADDRESSED TO THE PERSONAL CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW WORLD . "The Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? " Before that direct intercourse between the Spirit of God and... read more
Spence, H. D. M., etc.
The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 3:18
Thorns also and thistles . Terms occurring only here and in Hosed Genesis 10:8 = the similar expressions in Isaiah 5:6 ; Isaiah 7:23 (Kalisch, Keil, Macdonald). Shall it bring forth to thee . I .e. these shall be its spontaneous productions; if thou desirest anything else thou must labor for it. And thou shalt eat the herb of the field . "Not the fruit of paradise" (Wordsworth), but "the lesser growths sown by his own toil" (Alford)—an intimation that henceforth man was "to... read more
Albert Barnes
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 3:8-21
- XVI. The Judgment15. ש×
