Was Adam With Eve When She Spoke With The Serpent?
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, November 4, 2025 (Donate)
Introduction
Soon after creation, the serpent, influenced by Satan who had just sinned
himself, deceived the Woman (later named Eve) into eating the fruit of the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They conversed through the intellect of the
devil’s use of the serpent.
Was Adam with her when they spoke? Or did he walk
immediately after and miss the conversation? He obviously knew what fruit it
was an ate when she gave it to him. This question has intrigued Christians for
ages. Let’s jump into it.
The Scriptures Reveal
Genesis 3:1-6 (NKJV) says:
Now the serpent was more cunning
than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the
woman,
“Has God indeed
said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent,
“We may eat the fruit of the trees
of the garden; “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest
you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not surely die. “For God
knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave
to her husband with her, and he ate.
Assessment
When reading this, there is no Scripture saying that Adam was with the Woman when she was deceived. It only mentions Adam when she ate. Many believe the phrase “with her” is out of context when applying it to the events in the previous section because the Hebrew gives a new paragraph standing beginning in verse 6 (“So when the woman saw…”).
Many believe a small amount of time passed to permit Adam to
arrive on the scene to see her pick the fruit, eat it and give some to him to
eat. Part of the reason for this small amount of time is due to events that
took place between the Woman speaking to the serpent and Adam eating.
For example, the Woman saw that the fruit was
good to eat. How could she know the
fruit was good to eat? Well, it is likely that she saw something, such as an
animal, eat some of the fruit – maybe even the serpent himself. Keep in mind
that man was forbidden to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
but the Bible gives no indication that other things couldn’t have eaten from it
(e.g., animals).
Another reason is due to Adam listening to the voice
of His wife. Many think there
was a conversation between Adam and the Woman after her conversation with the
serpent. This will be discussed in more detail in the coming paragraphs.
In fact, the Bible never says the serpent spoke to Adam and
the Woman but only the Woman. Only the
Woman responded, and it doesn’t make sense that Adam wouldn’t respond at all if
he was involved in the conversation—especially with the blatant errors spoken
in the conversation.
Logically, it is easier to deceive one person, than two as
well. Recall that Hebrew gives a new paragraph standing to verse 6. The
NAS, KJV and NKJV also honor this as a distinct change confirming the short
time reference ‘When the
woman’. There was definitely some small amount of time between this—the
question becomes—was it enough time for Adam to arrive? Expositor Dr.
John Gill says of Genesis 3:6:
and
gave also to her husband with her; and gave also to her husband with her;
that he might eat as well as she, and partake of the same benefits and
advantages she hoped to reap from hence; for no doubt it was of good will, and
not ill will, that she gave it to him; and when she offered it to him, it is
highly probable she made use of arguments with him, and pressed him hard to it,
telling him what delicious food it was, as well as how useful it would be to
him and her. The Jews infer from hence, that Adam was with her all the while,
and heard the discourse between the serpent and her, yet did not interpose nor
dissuade his wife from eating the fruit, and being prevailed upon by the
arguments used; or however through a strong affection for his wife, that she
might not die alone, he did as she had done:[1]
Gill believes there was a discussion between the Woman and
Adam after her deception. Gill believed the Woman was indeed alone when
deceived:
And
he said to the woman; being alone, which he took the advantage of; not the
serpent, but Satan in it; just as the angel spoke in Balaam’s ass;[2]
John Calvin says in his commentary:
“And gave also unto her husband
with her. From these words, some conjecture that Adam was present when his
wife was tempted and persuaded by the serpent, which is by no means credible.
Yet it might be that he soon joined her, and that, even before the woman tasted
the fruit of the tree, she related the conversation held with the serpent, and
entangled him with the same fallacies by which she herself had been deceived.
Others refer the particle (immah,)" with her," to the conjugal
bond, which may be received. But because Moses simply relates that he ate the
fruit taken from the hands of his wife, the opinion has been commonly received,
that he was rather captivated with her allurements than persuaded by Satan’s
impostures. {1} For this purpose the declaration of Paul is adduced,
‘ Adam was not deceived, but the
woman.’ ( #1Ti 2:14).
But Paul in that place, as he is
teaching that the origin of evil was from the woman, only speaks comparatively.
Indeed, it was not only for the sake of complying with the wishes of his wife,
that he transgressed the law laid down for him; but being drawn by her into
fatal ambition, he became partaker of the same defection with her. And truly
Paul elsewhere states that sin came not by the woman, but by Adam himself, (#Ro
5:12). Then, the reproof which soon afterwards follows ‘Behold, Adam is as one
of us,’ clearly proves that he also foolishly coveted more than was lawful, and
gave greater credit to the flatteries of the devil than to the sacred word of
God.” [3]
So, John Calvin didn’t see that Adam needed to be with the
Woman when she was deceived. Even John Trapp’s commentary leaves open the
possibility that Adam wasn’t with the Woman the whole time:
And gave it also to her husband.
It is probable, saith the same author, that Adam stood by all the time of the
disputation; therefore his sin was the greater, that he rebuked not the
serpent, &c. And again, I cannot believe, said he, but that the devils in
the serpent did as well tempt Adam as Eve, though first they began with her, as
a further means of enticing him. Others {e} are of another mind, as that
the tempter set upon the woman alone and apart from her husband, as she was
curiously prying into the pleasures of the garden; that the serpent crept into
Paradise unseen of Adam, who was to keep beasts out of it; that he remained
there without being seen by him, and crept out again when he had done his feat;
that when she gave him the fruit, she gave him also a relation of the serpent’s
promise concerning the force of that fruit, that it would make them wise as
God, knowing good and evil, &c., whence he is said to have hearkened to her
voice. {#Ge 3:17} And surely, every Adam hath still his Eve, every David
his Bathsheba, a tempter in his own bosom, his own flesh, whereby he is so soon
"drawn away, and enticed" as a fish by the bait, —beauty {f}
is a hook without a bait, {g} as one saith, —till "when lust hath
conceived," as here it did in Eve, "it bringeth forth sin; and sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death". {#Jas 1:14,15} Satan
hath only a persuasive sleight, not an enforcing might. It is our own
concupiscence that carrieth the greatest stroke.[4]
Matthew Poole’s commentary agrees:
Gave also unto her husband with
her, who by this time was returned to her, and who now was with her; or,
that he might eat with her, and take his part of that fruit.[5]
In the Genesis Record,
Henry Morris says:
As the prototype of all sinners,
Eve felt impelled to lead Adam to participate in the same sin. She therefore plucked more of the fruit and
brought it to her husband, urging him to eat it as well. No doubt, she used the same arguments the
serpent had used, also adding the personal testimony that she had eaten the
delicious fruit herself without harmful effect.
Adam, however, “was not deceived”
(I Timothy 3:14). Whether this statement
by the Apostle Paul means that Adam was fully aware that he was willfully
defying God, or whether it simply means that Adam was not the initial one whom
Satan attacked with this deception, may not be completely clear.[6]
Paul says in 1 Timothy:
And I do not permit a woman to
teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was
formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Timothy 2:12-15, NKJV)
The passage says the Woman and not Adam was deceived but
this still doesn’t shed light on whether Adam was with the Woman or if he
showed up afterwards. In both cases (Adam with the Woman or Adam not with
the Woman), 1 Timothy 2:12-15 could easily apply. If Adam was not with the
Woman, then obviously he wouldn’t have been deceived. He could have eaten
knowing he was sinning, regardless of knowing the serpent had deceived
Woman. Genesis 3:17 (NKJV) says:
Then to Adam He said,
“Because you have heeded the voice
of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying,
‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is
the ground for your sake; In toil you
shall eat of it All the days of your life.
There is no indication that Adam listened to the voice of
the serpent but did listen to the
voice of his wife. Since
God said that Adam listened to the
voice of his wife, then two scenarios could apply:
1. Scenario
1: This was her voice when she responded to the serpent.
2. Scenario
2: This was a conversation after she spoke with the serpent.
Analyzing Scenario 1
If Adam listened to the voice of his wife when she responded
to the serpent then why didn’t he correct her when she misquoted God and
changed what God said? The woman said:
“From
the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree
which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’"
The Woman left out some key words and then added to God’s
Word:
"From
any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from
it you will surely die."
She removed “any” and “freely” but added “or touch it” and
even misstated “surely die” as merely “die”. If Adam listened to his wife’s
words here as God said, then he was deceived into believing
something other than what God said. However, 1 Timothy indicates Adam was not
deceived so this couldn’t be the case.
Also, since he was not deceived, why didn’t Adam correct his
wife’s mistaken response, especially since he was the one responsible for his
wife (James 4:17)? If this were the case, he would have been sinning before he
ate, yet the Lord didn’t mention it or give a rebuke for these potentially
failed actions.
Also, let’s not miss something big here. The only think the Woman
said, was not to eat. If Adam listened to the voice of his wife, and if
this was what is being referenced, then Adam shouldn’t have eaten! He would have
been defying what she said so that he could eat.
Analyzing Scenario 2
The Woman conversed with Adam and he ate (but not by
deception), thus with this scenario they had
to have a conversation soon after the Woman conversed with the serpent
which is what Gill, Calvin, Trapp, Morris, and others have pointed out.
God said nothing of Adam listening to the voice of the
serpent but only that of the Woman. In fact, Adam only blamed his wife,
not the serpent, which indicates that he probably wasn’t aware of the serpent’s
discussion with the Woman.
Though this conversation between Adam and his wife is not
mentioned in the early portions of the text in Genesis 3, it does give further
support that the time reference in verse 6 indicates that time had
passed from the speaking to the serpent and the Woman taking a bite and
giving some to her husband. Apparently, there were events that were not
entirely recorded in detail such as this conversation.
This time reference and new conversation between the Woman
and Adam is further support that the phrase “with her” in Genesis 3:6 would be
out of context with the prior events—when she was being deceived by the
serpent. So, Scenario 2 seems much more plausible, though one should
not be dogmatic.
Conclusion
This surely didn’t take long from the serpent’s deception,
to when the Woman desired the fruit and spoke to her husband and then ate[7]. But
one cannot be dogmatic that Adam was there the whole time from what little is
given in Scripture.
Regardless though, Adam was with his wife when she ate so he
had no excuse for not knowing what he ate. He knew it was fruit from the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and knowingly sinned when he ate.
Recommended Resource
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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website.
He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head
of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a
personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has
spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
Originally at Answers in Genesis; Edited; Republished by
permission.
[1]
John Gill’s Exposition, John Gill, Adapted from Online Bible, Larry Pierce,
Notes on Genesis 3:6
[2]
John Gill’s Exposition, John Gill, Adapted from Online Bible, Larry Pierce,
Notes on Genesis 3:1
[3]
Calvin’s Commentaries, John Calvin, Adapted from Online Bible, Larry Pierce,
Notes on Genesis 3:6
[4]
John Trapp Commentary, John Trapp, Adapted from Online Bible, Larry Pierce,
Notes on Genesis 3:6
[5]
Matthew Poole’s Commentary, Matthew Poole, Adapted from Online Bible, Larry
Pierce, Notes on Genesis 3:6
[6]
The Genesis Record, Dr Henry Morris, Baker Book House, 1976, Thirty-sixth
Printing, Page 114
[7] In
fact, it wouldn’t have taken long for them to sew fig leaves together
either. After they ate, felt ashamed and
put together fig leaf coverings, the serpent still hadn’t gone far. The Lord
was able to call down the curse on the serpent which wasn’t far off.
