Genesis 3:17 - translation

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BibleOld TestamentGenesis

In verses 16 and 17, God addresses firstly the woman and secondly the man:

NRSV

16 To the woman he said,

. . .

17 And to the man a he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,

and have eaten of the tree

about which I commanded you,

'You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life . . .
a Or to Adam (NRSV footnote)

Robert Alter translates the verse And to the human He said, "Because you listened to the voice of your wife ..." and notes in a footnote:

The Masoretic Text vocalizes le'adam without the definite article, which would make it mean "to Adam." But since Eve in the parallel curse is still called "the woman," it seems better to assume the definite article here.

The Septuagint, on the other hand, uses the proper name "Adam" in this verse, and adds a direct address to him by name in v. 9:

And God called Adam, and said to him, "Adam, where are you?"

See also at Genesis 4:1 and 5:1.