John Calvin Commentary Genesis 3:22

"And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever-" — Genesis 3:22 (ASV)

Behold, the man is become as one of us: An ironical reproof by which God would not only prick man's heart but pierce it through and through. He does not, however, cruelly triumph over the miserable and afflicted; but, according to the necessity of the disease, applies a more violent remedy.

For, though Adam was confounded and astonished at his calamity, he yet did not so deeply reflect on its cause as to become weary of his pride, that he might learn to embrace true humility. We may add that God inveighed, by this irony, not more against Adam himself than against his posterity, for the purpose of commending modesty to all ages.

The particle, “Behold,” denotes that the sentence is pronounced upon the cause then under consideration. And, truly, it was a sad and horrid spectacle: that he, in whom the glory of the Divine image was recently shining, should lie hidden under fetid skins to cover his own disgrace, and that there should be more comeliness in a dead animal than in a living man!

The clause which is immediately added, “To know good and evil,” describes the cause of such great misery: namely, that Adam, not content with his condition, had tried to ascend higher than was lawful. It is as if it had been said, ‘See now where your ambition and your perverse appetite for illicit knowledge have precipitated you.’

Yet the Lord does not even deign to converse with him, but contemptuously draws him forth for the sake of exposing him to greater infamy. Thus it was necessary for his iron pride to be beaten down, that he might at length descend into himself and become more and more displeased with himself.

One of us. Some refer the plural number used here to the angels, as if God would make a distinction between man, who is an earthly and despised animal, and celestial beings; but this exposition seems far-fetched. The meaning will be simpler if resolved thus: ‘After this, Adam will be so like Me that we shall become companions for each other.’ The argument that Christians draw from this passage for the doctrine of the three Persons in the Godhead is, I fear, not sufficiently firm. There is not, indeed, the same reason for it as in the former passage, Let us make man in our image, since here Adam is included in the word Us; but, in the other place, a certain distinction in the essence of God is expressed.

And now, lest, etc. There is a defect in the sentence which I think ought to be supplied thus: ‘It now remains that in the future, he be debarred from the fruit of the tree of life;’ for by these words Adam is admonished that the punishment to which he is consigned shall not be for a moment, or for a few days, but that he shall always be an exile from a happy life.

They are mistaken who think this is also an irony, as if God were denying that the tree would prove advantageous to man, even though he might eat of it; for God, rather, by depriving him of the symbol, also takes away the thing signified. We know the efficacy of sacraments; and it was said above that the tree was given as a pledge of life.

Therefore, so that he might understand himself to be deprived of his former life, a solemn excommunication is added; not that the Lord would cut him off from all hope of salvation, but, by taking away what He had given, He would cause man to seek new assistance elsewhere.

Now, there remained an expiation in sacrifices, which might restore him to the life he had lost. Previously, direct communication with God was the source of life to Adam; but, from the moment in which he became alienated from God, it was necessary that he should recover life by the death of Christ, by whose life he then lived.

It is indeed certain that man would not have been able, even if he had devoured the whole tree, to enjoy life against God's will. But God, out of respect for His own institution, connects life with the external sign until the promise should be taken away from it.

For there never was any intrinsic efficacy in the tree; rather, God made it life-giving insofar as He had sealed His grace to man in its use. For in truth, He represents nothing to us with false signs but always speaks to us, as they say, effectively.

In short, God resolved to wrest from man's hands that which was the occasion or ground of confidence, lest he should form for himself a vain hope of the perpetuity of the life which he had lost.