43. See Ex 7:10-1 1.22; 8:7.18-19.
Book XI 451
So then the serpent spoke to a human being in the same way as the donkey Balaam was riding spoke to a human being,42 the only difference being that the first instance was the work of the devil, the second of an angel.
There are some works, you see, that both good and bad angels can do equally, like Moses and Pharaoh's magicians.43 But even in these works good angels are the more effective, and bad angels cannot even do anything of this sort, unless God's permission is passed on to them through good angels. This ensures that each person is paid back in accordance either with their own attitude or with the grace of God, each of them justly and benevolently, thanks to the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God (Rom 1 1:33).
Back to the story ofGenesis 3
30, 38. So then the serpent said to the woman: Why is it that God said, You all shall not eatfrom every tree ofParadise? And the woman said to the serpent: From thefruit of the wood that is in Paradise we shall eat; but about thefruit of the tree that is in the middle of Paradise God said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die (Gn 3:1-3). The reason we have the serpent first asking this question and the woman giving this answer is to show that there was no excuse at all for the breach of duty, and that in no way could it be said that the woman had forgotten what God had commanded, although forgetting a commandment, especially when there was only one and that one so basic, would also incur the maximum penalty for gross negligence. Nonetheless her trans gression is all the more evident when the commandment is retained in the memory, and in the commandment God is so to say present in attendance himself, and being defied. That is why it was necessary in the psalm, after saying and retaining his commandments in the memory, to add in order to do them (Ps
103: 1 8). Many people, you see, retain them in memory in order to ignore them with the greater sin ofbreach ofduty, where there is no excuse offorgetfulness.
39. So then, the serpent said to the woman: You shall not die the death; for God knew that on the day you take a bite ofit your eyes will be opened, andyou will be like gods, gaining knowledge of good and evil (Gn 3:4-5). When would the woman have believed this assertion, telling them they had been held back by God from something good and beneficial, if there had not already been in her mind that love of her own independent authority and a certain proud over-confidence in herself, of which she had to be convicted and then humbled by that very temptation? Finally, not content with the serpent's words she inspected the tree herself, and saw that it was goodfor eating andfine to look at
42. See Nm 22:27-30. The ridiculous and noxious opinion he has in mind is not now Manichee doctrine, but the transmigration of souls. 43. See Ex 7:10-1 1.22; 8:7.18-19.