The Literal Meaning of Genesis (continued)
as human beings might speak to another human being, as Abraham did by the oak of Mamre,!?* this sort of friendship increased their shame after their sin, although it gave them confidence before their sin; and they no longer dared to show to these eyes the nakedness that offended their own.
CHAPTER 35
The excuses of Adam and Eve.
47. The Lord, therefore, wishing to interrogate the sinners in the manner followed in courts of law before imposing a greater punishment than that which already caused them to feel shame, said to them, Who told you that you were naked but that you have eaten of the one tree whereof I had commanded you not to eat?!*> Because of this sin, death, engendered in accordance with the judgment of God, who had threatened them with this punishment, was the cause of the concupiscence that they experienced at the sight of their bodies. This is what is meant when it is said that their eyes were opened and that a sense of shame resulted.
And Adam replied, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be my companion gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.''?® What pride! Did he say, "I have sinned"? He has the deformity of confusion, not the humility of confession. This interrogation has been written down precisely because it took place in order to be recorded truthfully for our instruction (if it were not recorded truthfully, it would not instruct), so that we may see how men today are suffering from the disease of pride as they try to make their Creator responsible for any sin they commit, while they want attributed to themselves any good they do. Adam said, Tbe woman whom Thou gavest with me (mecum), that is, to be my companion (ut esset mecum), gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. As if she had been given to Adam for this purpose, and not rather that she should obey her husband and that both of them should obey God!
48. Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And she replied, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate. 127 She too fails to confess her sin. She shifts the blame to another,