I wouldn't mind if we hit the Pause button and establish the context we're seeing in the account:

I'll assume that we're in agreement that the account begins with the serpent [through which, we later learn, Satan was there for the Temptation of Adam]. No surprise, given Hebraic references to the Seraphim (Hebrew, serpents)-- at least with the convenience of scriptural hindsight as we receive the two written witnesses, our "Old" and "New" Testaments.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any living thing of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? —Genesis 3:1 VW-Edition

The serpent poses the question to Eve— but there is no mistaking that Adam is right there as this is happening (See Genesis 3:6b).

And not saying a word.

Eve replies:

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. —Genesis 3:2-3 Ibid

But this is not what God commanded [See Genesis 2:16-17]... which tells me that Adam added to God's command with the command to not even touch the fruit when he, at some point, instructed Eve concerning the tree in the midst of the Garden.

Again, keeping in mind that the Man is standing right there, right now as the Woman God had given him is being approached and into conversation with this seraph [serpent]. The same Woman he had borne witness to being flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone!

Even the apostle Paul, in his day, understood that Eve was deceived by Satan (2 Corinthians 11:3) and establishes that Adam was not. (1 Timothy 2:14)

This was not a Man who would give up his body... his life for his bride as Christ, the Second Adam, did for his bride, the body of believers (colloquially, "the church") to redeem her from the events of the day we're discussing.

I think it's safe to say that at this point, neither Eve nor Adam (even in his dangerous inaction in behalf of his Woman before this seraph [serpent]) had any awareness of their state of undress or nakedness. Au natural, as some say.

Anyhow, this seraph tells Eve after she'd answered him:

And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not die the death. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be as God, knowing good and evil. —Genesis 3:4-5 Ibid

I think the majority of Bible translations render "You shall not die the death" as "You shall not surely die" which actually detracts from the original language's doubling of the word "die" ("mûth" in the original Hebrew). The doubling may even be an early reference to the second death we find referenced in the first century scriptures.

Still no word from Adam here.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. —Genesis 3:6a Ibid

Bottom line, she disobeyed, the seraph having successfully deceived Eve.

She sinned.

But it's important to note, isn't it, that she still has no awareness of nakedness or her being naked— having just sinned. In other words, she sinned but still had no idea that she was naked.

She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.—Genesis 3:6b Ibid

Adam stood there watching all this go down, saw that Eve didn't die when she ate the fruit, and then ate the fruit, too. A very different Man from the Second Adam we have in Jesus Christ, wouldn't you say?

Now that Adam's disobeyed God, the account records:

And the eyes of both of them were opened... —Genesis 3:7a Ibid

This opening of their eyes is separated in the record with their knowing that they were naked.

In other words: first their eyes were opened, then they knew they were naked.

So, who or what opened their eyes as to their nakedness? I think it interesting that Adam doesn't answer Jehovah's first question.

And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? —Genesis 3:11 Ibid

Adam doesn't answer Jehovah as to who had told him that he was naked, but does proceed to lay the cause of his disobedience at the feet of the woman whom God had given Adam— flesh of his flesh, bones of his bones, a helpmeet made to be a perfect complement to him. (Cf. Job 2:4)

And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she has given to me of the tree, and I ate. —Genesis 3:12 Ibid

And things continued to both escalate and go downhill from here, as everyone knows.

Eve then explained she had been deceived by the seraph [serpent], which suggests that she had become aware of the deception by this point. And then Jehovah turned His attention to this seraph in the Garden and did NOT ask anything-- but instead issued His Divine Edict and, ultimately, the pronouncement of the destruction of Satan and his works.

But the question that is not answered is Who told Adam he was naked?

While scriptures uphold Jehovah's Sovereignty in the opening and closing of the eyes of Man (Cf. Isaiah 44:18), the only other party present before Jehovah asked Adam the question is the seraph [serpent], or Satan. As a heavenly being, Satan has the power and authority to veil minds (close eyes) (Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4), he can also open eyes of Men, as attested by Jesus. (Cf. Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7)

Bottom line: Adam and Eve's disobedience did not invoke their awareness of nakedness.

I see three immediate possibilities for how Adam was made aware that he was naked:

Jehovah God. This would make God's question to Adam a curious one, perhaps as a way of seeing if Adam was aware of how he became aware that he was naked? I seriously doubt it was Jehovah God who did this, however, considering awareness that they were naked was never given as a consequence of disobedience regarding the tree in the middle of the Garden— the Second Death was. ("dying the death," mûth mûth, original Hebrew)

Satan. The extent of Satan's malice toward Man (and Woman) is clear throughout the scriptures. Theologically, one could argue that once Adam and Eve disobeyed Jehovah God, they came into subjection to Satan (Cf. 1 John 5:19), and that Satan immediately proceeded to make bad what God had pronounced good-- letting Adam and Eve in on some big cosmic joke about how Adam and Eve had no idea they were naked as jaybirds. Adam could have pointed his finger at Satan as to who told him he was naked, but he didn't. And Adam had a two-for-one here, completely shifting responsibility for his own actions: "Who told you that you were naked?" "The serpent did. "Did you eat from the tree?" "The woman you gave me, God. SHE gave it to me and so I ate." Adam doesn't do that here, however.

Personally, I am leaning toward the third possibility: Adam didn't know how he was made aware. That's not to say that he was deceived like Eve-- the scriptural evidence condemns Adam beyond all doubt for his disobedience, not to mention standing by while Eve was being deceived, perhaps observing whether she would die from eating of the fruit.

Rather, it was upon Adam's disobedience that Jehovah's Spirit departed from Adam, for God's Spirit cannot have fellowship with wickedness/evil. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15) Adam's God-given conscience felt the departure of Jehovah's Spirit, and experienced fear for the very first time, aptly described later by the writer of Hebrews:

For if we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left, but [there is] a certain fearful expectation of judgment... —Hebrews 10:26-27 New World Translation

The apostle Paul likewise touches on this:

For whenever people of the nations that do not have law do by nature the things of the law, these people, although not having law, are a law to themselves. They are the very ones who demonstrate the matter of the law to be written in their hearts, while their conscience is bearing witness with them and, between their own thoughts, they are being accused or even excused. —Romans 2:14-15 Ibid

Those of us who have our eyes opened to the good news personally come to know what a blessing it is to have a portion of our Father's holy spirit, the Comforter, and our God-given conscience grieves us when we are disobedient to the Will of our Father, thankfully taking away the pleasure and enjoyment that sinning appears to provide and condemning us in our heart.

Unlike Adam, we as believers seek to become fully known and exposed before our Father and His appointed King-Priest, Jesus. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 8:3; 1 Corinthians 13:12) We have nothing to hide. All of our works can be brought into the light and examined by anyone, for our conscience is clear. Not that this means we're good-to-go as far as physical nakedness and therefore can go unclothed as we live our our lives serving God and our fellowmen. Thankfully, in my case!

As the apostle Paul writes:

Do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright. —2 Timothy 2:15 Ibid

What a contrast from Adam, who was afraid and hid from his God, convicted by his own God-given conscience in his willful disobedience. As are we ourselves when we willfully disobey our Repurchaser, subsequently hiding from He that examines hearts. (Cf. Proverbs 17:3)

That Adam and Eve imagined it possible to hide their disobedience from Jehovah by covering themselves with fig leaves just goes to demonstrate how successfully Satan was in fomenting the chain of events which led to the cutting off of Man from God for two Ages (the Noahic Age and the Mosaic Age).

I've got to clip this response, though, to at least get something posted by way of a reply to your opening of the discussion. My apologies for not getting back to the remainder of your post, brother.

A fellow believer,
Timothy

 

Timothy Kline said:

This opening of their eyes is separated in the record with their knowing that they were naked.

In other words: first their eyes were opened, then they knew they were naked.​

______________​

I’m not seeing where we are disagreeing about the flow, or series of events.

Having said that, what the central part of the section is has to be established within the context of the situation taking place. You say that it’s that she ate, then she gave it to Adam and he ate.

Which, of course, I concur provisionally, for there can be so much more unpacked here, as time allows.

Back on point: Each of these actions implies “and then,” wouldn’t you agree? In other words, the actions were not simultaneous.

She ate.


[And then…] She gave it to Adam.


[And then…] Adam ate.


[And then…] Their eyes were opened.


[And then…] They realized they were naked.​

Whether the word “then” is in the original language, it most certainly is a logical enough inference, considering the alternative is that each act occurred simultaneously— which, to me, is preposterous and a non-starter.

______________​

No, this would constitute an assertion.

If their eyes were opened as a result of eating from the tree of Knowledge, then Eve’s eyes logically would have been opened before Adam’s, not after because of her eating [your position], nevermind that she didn’t drop dead because of her eating— if physical death that very day was what Jehovah God was declaring to Adam.

______________

Again, there are some assertions you seem to be imposing on the written word.

Assertion 1: Adam and Eve were so focused on the fruit, to such an extent, that after Eve took her bite, she had some form of tunnel vision that kept her ignorant as to their nakedness until Adam took his own bite, even though, logically, she would need to look at Adam so as to hand him the apple— unless you argue that she never took her eyes off the apple while this is taking place (which circles us back to the “tunnel vision” theory and imposing assertion on the written word).

Assertion 2: They then realized they were naked— which skips full over the opening of their eyes, a distinction made by the Bible writer, not myself— resulting in your apparent conflating the written word. The Bible writer first notes that their eyes were [then] opened, and [then] they realized they were naked; you, unless I’m mistaken, seem to be of the opinion that these two statements are one-and-the-same.

As I touched on the problem with the first assertion you made here, earlier, let’s have a look at the second assertion and why it creates a problem for me.

The biggest issue for me with conflating here is the scriptural record itself, which time and again demonstrates Jehovah God’s power to open and close eyes so as to provide or shroud understanding:

They have not known nor understood; for He has shut their eyes so that they cannot see; and their hearts so that they cannot understand. —Isaiah 44:18 VW-Edition​

He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes, that they should not understand with their hearts and be turned, and I should heal them. —John 12:40 Ibid​

Yet Jehovah has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. —Deuteronomy 29:4 Ibid​

Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. —Matthew 16:16-17 Ibid​

But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it dawned upon the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. . . But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned. —1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 14 Ibid​

These are just some of the examples that, for me, overturn your assertion that the opening of their eyes and what they saw with their physical eyes are one-and-the-same— keeping in mind that throughout the Bible there is a distinction made between eyes of understanding and eyes that see things which are in the physical realm (2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:7; Hebrews 11:13 (really, Hebrews 11:1,13,25-27)). And there are others.

Except at Genesis 3:7?? I guess this is where you’ll need to convince me.

First, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened following Adam’s disobedience. They then both suddenly understood and then, or, as a result of now understanding they yâda‛ (ascertained by seeing) that they were physically naked. What Jehovah God had pronounced as good (their form in which He created them, naked as a baby fresh out of the womb) they now saw through a marred perception of each other. The same skewed perception drove them to shame and they sought to cover themselves and hide their perfectly created bodies using fig leaves.

This word yâda‛ makes another appearance at Genesis 4:1, when Adam yâda‛ Eve, his wife, and she conceived. Here, we understand the word to mean that Adam had intimate relations with Eve, and that the word is a euphemism for sexual relations leading to pregnancy (“...and she conceived…”). He ascertained by seeing, how to enter upon sexual relations with Eve, so as to cause pregnancy. Some time did pass here, after all, since Adam did not have sexual relations with his wife, Eve, until after their expulsion from the garden into the wilderness.

Timothy Kline said:

And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? —Genesis 3:11 Ibid

Adam doesn't answer Jehovah as to who had told him that he was naked, but does proceed to lay the cause of his disobedience at the feet of the woman whom God had given Adam— flesh of his flesh, bones of his bones, a helpmeet made to be a perfect complement to him. (Cf. Job 2:4)​

{I want to mention/note the expanded ellipses I used in your quote to indicate that I clipped out some of your response to squeeze your follow-up together for simpler responding. I agree that a discussion about whether that was an avatar for Jehovah God in the garden or not would take us too far afield from the present discussion.}

Alright, so let’s start with the assertion “In communication, the first reason one asks a question is that they don’t know the answer.”

First, the obvious problem: When God asked Adam who told Adam he was naked, God didn’t know the answer?? Otherwise, why ask, right?

Nah, I don’t see it because your assertion contradicts scripture:

Remember the former things from a long time ago; for I am the Mighty God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one else is like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from antiquity things which are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure… —Isaiah 46:9-10 VW-Edition​

Not to be forgotten: Many a parent down through the centuries has asked their child about something the child did, knowing already, full and well, the answer but asking the child to answer for themselves-- whether the child is a toddler, teen, or adult child.

John the baptizer already knew the answer to the question he asked the Pharisees:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? —Matthew 3:7 Ibid​

This is demonstrated by his then proceeding to denounce them in verses 9-12.

Still, the penultimate full-stop for me is any suggestion that God didn’t know how Adam now knew he was naked, when Jehovah doesn’t just know the end from the beginning— He declares it.

Back to Adam, then, of whom you write: “Adam answers God's question as honestly as he knew it to be.”

I’m worried you might be conflating things here, as well.

Jehovah God asks Adam two questions:

1. Who told you that you were naked?

2. Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

Adam’s answer:

...The woman whom You gave to be with me, she has given to me of the tree, and I ate. —Genesis 3:12 VW-Edition​

How this answers Jehovah’s first question about how Adam [now] knows he is naked, I must be blind because I see no correlation.

Rather, it seems like the simplest answer is that Adam refuses to answer the question about how he [now] knows, in spite of his own heart condemning him, even as he hides in his shame and guilt from God when God manifests in the garden. This would be consistent with his next throwing Eve under the bus and back-handing Jehovah in saying that Jehovah had given him the woman in the first place.

He had an opportunity to answer a simple Yes or No (Cf Matthew 5:37) as to whether he had eaten from the tree, yet Adam points his finger at Eve for giving him the fruit— and, as I just mentioned, even going so far as to blame Jehovah, since it was Jehovah Who had given the woman to him in the first place!

This, too, flatly contradicts your assertion that “Adam answers God's question as honestly as he knew it to be.”

An honest answer would have been Yes and a contrite heart, brother. (1 John 1:9)

Yet even now turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, declares Jehovah. So, tear your heart, and not your garments; and return to Jehovah your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He has compassion concerning the evil. — Joel 2:12-13 VW-Edition​

A couple great examples for comparison are found in 1) David’s repentance when called out by Nathan (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 51:1-4), and; 2) the tax collector (Luke 18:13-14).

I want to close out this portion of my response to your post with a few thoughts about Adam:

Adam was not repentant, he was afraid (Cf Hebrews 10:26-27). Rather than bare himself before his Creator, Who might then search Adam’s heart and see repentance, Adam covered himself with fig leaves.

And I want to reiterate that Adam is standing right here during this entire exchange and yet remains utterly silent!

That just seems like a pretty big deal to me. First, because I cannot imagine— me, a miserable wretch of a man who just happens to be, for some inexplicable reason, blessed with belief and awareness of our Creator, our Father by adoption— just standing there while ho Satan carries on in a conversation with my wife, knowing full-well the wrongness of it.

And that’s why I just don’t see how it can possibly be over-emphasized: Adam was not deceived by any measure at any point during this moment in the garden. This man who had declared the woman flesh of his own flesh and bones of his bones, a reference ho Satan would later make before the heavenly court during the trial of Job. (Job 2:4)

Admittedly, we’re not told what he was thinking as this is all going on, but I still wonder— and I suspect he was waiting and watching to see what would happen if someone ate of the tree of Knowledge, knowing the heart of Man to the extent I do. ~~~ Okay, she didn’t die when she touched the fruit like I told her— and now she’s eating of the fruit and she … she… she isn’t dead! ~~~

And having seen that she didn’t die like God had said would happen (God was speaking to spiritually dying that day), Adam full-on (I’ve seen/read believers argue he follows Eve into sin but that’s a whole other discussion) disobeys Jehovah God.

One point you had raised I didn’t really get to, so maybe I should do that before I wrap this miserably long response up and get it posted.

You wrote, “I see nothing in the narrative to say the questions are hiding some ulterior motive in some attempt to test Adam.”

I hope I never suggested or said there was some ulterior motive to be witnessed here. But I do want to remind you of the example I gave earlier where a parent will ask a child if they’ve done a thing— even though the parent already knows the answer to the question.

Was Adam being tested here? You don’t think so, I gather?

Consider: Jesus as the second Adam was certainly tested by ho Satan— so it seems reasonable that the first Adam was tested. The only difference, really, is that Adam was tested in the garden under the best of conditions and Jesus was tested in the harsh wilderness. That, and Adam failed to remain obedient, and he set his own will above that of God’s Will.

But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because spiritually they are discerned. —1 Corinthians 2:14 Berean Literal Bible​

And he said, “Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me; however not my will, but yours be done.” —Luke 22:42 Aramaic Bible in Plain English​

It wasn’t Eve who was being tested that day, it was Adam. Eve was deceived, we must always keep in mind. It would be a skewed test from the outset, if she had been the one being put to a test of faithfulness. Adam was not deceived. He knew and he did nothing. Jesus knew and he laid down his life to protect the bride which was being prepared for him. He provided a covering for his bride while Adam let his wife be deceived.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.—Ephesians 5:25-27 Berean Study Bible​

That this came about as some sort of arrangement for Adam to be tested is suggested by the very basic fact that Eve and Adam are standing near enough to the tree to encounter the seraph in the first place, out of all the garden places they could otherwise be. I’m dubious that the seraph just appeared out of thin air when Adam and Eve approached the tree, and why hadn’t Adam steered her clear of the tree in the first place?!?!

His silence during the exchange between the seraph (“serpent”) and Eve speaks volumes.

Admittedly, the evidence is circumstantial, but it’s still pretty compelling. Adam’s inaction reveals there was something already forming in his heart regarding the tree, or he wouldn’t have been standing there in the first place, not to mention failing to protect Eve from being deceived.

...afterward the desire having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin having been perfected, brings forth death. —James 1:15 Literal Version Bible​

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.—Romans 13:14 VW-Edition [Another contrast between Jesus, who provides a raiment of righteousness, and Adam’s pitiable fig leaves providing no righteousness, only an attempt to cover shame.]​

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.—James 4:17 Ibid​

“Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent [seraph]: for if thou comest too near it, it will bite thee: the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a lion, slaying the souls of men.”—Ecclesiasticus 21:2 King James Version (Yes, I know this last one’s extra-canonical or deuterocanonical, but what an uncanny reference, nonetheless!)​

I can’t help but discern the marked contrast between Adam and Jesus. The first Adam was selfish… carnal. I know because as a son of the first Adam, I strive with the inclinations of the flesh passed down from Adam (Genesis 8:21). The second Adam, Jesus, laid down his self and was willing to die for the bride Jehovah God had prepared for him.

I strive with the first Adam, that I might become like the second Adam.

Alright, I better put a wrap on this portion of my follow-up.

Submitted for your perusal and consideration,
A fellow believer / Timothy