Then we should start with Genesis chapter 3.
Temptation, Genesis 3:1–5, opens with the serpent described as ʿārûm (crafty), an adjective rather than a verb, setting the tone of subtlety rather than brute force, and the narrative action begins with wayyōʾmer (and he said), a waw consecutive imperfect of ʾāmar, marking deliberate speech as the primary weapon, not coercion, and the serpent’s question hăʾap kî ʾāmar ʾĕlōhîm (indeed has God said) employs an interrogative construction designed to destabilize the divine command by reframing it, while the woman’s response uses tōʾkēl (you may eat), an imperfect qal expressing permitted ongoing action, contrasted with lōʾ tōgəʿû (you shall not touch), an addition not stated in Genesis 2, though the text does not assign motive or blame for that addition, and the serpent counters with lōʾ mōt temûtûn (you will not surely die), an infinitive absolute plus imperfect construction intensifying denial, followed by the promise wihyîtem kĕʾlōhîm (and you will be like God), a qal perfect with vav projecting a supposed outcome, framing deception as wisdom rather than rebellion.
Transgression, Genesis 3:6–7, is driven by a rapid series of wayyiqtol verbs, wattēreʾ (and she saw), wattikkaḥ (and she took), wattōʾkal (and she ate), wattittēn (and she gave), wayyōʾkal (and he ate), the narrative pace accelerating to show unbroken action with no pause for reflection, and the verbs are all qal active, emphasizing willing participation rather than compulsion, followed by wattiqqāḥnā (and were opened), a niphal imperfect with waw, indicating a passive result, their eyes were opened rather than they opened them, and wayyēdĕʿû (and they knew), qal imperfect, marking experiential knowledge, not moral enlightenment, and the sewing of fig leaves uses wayyitpĕrû (and they sewed), a piel stem emphasizing deliberate effort to cover exposure, a human response to shame rather than repentance.
Interrogation, Genesis 3:8–13, begins with wayyišməʿû (and they heard), qal imperfect, not indicating fear initially but awareness, followed by wayyiṯḥabbēʾ (and he hid himself), a hitpael reflexive, showing self initiated concealment, and the divine call ʾayyekkāh (where are you) is not a request for information but a covenantal summons, as shown by the subsequent higgadtā (who told you), a hiphil perfect implying causation, and hămin hāʿēṣ ʾăšer ṣiwwîtîkā lĕbilti ʾăkōl (from the tree which I commanded you not to eat), where ṣiwwîtîkā is a piel perfect stressing authoritative command, and the human responses use nāṯattāh (you gave), hiššîʾanî (she deceived me), a hiphil perfect meaning caused me to be deceived, and nāšānî (he deceived me), all verbs of shifting explanation, yet the text assigns no moral commentary beyond recording the speech.
Judgments, Genesis 3:14–19, are introduced without interrogation of the serpent, marked by wayyōʾmer YHWH ʾĕlōhîm (and the LORD God said), and the curse formula ʾārûr (cursed) is a qal passive participle, indicating a state declared rather than an ongoing action, and the serpent’s punishment includes tēlēḵ (you shall go), qal imperfect, describing enforced manner of existence, while the woman’s sentence uses harbāh ʾarbeh (I will greatly multiply), an infinitive absolute plus imperfect intensifying certainty, and the man’s judgment centers on the ground, ʾărûrāh hāʾădāmāh (cursed is the ground), not explicitly the man himself, with tōʾkĕlennāh (you shall eat from it), qal imperfect of consequence, and the repeated verb tōʾkēl (you shall eat) frames labor as unending necessity, concluding with tāšûb (you shall return), qal imperfect, stating destiny without elaborating metaphysical mechanics.
Exile, Genesis 3:20–24, closes the chapter with naming and expulsion, wayyiqrāʾ (and he called), showing continued relational language even after judgment, and wayyĕšalleḥēhû (and He sent him out), a piel imperfect indicating decisive removal, followed by wayyĕgāreš (and He drove out), a qal imperfect intensifying separation, and the placing of the cherubim uses wayyašken (and He placed), a hiphil imperfect emphasizing divine agency, guarding derek ʿēṣ haḥayyîm (the way of the tree of life), not the tree itself, signaling restricted access rather than annihilation of hope.
Read canonically, but without importing later theology into the text, Genesis 3 establishes patterns that the rest of Scripture addresses explicitly, deception through speech, death as separation and return to dust, and exile from sacred space, all of which the New Testament later locates under the curse borne by Christ on the cross, yet here the chapter itself remains sober, restrained, and juridical, showing what happened, how God spoke, and how humanity was displaced, without philosophical abstraction or speculative psychology, only verbs, actions, and consequences written into sacred history.
The Bible does not specifically discuss the origin or purpose of “evil.”
Some later Jewish writings asserted that sin began from Genesis 3 (in the Serpent, then in humanity)
Other Jewish inter-biblical writings assert that sin began in Genesis 6 (in the sons of God’s union with human women); “the sons of God” in Genesis 6)
After Jesus’ day false teachers combined Judaism with Greek thought and asserted that evil was inherent in physical matter (i.e., Greek Gnostic thought, cf. Colossians; Ephesians; 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; and Titus)
Paul clearly sees Genesis 3 as the source of sin and human rebellion (cf. 1 Tim. 2:11-15)
Where the bible is silent, you stay silent.
Spurgeon.
I’ll “insert” my post here.
J.