The serpent tells the woman, “You will not surely die,” contradicting God’s warning Genesis 3:4. It also claims that eating will open their eyes and make them “like God, knowing good and evil” Genesis 3:5.
In Genesis 3:1–7 a crafty serpent engages the woman in conversation by reframing God’s command as a broad restriction. The woman answers by narrowing the issue to a single tree and adds a warning about touching it. This scene follows the garden’s setup and God’s stated boundaries: humans are placed in a well-provisioned space with one clear prohibition (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and a stated consequence for eating.
Genesis 3:1–7 presents a movement from speech to action. A “crafty” serpent speaks first, reframing God’s command as if it were an unreasonable ban on all trees (explicit in verse 1).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Genesis 3:4, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
4The serpent said to the woman, "You won`t surely die,