229、创世记3:11-13.祂说，谁告诉你，你是赤身露体呢？莫非你吃了那树，就是我吩咐你不可吃的吗？那人说，你所赐给我、与我一起的女人，她把那树给我，我就吃了。耶和华神对女人说，你为什么做这事？女人说，那蛇哄骗我，我就吃了。
这些话的含义从前面的解释清楚可知，即：人的理性允许自己被自我欺骗，因为他，就是对自己的爱珍视自我，以致他什么都不信，除非他能看见并感觉得到。谁都能看出，耶和华神并没有向蛇说话；事实上也没有蛇，祂甚至没有向“蛇”所表示的感官部分说话。相反，这些话含有别的意思，即：他们发觉自己被肉体感官欺骗，然而由于爱自己又渴望在相信之前先查清楚他们所听到的关于主和对主之信的话是不是真的。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]229. Genesis 3:11, 12, 13. And he said, "Who pointed out to you that you were naked? You ate from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat, didn't you?" And the human said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate." And Jehovah God said to the woman, "Why have you done this?" And the woman said, "The snake deceived me and I ate."
The symbolism in all of this is established by previous explanations [99, 128-129, 196]: our rational capacity allows itself to be deceived by our sense of autonomy — which we love tenderly — or in other words, by self-love, so that we give no credit to anything we cannot see or feel.
Anyone can see that Jehovah God did not talk to a snake{*1} and that in fact there was no snake. Nor did he talk to the sensory part of the mind, symbolized by the snake. Rather, other things are involved. Specifically, people perceived that they had been deceived by their senses, and because they loved themselves, they were eager to know whether the things they heard about the Lord and about faith in him were true. Only then would they be willing to believe.
Footnotes:
{*1} This is a reference to Genesis 3:14, in which God curses the snake. [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 229
229. Verses 11-13. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And Jehovah God said unto the woman, Why hast thou done this? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. The signification of these words is evident from what has been explained before, namely, that the rational of man suffered itself to be deceived by its Own, because this was dear to him (that is, by the love of self), so that he believed nothing but what he could see and feel. Everyone can see that Jehovah God did not speak to a serpent, and indeed that there was no serpent, neither did He address the sensuous part that is signified by the "serpent;" but that these words involve a different meaning, namely, that they perceived themselves to be deluded by the senses, and yet, in consequence of self-love, were desirous of ascertaining the truth of what they had heard concerning the Lord, and concerning faith in Him, before they believed it.
Elliott(1983-1999) 229
229. Verses 11-13 And He said, Who pointed out to you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree concerning which I commanded you that you should not eat from it? And the man said, The woman whom You gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And Jehovah God said to the woman, Why have you done this? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
The meaning of these verses is clear from explanations given already, namely that man's rational allowed itself to be so deceived by the cherished proprium, that is, by self-love, that he believed nothing unless he could see and touch it. Anyone may recognize that Jehovah God did not speak to a serpent, and indeed that there was no serpent, nor even that He spoke to the sensory part of man, which is meant by the serpent. Anyone may recognize that these statements embody something different, namely that men perceived that they were deceived by their physical senses, but because they loved themselves they first desired to know whether what they had heard about the Lord and about faith in Him was true before they were ready to believe it.
Latin(1748-1756) 229
229. Vers 11-13. Et dixit, Quis indicavit tibi, quod nudus tu? annon de arbore, de qua praecepi tibi ut non edas de ea, edisti? Et dixit homo, Mulier, quam dedisti mecum, ea dedit mihi de arbore, et comedi. Et dixit Jehovah Deus mulieri, Quare hoc fecisti? Et dixit mulier, Serpens decepit me, et edi. Quid haec significant, ex prius explicatis constat; nempe quod rationale hominis se passum sit decepi a proprio quod ei carum, seu ab amore sui, ut nihil crederet nisi videret et sentiret. Quisque videre potest quod Jehovah Deus non allocutus sit serpentem, et quod serpens non fuerit, nec quod allocutus sensuale, quod per serpentem significatur, sed quod alia involvant; nempe quod perceperint se deceptos esse per sensus, et quia se amaverunt, quod cupiverint cognoscere num verum esset quod audiverunt de Domino et de fide in Ipsum, et sic primum credere voluerint.