Did the serpent lie to Eve? Did Eve lie about God's command not to touch?

u/FrostyAlphaPig

God informed Adam in Gn 2:

17 "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

you will surely
מ֥וֹת (mō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

die
תָּמֽוּת׃ (tā·mūṯ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

God used a Hebrew word doubling for emphasis.

Literal Standard Version:

but from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you do not eat from it, for in the day of your eating from it—dying you die.”

It wasn't an immediate physical death. From the spiritual realm perspective, the immediate death was a 'spiritual disconnection' or spiritual alienation.

Gn 3:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

you will die.’” תְּמֻתֽוּן׃ (tə·mu·ṯūn) Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

Did Eve lie about the touching?

I wouldn't say, "Eve lied". She could be misinformed or overinterpreted about what God had said. She didn't quote God's command verbatim. Her formulation shifted from divine certainty to human caution (“neither shall you touch it, lest you die”). In particular, she didn't use the doubling. She softened the certainty aspect of the dying.

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

The serpent used the exact doubling but negated it:

“You will not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

The serpent took advantage of the ambiguity of the phrase H4191-H4191 and interpreted it another way for Eve:

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Eve bought the serpent's interpretation and ate.

On the same day, God judged the serpent, Eve, and Adam. At the end of the day:

22 The Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.

The serpent was right about that, even though he directly contradicted God.

Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

On the same day, Adam and Eve were expelled.

After they had eaten the forbidden fruit:

1. they didn't die physically immediately
2. their human spirits were immediately disconnected from the Holy Spirit
3. they could decide what was good and evil apart from God
4. at the end of the day, they were physically expelled (alienated) from God's presence in the garden.

Did the serpent lie to Eve?

Yes, he didn't tell the truth to Eve about the immediate spiritual death.
No, he didn't lie about their acquiring the ability to discern good and evil.

If part of what was said aligned with what happened, is the focus more on how it was framed rather than the statement itself?

Good question. I think so. The serpent exploited the subtlety in God's statement, reframing it ambiguously to mislead Eve. He used this same trick of twisting God's exact words on Jesus in the wilderness ("throw yourself down, for He will command His angels"), but he couldn't fool Jesus as he had done to Eve.