Adam And Eve Story Summary

The biblical story of Adam and Eve has some of the most crucial lessons for mankind.

If you study nothing else in the Bible, I recommend making the story of Adam and Eve a must.  It contains all the elements to achieve an optimal perspective on life.

Here’s a quick summary.

Story Of Adam And Eve

I’ll begin this summary with the verse that would change the fate of humanity.  Starting in Genesis (2:16) God says to the newly formed man, 

“Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and evil,  you must not eat of it;  for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.” 

Near the end of the second chapter of Genesis starts the story of the woman’s creation after God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep.  God proceeds to take a “rib” from Adam’s side and this action becomes the foundation for the creation of “the woman.” 

What ensues is an instantaneous bond between the man and the woman.  

Enter The Institution Of Marriage

Genesis (2:24) asserts this bond by proclaiming, “Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife , so that they become one flesh.”

Not only does this verse put forth the creation of the institution of marriage.  But, Genesis (2:18) validates the woman’s creation when God proclaimed that “it is not good for man to be alone.”

Meaning, unlike our current societal standard that doesn’t necessarily promote marriage between a man and a woman — the biblical account highly encourages it. 

And so the man and the woman became “one.”

And because they had still not partaken from the forbidden “Tree Of Knowledge of Good and Evil” their life was seemingly pristine, innocent and carefree.  

So much so that even though they were both naked, neither felt any shame.  Which was a direct result of their still pure, God-centered perspective at that point in time.

The Woman Is Influenced To Go Rogue

Genesis (3:1) begins in earnest the story of Adam and Eve we are all familiar with.

We are introduced to the serpent as the “shrewdest” creature  in the animal kingdom.  The serpent approaches the woman and proceeds to distort God’s commands about which trees are good to eat. Specifically, he tells the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (Which, of course, God had not said.)

To which the woman responds with a few inaccuracies of her own.  She told the serpent they couldn’t eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.  This was a false assertion. The Tree Of Life was the one located in the middle of the garden.  Which was okay to eat.

She also claimed God instructed them not to touch the Forbidden Tree.  God had not. They were only instructed not to eat from it.

Nonetheless, the serpent proceeds to reassure the woman that in fact she would not die from eating of the Forbidden Tree. And that in actuality if she ate of the Tree Of Knowledge, she would be like God.  She would gain awareness and come to understand about good and evil like a divine being.

The woman bought the serpent’s persuasive words.  (Btw, the term “the woman” is repeatedly used because at this point the name “Eve” had not been conferred on her)

They Disobeyed And Everything Changed

She ate the fruit of the Forbidden Tree.  And then proceeded to rope her husband Adam into eating from the tree as well.  

As the serpent had predicted, the man’s and the woman’s eyes were “opened.”  They indeed gained an elevated sense of awareness about their position in the world.  

In fact, their awareness of self increased so much that for the first time in their existence — they knew they were naked.  And not only that, but they made the judgment that “being naked” was bad.  

So they proceeded to fashion clothing to wear made from leaves.

And then their heightened sense of awareness struck again when they heard “the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden.”  Which subsequently caused them to try to hide from God amongst the trees of the garden.

She-Said, He-Said At Its Finest

God inquires about the man and the woman’s whereabouts.  Adam replies that when he heard the “sound of the Lord” he hid because he was naked.  

God asks how they know they were naked.  And if they had eaten from the fruit of the Forbidden Tree(i.e., The Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil).

What ensues is maybe the first version of the “blame game” ever known to mankind.  Adam blames the woman for giving him from the Forbidden Tree.  And then the woman blames the serpent for suckering her into it.

The Wages Of Sin

God proceeds to curse the serpent to a life of crawling on its belly and eating dirt.  

As for the man and the woman, God proceeds to dispense the consequences for their actions.

For the woman, the pain of childbirth would be heightened.  She will also deal with an internal yearning for her husband for all her days.

For the man, the ground would be cursed and now the work for food would become more difficult.  In addition, now the man and the woman will have the knowledge that one day they will surely die. Meaning, officially they had become mortal after partaking from the Forbidden Tree.

Eve Is Officially Introduced

At this point Adam officially bestows the name of “Eve” on the woman.  The name means “life” as Eve would be the mother of all mankind going forward. 

Then God officially makes clothes made of animal skin for Adam and Eve.  

But what follows next may be the most important consequence of this whole “eating from the Forbidden Tree” episode.

Because now man has attained the ability to “know good and evil”, God becomes weary about the possibility of man also eating from the Tree Of Life. 

Why?  Because “knowing good and evil” would allow man to input their own idea of morality.  Like God, now man would have the ability to define good and evil for himself.

This would mean no longer would man “necessarily” seek to follow God’s system of morality.   As man had gained a certain level of detachment from God by his disobedient act. And now had the ability to interject his own idea of morality in his life.

Mortality Grips Mankind

Overall, the consequences of disobeying God were akin to the introduction of the “angel of death” unto mankind.  Man became officially a mortal being.   Negative forces, urges and desires were introduced into the life of man. 

And as it turns out, having become a moral arbiter of “good and evil” more often than not leads man to pain and confusion. (This is because only the Creator knows what the ultimate “good” of anything is.)

All of the above negative consequences put together were enough to make God dread the possibility of man living forever.  And soooo…

Man Is Banned

God decided to make the Tree Of Life off limits. No longer would the opportunity to live forever be available to man. At least not in the physical sense.  But in the spiritual sense, the Tree Of Life is still available to this day.

And that’s why in the last verses of Genesis (chapter 3) God decrees the ultimate consequence for eating from the Forbidden Tree.  And that’s flat-out banishment from the Garden of Eden.  

Adam and Eve are officially sent out of the garden to live a life of hard work and toil.  

And just to make sure there are no further mishaps, God sends angels with flaming swords to be stationed on the path leading to the Tree Of Life.  

A true “drop-the-mic” moment on behalf of God.  Meaning, mankind would have to spend the rest of their days working towards “metaphorically” getting back into the garden(by living a good, God-fearing life).  And figuratively only be able to re-access the Tree Of Life through the study of God’s word (see Proverbs 3:18).

The End.

What Is The Moral Of The Story Of Adam And Eve?

The story of Adam and Eve is a simple reward and punishment episode. It makes clear the idea that life is about making choices.  And when we fall short and disobey God’s best interest for us — we suffer the consequences.

The main consequence being the separation that occurs between us and God the more we falter without correction.

The problem being highlighted in the story of Adam and Eve is not that they made a mistake.  The real problem is that they did not correct themselves.  And hence, did not repent.

The solution?  Listen to the voice of God.  Attach yourself to God’s moral system. Control the negative forces that draw you away from God’s influence. And most importantly, admit wrongdoing. Then seek correction. 

Or else?…suffer the not-so-pleasant consequences.

– J