The Meaning of Genesis 3:5 Explained

Genesis 3:5

KJV: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

YLT: for God doth know that in the day of your eating of it -- your eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good and evil.'

Darby: but God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil.

ASV: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For God  doth know  that in the day  ye eat  thereof, then your eyes  shall be opened,  and ye shall be as gods,  knowing  good  and evil. 

What does Genesis 3:5 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 3:1-8 - Man And Woman, Temptation
Human love is God's best gift to man. Without it even Eden would not be Paradise. That Adam was able to name the animals, affixing a title suggested by some peculiarity or characteristic, indicated his royal supremacy, and, in so far as we live in God, that supremacy is restored. See Daniel 6:22; Mark 1:13. But what is power without love, or a throne without a consort? Eve was, therefore, given to crown his bliss; taken from his side, as afterward the Church from the opened side of Christ. See John 19:34, and Ephesians 5:25. Still God brings Eve to Adam; and such a marriage is truly blessed.
The order of temptation is always the same. The Tempter without, and within the strong desire for sensual gratification, with the secret hope that somehow the consequences may be avoided. The eye inflames passion; passion masters the resistance of the will; the body obeys its impulse; the act of gratification is followed immediately by remorse and guilt. Then we need the second Adam! [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 3

1  The serpent deceives Eve
6  Both she and Adam transgress the divine command, and fall into sin
8  God arraigns them
14  The serpent is cursed
15  The promised seed
16  The punishment of mankind
21  Their first clothing
22  Their expulsion from paradise

What do the individual words in Genesis 3:5 mean?

for knows God that in the day you eat of it then will be opened your eyes and you will be like God knowing good and evil
כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכָלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע

יֹדֵ֣עַ  knows 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
אֱלֹהִ֔ים  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
כִּ֗י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
בְּיוֹם֙  in  the  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
אֲכָלְכֶ֣ם  you  eat 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
מִמֶּ֔נּוּ  of  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
וְנִפְקְח֖וּ  then  will  be  opened 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: פָּקַח  
Sense: to open (the eyes).
עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם  your  eyes 
Parse: Noun, cdc, second person masculine plural
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
וִהְיִיתֶם֙  and  you  will  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים  like  God 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
יֹדְעֵ֖י  knowing 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
ט֥וֹב  good 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
וָרָֽע  and  evil 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.