Do Not Add to His Words and the False Fence of Eve

"And the woman said to the serpent, of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat" (Genesis 3:2). And where was the first man at that hour? He had engaged in intimacy and fallen asleep. Rav said: the Holy One, blessed be He, took him and led him about the whole world, saying to him, "Here is a place fit for planting, here a place fit for sowing." This is what is written, "a land through which no man passed and where no human dwelt" (Jeremiah 2:6) the first man did not dwell there. "And you shall not touch it" (Genesis 3:3). This is what is written, "do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you" (Proverbs 30:6) do not make the fence greater than the essential thing, lest it fall and you cut down the saplings. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "on the day you eat of it [you shall die]," but she stood and gave false testimony, "you shall not touch it, lest you die." When the serpent saw that she had lied, he pushed her against it and said to her, "As you did not die by drawing near it, so you will not die by eating it." Hizkiyah said: from where do we learn that whoever adds, subtracts? As it is said, "and you shall not touch it." Rav Mesharshya said: from here, "two and a half cubits its length" (Exodus 25:10) [where the unusual spelling teaches the same]. Rav Ashi said: "eleven curtains" (Exodus 26:7).