The Serpent's First Argument Accusing the Creator

Midrash Aggadah Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 3:4 View source

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published January 7, 2025

The serpent's opening move is not "you will not die." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 3:4) sharpens the attack. "In that hour the serpent spake accusation against his Creator, and said to the woman, Dying you will not die; for every artificer hateth the son of his art."

The argument is poisonous. The serpent does not merely contradict God. He impugns God's motives. God, he hisses to Eve, forbade the fruit because He is jealous. "Every artificer hateth the son of his art" — every craftsman resents his best apprentice. God is threatened by you. God doesn't want competition.

This is the template for every theological temptation that will follow. Not a denial of God, but a slander of God's character. The serpent invents the oldest lie: that the Creator is small, petty, and afraid. The Targumist wants us to see that Eve does not eat because she disbelieves in God. She eats because she has been persuaded to distrust Him.

Themes

Eden Adam & Eve Sin Speech Divine justice

Biblical References

Genesis 3:4

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