What does Genesis 3:12 mean?

Adam and Eve have introduced human sin into the world. They gave into temptation; they disobeyed God. The wisdom of knowing good and evil that they hoped to discover turned out to be a gift of shame and separation. They came to know evil by participating in it. In the previous verse, God asked Adam directly, "Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

In Adam's response, we see the next consequence of human sin. The first was overwhelming shame. The second was a deep desire to get away from the Creator. Now we see that their choice to sin together will drive a wedge into Adam's and Eve's relationship to each other.

In short, faced with his own guilt, Adam looks for someone else to blame. This has been human instinct ever since. In one skillful sentence, he points the finger at both his wife and God: "The woman [blaming her], whom you [blaming God] gave to be with me" did this.

The implication of Adam's words is an accusation. If is as if he is implying, "You're actually to blame, because you made her, God. There's something wrong with her. Yes, I went along, but I never would have done this if she hadn't gone first. The whole thing should be between you and her."

This is an ugly, embarrassing moment, but we should all understand it. Learning to take responsibility for our own sin does not come naturally.