Verse

Genesis 3:8

ESV And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
NIV Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
NASB Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
CSB Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
NLT When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.
KJV And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

What does Genesis 3:8 mean?

Adam and Eve have sinned against God. In direct disobedience to His command, they have eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The previous verse revealed the first consequence of their sin. They moved from being innocently naked and unashamed to being self-conscious over their nakedness and desperate to cover themselves. Now we see their shame and guilt also drives them to hide from God. Their sin has broken their intimate relationship with Him.

The implication of this verse is that God would regularly come to the garden to spend time with Adam and Eve. It's impossible to know exactly what that would have been like. The passage raises many interpretations. How does God, who is a spirit, "walk?" What form did He take to be with them? Some see this as a purely metaphorical expression. Others imagine this to be a pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.

What we will see, though, is that one of the greatest consequences of sin was the loss of those face-to-face moments with the Creator. Instead of enjoying His presence, Adam's and Eve's first instinct was to hide from Him. Sin always separates us from God.
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