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Do any denominations or scholars argue that the serpent didn't actually lie to Eve?

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Most people say that the serpent's reply to Eve was The First Lie. But consider this possibility: | Genesis | KJV | Speculation | | - | - | - | | 2:16 | And the LORD God **commanded the man**, saying, Of every tree of the garden **thou**[singular] mayest freely eat: | God tells Adam, but not Eve. | | 2:17 | But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, **thou shalt not eat of it**: for in the day that **thou** eatest thereof **thou** shalt surely die. | Don't eat it. | | 3:1 | Now **the serpent was more subtil** than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, **hath God said**, **Ye**[plural] shall not eat of every tree of the garden? | By changing "thou" to "ye", the serpent asks Eve a leading question, making it seem that God spoke directly to both Adam and Eve. | | 3:2 | And the woman said unto the serpent, **We**[plural] may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: | Eve falls for it, indirectly quoting what God told Adam. | | 3:3 | But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, **Ye**[plural] shall not eat of it, **neither shall **ye** touch it, lest **ye** die**. | Eve then goes on to add what she mistakenly thinks God had said, as if God had said it to both of them. (Perhaps because Adam warned her "God says '*don't eat it!*' Don't even touch it!".) | | 3:4 | And the serpent said unto the woman, **Ye shall not surely die** … | The serpent tells Eve she is wrong, but implies that "surely die" is the mistake, rather than explicitly saying that "touching it" is the mistake. | Do any denominations or scholars argue that the serpent was referring to Eve's "*neither shall ye touch it*", and therefore the serpent's "*Ye shall not surely die* [simply because you touched it]" was in fact true, that the serpent deceived and misled Eve without explicitly lying?
Asked by Ray Butterworth (13761 rep)
May 3, 2026, 11:43 PM
Last activity: May 5, 2026, 04:00 PM