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Joshua 23:13
Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive outany of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

Job 5:5
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

Job 31:40
Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

bring forth.

Job 1:21
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Psalm 90:3
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Psalm 104:2,14,15
Who coverestthyself with light aswith a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: …

and you will eat the plants of the field
This phrase signifies a change in humanity's sustenance. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve had access to the abundant fruit of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16). Post-Fall, they must work the ground to produce food, indicating a more labor-intensive process. This shift highlights the broader theme of human dependence on God for provision and the need for hard work. The "plants of the field" also foreshadow the agricultural lifestyle that becomes central to human civilization. This change in diet and lifestyle is a direct result of sin, emphasizing the broken relationship between humanity and creation.

When God tells Adam, “Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you,” He is declaring that the very soil that once cooperated with human effort will now resist it.

• The words point to literal weeds that cut, choke, and compete with crops (seeGenesis 3:17 for the broader curse on the ground).

• They also picture creation’s bondage to decay, echoed inRomans 8:20-22, where Paul says the whole creation “has been subjected to futility.”

• Scripture repeatedly uses thorns and thistles to symbolize judgment and barrenness—Hosea 10:8 speaks of them covering altars of false worship, andHebrews 6:8 warns that land yielding thorns “is worthless and near to being cursed.”

• The sudden appearance of these painful plants shows how sin intrudes on the harmony of Eden; nature itself becomes a reminder that rebellion against God brings hardship.

The ground doesn’t quit producing; it simply produces in a new, frustrating way.

• Adam must still plow and sow, but the results are mixed: grain mixed with weeds, success mixed with sweat (Genesis 3:19).

•Genesis 4:12 confirms this ongoing struggle when God tells Cain the ground “will no longer yield its best for you.”

•Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 captures the same tension—“all his days are sorrow, and his work grief.” Hard labor is not removed; blessing is now mingled with difficulty.

• Yet even under the curse, God’s provision endures. Thorns do not stop the ground from yielding food; they simply ensure that every harvest testifies to humanity’s need for redemption.

God’s judgment doesn’t eliminate eating; it changes the path to the table.

• Work becomes necessary for survival, reinforcing the dignity and duty of labor. Second Thessalonians 3:10 later builds on this principle: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”

• Adam’s continuing to eat shows God’s sustaining grace. Though discipline falls, God still feeds His people, parallelingPsalm 145:15-16, where all eyes “look to You, and You give them their food in season.”

• The sentence guards against despair: toil is hard, but it is not hopeless. Food at day’s end proves the Lord’s faithfulness amid fallen conditions.

Prior to the fall, humanity’s diet centered on Eden’s freely given produce (Genesis 2:16). Now Adam must cultivate the “plants of the field.”

• The phrase points to ordinary crops—grains, legumes, vegetables—requiring plowing, planting, weeding.

•Genesis 1:29 originally granted “every seed-bearing plant” as food;Genesis 3:18 narrows that blessing to what hard work can coax from resistant soil.

• After the flood, God widens the menu again by allowing meat (Genesis 9:3), hinting that divine provision adapts through each covenant era.

•Psalm 104:14-15 celebrates how God still “makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth,” underscoring that cursed ground can still be fruitful under His hand.

Genesis 3:18 shows that sin reshapes everyday life: the ground itself becomes a teacher, producing thorns alongside crops, forcing labor, and reminding humanity of dependence on God. Work is no longer effortless, yet God’s sustaining grace shines through each meal wrested from stubborn soil. Every scratch from a thorn, every bead of sweat, and every bite of bread together proclaim both the weight of the fall and the hope of ultimate restoration in Christ.