Did Adam Blame Eve?

I have quoted Calvin often at length and here again is a quote from his commentary on Genesis 3:12:

12. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. The boldness of Adam now more clearly betrays itself; for, so far from being subdued, he breaks forth into coarser blasphemy. He had before been tacitly expostulating with God; now he begins openly to contend with him, and triumphs as one who has broken through all barriers. Whence we perceive what a refractory and indomitable creature man began to be when he became alienated from God; for a lively picture of corrupt nature is presented to us in Adam from the moment of his revolt.

‘Every one,’ says James, ‘is tempted by his own concupiscence,’ (James 1:14;)

and even Adam, not otherwise than knowingly and willingly, had set himself, as a rebel, against God. Yet, just as if conscious of no evil, he puts his wife as the guilty party in his place. ‘Therefore I have eaten,’ he says, ‘because she gave.’ And not content with this, he brings, at the same time, an accusation against God; objecting that the wife, who had brought ruin upon him, had been given by God. We also, trained in the same school of original sin, are too ready to resort to subterfuges of the same kind; but to no purpose; for howsoever incitements and instigations from other quarters may impel us, yet the unbelief which seduces us from obedience to God is within us; the pride is within which brings forth contempt.

Please go to Chrisitan Classics Ethereal Libraray and read the rest of Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis 3. What you will notice about the pronouncements and condemnations of Adam by God is that He does not say a single thing concerning any shifting of blame or of blasphemy. Calvin who was obviously quite a student of Hebrew makes no attempt at justifying his conclusions. Nor have I found any commentary anywhere that takes Calvin’s approach which does so either.

I would be interested in a Hebrew scholar’s view or any commentary references which might shed some light upon this verse. Until I find other compelling evidence, though, I must conclude that Calvin’s comments on Genesis 3:12 are tradition rather than statements of knowledge.

The pattern that is revealed in Adam’s response is not one of challenging God, but one of confession. To wit, God does not condemn his response. No, the sequence is confession and God’s judgement upon the sin’s committed and God’s provision for covering them. And the one thing that is missing in Adam’s curse which is made clear in Eve’s is that God doesn’t condemn Adam for setting the facts before God. But He does in the case of Eve, condemn her actions for having taught and given to her husband just as Adam had said.

Your thoughts?

I really would like to find the justification for Calvin’s commentary about this, including how it is that he comes to find “concupiscence” in Adam. It after all could not have been in him from the creation. So just how did it get there except through Eve? And that being the case, Adam was fully justified in what he said and it was not blaming God, nor was it blaming Eve as in some attempt at avoiding the truth. Adam does what a repentant heart does: he confesses to having listened, taken, and eaten. After all, The Truth who knows what is in the hearts of men stood before him. And, just as it was in the case of Isaiah- his sin exposed to the bright white radiance of the righeousness of God- I am convinced Adam was a man whose heart was laid bare before his maker and he simply, humbly, spoke the truth.