Genesis Deeper ⑰ Garments of Skin · What Did God Put on Those Leaving the Garden? (Genesis 3:20~24)
This series takes one Bible passage at a time and looks at it a little more closely. The images are free to use in worship, class, and on social media.
The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever…” Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:20~24 (World English Bible)
1. One Set of Clothes in the Middle of a Story About Being Sent Away
Just before this, in verse 19, God said to Adam, “…For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The story of the garden of Eden now has only five verses left.
Those five verses record three things in order. First, Adam calls his wife Eve (verse 20). Next, God makes coats of skin for the two of them and clothes them (verse 21). Then God sends the man out of the garden and places cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life (verses 22~24).
Everyone remembers the last of these. Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden. But right before that, there is one verse about clothes. What were the two of them wearing when they left the garden? And who made those clothes?
2. When Only ‘They Were Driven Out’ Remains
This passage is often summed up in one line: ‘The people who sinned were driven out of the garden.’ That is not wrong. Verse 24 plainly says, “So he drove out the man…”
But once it is shortened to one line, verse 21 drops out. The coats of skin slip past like a decoration in the story, and God is left only as the one who shuts the door. Read that way, the passage naturally raises a question. Was God so angry with the two of them that he turned his back on them?
The same question comes up in the classroom. “Did God start to hate Adam and Eve?” If we look only at the driving out, it can feel that way. But the passage puts one verse before the scene of sending them out. That one verse answers the question.
3. Going Deeper · They Left Wearing Clothes God Made for Them
Here is the answer first. The two of them were not sent out naked. Before sending them out of the garden, God first made clothes and put them on the two of them. They did not leave in the leaf coverings they had sewn with their own hands. They left wearing coats of skin that God had made for them and put on them.
Who made the clothes becomes clear when we set verse 21 beside verse 7. Verse 7 says of the two who had eaten the fruit, “…they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.” Verse 21 says, “Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife…” Even in English the two sentences echo each other: made … for. The Hebrew uses the same verb, asah (to make), and the same little word for, meaning ‘on behalf of.’ In verse 7 the people made something for themselves. In verse 21 God made something for them.
The dressing was God’s work too. Verse 21 ends with the words “and clothed them,” and the Hebrew verse also ends with a single word that means ‘and he clothed them.’ The passage does not say that the two of them took the coats and put them on themselves. It says God clothed them.
What these clothes covered was the very nakedness that had made them hide. In verse 10 Adam had answered, “…I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He had hidden among the trees because he was afraid of being naked, and now God covered him with clothes.
To sum up: the two of them had to leave the garden, and the way to the tree of life was closed. But before God sent them out, the first thing he did was to clothe them. God is not the one who turned his back. He is the one who made clothes with his own hands for the people who were leaving, and put those clothes on them.
4. Word Study · Eve · Coats of Skin · To Clothe
① The name Eve · Chavvah (חַוָּה). Verse 20 gives the reason for the name right away: she would be the mother of ‘all the living,’ kol chai (כׇּל־חָי). The name Chavvah and the word chai, ‘living,’ sound alike. Adam gave this name right after hearing the words “to dust you shall return.” The man who had just heard words of death called his wife by a name of life. And in the very next verse, God makes clothes for the two people who must leave the garden and clothes them.
② Coats of skin · kotnot or (כׇּתְנוֹת עוֹר). The ‘coverings’ the two sewed in verse 7 are chagorot (חֲגֹרֹת), a word close to a belt or a band tied around the waist. The kotnot of verse 21 is the plural of ketonet (כְּתֹנֶת), a garment worn over the body. In Genesis this word appears only here and in chapter 37. The ketonet of chapter 37 is the coat that Israel, who loved Joseph more than all his children, made for him. The WEB calls it “a coat of many colors,” and here too the English word is ‘coat.’ The two garments are alike in one way: neither was provided by the person who would wear it. The people covered their waists with leaves, and God made them clothes that covered the body.
③ To clothe · vayyalbishem (וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם). It means ‘and he clothed them,’ and its dictionary form is hilbish (הִלְבִּישׁ). It is not a word for dressing oneself but for putting clothes on someone else. In the Hebrew Bible this exact form appears once more outside verse 21, in Leviticus 8:13, where Moses clothes Aaron’s sons. The WEB says Moses “clothed them with coats,” and those coats are the same word, ketonet. In both places the subject of the sentence is not the one who wears the clothes but the one who puts them on.
5. One More Thing · Where Did Tilling and Keeping Go?
In 2:15 God put the man in the garden and gave him two tasks.
“…put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.”
‘Cultivate’ is avad, and ‘keep’ is shamar. Both verbs come back in the scene of leaving the garden. But they go to different places.
‘Cultivate,’ that is avad, stays with the man. In verse 23 God sent him out “…to till the ground from which he was taken.” The WEB says ‘till’ here, but it is the same avad as ‘cultivate’ in 2:15. The word first appeared in 2:5, which describes a time when there was still “not a man to till the ground.” Even outside the garden, the man is still one who tills the ground.
‘Keep’ goes to the cherubim. In verse 24 God placed the cherubim and the flaming sword “…to guard the way to the tree of life.” The WEB says ‘guard’ here, but it is the same shamar as ‘keep’ in 2:15. In Genesis, 2:15 is the first place shamar appears, and this is the second. The ‘keeping’ that was once given to the man is now given to the cherubim. What they keep is not the garden but ‘the way to the tree of life.’
So ‘keeping’ passed out of the man’s hands. Even so, not everything was taken from the man who left the garden. He went out wearing the clothes God had made and put on him, still entrusted with the work of tilling the ground.
6. For Us Today
This passage leaves us with one thing. Even when God sent them out, he did not send them out naked.
God did not undo the consequences of what had been done. The two of them had to leave the garden. But on the day they left, what they were wearing was not the leaves they had sewn themselves. It was the clothing God had made and put on them with his own hands.
We too have days when we must accept the consequences of our wrongs. On such days, like the two people in verse 7, we sometimes try hard to sew something together to cover our own shame.
At those times we can remember Genesis 3:21. The leaves we sew are not all there is. There is a God who made clothes with his own hands for the people who were leaving, and put those clothes on them.
“God, before the man and the woman left the garden, you first made clothes for them and clothed them. When we try to cover our shame by ourselves, help us remember what you did. On the days we must accept the consequences of our wrongs, help us trust the grace that does not send us out naked. Let us walk through today wearing the clothes you have put on us. Amen.”
🕊 Try This in Your Ministry
Opening question
Ask, “When Adam and Eve left the garden, what were they wearing?” Many children will answer ‘clothes made of leaves.’ Do not correct the answers yet. Read Genesis 3:7 and 3:21 together, one after the other.
Activity
Show Today’s image 2 (the two people in fig-leaf clothing) and Today’s image 3 (the two people in coats of skin) side by side. Ask, “Who made the leaf clothes? Who made the coats of skin?” Point out that verse 7 says the two made coverings for themselves, and verse 21 says God made coats for the two of them. Finally, show Today’s image 1 (the two people walking out of the garden) and have the children find what the two are wearing as they leave.
Response
Have each child draw the shape of a piece of clothing on paper and write inside it: “God clothed the people who were leaving.” Around the drawing, have them copy out Genesis 3:21. Let them take the finished picture home and put it somewhere easy to see. Tell them that on a day when they feel sad about a mistake, they can look at it and remember verse 21.
🖼️ Today’s Four Images · Long-press or right-click to save
Sent him out from the garden of Eden |
The mother of all the living |
Made coats of animal skins |
To guard the way to the tree of life |
📄 Image license CC0 (public domain) · Free to use, modify, and redistribute without attribution.
🤖 These images were created with AI (ChatGPT).
🎨 Forbidden Fruit · 28 free images · transparent PNG · CC0 · includes the garden, the tree, and the fig leaves
🇰🇷 한국어 · 🇺🇸 English (current) · 🇰🇭 ភាសាខ្មែរ
Origin Bible · Mission Zedero
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✍️ This article was written with the help of AI and reviewed by a person.
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