Home -- English-1 -- English-2 -- BIK01 -- Step 193 - Genesis 3:17-19 changed in the Koran
193 - Adam 17 - The LORD God condemned Adam
Texts -- BIBLE: Genesis 3:17-19 ---- CHANGED in KORAN: Suras al-Baqara 2:36 -- al-A'raf 7:24 -- Ta Ha 20:55 -- al-Hajj 22:66
Contrast 1 -- BIBLE: Yahweh justified his condemnation of Adam by saying, “Because you listened to the voice of your woman and you ate from the tree that I forbade you to eat from.” -- KORAN: In Allah's punishment for Adam and his mate he did NOT explicitly justify a punishment as related to Adam having listened to his wife, NOR even to having eaten from the forbidden tree. >> Meaning >> BIBLE: Yahweh is just. He never passes judgment without revealing the reason for such an act of condemnation. So, it is not surprising that Yahweh explains to Adam, why he is about to condemn him with a punishment. -- KORAN: Allah is NOT necessarily just. Therefore, he NEVER has to justify any of his judgments. This may be one reason, why these biblical phrases are missing in the Koran. Another reason is that Adam and his mate conceded that it was their fault of having slipped in their sin, therefore Allah's punishment was much milder than in the Bible.
Contrast 2 -- BIBLE: Yahweh then pronounced his condemnation of Adam with this punishment: “Cursed be the earth for your sake, in trouble you will eat from it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it will sprout for you.” -- KORAN: There is NO such verdict by Allah against Adam. Instead Allah INVERTS this verdict by saying to Adam and his mate, “On earth you have your abode and enjoyment for a time.” (2:36) >> Meaning >> BIBLE: Yahweh had created Adam from dust of the earth. Yahweh did not curse Adam himself, but the earth from which he was taken. By constantly experiencing the trouble of cultivating the ground and the pricking of the thistles sprouting from it, Adam would be reminded of the way he troubled Yahweh, when he listened to his wife instead of listening to Yahweh alone. Adam here is reaping what he sowed: he sowed disobedience to Yahweh and thus he will reap trouble from cultivating the earth. -- KORAN: There is NO such condemnation in the Koran. Instead Allah did NOT punish Adam and his mate for their having been caused by Satan to misstep and trip into sin. Why? Maybe because they had conceded that it was their fault. Instead, Allah rewarded Adam and his mate for their attitude of contrition by allowing them to have their abode and enjoyment on earth for a time, i.e. until Allah causes them to die. Adam and his wife here also reap what they sowed: they sowed contrition and they reap enjoyment. This is an INVERSION of what the Bible teaches in this point.
Contrast 3 -- BIBLE: Yahweh then went on in his condemnation of Adam by saying, “You will eat the grass of the field. In the sweat of your brow you will eat bread.” -- KORAN: There is NO restriction to eating only grass of the field. Also, NO hard work is required for Adam's daily bread, instead only enjoyment. >> Meaning >> BIBLE: Prior to Noah and the global Flood Adam and his descendants were not to eat meat from slaughtered animals, but only vegetarian food. Also getting food was indissolubly linked to hard work. This is a foundation of a work ethics in the Torah about Adam: No work, no food! -- KORAN: There is NO indication in the Koran that prior to Noah's flood, which is NOT explicitly global in the Koran, Adam and his descendants only were on a vegetarian diet. Also, the Koran did NOT associate the original sin of Adam with having to work hard for his daily bread. Instead Allah allowed Adam and his mate to live on and enjoy the earth. There is no foundation of a work ethics in the Koran in this context.
Contrast 4 -- BIBLE: Yahweh limits this punishment of Adam having to toil for food by saying, “(this toiling you will have to do) until you return to earth, from which you were taken.” -- KORAN: Allah limits the time of enjoyment of Adam and his mate on earth by adding, “On earth you will die” (7:24) and “from it (i.e. the earth) we created you and into it (i.e. the earth) we will bring you back (after we cause you to die).” >> Meaning >> BIBLE: Yahweh did NOT explicitly mention death in this context, because death was already included in his ruling, “on the day you eat from it (the forbidden tree), you will surely die” (2:17). Instead Yahweh explained what would happen after Adam dies: he will return to the earth, from which he was taken. -- KORAN: Here Allah had to mention death (“on earth you will die”), because in the Koran Adam and his mate would NOT die due to their sin (Allah never announced death as a result of sin in the Jannah garden), but because Allah himself would cause them to die. After death, Allah is active in bringing Adam and his mate back into the earth (at their burial). Allah did NOT specify in this context that they were taken from earth.
Contrast 5 -- BIBLE: Yahweh closed his verdict by saying, “You are dust and to dust you will return.” He did NOT promise a re-creation in a future resurrection here. -- KORAN: Allah did NOT say that Adam and his mate are dust and that they will return to dust. Instead he announced, “from it (i.e. the earth) you will be brought forth (at the resurrection of the dead for judgment)” (7:24) or “from it we will bring you forth (for judgment)” (20:55). >> Meaning >> BIBLE: This is the most devastating fruit of the sin of Adam. He will be turned into dust, not only his body, rather his whole being, because Yahweh said: “you are dust!” How can this be? There is no life except in connection with God. He is the only source of life anywhere and at any time. Being separated from God cuts us off from this source of our life and we die. When we die there is nothing left except the dust from which Adam was taken. The only way to regain life is to get reconnected to God, the source of our life. This happens when we open our hearts to Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, the truth and the LIFE” (John 14:6). When Jesus comes into your heart you receive life again, an everlasting life, which starts here on earth. Without Jesus I am just dust. -- KORAN: This is not the case in the Koran. Here Allah causes life, when he creates a human being. Every human being is a direct creation of Allah according to the Koran. Humans do not live because they are connected to Allah, but because they were created this way. Also, humans do not die by being separated from Allah, but because Allah causes them to die and brings them back into earth. Allah constantly kills people, when they die. In the future, for Judgment Day, Allah will repeat his creation of every human being (see e.g. Sura 30:11). He will bring them out of the earth, into which Allah had brought them at their death. There is no indication that he will again cause them to die, neither those enjoying the sensual enjoyment of the Jannah (Garden of Paradise), nor those suffering the sensual tortures of Jahannam (Hell). However, if Allah wanted, he then could still kill all beings in an instant. There is no source of eternal life in the Koran. Allah only promises either perpetual sensual enjoyment in a garden, or perpetual torture in hellfire. There I am not dust, but the living being, which Allah created, either for perpetual enjoyment or for perpetual torture.
SUMMARY -- BIBLE: Through Adam's sin the earth was cursed. -- KORAN: In spite of Adam's fault, he enjoys the earth. Allah did NOT curse the earth because of Adam's sin. /// BIBLE: Hard work is a prerequisite for food (Ethics). -- KORAN: NO hard work required for food. /// BIBLE: NO meat, only crops of the field for food. -- KORAN: NO dietary restrictions for Adam in the Koran. /// BIBLE: No life without connection to God. We die because sin separates us from God. Christ, the Son of God is our life. When we accept him, we begin having eternal life on earth and will never again be judged, but live eternally in intimate spiritual connection to God in and through Christ. -- KORAN: We live, because Allah created us this way. We die, when Allah causes us to die. Allah will repeat his creation of each one of us for Judgment Day. Then our created life will either be perpetual enjoyment in gardens or perpetual torture in hellfire. There will be NO eternal connection to Allah, because Christ is NOT the Son of God, who gave us His life.