Did God Create Evil?
Did God Create Evil?[1]
Genesis 3:1
Is God the primary cause behind the terrorist acts of ISIS? Is God the ultimate cause behind the antisemitism of the holocaust? Is God the one who causes tragedies, rape, birth defects, and abuse of children? These and other troubling questions boil down to asking, “Did God originate evil?”
This question is a common stumbling block amongst thinking people today. And we can see why. How can a loving God who is the polar opposite of evil, be ultimately responsible for evil? It doesn’t make sense. The contradiction is troubling to reasonable people.
What does Scripture tell us about how to approach this issue? Well, volumes have been written on the topic. So, I won’t repeat their arguments. Rather, let’s begin by searching for relevant clues at the start of human history.
The First Home for the Human Race was Good
The sequence of days on which God made humanity’s first home are, with one exception,[2] punctuated by the phrase: “And God saw that it was good” (טֹ֖וב, tov).[3]
But if everything that the LORD God made was good (טֹ֖וב), beneficial and helpful to humanity, how are we to understand that one of His creatures - the serpent - was crafty? How can a scheming creature be good, beneficial, and helpful to humanity? There appears to be incoherence in the story line.
English versions[4] render Genesis 3:1 as:
“Now the serpent was crafty as none other of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” Genesis 3:1.[5]
The term “crafty” is naturally understood as a negative trait. Sneaky. Scheming. Tricky. Sly. How can that be interpreted as a “good” thing for the human race? Did a good God create such a creature?
If our English versions are correct, then it appears that the serpent (הַנָּחָשׁ֙; ὄφις, Greek LXX) was the exception to all the good God had made (Genesis 1:31). If so, then it appears that God was indeed the ultimate author of evil. This is troubling.
What was a crafty Creature doing in the Holy of Holies?
And, what was this cagey creature doing in the good land the LORD had prepared for Adam and Eve? How did the serpent get there? Who put him there? Why would God place a sneaky creature into His presence in the good Garden, the first Holy of Holies? A crafty serpent in the Garden paradise sure sounds like a source of trouble for unsuspecting people, doesn’t it?
Reexamine Our Assumption
But perhaps we need to reexamine our assumption. We assume that the serpent was a sneaky, scheming creature because our English Bible translations use the word crafty to describe him. But is there an alternative? Let’s go back to Genesis 3:1 and take a closer look.
A Closer Look at the Serpent
The Hebrew term translated as “crafty” in Genesis 3:1 is עָר֔וּם, arom. The term is used predominantly (most often) in a positive sense (“prudent, sensible” “wise”) throughout the Old Testament.[6] That fact alone should give us pause when we assume the term means “scheming.”
Here are some examples of how this exact same term is used positively, used to describe a prudent person, not a scheming one:
A fool’s vexation is known at once, but the prudent (arom) overlooks an insult. Proverbs 12:16.
The prudent (arom) person conceals knowledge, but foolish people publicize folly. Proverbs 12:23
Every prudent (arom) person acts with knowledge, but a fool displays his folly. Proverbs 13:16
The naïve inherit folly, but the prudent (arom) are crowned with knowledge. Proverbs 14:15 (cf., 14: 8,18)
Observe how the prudent person is viewed favorably in contrast with the depiction of the fool. Prudent is positive and good. Foolish is negative and evil. The book of Proverbs is actually calling the reader to be prudent, to be arom, the same term used of the serpent. Do you see the contradiction?
Now. Let’s jump over to the New Testament and examine how Jesus used the same exact term (arom).
“Therefore, become prudent/wise as serpents.” Matthew 10:16
This is a surprise. Jesus is sending out his apostles on his behalf throughout Israel. He exhorted them to become like serpents. And what are serpents like? Jesus says they are prudent. The Lord uses the exact same Greek words for “serpents” and “prudence” as found in the Greek version[7] of Genesis 3:1. Jesus interpreted the term as a positive quality.
So, both the Old Testament and Jesus support the idea that the serpent was prudent—positive--but not crafty. As a mark of His special favor, the Lord God made a creature that was wise and prudent as none of the creatures were. Jesus actually encouraged his apostles to be prudent as serpents. These observations ought to give us further pause.
Seth Postell writes:
God did not make a “crafty” creature; he made a wise creature. The serpent’s prudence may be understood as God’s special favor toward the serpent above the other animals before the fall.[8]
So, if what I am suggesting is true to the context and to the intent of the inspired author, that God made a prudent creature and not a crafty one, then we are in a position to reconsider our earlier question: did God originate evil? Our evidence suggests that He didn’t create a crafty creature with evil intentions. Instead, as a mark of his special favor, God made the serpent prudent and wise as none of the other creatures He had made.
Translated then, Genesis 3:1 would look like this:
“Now the serpent was prudent as none other of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” Genesis 3:1
There is Distance Between God and Evil
The fruit of our close examination of the term “arom” suggests that some distance actually exists between God and the origin of evil. God created a prudent creature and, for reasons not disclosed to us, allowed that creature access to Paradise where man and woman lived in His presence. There, the creature abused God’s special favor for his own selfish, evil purposes. This suggests that there is a credible gap between God and evil, and that God was not responsible for creating evil. Postell argues the same point:
Not only does “prudent” make more sense in the narrative flow of events, it also distances God from any responsibility with respect to the origin of evil.[9]
And, it also suggests that God did not place a crafty creature into the good land prepared for his people, but rather, a creature marked by His special favor. But that same creature, with the power of choice, despite being favored, chose to use that favor for his own selfish, evil intentions. Adam and Eve were also given special favor from God, but that favor did not prevent them from acting foolishly, trusting their own judgment about what was good. Like the serpent, they also abused God’s favor for selfish intentions.[10] And the tragic result was the serpent’s fall from divine favor and humanity’s death sentence.[11]
This explains the events of God’s tribunal in Genesis 3. All three guilty parties—Adam, Eve, and the serpent—were punished in the same court session. They abused God’s favor together (they sinned together). They were judged by God together. They were punished together.[12] The fall of the human race and of the serpent occurred at the same time in the Garden.
Is God Responsible for the Origin of Evil?
Let’s return to our original question. Is God the ultimate origin of evil in this world? Is God responsible for the origin of evil? Our examination and conclusion about the meaning of Genesis 3:1 is insufficient to fully answer this deep and troubling question. But it calls into question our long-held assumption that the serpent was created by God as a crafty creature. It also shows us that the close connection between God and evil we assumed to exist, perhaps needs to be rethought. The gap—the distance between God and evil--appears to be greater than we originally thought.
Thank you for reading.
[1]Credit for the seed of the following thoughts must be given to my good friend, Dr. Seth D. Postell, a Jewish professor of Hebrew (in Israel) and ardent follower of Jesus Christ.
[2] The Hebrew word (טֹ֖וב), tov (“good”) is one thread the writer uses to weave together the narrative of Genesis 1-3. The author has a very specific range of meaning for tov in chapters 1-3. So, the omission of “tov,” “good” on day #2, is the key to its definition. The narrative fails to say that God saw that it was good on day two. Why? The reason is simple. Nothing made on day two was beneficial for the two humans would who occupy the land. The skies were made, the waters were divided by skies (a space), but the land where humans would inhabit remained under the deep waters. The land was yet “tohu vabohu,” uninhabitable for human beings (Gen. 1:2). Thus, what God had made on day two was not beneficial, not “good” for human beings. This is the reason for the omission on day two of “God saw that it was good”. But on the third day, the waters on the land were divided and dry land appeared. Now the land was habitable by people. Now God could say, “it was good, that is to say, good for people, beneficial to their life and welfare.
[3] The Hebrew word “good” is used as a major thread to compose the narrative of Genesis 1-3. It reappears throughout the Old Testament and its Greek equivalent is picked up and utilized by virtually every New Testament writer.
[4] The NET Bible renders crafty as “shrewd.” CSB, NASB, “most cunning.” KJV, “more subtle”; NRSV, ESV, “more crafty,”
[5] A comparison with Genesis 3:14 shows that the partitive sense of the preposition is suitable and correct, rather than the comparative sense. “Cursed are you from all cattle and from all the beasts of the field.” The other animals are not cursed, only the serpent. This supports the partitive sense in 3:1: “Now the serpent was crafty as none other of the wild animals the LORD God had made.”
[6] Proverbs 12:16,23; 13:16; 14:8, 15,18; 22:3; 27:12.
[7] The Greek version of the Old Testament is called the Pentateuch, or the LXX.
[8] Seth D. Postell, Adam as Israel (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2011), p. 123.
[9] Postell, p. 123.
[10] Using wisdom for evil intentions sounds very much like King Solomon, who also was exceptionally wise, but who used God’s favor for evil purposes. Is it a coincidence that Solomon is the author of many of the Proverbs where we find the word “prudent?”
[11] Postell argues that the fall of the serpent occurred in the Garden. Cf., Ezekiel 28:12-19.
[12] Ezekiel’s description of the king of Tyre appears to be an intentional allusion to the serpent’s story in Genesis 3.