I am the only person on Earth that believes Genesis 2:17

As far as I know, I appear to be the only Human Being on the planet that believes the following verse in its most literal sense...

Genesis 2:17
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Everyone else changes the words around to make it say something else entirely. This is a no-no of course.

One of the reasons I signed up here is to see if there actually exists another person that believes the aforementioned verse.

Are you out there? Or am I the only one that simply believes what is says?

Thank you Magenta for that interesting post.

I noticed the word 'Die' is used twice... kind of like 'Die Die'.

It reminds me of this verse...

Jude 1:12
"These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"

Where do you see die twice? https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/2-17.htm

The last two words are Strong's #4191.

Note that I am not a Hebrew Roots person. I use the KJV as my final say on things.

Basically what I am saying is that the concept of death is used twice in Magenta's example. Dying + Die.

Just to be clear...

I believe the word 'Day' means day... as in twenty-four hours or less.
I believe the phrase 'Surely Die' means that Adam and his wife literally died... as in no Breath of Life.

They became corpses on the ground.

both are verbs...

Silly obtuse me...but, what's your point? It's literal? So.... is that a faith changing thing for you? Enquiring minds, and all that...

in more "today-like" language, it says...

17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not [o]eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Sorry for my ignorance.

Do you think that the first word 'Dying' can refer to a 'first death'.
In addition, do you think that the second word 'die' can refer to a 'second death'?

In other words, can the phrase 'Dying you shall die' be interpreted as 'after you die the first time, you will die a second time''?

Given that you invent unwarranted conclusions about Adam and Eve's biology, your claim to biblical literalism here is simply laughable.

See Post #6.

Do you agree that Adam and his Wife died on that very day?

no it does not have power over everyone to die twice. https://biblehub.com/kjv/revelation/20-6.htm

Simple question. What do you believe the verse says?

See post #6.

Day = Twenty-four hours or less.
Surely Die = They became worm food so to speak.

Some will change the word 'Day' into 'a thousand years'.
Some will change the phrase 'Surely Die' into 'Spiritually Die', whatever that means.

I do neither. I am wondering if anyone else simply leaves the verse be, and not change it.

I agree with the day being 24 hours. Death has to be spiritual. Obviously it was not physical. It was not the soul either. Adam could still think, feel and choose. Humanity is still born dead in trespass and sin (Colossians 2:13). Death is not the end of existence.

It is important to know what the Bible means, not only what it says. Some verses are obviously symbolic, some are obviously literal, others not obvious at all. That's why we need the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.

Thanks for that @iamsoandso . I will now go into more detail as to what I am seeing in the bigger picture with that phrase.

Here is a verse in the KJV where 'surely die' is used...

Genesis 20:7
"Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine."

Do you see the way in which it is used?

• If the person is righteous, and they do the right thing, they get to live.
• If they are wicked, and do the wrong thing, they will 'surely die'.

In the example above, it is the notion of a wicked act that gets someone put into the 'surely die' category.

What I am about to demonstrate is that the Bible is establishing a pattern for the phrase 'surely die'.

Another Witness...

Numbers 26:65
"For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun."

Did they die because they were righteous? OR, did they die in the Wilderness because they disobeyed God?

Another...

2 Samuel 12:14
"Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."

Is the child that will surely die a reward here? Or did someone disobey God?

I can do this all day.

One more...

Ezekiel 3:18
"When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."

See that? Do you believe the wicked person is going to Heaven? Or, is he going to 'die in his iniquity'?

I hereby submit to you, and everyone here, that the whenever the phrase 'surely die' is uttered, it means that person is going to be Twice Dead. In other words, they are going to be thrown into the Lake of Fire and experience the Second Death...

Revelation 21:8
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Now then....

There are twenty-two instances of the phrase 'surely die' in my KJV. They all have the same pattern. Surely Die = Second Death.

But oops...

Genesis 2:17
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Guess what happened to Adam and his Wife?

Yep, and it happened on that very day.

Excellent. We have good reference point here.

To summarize your view:

• Day = Literal
• Surely Die = Not Literal (i.e. Spiritual Death)

This is a commonly accepted view.

For others reading, do you agree?

I am curious as to why you say it was obvious that it was not physical. In other words, what is wrong with Adam and his Wife dying physically, in less than twenty-four hours?

Ummm...NO!

This is what it means:

Ephesians chapter 2

[1] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
[2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
[3] Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Everyone who has ever been a Christian was, at one time, "DEAD in trespasses and sins".

Do you believe that they were LITERALLY corpses lying on the ground?

For crying out loud, this is what the "new birth" or being "born again" is all about.

We were all once "dead in trespasses and sins" until the time came that God "quickened" us or made us alive in Christ.

Is it possible that you missed this?