The serpent’s question was a testing and trapping inquiry designed to sow doubt and entice disobedience by appealing to Eve’s desire for wisdom and godlikeness (Genesis 3:5). It was not genuine curiosity but a strategic challenge to God’s authority and to lead humanity into sin (Genesis 3:1-5).

Eve responded to the serpent’s question by observing the tree’s benefits: it was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom (Genesis 3:6). This response reveals her focus on the immediate advantages rather than God’s command (Genesis 2:17).

Wiersbe emphasizes the serpent’s question as a deliberate trap designed to undermine God’s command and Eve’s trust. He notes the subtlety of appealing to desire and the promise of wisdom. Matthew Henry highlights the danger of doubting God’s goodness and the consequences of yielding to temptation. Together, they show how the question tested Eve’s faith and opened the door to sin (Genesis 3:5-6). This passage challenges believers to discern the enemy’s tactics and to cling to God’s truth for spiritual victory (Ephesians 6:11).