Genesis describes the deceiver as a serpent, one of the animals God created (see also 3:14 and study note). Scripture later identifies him as Satan, the great enemy of God’s people (Revelation 12:9; 20:2). He used manipulative language and disguised himself as a serpent. The serpent was the most clever of all creatures. This showed Satan as a master deceiver.
Satan uses different methods to oppose God’s people (see 1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1–2). Deception remains one of his main strategies (compare 2 Corinthians 11:3, 14).
The Hebrew word for crafty is ‘arum. It can have a positive meaning (“prudent,” Proverbs 14:8) or a negative meaning (as here; see Job 5:12). Here it forms a wordplay with “naked” (Hebrew ‘arummim) in Genesis 2:25. Adam and Eve were naked and vulnerable. The serpent was crafty and cunning.
The serpent probably asked the woman because God gave Adam the rule before he created Eve (see 2:16–17). Adam was probably aware of the serpent’s craftiness, since he had named all the animals before God created Eve (2:19–20, 23).
Did God really say: The deceiver started by twisting God’s words to make the people doubt God’s goodness. God’s original rule applied to only one tree (2:16–17), not to all of them.