Ambrose of Milan : What does 'walking' mean in reference to God, who is everywhere? In my opinion God may be said to walk wherever throughout Scripture the presence of God is implied, when we hear that He sees all things and ' the eyes of the Lord are upon the just.' [ Psalms 33:16 ] We read, too, that Jesus knew their thoughts and we read: ' Why do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts?' [ Luke 6:8: Matthew 9:4 ] When we reflect, therefore, on these statements, we have a knowledge of God in the act of walking. The sinner, in fact, had tried to hide away from the sight of God. He wished to conceal himself in his thoughts and was unwilling that his works appear in the light of day.' [ Matthew 5:16 ] The just man saw Him face to face, [ Deuteronomy 34:10; 1 Corinthians 13:12 ] because the mind of the just man is in the presence of God and even converses with Him, as it is written: ' Judge for the fatherless and defend the widow said the Lord.' [ Isaiah 1:17,18 ] When a sinner, therefore, reads these passages from Scripture, he hears the voice of God walking towards evening, so to speak. What does the phrase 'towards evening' mean? Does it not mean that the sinner realizes his sin too late and that the shame which should have forestalled the fault before it occurred was itself too late? While the sinner is physically overcome by passions that affect the soul, he in his errant fashion does not heed, that is to say, does not hear, God, as He in holy Scripture walks in the hearts and minds of each and every one of us. God says: ' For I will dwell in their midst and I will walk among them and will be their God.' [ Lev. 26:12 ] Therefore, the dread of divine power returns to the soul when we are eager to hide ourselves. Then, placed as we are by the thought of our sins in the midst of the trees of Paradise where we committed sin, we are discovered to be desirous of concealing ourselves and to be thinking of hidden things which God does not demand of us. But He who is ' the discerner of our thoughts and intentions of our hearts, extending to the division of soul and spirit,' [ Hebrews 4:12 ] says: ' Adam, where are you?' [ Genesis 3:9 ] How does God speak? Is it with the voice of the body? Not at all. He utters oracular words with a voice that is far more significant than is the voice of the body. The prophets heard this voice. It is heard by the faithful, but the wicked do not comprehend it. Wherefore we find the Evangelist in the Gospel listening to the voice of the Father speaking: ' I have glorified it and will glorify it again.' But the Jews did not listen. Hence they said: ' I had thundered.' [ John 12:28.29 ] We have given an instance above wherein God was thought to be walking when He was not. Here is an occasion when He was heard speaking, whereas to some people He spoke not. But let us take note of what He speaks: 'Adam, where, are you?' Even now these words have the healing power of salvation for those who hear the Word of God. Hence it is that the Jews who closed their eyes lest they hear do not deserve to hear even today. It follows that those who conceal themselves have a remedy, for he who hides himself is ashamed and he who is ashamed is converted, as it is written: ' Let them be much troubled and let them all be turned back speedily.' [ Psalms 6:11 ] The very fact of His calling a person is a testimony of salvation to him who comes, because the Lord calls those for whom He feels pity. When He says, therefore, 'where are you?' it is not a question of a locality to one who knows what is hidden. God did not have His eyes closed, so that a man in hiding was able to escape His notice. For that reason He said: ' Adam has become like one of us,' [ Genesis 3:22 ] because his eyes were opened. He, in fact, opened his eyes, so that he saw his own sin which he was unable to avoid. It happens that after we have sinned, we become, somehow or other, more aware of our crimes. We are then aware of the sin which we did not consider to be such before we actually fell into sin. Certainly we did not then believe that a sin was subject to our disapproval, for, if we had felt guilty, we would not have committed it. God sees the faults of all men and knows their offenses. His eyes penetrate into the secrets of the souls of each and every one of us. What, then, does He mean by 'Adam, where are you?' Does He not mean 'in what circumstances' are you; not, 'in what place'? It is, therefore, not a question, but a reproof. From what condition of goodness, beatitude, and grace, He means to say, have you fallen into this state of misery? You have forsaken eternal life. You have entombed yourself in the ways of sin and death. Where is that noble confidence and trust of yours? That fear that you show is evidence of your wrongdoing and that hiding place of yours betrays your dereliction. 'Where are you?' does not mean 'in what place,' but 'in what condition.' Where have your sins led you, so that you fled the God whom before you sought after? Perhaps you are disturbed by the fact that Adam is the first to be rebuked, although the woman was the first to eat the fruit. But the weaker sex begins by an act of disobedience, whereas the stronger sex is more liable to feelings of shame and forgiveness. The female furnished the occasion for wrongdoing; the male, the opportunity to feel ashamed. — On Paradise, 14.68-70 Augustine of Hippo : Toward evening God was walking in paradise, that is, he was coming to judge them. He was still walking in paradise before their punishment, that is, the presence of God still moved among them, when they no longer stood firm in his command. It is fitting that he comes toward evening, that is, when the sun was already setting for them, that is, when the interior light of the truth was being taken from them. They heard his voice and hid from his sight. Who hides from the sight of God but he who has abandoned him and is now beginning to love what is his own? For they now were clothed with a lie, and he who speaks a lie speaks from what is his own. This is why they are said to hide near to the tree that was in the middle of paradise, that is, near themselves who were set in the middle rank of things beneath God and above bodies. Hence they became hidden to themselves so that they might be troubled by their wretched errors after they had left the light of truth that they were not. For the human soul can be a partaker in the truth, but the truth is the immutable God above it. Hence whoever turns away from that truth and toward himself, rejoicing not in God who rules and enlightens him but rather in his own seemingly free movements, becomes dark by reason of the lie. . Bede : And when he heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam and his wife hid themselves. After noon, those who had failed from the light of truth were accustomed to be visited. Hence, the Lord fittingly ascended the cross at noon, and having promised the thief the abode of paradise, after noon, that is, at the ninth hour, he gave up his spirit; so that indeed at the same hour at which the first man had touched the tree of transgression, the second man ascended the tree of redemption, and at the hour of the day at which he had expelled the transgressors from paradise, he might at that hour bring a confessor into paradise. — Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) Bede : Adam and his wife hid themselves, he says, from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden. "When God inwardly turns away his face, let us not wonder that these things happen which are similar to madness, through excessive shame and fear, with that secret impulse also not being at rest, so that they did things unknowingly which signify something, for the sake of those who would know in the future for whom these things were written. For they who sin hide themselves from the face of God, because they render themselves unworthy of being seen by divine mercy. They hide themselves from the face of God, not so that the inward judge does not see their conscience, but so that they may never see the glory of his face except by repenting." — Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) Ephrem the Syrian : It was not only by the patience he exhibited that God wished to help them; he also wished to benefit them by the sound of his feet. God endowed his silent footsteps with sound so that Adam and Eve might be prepared, at that sound, to make supplication before him who made the sound. . Hippolytus of Rome : Rather they discerned the approach of the Lord by a certain breeze. As soon, therefore, as they had sinned, God appeared to them, producing consciousness of their sin, and calling them to repentance. — Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments Jerome : We read in Genesis that when Adam transgressed, when he paid heed to the serpent rather than to God, when he hid himself from the face of God, then God came into the garden and was walking about in the cool of day. Now listen to what the Scripture says. God sought out Adam, not at midday but in the evening. Adam had already lost the sunlight, for his high noon was over. — Homily 1 (on Psalms 1) Jerome : (Verse 8) And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at evening. In many Latin manuscripts, instead of 'at evening,' it has 'in the afternoon' because we cannot translate the Greek word 'δειλινὸν' word for word. In Hebrew it is written 'Larue Aiom,' which Aquila interpreted as 'in the wind of the day,' that is, in the wind of the day. But Symmachus interpreted it as 'through the spirit of the day.' Moreover, Theodotion clearly showed in the spirit the cooling of the day, so that after the heat of noon had passed, he displayed the refreshing breath of the breeze. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis John Chrysostom : See the Lord's loving kindness and the surpassing degree of his longsuffering. I mean, though being in a position to begrudge such great sinners the right of reply and rather than to consign them at once to the punishment he had determined in anticipation of their transgression, he shows patience and withholds action. He asks a question, receives a reply and questions them further as if inviting them to excuse themselves so that he might seize the opportunity to display his characteristic love in regard to the sinners, even despite their fall. John Chrysostom : What are you saying—God strolls? Are we assigning feet to him? Have we no exalted conception of him? No, God doesn't stroll—perish the thought. How could he, present as he is everywhere and filling everything with his presence? Can he for whom heaven is throne and earth a footstool be confined to the garden? What rightminded person could say this? So what is the meaning of this statement, "They heard the sound of the Lord God as he strolled in the garden in the evening?" He wanted to provide them with such an experience as would induce in them a state of anguish, which in fact happened: they had so striking an experience that they tried to hide from the presence of God. John Chrysostom : WE HAVE SAID ENOUGH, I would think, as far as our abilities lie, in giving our explanation lately of the tree, to teach you, dearly beloved, what was the reason why Sacred Scripture called it the knowledge of good and evil. So today I want to proceed to what follows, so that you may learn God's unspeakable love and the degree of considerateness he employs in his care for our race. Everything, you see, he made and arranged so that this rational being created by him had the good fortune to be of the greatest importance, and far from being in any way inferior to the life of the angels, enjoyed in the body their immunity from suffering. When, however, he saw them both through negligence transgress the commands he had given them, despite the warnings he had conveyed by threatening them and putting them more on the alert, he did not stop loving them at that point. Instead, faithful to his own goodness, he is like a loving father who sees his own son through negligence committing things unworthy of his upbringing and being reduced from his eminent position to the utmost depravity: he is stirred to the depths of his being as a father, yet, far from ceasing to care for him, he displays further concern for him in his desire to extricate him gradually from his abasement and return him to his previous position of dignity. Well, in just the same way does the good God, too, have pity on man for the plot to which he fell victim with his wife after being deceived and accepting the devil's advice through the serpent. Like a doctor treating a sick and suffering patient confined to bed, who needs much healing and the doctor's attention, he goes immediately to his side. In order, however, that you may learn God's ineffable considerateness, from the words themselves you must listen to the reading. "They heard the sound of the Lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening; both Adam and his wife hid from the Lord's presence amongst the trees of the garden." [ Genesis 3:8 ] Let us not, dearly beloved, pass heedlessly by the words from Sacred Scripture, nor re main at the level of their expression, but consider that the ordinariness of their expression occurs with our limitations in mind and that everything is done in a manner befitting God for the sake of our salvation. I mean, tell me this: were we prepared to follow the drift of the words without taking what is said in a sense befitting God, how could many absurdities be avoided? See now, let us consider this from the very beginning of the reading: "They heard the sound of the Lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening, and they hid." What are you saying God strolls? Are we assigning feet to him? Have we no exalted conception of him? No, God doesn't stroll perish the thought: how could he, present as he is everywhere and filling everything with his presence? Can he, for whom heaven is his throne and earth his footstool, be confined to the garden? What right-minded person could say this? So what is the meaning of this statement, "They heard the sound of the Lord God as he strolled in the garden in the evening "? He wanted to provide them with such an experience as would induce in them a state of anguish, which in fact happened: they had so striking an experience that they tried to hide from the presence of God. Sin, you see, appeared and transgression, and they were covered in confusion. After all, that incorruptible judge conscience, I mean in taking a stand against the accused cried out in unmistakable tones, leveled its accusation, brought forward evidence, and as if before their very eyes wrote down details of their sins in all their magnitude. For this reason, you see, the loving Lord from on high, in forming human beings right from the be ginning, implanted conscience in them as a tireless accuser, proof against dissuasion and deception at ally time. Even if someone were able to escape the notice of all human beings in committing sin and perpetrating improper conduct, he could not escape that accuser; he would go his wicked way with this accuser ever present within him to trouble him, tear at him and flay him, never resting, be it in public, in company, at table, sleeping or rising, demanding justice for felonies committed, bringing into focus the impropriety of sin and the punishment due to it. Like a skillful physician it does not cease from applying its remedies; and should it find itself rebuffed, it does not take no for an answer but continues its ministrations unremittingly. This, after all, is its role, to make memory proof against dissuasion and not permit us to lay our sins to rest but keep them in focus so that even by this means it may make us reluctant to fall into the same ones again. You see, if we find an ally in conscience and get assistance from it as the forthright accuser innate within us, our scourge, tearing at our vitals, bringing more weight to bear on us than a public executioner, and yet in many cases we still fall victims to our indifference, to what extremes would we not be taken if we were deprived of such assistance? This, then, is the reason why in the present case the firstformed human being immediately hides on receiving this impression and realizing the presence of the Lord. Why so, tell me? Because he saw that stern accuser conscience, I mean taking his position against him. He had no one else as prosecutor and witness of his felonies with the sole exception of the one that he carried around within him. They were, however, taught through their nakedness the magnitude of the sins they had committed by the removal of the glory that had previously draped them like a garment, as well as by the accusation of conscience. So since they were covered in confusion after that grievous sin, they tried to hide. "they heard the sound of the lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening; both Adam and his wife hid from the Lord's presence in the middle of the garden." Nothing is worse than sin, dearly beloved: once it appears it not merely fills us with shame but also robs of their senses people previously sensible and full of great intelligence. I mean, consider, I ask you, the depth of folly now displayed by this person previously endowed with intelligence, who had demonstrated the intelligence granted him in the actions he performed, and who had given vent to such inspired utterances. "Hearing the sound of the Lord God," the text says, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening, he and his wife hid from the Lord's presence amongst the trees of the garden." What depths of folly does this not reveal for this man to endeavor to hide from the God who is present every where, the Creator who brings all things from nonbeing into being, who knows things that lie hidden, who alone fashions people's hearts and understands all their works, [ Psalms 33:15 ] who tests hearts and minds, [ Psalms 7:9 ] who understands the movements of our heart? [ Psalms 43:22 ] But do not wonder, dearly beloved. For that is the nature of sinners. Even if they are not able to hide, they try earnestly to hide. That you may know that they did this because they had been denuded of their glory, unable to endure the shame which enveloped them after their sin, consider where they hid themselves: In the midst of paradise. Just like heedless slaves and ones due for a whipping, when they are unable to hide from their master, try to run hither and thither into the corners of the house when their minds are shaking with fear, likewise these two ran around in that abode, that is in Paradise, but without finding any escape. It is not without purpose, however, that the time is specified: "They heard the sound of the Lord God," the text says, remember, "as he strolled in the garden in the evening." The purpose was for you to learn the Lord's loving kindness, that he didn't postpone action in the slightest; instead, once he saw what had happened and sized up the gravity of the ulcer, he at once set in motion the healing process lest the ulcer spread and open up an incurable wound. So he moved to catch it at an early stage and at once took action against the spread of the ulcer, not for a moment leaving the victim deprived of his prompt attention, out of fidelity to his own goodness. What I mean is that the enemy of our salvation had displayed such rage in his unfailing envy of our advantages that he concocted his plot from the very beginning and, through his disastrous advice, he robbed those two of their wonderful way of life. But God, ever anxious to try something new, watching over our affairs in his wisdom, saw, on the one hand, the malice practiced by the devil and, on the other hand, the man's negligence, which was the means of covering him in such shame once he had been prevailed on by his wife; so God takes his position as a gentle and loving judge presiding over a tribunal that causes fear and trembling, and conducts his examination in detail teaching us through this approach not to condemn our fellows before we have conducted a detailed examination. loving kindness and human beings' severity towards their fellows