Genesis 3:19 (WEB)
You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
Catechism · 7
"I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body"
“Death is a consequence of sin. the Church's Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches that death entered the world on account of man's sin.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gen 2:17; 3:3; 3:19; Wis 1:13; Rom 5:12; 6:23; DS 1511.
The Sacrament of Matrimony
“Their relations were distorted by mutual recriminations; their mutual attraction, the Creator's own gift, changed into a relationship of domination and lust; and the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth was burdened by the pain of childbirth and the toil of work.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gen 1:28; 3:16-19.
“In his mercy God has not forsaken sinful man. the punishments consequent upon sin, "pain in childbearing" and toil "in the sweat of your brow,"” — Catechism footnote: Gen 3:16, 19.
The Seventh Commandment
“By enduring the hardship of work” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gen 3:14-19.
Man
“As long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or die.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gen 2:17; 3:16, 19.
“Work is not yet a burden,” — Catechism footnote: Gen 2:15; cf. 3:17-19
The Fall
“Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gen 3:17, 19.
Fathers and councils · 54
Gregory of Nyssa
“…only not to divide its essence in begetting, and if Adam was corruptible, to whom the word was spoken, “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return,” then, according to Eunomius’ reasoning, he certainly divided his essence, being cut up among those who were begotten of him, and by reason of the vast number…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Irenaeus of Lyons
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies Fragments from.14Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus
“But if mortal, then there was certainly no curse; nor was that a [condemnatory] sentence, when the voice of God spake to the man, “For earth thou art, and unto earth shall thou return,” as the true course of things proceeds [now and always].” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment “And since Adam was moulded from this earth to which we belong, the Scripture tells us that God said to him, “In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat thy bread, until thou turnest again to the dust from whence thou wert taken.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Tertullian
“Now, although it here mentions the nostrils, it does not say that they were made by God; so again it speaks of skin and bones, and flesh and eyes, and sweat and blood, in subsequent passages, and yet it never intimated that they had been created by God.” — editor's note: See Gen. ii. 21, 23; iii. 5, 19; iv. 10.
Read the whole comment“What I possess is flesh, not earth, even although of the flesh it is said: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19. [“Earth thou art, etc.” in text.]
Read the whole comment“Nature pronounces God’s sentence: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For consider that primeval sentence which God spake when He called man earth; saying, “Earth thou art, and to earth shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For this was the substance which God’s decree demolished, “Earth thou art, and to earth shalt thou return;” because it was taken out of the earth.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For to the body it was said, (“Till thou return to the ground, for out of it wast thou taken; for) dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19. [“Was not said unto the Soul”—says our own Longfellow, in corresponding words.]
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Athanasius of Alexandria
“For when the first way, which was through Adam, was lost, and in place of paradise we deviated unto death, and heard the words, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,’ therefore the Word of God, who loves man, puts on Him created flesh at the Father’s will, that whereas the first man had made it dead…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For it was not some man that gave Himself up for us; since every man is under sentence of death, according to what was said to all in Adam, ‘earth thou art and unto earth thou shalt return.’” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19, LXX.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
“…the sinful, seeing “He that is spiritual judgeth all things.” [1 Cor 2:15] But to the sinner it is said, “Earth thou art, and unto earth thou shalt return.” [Gen 3:19] And he who would abide under a law, is put under a law, and therefore He adds, “it is the footstool of His feet.” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
“But as the sinner is called ‘earth,’ as “earth thou art, and unto earth thou must return,” [Gen 3:19] so might the righteous on the other hand be called ‘the heaven.’” — the author cites it
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Ambrose of Milan
“Surely that of which it is said: “Dust thou art, and into dust shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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John Cassian
- John Cassian, Conferences XVIII–XXIV XXIII.11Conference XXIII
“For the law of sin is really what the fall of its first father brought on mankind by that fault of his, against which there was uttered this sentence by the most just Judge: “Cursed is the ground in thy works; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 17, 19.
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Augustine of Hippo
“For Thou hadst commanded, and it was done in me, that the earth should bring forth briars and thorns to me, and that with labour I should get my bread.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“But remember, O Lord, “that we are dust,” and that of dust Thou hast created man; and he “was lost, and is found.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“And to the sinner was it said, “Earth thou art, and into earth shalt thou go.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“If you take heaven to be the just man, as you take the earth to be the sinner, to whom it was said, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou go;” the words, “The Lord is in His holy temple” you will understand to be repeated, whilst it is said, “The Lord, His seat is in heaven.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“Because to men sinning was it said, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For to man was it said, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For man earned to hear, “Earth thou art, and unto earth thou shalt go.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“…to arrive at anything, whereon we may feed to our health, still we must eat the bread in the sweat of our face; and pay the penalty of the ancient sentence not with the labour of the body only, but also with that of the heart.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For earth ceaseth to be proud, that is, man ceaseth, to whom it was said, “Thou art dust;” and “why is earth and ashes proud?” when he saith that the Lord is the Most Highest above all the earth, that is, that no man’s thoughts avail against those…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For by the anger of God we are subject to death, and by the anger of God we eat bread on this earth in want, and in the sweat of our face.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“Since it is in consequence of His anger that we live in the scourges and corruption of mortality: we have this in punishment for the first sin.…Is it not through His anger, my brethren, that “in the sweat of thy face and in toil thou shalt eat bread, and the earth shall bear thorns and thistles unto thee”?” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19, 18.
Read the whole comment“For where it is said to the serpent, “Dust thou shalt eat,” it is said to the transgressor, “Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 14, 19.
Read the whole comment“For when they loved their own countenance, “In the sweat of their countenance did they eat bread.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“This delivering up is first signified in Genesis, where, when it had been said to the serpent, “Dust shalt thou eat,” it was said to the man, “Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 14–19
Read the whole comment“But I think the expression “in heaven” means in the spiritual firmament, where dwells everlasting righteousness: in comparison with which a wicked soul is called earth, to which it is said when it sins, “Earth thou art, and unto earth thou shalt return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“It may therefore seem to be suitably said, “till thou hast paid the last fourth,” in the sense of “till thou hast expiated thy earthly sins:” for this the sinner also heard, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shall thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“…is judged of no man, he is suitably spoken of as the seat of God; but the sinner to whom it is said, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shall thou return,” because, in accordance with that justice which assigns what is suitable to men’s deserts, he is placed among things that are lowest, and he who would not…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“But as a sinner is called earth, when it is said to him, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return;” so, on the other hand, a righteous man may be called heaven.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“But when the soul itself forsook the body, corrupted and decayed with age, the other death was experienced of which God had spoken in pronouncing man’s sentence, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shall thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“…art thou?” pointed to the death of the soul, which results when He abandons it, and since in the words, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return,” He signified the death of the body, which results when the soul departs from it, we are led, therefore, to believe that He said nothing of the second death,…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“…to the earth, as also the sentence pronounced by God against the sinning father of the human race runs, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return,” we must acknowledge that those whom Christ at His coming shall find still in the body are not included in these words of the apostle nor in those of Genesis;…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Origen
- Origen, De Principiis III.7Book III
“…so that what at first was flesh (formed) out of earthly soil, and was afterwards dissolved by death, and again reduced to dust and ashes (“For dust thou art,” it is said, “and to dust shalt thou return”), will be again raised from the earth, and shall after this, according to the merits of the indwelling soul,…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Theodoret of Cyrus
“He received it in His own hands, He made a chair of His own throne; nay more He seated it on His own right hand, let us then recognise who it was to whom it was said ‘Sit thou on my right hand’ and what was that nature to which God said ‘Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return.’”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19
Read the whole comment“It was to Adam that God said “Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19
Read the whole comment“But when I consider the course of nature, and the law which the Creator has laid down in the words “Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return,” and all that goes on daily in all the world on land and sea—for either husbands first approach the end of life or this lot first befalls the wives—I find from…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19
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John Chrysostom
“There is not, “In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread,” nor “thorns and thistles” ( Gen. iii. 19, 18 ); no longer, “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and to thy husband shall be thy desire and he shall rule over thee.” ( Gen. iii. 16.)” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“For it will be no longer, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,”and thou “tillest the ground,”and those former words, that will be said to us;but what is far more grievous than these, the “outer darkness,”the bonds that may not be burst, the venomous worm, the “gnashing of teeth;” and this with great reason.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“For, saith He, “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;” and, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread;”and, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 16, 19.
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Jerome
“With my own hand daily and in the sweat of my brow I labor for my food, knowing that it is written by the apostle: “If any will not work, neither shall he eat.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“Let them marry and be given in marriage who eat their bread in the sweat of their brow; whose land brings forth to them thorns and thistles, and whose crops are choked with briars.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 18, 19.
Read the whole comment“The dust has returned to the dust.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Basil the Great
“Dust we are and unto dust we shall return.” — editor's note: cf. Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“By it all we who are dust shall return to dust.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Cyprian of Carthage
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return into the ground from which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou go.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 17–19.
Read the whole comment“Thou shalt eat thy bread until thou return unto the earth from which also thou wast taken; because earth thou art, and to earth thou shalt go.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 17–19.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“The one labours about bodies, and perishable failing matter, which absolutely must be dissolved and undergo its fate, even if upon this occasion by the aid of art it can surmount the disturbance within itself, being dissolved by disease or time in submission to the law of…” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Leo the Great
“…that was in store for him, not only did that one man, but in him all that came after him also hear the verdict: “earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou go;” “as in the earthy,” therefore, “such are they also that are earthy,” and no one is immortal, because no one is heavenly.” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
Read the whole comment“…no growth while with the Father, be wise and consider that to the same nature to which it was said in Adam, “Thou art earth, and unto earth shalt thou go,” it is said in Christ, “sit Thou on My right hand.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“For loam has come under a curse; “for,” says he, “dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”” — editor's note: Gen. iii. 19.
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Cross-references · 70
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26.
Cited together in Homilies on Matthew Homily 12.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 18.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 28.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.13.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.13.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.13.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 6:9 (2) (Catena Aurea) and 1 other place.
Cited together in Confessions IV.16.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 28.
Cited together in Letters Letter 14.
Cited together in Catechism §1008.
Cited together in Catechism §1008.
Cited together in Catechism §1008.
Cited together in Letters Letter 14.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26.
Cited together in Homilies on Matthew Homily 12.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.13.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.13.
Cited together in Confessions IV.16.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 28.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Confessions IV.16.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26.
Cited together in Against Eunomius II.7.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 28.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 5:33–37 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Against Heresies Fragments from.14.
Cited together in Confessions IV.16.
Cited together in Confessions IV.16.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XXIII.11.
Cited together in On the Sermon on the Mount I.5.
Cited together in On the Sermon on the Mount I.5.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.30.
Cited together in Homilies on Matthew Homily 12.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26.
Cited together in Catechism §400 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §1008.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.30.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 26 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 5:33–37 (5) (Catena Aurea) and 1 other place.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Catechism §1008.
Cited together in The City of God XX.20 and 1 other place.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 52.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 52.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 52.
Cited together in The City of God XX.20.
Cited together in On the Holy Trinity XIII.12.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 28.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.30.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 28.
Cited together in Catechism §2427.
Cited together in The City of God XX.20 and 1 other place.
Cited together in The City of God XX.20.
Cited together in The City of God XX.20.
Cited together in Catechism §2427 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Against Eunomius II.7.
Cited together in Catechism §1607 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §378.
Cited together in Catechism §378.
Cited together in Catechism §376 and 2 other places.
Cited together in Against Hermogenes Chapter 31.
Cited together in Catechism §1607.
Cited together in Catechism §376.