Genesis 3:3

"'but God did say, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die."'"  Genesis 3:3

The woman then goes on to not only repeat God's actual command to the serpent, but she makes it even more strict by adding "don't even touch it."  We still do that today.  We take the way to God and make the path even more narrow with impossible rules and standards.  If she had been in the garden any longer, she probably would have added, "don't even think about it."  (Which, of course, would have made it that much harder to not think about.)  She does have a point, however.  Touching it maybe the first step to picking it and once it's in your hand it's so much harder to resist.  In Gill's Exposition of the Bible he argues that the woman wasn't actually adding to God's law-that the not touching was implied.

It's also interesting to note that the woman followed the serpent's example and only said "God" not "the Lord God."  She may not have even realized she did it.  If we bring God down to our level to be equal with us, it's not difficult to reason with ourselves that he doesn't have that much authority and it's okay for us not to listen all the time.  Quite often, it's not even on a conscious level that we do that.

What can we learn from the first woman?  First, don't entertain the tempter with conversation, and second, guard your thoughts and words to keep God as the holy divine king that he is.  What other lessons can be learned from the woman?

Genesis 3:2

"The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,'"  Genesis 3:2

The first thing the woman does is try to correct the serpent, "Oh no, we can eat fruit from the garden's trees!"  But as it is pointed out in the Pulpit Commentary, that's her first mistake - entering into conversation with the serpent.  If you talk to the devil long enough, he'll convince you to see it his way, and for most of us, that doesn't take very long.

Genesis 3:1

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden?"'"  Genesis 3:1

It's interesting to note that in every verse of chapter 2, God is referred to as the "Lord God".  Chapter 3 starts the same way until the serpent speaks.  As soon as he talks about God he leaves off the "Lord."  The serpent is acknowledging the supreme-ness of God, but not the self-eternalness of him.  He starts out not with lies, but with a question.  Is that all it takes to lead us astray?  A question?

Genesis 2:25

"The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."  Genesis 2:25

The implication is that they felt no shame for more than just being naked.  They also felt no shame with each other.  They had a transparent relationship - nothing to hide.  If only we could be that way today.  It would do away with a lot of misunderstandings.

Genesis 2:24

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."  Genesis 2:24

In the Qbible "united to" can also be translated "catch by pursuit."  I always thought of the man doing the pursing in a relationship as a cultural thing, but now I wonder if this is the instinctual norm for all men and women.  

Genesis 2:23

"The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called "woman," for she was taken out of man.' "  Genesis 2:23

Man is continuing the work God gave him in verse 19, he is giving a name to his counterpart at the same time acknowledging that she is part of him - perfect opposites.

Genesis 2:22

"Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." Genesis 2:22

So God took a piece of the man's side and built a female version of him and then brought her to the man.  The expression "two sides of the same coin" describes this perfectly.  Men and women are just different sides of the same coin, different but equal.