don’t look backward for antecedents, rather, look forward (it = “to beguile Eve”):

here it is, with a couple of extra helpful dashes:

And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him), — and he sought also — to beguile Eve …

One thing I think about in these verses: in Moses 4:27 when God clothes Adam and Eve with “coats of skins,” might that have been the first time Adam and Eve saw something killed? And what would it be like to witness violence for the first time? What could the sacrificed animal be designed to teach Adam and Eve? What extra meaning does that give to the clothes Adam and Eve wear? I think Adam and Eve must have remembered that animal’s death for their sake every time they put on those clothes and were grateful for protection from cold, rain, thorns, and so on.

Along these lines, I like what Hugh Nibley says here:
There is no patriarchy or matriarchy in the Garden; the two supervise each other. Adam is given no arbitrary power; Eve is to heed him only insofar as he obeys their Father”and who decides that? She must keep check on him as much as he does on her. It is, if you will, a system of checks and balances in which each party is as distinct and independent in its sphere as are the departments of government under the Constitution”and just as dependent on each other. (Hugh Nibley, “Patriarchy and Matriarchy,” Old Testament and Related Studies, page 92f.)

I find this interesting because so many outside the church ( and in) lament the idea that our church keeps women down. While I do agree that there are things in our church culture that are dysfunctional, I think that the deeper doctrine is waiting to enlighten us, if we let it. Here, hugh Nibley is saying that if we understood the temple better, we would understand the how a true male/female partnership should be played out. I think many LDS marriages could benefit from a greater sense of the ONENESS that is paramount in progressing in this life and the next.

Just thoughts stewing in my head as I prepare my lesson. Anyone care to elaborate??

I want to make clear that in an eternal sense there is a perfect way to understand stand the ultimate good and evil. I think that comes through the temple. However, I still hold to the same model. Obedience bring knowledge. This knowledge includes (in an eternal sense) the ultimate understanding of good and evil.

Anyone see a connection between the dust that Satan is cursed to eat and the dust from which Adam is created?

Often in church I hear something to the effect of, “Eve did not sin because _______” (fill in the blank). Mormons are over-protective of Eve.

In v18-20, it appears nobody wants to take the blame. Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent, and we know Satan never fesses up to anything he does. In fact, blame might be the wrong word here, responsibility might be a better fit.

Are Adam and Eve blessed after leaving the Garden? Yes, because it takes awhile. The blessings do not come until Adam and Eve come to a knowledge of what is really going on. In chapter 5 an angel visits them (v6), the Holy Ghost comes (v9), and then Adam and Eve see that their transgression has been turned into good.

Did Adam and Eve repent? I think they did. Thus, the forgiveness in 6:53. If Adam and Eve would not have repented, then I do not think their transgression would have ever been for their good. In fact, without repentance ch. 5 never happens at all.

So, did Adam and Eve do something wrong? Yes.

The longer Eve talks with Satan the more she thinks he starts to make sense. I think this is the same in our lives. The longer we dabble in sin and hang out in places we should not be, the more likely we are to fall into the ways of “the world.” The more you seriously contemplate the pros of breaking the commandments, the more likely you are to actually break them.

For example, if you own a store and think about all the reasons it would be good to be open on Sunday, more than likely you will eventual come around to being open on Sunday; because you are continually having an open dialogue with Satan about the issue. Eve does the same thing. Eve does not cast Satan away, but listens until he starts to make sense, and his ideas become her ideas.

In v6 Satan put something/”it” into the “heart” of the serpent. I think he put something into the “heart” of Eve, and puts things into our “hearts” if we let him.

PS I’d love to hear ideas of what the “it” in v6 is.

Here is a great quote from JS on knowledge.

“Knowledge is power and the man who has the most knowledge has the greatest power…The reason why God is greater than all others is He knows how to subject all things to himself.”

Therefore, knowledge has everything to do with power, and less to do with “right and wrong.” God gave Adam power of the “beasts of the field”, but he did not yet have the knowledge necessary to complete his task in the best fashion.

What is morally right and wrong (and good and evil) seem to change every generation. So where does knowledge then come from?
I think the answer to that question has always been the same, obedience.

Obedience brings knowledge. Knowing right from wrong is less important then being obedient to God, because only obedience to God gives true knowledge.

I hope this answer does not seem to convoluted, I am just writing off the top of my head here (and sorry for the lack of references)!

Continuing with my thoughts above, Satan wants Eve to think nothing in this world is “for sure.” I read the passage as saying something like, “Come on now Eve, you cannot know for sure that you will die! Nobody can tell the future!”

I believe that Satan wants us to believe that true knowledge is unattainable.

Everything revolves around knowledge. To learn knowledge is to die and become a new person. In v6 we find that Satan “knew not the mind of God.” Therefore, Satan never had this transforming experience.