11:3 serpent beguiled Eve. Paul here asserts and confirms that the Genesis record of Eve’s temptation and fall is true and historical, not allegorical. The “serpent” in Genesis is explicitly identified as Satan, the arch deceiver (note II Corinthians 11:14), who turned Adam’s bride against her Maker, in similar fashion to what he was now doing at Corinth, using false apostles (instead of a serpent’s body) to turn His espoused Bride away from the soon-coming Bridegroom. Note also Revelation 12:9.