Genesis 3:9
“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”
KJV
Read in Genesis 3Meaning
God addresses the hidden man rather than allowing concealment to end the relationship. The question opens the process by which the consequences of the humans' choice are brought into the open.
Read carefully
Reading 'Where are you?' as evidence of divine ignorance misses the narrative function of God's questions. Similar judicial questions elsewhere draw people into accountability.
Reflection
Accountability often begins when hiding is interrupted by a question that requires us to locate ourselves truthfully before God and before others.