In the day that you eat of it you shall SURELY DIE

[tonychanyt]

ESV, Genesis 2:

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Literal Standard Version:

but from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you do not eat from it, for in the day of your eating from it—dying you die [מֹ֥ות תָּמֽוּת׃].”

you will surely
מ֥וֹת (mō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

die.”
תָּמֽוּת׃ (tā·mūṯ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

Solomon pronounced the same expression in 1 Kings 2:

36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37 For on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die [מֹ֣ות תָּמ֑וּת]. Your blood shall be on your own head.”

It was a sure death sentence. Later, Shimei disobeyed and left Jerusalem. He did not die on the day he left. He died after he returned to Jerusalem (v. 46).

These were examples of Hebrew word doubling. They were for word emphasis. Back then, there was no boldface or italics to highlight the word. For emphasis, they repeat the keyword in its absolute form.

For Adam and Eve, what kind of death was this? In what sense did Adam and Eve surely die or dying-you-die?

Before they ate the forbidden fruit, their knowledge of good and evil came only from God. As soon as they ate, they acquired their own way of determining good and evil. Right away, they thought being naked was not good. God had not thought that. Their consciences were separated from God; their consciences died to God. On the day of their eating it, the process of dying had started; dying, they shall die.

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever”.

They experienced dying-you-die in that they were not to live forever.

Genesis 5:

5 Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

Like Shimei, Adam eventually died physically after the disobedience. In Genesis 2, God pronounced a punishment of death certainty by the Hebrew expression "dying you die" even though the physical death did not happen on the day of disobedience.