Genesis 3:16

Context

In Genesis 3, after the forbidden fruit is eaten, God pronounces judgment in turn on the serpent (vv. 14–15), the woman (v. 16), and the man (vv. 17–19). This verse is the portion addressed to the woman. Its first half speaks of pain in conception and childbirth. Its second half describes a change in the marital relationship: "thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." The words to the man follow, declaring that the ground is cursed and that he will have to toil to make his living.

The Hebrew word teshuqah, translated "desire," occurs only a few times in the Old Testament. In the very next chapter, the same word appears in the same construction when God warns Cain about sin: "unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him" (4:7).

Interpretations

• As description: This reading holds that the verse is not a command establishing the order God intends but a prediction that, once sin has entered, the relationship between men and women will be distorted into domination and subordination. The equal relationship of creation (1:27; 2:18) was broken by the Fall and is restored in Christ (Galatians 3:28). This reading is held mainly by egalitarians.
• As a distortion of the creation order: This reading holds that male headship belongs to a creation order that existed before the Fall (1 Timothy 2:13), and that the verse describes how sin warps that order: the wife seeks to dominate her husband, and the husband rules over her harshly. On the basis of the parallel with 4:7, teshuqah is read as "a desire to control." This view is widely held among complementarians.
• As prescription: A traditional reading that treats the husband's rule as a norm God instituted at this point has long existed as well, but among major denominations today the two preceding views are more common.

Controversies and Issues

The verse is invoked in debates over the status of women in the church, particularly the debate over the ordination of women, and in discussions of roles within the home. Some also note that there have been historical cases in which pain in childbirth was regarded as God's punishment and even medical measures to relieve it were called into question. Most churches today hold that the verse is not a command forbidding efforts to ease pain. They reason by analogy with the toil laid upon the man, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (3:19): technology that reduces such labor is not regarded as sinful.

Using this verse to justify domestic violence or the oppression of wives is criticized across denominational lines as a misuse of the text.

Related Passages

• Genesis 4:7
• Genesis 1:27
• Galatians 3:28
• Ephesians 5:21–25
• 1 Timothy 2:13–15