Gen. 3:16 Means...???

I am a United Methodist Minister. There is an entire field devoted to interpreting scripture called Hermeneutics. People spend their whole lives interpreting passages, sometimes just one passage. No one is going to be able to give you a definitive answer; however, I can give you some insight from the collective voices. A commentary put together by some of the top scholars from the Christian and Jewish communities is the New Interpreter's Bible (not a Bible but a gathering of interpretations, history, and commentary). It is interesting that this has been labeled woman's "curse" because the language of the Bible makes it more a sentence as in a court judgment, not curse language. So instead of seeing God as cursing women, it is seen that God is delivering a reasonable verdict to both the man and the woman - which it is clear God holds equally responsible for sin. Basically, most scholars believe the best interpretation of the poem is that the multiplying part refers only to the pain of childbirth. There are some who believe it is a reference to both the physical labor and the number of pregnancies a woman could have. The desire is seen as ironic considering how difficult childbirth will be. The rule of the husband is a reference to patriarchy which was against God's ideal plan for creation. Patriarchy is rather a result of humanity's sin that one gender would be elevated above the other. In fact, that is the basis of Luke's gospel that Jesus reordered the world with his life and death so that all people could be equal in relationship with God and on earth with one another. This is what made the first "church" so provocative because men and women were given equality in service, worship, and leadership in contradiction to culture. I am obviously adding my two cents. Controversy abounds in most of the Genesis creation accounts that keeps scholars busy. Just some thoughts to ponder. I find the KJV very difficult for most people to apply to their lives. There are many other translations that are more accurate and easier to read since King James gave a bias to the Bible translation named after him. Blessings!

My understanding is that the "curse" is another way of saying no longer will your pregnancies be easy. They will be hard and you will endure pain. She will also have multiple births. Logically speaking, if this wasn't the case before the "curse," then it stands to reason that there was no pain in childbirth before that fateful event.

Since God is not a God of pain, the actual "pain" that she would experience was her own doing because of the choice she made - it would be one of toil, strife and physical pain which she did not have before. What she did actually opened her eyes to what already was in place (pain, toil, strife) but that because they lived in the Garden, were shielded from it by God's love and mercy. She opened the door to the "real world" and, by doing so, she opened the door to what women experience in childbirth

Not all can be blamed on the woman, however. The man could have said "no" just as we can say no to temptation today. But adding to that, since man followed her down that path, he, too, would experience the pains of raising a child through anger, frustration and all that goes with raising a child, including love and forgiveness. The only reason women don't rule over men is because a woman went down the path first.

Before the "sin" in the Garden, (imho) their roles had equal value - meaning neither one ruled over the other. But because the woman gave into temptation and asked the man to follow her, God saw this as woman having usurped her role, in that, she felt the need to exceed the limits of what God had laid down for tending to the Garden. She knowingly didn't follow the rules and when you break a rule that's set down to be good for you, it has consequences.

Again, this is just my humble opinion.

Hi A.,
Hey very interesting question...
I looked in my Life Application Study Bible, NIV version and the 3:16 says:"To the woman He said, I will greatly increse your pains in childbearing;with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you"...(now that sounds like a curse to me...)I looked at the bottom and for some reason it doesn't explain verse 16, but it talks about desobedience to God and the seememly harsh consequences that were stablished that day...
Maybe the conception part has something to do with the fact that form that point on Adam and Eve had to multiply and fill the earth. So not only her conception had to be multilied, but now, she was to suffer sorrow and pain.
Just my thoughs...
Have a great day!
A.

I also have had problems with my kids in school,especially my oldest son who will be 17 this may...He is a very smart boy,but for some reason in elementary could not control himself...I had him tested and he was ADHD,he was put on ritlin and later switched to adderal which seemed to work better...He was also tested for the gifted program and made it in because his test scores were so high...He eventually out grew alot of what I called his abnormal behavior...And I am sure your daughter will too...I mean still have her tested but keep an eye on her as she gets older and see if she out grows some of it...Good luck and let me know how tings turn out...A.

Hi A.,

Genesis 3:16 is not saying that part of the Fall and the curse of sin is that conception is multiplied. Conception is viewed as a blessing in Scripture. The two phrases "thy sorrow and thy conception" are to be understood together. This expression is a distinctively Hebrew way of saying that her sorrow is multiplied from the time of conception, which is to say that the pain includes the nine months of pregnancy as well as the labor and delivery at the end -- as any Mama will be quick to admit!

It's comforting to me! Hope this helps....

Regards,

M.

I found this in a program I have called SwordSearcher:
Unto the woman he said - She being second in the transgression is brought up the second to receive her condemnation, and to hear her punishment: I will greatly multiply, or multiplying I will multiply; i.e., I will multiply thy sorrows, and multiply those sorrows by other sorrows, and this during conception and pregnancy, and particularly so in parturition or child-bearing.

Hope it helps.
-K.

I understand what you are saying it seems a bit confusing. But what I believe the curse to be is that what we conceive (our children) will now be born into sin. This is the curse, but the New Testament states how we are freed from that curse once we accept Christ. 1 Tim 2:15 "Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love and holiness, with self control." I believe this means that even though we and our children were born into sin. We do not have to stay in sin and we as mothers also have the opportunity to lead our children away from sin and point them to our Saviour.
Hope this helps.

On this website, they give multiple translations.

http://bible.cc/genesis/3-16.htm

With so many translations, it seems easier to grasp one meaning.
Good Luck

Okay this is just my opinion...but I think the curse part was related to the pain during child birth which now thanks to modern medicine is no longer an issue. It could also mean that she now would know what God felt for her, a sense of constant concern and worry about her childrens safety, happiness, and well-being. It is both a blessing and a curse to love something more than you love yourself and to know that you will not always be there to protect that precious gift.

I have a woman's study bible and it says this:
3:16 The woman's judgment. Unlike His words to the serpent and the man, God did not use the verb "cursed" in passing judgment on the woman. The first part of the judgment can also be translated "your sorrow in conception"; the blessing of fertility still exists but has been distorted. The Hebrew word for "sorrow" is a form of the word translated "pain" in the next sentence, implying hard labor and appearing again as "toil" (v. 17). The word "desire" appears only twice more in the OT (Gen 4:7, where sin "longs" to have mastery over Cain and Song 7:10, where the man's longing for his beloved is described). The distortion of servant leadership, which was perfectly modeled in Christ, affected the relationship between husband and wife.
Hope this helps.

personal thoughts on it -

right after that part of verse says desire husband - no birth control so may mean multiple births (ie lots of kids). Curse b/c more kids = more to feed and since they had to work the land in order to get food = more work for Adam and Eve. But even with the extra work/burden to provide they would still desire each other...