The Meaning of Genesis 3:16 Explained

Genesis 3:16

KJV: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

YLT: Unto the woman He said, 'Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband is thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.'

Darby: To the woman he said, I will greatly increase thy travail and thy pregnancy; with pain thou shalt bear children; and to thy husband shall be thy desire, and he shall rule over thee.

ASV: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Unto the woman  he said,  I will greatly  multiply  thy sorrow  and thy conception;  in sorrow  thou shalt bring forth  children;  and thy desire  [shall be] to thy husband,  and he shall rule  over thee. 

What does Genesis 3:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

1.Eve would experience increased pain in bearing children. There evidently would have been some pain in the process of bearing children before the Fall, but Eve and her daughters would experience increased pain. The text does not say that God promised more conception as well as more pain. [1] "Pain" and "childbirth" is probably another hendiadys in the Hebrew text meaning pregnancy pain.
2.Women"s desire would be for their husbands. There have been several different interpretations of what the woman"s "desire" would be.
a.The phrase "your desire will be for your husband" means that a woman"s desire would be subject to her husband"s desire.
"Her desire, whatever it may be, will not be her own. She cannot do what she wishes, for her husband rules over her like a despot and whatever she wishes is subject to his will." [2]
b.The woman will have a great longing, yearning, and psychological dependence on her husband.
"This yearning is morbid. It is not merely sexual yearning. It includes the attraction that woman experiences for man which she cannot root from her nature. Independent feminists may seek to banish it, but it persists in cropping out." [3]
c.The woman will desire to dominate the relationship with her husband. This view rests on the parallel Hebrew construction in Genesis 4:7. This view seems best to me.
"The "curse" here describes the beginning of the battle of the sexes. After the Fall, the husband no longer rules easily; he must fight for his headship. The woman"s desire is to control her husband (to usurp his divinely appointed headship), and he must master her, if he can. Sin had corrupted both the willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband. And so the rule of love founded in paradise is replaced by struggle, tyranny, domination, and manipulation." [4]
d.The woman would continue to desire to have sexual relations with her husband even though after the Fall she experienced increased pain in childbearing.
"... the woman"s desire for the man and his rule over her are not the punishment but the conditions in which the woman will suffer punishment.... It may be concluded that, in spite of the Fall, the woman will have a longing for intimacy with man involving more than sexual intimacy.... [5]
This view takes this statement of God as a blessing rather than a curse.

Context Summary

Genesis 3:9-21 - God's Condemnation Of Adam And Eve
God does not wait for Adam to find his own way back, but hastens in search of him. "Where art thou" is rendered in one version, Alas for thee. Jesus met the Tempter not in a garden, but in the wilderness. He suffered being tempted, but has become to all who obey Him a Life-giving Spirit, and the Author of Eternal Salvation. Read 1 Corinthians 15:45, and Hebrews 5:9. The penalty is gone, borne by Him in His own body on the Cross. So Paul affirms in Romans 5:14, etc. Our bias toward evil is counteracted by His indwelling through the Holy Spirit; so we are taught in Romans 8:1-4. He bruises Satan beneath the feet of those who trust Him. Such is His own assurance in Luke 10:19, and Mark 16:17. He transforms the other results of sin. Through pain the mother's love is drawn out to her child. Hard work is educative and ennobling. Death is the gate of life. Where sin abounded, grace abounds much more. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 3

1  The serpent deceives Eve
6  Both she and Adam transgress the divine command, and fall into sin
8  God arraigns them
14  The serpent is cursed
15  The promised seed
16  The punishment of mankind
21  Their first clothing
22  Their expulsion from paradise

What do the individual words in Genesis 3:16 mean?

To the woman He said greatly I will multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain you shall bring forth children for your husband Your desire [shall be] and he shall rule over you -
אֶֽל־ הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אָמַ֗ר הַרְבָּ֤ה אַרְבֶּה֙ עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ בְּעֶ֖צֶב תֵּֽלְדִ֣י בָנִ֑ים וְאֶל־ אִישֵׁךְ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ וְה֖וּא יִמְשָׁל־ בָּֽךְ ס

הָאִשָּׁ֣ה  the  woman 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
אָמַ֗ר  He  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
הַרְבָּ֤ה  greatly 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Infinitive absolute
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
אַרְבֶּה֙  I  will  multiply 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ  your  sorrow 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: עִצָּבֹון  
Sense: pain, labour, hardship, sorrow, toil.
וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ  and  your  conception 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: הֵרֹון 
Sense: physical conception, pregnancy, conception.
בְּעֶ֖צֶב  in  pain 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶצֶב 
Sense: pain, hurt, toil, sorrow, labour, hardship.
תֵּֽלְדִ֣י  you  shall  bring  forth 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
בָנִ֑ים  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
אִישֵׁךְ֙  your  husband 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ  Your  desire  [shall  be] 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: תְּשׁוּקָה  
Sense: desire, longing, craving.
וְה֖וּא  and  he 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
יִמְשָׁל־  shall  rule 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָשַׁל  
Sense: to rule, have dominion, reign.
בָּֽךְ  over  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation