Eve out of Eden: Genesis 3:16

Abstract

Perhaps no single verse of the Hebrew Bible is more troubling for issues of gender relations and women's roles than Genesis 3:16. Ever since the earliest translations of the Bible, this verse has been rendered in a way that reflects two persistent beliefs about women's lives outside the garden: first, women must suffer pain in childbirth; second, women must be subordinate to men. But would a contextual reading of 3:16 substantiate the traditional interpretations? This chapter begins by considering the information in Genesis 2-3 about the environment outside Eden and about the nature of the humans who will inhabit that real world. Then it turns to 3:16, first by looking at the translation traditions and then by examining the verse line by line. Finally, it presents an aspect of the ancient context, which informs the reading of the last line of 3:16.