Genesis 3:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 3:16
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.
a woman · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
said
אָמַ֗ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
greatly
הַרְבָּ֤הhar.Bah
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
multiply
אַרְבֶּה֙'ar.Beh
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
sorrow
עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְi.tze.vo.Nekh
H6093
worrisomeness · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
conception
וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְve.he.ro.Nekh
H2032
pregnancy · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
sorrow
בְּעֶ֖צֶבbe.'E.tzev
H6089
an earthen vessel · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
forth
תֵּֽלְדִ֣יte.le.Di
H3205
to bear young · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
children
בָנִ֑יםva.Nim
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
desire
תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְte.Shu.ka.Tekh
H8669
a longing · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
husband
אִישֵׁךְ֙'i.sheKh
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
rule
יִמְשָׁלyim.shol-
H4910
to rule · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Titus 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as al…
Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
1 Timothy 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
1 Timothy 2:11-12 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
John 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:16
We have here the sentence passed upon the woman for her sin. Two things she is condemned to: a state of sorrow, and a state of subjection, proper punishments of a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her pride.
I. She is here put into a state of sorrow, one particular of which only is specified, that in bringing forth children; but it includes all those impressions of grief and fear which the mind of that tender sex is most apt to receive, and all the common calamities which they are liable to. Note, Sin brought sorrow into the world; it was this that made the world a vale of tears, brought showers of trouble upon our heads, and opened springs of sorrows in our hearts, and so delu…
unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow--She was doomed as a wife and mother to suffer pain of body and distress of mind. From being the help meet of man and the partner of his affections [Gen 2:18, Gen 2:23], her condition would henceforth be that of humble subjection.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:16
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. And this curse has fallen in a heavier degree on the woman than on any other female. Nothing is better attested than this, and yet there is certainly no natural reason why it should be so; it is a part of her punishment, and a part from which even God's mercy will not exempt her. It is added farther, Thy desire shall be t…
Unto the woman he said,.... The woman receives her sentence next to the serpent, and before the man, because she was first and more deeply in the transgression, and was the means of drawing her husband into it.
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, or "thy sorrow of thy conception" (a), or rather "of thy pregnancy" (b); since not pain but pleasure is perceived in conception, and besides is a blessing; but this takes in all griefs and sorrows, disorders and pains, from the time of conception or pregnancy, unto the birth; such as a nausea, a loathing of food, dizziness, pains in the head and teeth, faintings and swoonings, danger of miscarriage, and many distresses in such a…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 16) I will multiply your sorrows and your groanings. For sorrow and groaning, it has pains and conception in Hebrew. And for your conversion. Regarding the conversion of Aquila, the society: Symmachus transferred the desire or impulse.
Virginity was practiced in paradise. Indeed, sacred Scripture says that "they were naked, to wit, Adam and Eve, and were not ashamed." However, once they had fallen, they knew that they were naked, and being ashamed they sewed together aprons for themselves. After the fall, when Adam heard "Dust thou art, and unto dust you shall return," and death entered into the world through transgression, then Adam knew his wife, who conceived and brought forth. And so to keep the race from dwindling and being destroyed by death, marriage was devised, so that by the begetting of children the race of men might be preserved.
The punishment decreed against the serpent was justly decreed. Why? Because it was fitting that punishment return to the place where folly begins. The entire reason God began with this impious creature was so that, when justice appeased its anger on this creature, Adam and Eve should grow afraid and repent so that there might be a possibility for grace to preserve them from the curses of justice. But when the serpent had been cursed and Adam and Eve had still made no supplication, God came to them with punishment. He came to Eve first, because it was through her that the sin was handed on to Adam.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Adam — Red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent…
Devil — (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also “the accuser of the brethen” (Rev. 12:10). In Lev. 17:7 the word “devil” is…
Father — A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings…
Gilead — Hill of testimony, (Gen. 31:21), a mountainous region east of Jordan. From its mountainous character it is called “the mount of Gilead” (Gen. 31:25). It is called also “the land of Gilead” (Num.…
Governor — (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of…
Man — (1.) Heb. ‘Adam, used as the proper name of the first man. The name is derived from a word meaning “to be red,” and thus the first man was called Adam because he was formed from the red earth. It is…
Serpent — (Heb. nahash; Gr. ophis), frequently noticed in Scripture. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia. The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob’s blessing on Dan (Gen.…
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil — Stood in the midst of the garden of Eden, beside the tree of life (Gen. 2, 3). Adam and Eve were forbidden to take of the fruit which grew upon it. But they disobeyed the divine injunction, and so…
Uncleanness — The distinctive idea attached to ceremonial uncleanness among the Hebrews was that it cut a person off for the time from social privileges, and left his citizenship among God’s people for the while…
Unto the woman he said. In order that the majesty of the judge may shine the more brightly, God uses no long disputation; whence also we may perceive of what avail are all our tergiversations with him. In bringing the serpent forward, Eve thought she had herself escaped. God, disregarding her cavils, condemns her. Let the sinner, therefore, when he comes to the bar of God, cease to contend, lest he should more severely provoke against himself the anger of him whom he has already too highly offended. We must now consider the kind of punishment imposed upon the woman. When he says, I will multiply thy pains,' he comprises all the trouble women sustain during pregnancy [201]
It is credible tha…
It was not till the prospect of victory had been presented, that a sentence of punishment was pronounced upon both the man and the woman on account of their sin. The woman, who had broken the divine command for the sake of earthly enjoyment, was punished in consequence with the sorrows and pains of pregnancy and childbirth. "I will greatly multiply (הרבּה is the inf. abs. for הרבּה, which had become an adverb: vid., Ewald, 240c, as in Gen 16:10 and Gen 22:17) thy sorrow and thy pregnancy: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." As the increase of conceptions, regarded as the fulfilment of the blessing to "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28), could be no punishment, והרנך must be underst…
Judgment falls on the woman’s unique role of childbearing and on her relationship with her husband. • And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you: The marriage relationship now included an element of antagonism rather than just security and fulfillment. New life in Christ allows for the restoration of a man and a woman’s marriage relationship (Eph 5:18-32; cp. Matt 20:25-28).
Rashi on Genesis 3:16
ואל אישך תשוקתך AND TO YOUR HUSBAND WILL BE YOUR DESIRE — for sexual relations. And, nonetheless, you will not have the temerity to proposition him with [your] mouth, but rather HE WILL RULE OVER YOU — everything will come from him and not from you.
Afflictions And Adversities · .Consequent upon the fall — .Consequent upon the fall
Birth · Giving, ordained to be in — Giving, ordained to be in
Curse · .Against Adam and Eve — .Against Adam and Eve
Eve · Curse — Curse
Fall Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fall Of Man, The · Punishment consequent upon: Condemnation to labour and sorrow — Punishment consequent upon: Condemnation to labour and sorrow
Family · GOVERNMENT OF — GOVERNMENT OF
God · .To Adam — .To Adam
Husbands · Have authority over their wives — Have authority over their wives
Judgments · Eve — Eve
Man · Punished for disobedience — Punished for disobedience
Sin · Toil and sorrow originated in — Toil and sorrow originated in
Strife · General references — General references
Titles And Names Of The Devil · Serpent — Serpent
Wife · The — The
Wives · Duties of, to their husbands: To be subject to them — Duties of, to their husbands: To be subject to them
Woman · Curse pronounced on — Curse pronounced on
Women · Fall of, and curse upon — Fall of, and curse upon
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
