Adam and Eve’s New Relationship

 

After my first couple of blogs on Genesis 1-3, I got some pushback from a reader. She had an excellent question, which deserves some discussion.

In your last post, you suggested that Eve’s desire for her husband meant she would long for the relationship she and Adam had before the fall (but he would now rule over her). But that word, desire, is used in Genesis 4:7 in a different way, where sin is crouching at the door, desiring mastery over Cain. So doesn’t this mean Eve’s desire will be to have leadership over him?

That’s a great question! I’m all for word studies, because we are trying to understand a manuscript (the Bible) that is thousands of years old. Words change their meanings over time, as language is a constantly evolving thing, morphing with every generation. So, in order to figure out an ancient Hebrew word in a passage, we look to see how it is used in additional ancient contexts to help us define what it means.

The Hebrew word translated desire is used a total of three times. The first is in Genesis 3:16, where Eve is told she would desire her husband. The second is in Genesis 4:7, where sin desires Cain. The third is Song of Solomon 7:10, where a bride desires her husband.

In Genesis 4:7, we read: “…sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” God is making use of personification here, giving human qualities to an inanimate object. (In a few verses he will use another personification: Abel’s blood was “crying to Him” from the ground.) We do need to be careful when comparing use in one literary genre to another. It’s kind of apples to oranges. One is figurative (4:7) while the other is literal (3:16). In this verse, sin does not literally have desire. Because sin is not a person. So it’s a nebulous comparison at best.

But the other use, in Song of Solomon 7:10 reads: “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” This is a part of a love sonnet, something the bride says of her beloved. It is almost ridiculous to think she is talking about his intent to dominate her, when you look at the surrounding context.

Something else we need to add to the mix is what the root word is in the Hebrew. That word means to reach out toward. There is no sense of dominance in this word. Hebrew scholar Andrew MacIntosh gives the definition of this word (derived not just from the Bible but also the Dead Sea Scrolls) to mean focused attention or devotion. This single-minded concentration is exactly what Satan (the author of sin) has for Cain. It works for every one of the three verses.

Both men and women can desire. Satan (sin) can desire. So desire can be good or bad depending on its object. But the word without its object is neutral.

Therefore, an appropriate translation of Genesis 3:16 might read: “Your devotion will be toward your husband, yet he will rule over you.” Up until the Fall, both husband and wife were devoted to each other (see Genesis 2:23-24). Sin has now changed that relationship. Adam will seek to dominate rather than be devoted. Their mutual love has been defiled.

One more note: an academic paper by Irvin Busenitz, (at my alma mater, Gordon College) published in the Grace Theological Journal, notes that in Genesis 3, each participant in the Fall is given one punishment. The first part is a pronouncement of the actual punishment. The second is a description or explanatory statement (and this will be the result…).

For the serpent:

(Pronouncement) On your belly you will go and dust you will eat all the days of your life

(Explanation/description) And I will put enmity between you and the woman…He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

For Adam:

(Pronouncement) Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat it all the days of your life…

(Explanation) Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you…by the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground…

And for Eve:

(Pronouncement) I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth…

(Explanation) Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

This take on the passage is plausible to me, because Genesis 3:14-19 is in Hebrew poetry form, a very different genre than narrative. In its form, there are two (or three) parallel phrases. The first makes a statement, then the second restates or expands on the first. We need to view them as pairs that both say pretty much the same thing. (There are also contrasting pairs in Hebrew poetry, but this is not what we have in Genesis 3.)

Reality check: I like this last theory more than my husband does. For him, the jury is still out on this idea. And because I know and admire the depth of his scriptural knowledge and understanding, I’m kind of scared to even put it into this post! But it is definitely a possibility. So there it is.

 

If you are interested, I found an excellent article that might be helpful to you: http://theologicalmisc.net/2016/10/contrary-women-genesis-316b-now-non-permanent-esv/