Originally Posted by Nell
Jane's commentary on Gen. 3:16.
THE BIG LEMON IN THE OLD TESTAMENT is the translation of Genesis 3:16 as it appears in current Bibles. This mistranslated and, therefore, misunderstood verse exists as a foundational building block in Satan’s strategy against mankind and, in particular, in his strategy against women. It is the Old Testament base upon which the lemon translations in the New Testament rest. In order to comprehend the seriousness of its mistranslation, we first need to take a look at a conflict that began many eons ago between Satan and God. Understanding the fundamentals of this conflict will give us the key to understanding the devil’s reason for the subtle mistranslation of Genesis 3:16 and why it is critical that the translation of Genesis 3:16 be corrected.
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The Power of One Word
Genesis 3:16 is part of the story of what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. A seemingly small, but very critical, change to the meaning of one word in this verse took place in a sixteenth century translation. This change made it possible to conceal the most likely scenario of what happened during and immediately after man’s fall. It also made way for the enemy to offer a view of God’s character which was false. Another part of Genesis 3:16, which was also poorly translated, afforded the way for interpreters and teachers to say that God had cursed woman. Finally, a third part of Genesis 3:16 came to be understood as an imperative or command when, grammatically, it was not. These three translation problems made it possible for the devil to use this verse to fight against and subdue women, and to do so in the name of God.
Problem 1 in Genesis 3:16: Turning or Lust?
The translation of this verse now stands in the King James Version of the Bible as follows:
Unto the woman he saith, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception3; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee” (Gen. 3:16, KJV).
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3 According to Bushnell, this is a translation error: The word “conception” does not exist in the Hebrew. The word should be “sighing.” A detailed explanation of this error is found in paragraphs 120–121 of God’s Word to Women.
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After studying this verse in Hebrew and reviewing the historical development of all the translations of this verse over eighteen centuries, Katharine Bushnell found that its translations and resultant interpretations were the basis for a stronghold of wrong beliefs about man ruling over woman. She discovered that the devil had craftily used natural male bias to torque the translation just enough to lay a foundational false belief about woman. After much careful study of the verse in Hebrew, she concluded that an accurate translation of this verse would be:
Unto the woman He said, "A snare has increased thy sorrow and thy sighing. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. Thou art turning away to thy husband and he will rule over thee.4
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4 See Bushnell’s God’s Word to Women, paragraphs 117, 119, and 124 for a detailed explanation of her suggested translation.
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She discovered that the Hebrew word, “teshuqah,” was translated “turning” in the earliest translations. It remained “turning” for sixteen centuries until Pagnino’s Latin version changed it to “lust.” It then read, “Your lust shall be to your husband and he shall rule over you.” In the seventeenth century, the King James Version softened the translation by using the word “desire,” which is a more genteel rendering with a similar meaning as Pagnino’s word “lust”. Now, in the twenty-first century, the word, “desire,” is used in the vast majority of English Bibles.
Of note is the fact that the International Standard Version has in recent years resumed the use of the word “turning” and has translated Genesis 3:16 as follows:
I'll greatly increase the pain of your labor during childbirth. It will be painful for you to bear children, since your trust is turning toward your husband, and he will dominate you. (Gen. 3:16, ISV)
Although this translation sounds awkward and falls short of clarity, it is an improvement because the meaning given to teshuqah is that of the Hebrew meaning (turning).
Just as a small finger held up between the eye and the sun can completely block the orb of the sun from view, the one word change from “turning” to “desire” has blocked a proper understanding of the account of the Fall in Genesis 3. The word “turning” in Genesis 3:16 reveals that it was Eve's choice to “turn” from God to Adam. This reference to her turning to Him may mean that she was not driven out of the garden with Adam, but that she chose to follow him out. Regardless, in this verse, God was warning Eve that, because of her turning to Adam, Adam would rule over her. Rather than a command for the man to rule over woman, this was a warning to Eve of what was going to happen to her as a consequence of her choice. Whether she went out of the garden of her own volition or not, it is clear that God saw her turning away from Him to Adam and warned her of the danger of doing this. For more detail on Genesis 3, see paragraphs 66–74 of Bushnell’s book.
In light of the earlier explanation about authority and freedom, it should be no surprise why Satan wanted to remove the word “turning” from Genesis 3:16. It showed Eve exercising her own authority, her God-given freedom, to make a choice. Satan saw to it that this word was replaced with a crude word, “lust,” meaning inappropriate sexual desire. In this way, he brought about a change in the understanding of the first part of the verse that made it possible for the latter part, “he shall rule over you,” to be misinterpreted as an imperative, a command, one that appeared to be given by God for man to rule over woman. The reason for this was, according to subsequent interpreters, so that man could keep his wife and her lust under his control.5 It was a master stroke of the devil to win men fully into his woman-subduing camp by making it not only convenient for them, but a matter of obedience to God. It is strangely ironic that males—the gender that is known for out-of-control male lust—were behind a translation that said they had to dominate women because of their out-of-control female lust!
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5 See Bushnell’s Lessons 13–22 in God’s Word to Women for her full explanation of Genesis 3:16 translations and her insights on the account in Genesis 3.
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The discovery of the correct meaning of this one word opens the way for revelation and understanding that has the potential to benefit millions of women and men and their marriages. It can wake up millions of Christian women and empower them to become women of chayil who, in the light of how God really sees them, will be able to do their part in paving the way for the second coming of Christ. Much more will be said about this potential, but first we need to look at two other problems with the modern understanding of Genesis 3:16.
Problem 2 in Genesis 3:16: Is Woman Cursed?
Bushnell also noted that nowhere in the Bible did God curse Eve; rather, God cursed only two things: the ground and the serpent. She also noted that nowhere does the Scripture say that God put Eve out of the garden. It does plainly say, however, that He drove Adam out of the garden and that He gave a consequence that was specifically tailored to fit with what Adam’s job had been in the Garden of Eden—to cultivate and guard it. The truth is that, at the time of the Fall, God blessed woman and her seed in the pronouncement that He made to the devil. After hearing God’s pronouncement to the serpent, Adam called his wife, “Eve,” which means the mother of all living.
Neither did God curse Adam; however, He did place the responsibility for the Fall with him when He said, “Cursed is the ground thanks to you” (Gen. 3:17, NET). Upon examination of corresponding New Testament verses, it can be shown clearly that God’s Word holds Adam, not Eve, responsible for the Fall (Rom. 5:12–19).
Problem 3 in Genesis 3:16: Did God Mandate that Man Rule Over Woman?
God did not mandate that man rule over woman. After a detailed explanation about the translation of the phrase, “shall rule over thee,” Bushnell concludes:
Thus we see that the context does not prove that this “shall be” of the sentence translated, “thy desire shall be to thy husband” is imperative. We can assert positively that this sentence is a simple future or present, warning woman of the consequences of her action. So it is rendered in all the ancient versions; never as an imperative. As a prophecy it has been abundantly fulfilled in the manner in which man rules over woman, especially in heathen lands. (Bushnell, para. 127)
So, rather than a command, this phrase was a prediction of what would happen to woman if she made the choice to turn away from God and look to her husband to meet her needs. The belief that this phrase was God’s decree to subdue woman has been used to support the suppressive rule of men over women. This effect of this lemon translation cannot be minimized.
Nell--
(From Chapter 3 with Jane's permission)
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