A History of Confusion
“If you do well, is here not acceptance? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should master it.” Genesis 4:7 (ISR)
Desire – Our translations often depend on previous scholarship and church history. The translation decisions made in the past influence newer translations, sometimes in ways that perpetuate misinformation and confusion. When we examine the history of translation of a passage like this one, we find considerable divergence hidden behind theological choices.
Why does this matter? It matters because this particular word is used only three times in Scripture and its first occurrence has been the source of enormous theological claims about the nature and role of women. The clause, “and its desire is for you” is exactly the same structure and vocabulary that we find in Genesis 3:16, the rather notorious verse about Havvah and Adam. The linguist knots associated with this phrase are particularly difficult to unravel. Many scholars have weighed in on the matter without a general consensus. Bushnell points out that the typical Christian translation (“desire”) stems from Targum Onkelos and the Babylonia Talmud, influenced by the Talmudic “Ten Curses Against Eve.” Through a series of Latin translations, the idea of “desire” (originally “lust”) was pasted to several early English translations of Scripture and has become a common understanding of this word.
But there is another translation stream arising through the LXX, the Syraic Peshitta and Coptic translations. This stream views the rare Hebrew word teshuqah as “turning,” not “lust.” If this stream is correct, then the word in Genesis 3:16 is about Havvah’s mistake of “turning” her principle devotion toward Adam rather than God. Havvah makes Adam her priority with her decision to take from the Tree. The result is catastrophic but the motivation is understandable. She chooses based on what she believes will enhance her abilities to serve her charge. She chooses in spite of God’s warning.
Contemporary translations that treat teshuqah from the perspective of lust or desire are left with the uncomfortable declaration that the woman has some inherent compulsion to want the man and God arranges for that compulsion to be eternally frustrated (“he shall rule over you”). If teshuqah is really about unbridled craving, then God’s warning to Cain takes on heightened expression. According to the usual translation (as above), it is sin that craves Cain. This makes us think that Cain is the pawn in a gigantic spiritual battle between good and evil. The powerful enemy, sin, is after him but, as God warns, he must master it. Suddenly we think of sin as a foreign attacker seeking dominance over us. How then are we to reconcile this external enemy conceptualization with God’s direction that all that is necessary is to “do well”?
But if the verse is about turning, then perhaps all it says is that Cain is turning toward his own motivation, ignoring God’s clear instructions, just as his mother did.
What’s the point of this rather technical discussion of a complicated Hebrew expression? The point is that all of this is obscured in the standard translation, a translation that is based on prior historical commitments, not necessarily on textual accuracy. In fact, textual accuracy may not be possible given the difficulties surrounding this word. Therefore, it is impossible to make a theological claim about the status of women or the nature of sin based on these verses. It’s time to understand that a good deal of our theological education does not come from the text. It comes from the way men have interpreted the text, and far too often those interpretations are based in cultural presuppositions. What you read in your English Bible is sometimes not what God said. When you read a passage that strikes an odd note or seems counterintuitive, perhaps the problem is not the Scripture but rather the history of the translation. How many times has the Church employed a verse like Genesis 3:16 to subject women to its will rather than allowing that the text is confusing, difficult and not clearly understood?
Topical Index: teshuqah, desire, turning, Genesis 3:16, Genesis 4:7
For more elaboration of this issue, see my book Guardian Angel and the comments on this verse in the LXX, the Vulgate and the MT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint
This is all the more likely, when we remember that ‘sin’ can also be translated ‘sinoffering’. Maybe God pointed Cain to his doorstep: ‘Look, there’s the offering I desire! Just do what you know is right!’ That would have really made a difference, a ‘turning’ in his life! But sadly, we know he chose his own way, with devastating results.
Confusion?- or Clarity? Darkness? (that which conceals) or Light? (that which reveals)
G-d hates sin. No doubt, not a bit, G-d hates (hates) sin. Why? Unless we are blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other, -take a look around. What, dear friends, are the consequences of sin? (helpful household hint.)- when sin is conceived, it brings forth death.. (separation). Separation from G-d (who is holy.. remember?) and separation between ourselves- you go your way and I’ll go mine. No, no, and no. G-d is a G-d of tremendous diversity (amen?) and yet G-d is “our” G-d, and “our” Father, a plurality in unity. G-d is all about shalom. Unity, wholeness, fullness- our Reconciler and Restorer of the Breech.
There is a mighty gap between sinful man -(all have sinned- remember?), and our thrice-holy G-d. Should we pull over and park here? Need a few verses from the Word to verify the facts? (just the facts m’am). We (all) are sinners. Right now, right here, furiously typing, fingers flying- this man is,till the day I die, is a sinner, saved by grace. No more, no less- , by the unceasing mercies of YHWH, -“I am what I am”, a sinner, saved by grace..- But wait!- there’s more! -always more.. I am also a saint! “Saint Carl”.. whoodathunkit? -has a ring to it- wouldn’t you say? What is a saint anyway? (we desperately need some clarity-don’t we?) A saint is nothing more than a “saved” sinner. Nothing more, nothing less. Another one- saved, (delivered-set free), by grace, through faith, unto good works.
I do not “blame” the first couple for the current state of the world. We lost paradise, it is true, but we gain far more in Christ than we ever lost in Adam. May we learn any lessons from the failure of the first couple? Absolutely. – I have learned (and so have you) -we are totally free in the choices we make.. -large or small-it matters not.. But (Providentially),- according to His purpose- we are not free in the consequences of our choosing. Every choice we make is followed by a consequence. We (all), according to G-d’s word, will reap what we sow. Is this true? It is. Amen. I (willingly,purposefully) choose Him. According to His word- “sin shall no longer have dominion over us”- are we listening? -We should choose to “shema”.. What would be the consequences of “shema”? Obedience (the mindset of Christ) is followed by..?
I think I understand your concept of turning vs. desire. I also agree that we don’t understand teshuqah. I still have difficulty with the turning translation only.
Women in general are NOT motivated by sex or money like men (sorry guys). But they will pursue anything (sex or money included) that gets them recognized. Recognition by mankind is power. Sin is a BLOOD-THIRSTY craving for power. Women crave the recognition of anyone in general but men in particular because recognition by men puts them in the ultimate power game and gives them a shot at power over them. There’s that ugly word PRIDE EEEYU! Just ask Mary Kay. She’s built a billion dollar empire on satisfying the CRAVINGS of women for recognition for decades and is” PROUD OF IT!”
There are only two streams of power that we can “choose” from. If we choose Torah we are step into the power of G-d’s kingdom we are recognized by G-d and He gets credit for the resulting evidence. When we step into the power of sin for our own purposes, we get the glory and sin gets our blood!
I’m rejoicing and grateful to you Skip for pursuing this subject. But I’m letting the whole thing simmer on my back burner as I research and pray through it. Something is still missing (in my opinion) from your theory.
My current belief is that teshuqah probably envelopes both concepts. Therefore my conclusions are different from yours at the present time. But since I don’t have your training and resources I’m sooooooo appreciating your input.
Bless you
Shalom
So confusing, to me. Skip, please bring a copy of Guardian Angel when you come to Phoenix. I am planning on make the drive North to meet with the group that is gathering. I am likeing what you are saying. I agree that the translations that I have been raised on are more theological points of view than real interpretations. I just am unsure how to get to the truth. God is my help!
I will begin to tell my story. I have been in the field of healthcare for over 30 years. I have been following Christ since I was 5 years old. After years and years of taking great care of myself by eating healthy, exercising, managing stress, daily time in the Word, etc., I was in the best shape of my life. I ran 35+ miles per week, ate an ideal diet, was in ministry for the Kingdom having put on, written, directed or been in 37 plays in front of 500,000 people in 15 years. I thought I had it all “together”. After all of this, I was out for a run and was about a mile into a 5-7 mile jaunt. The next thing I know, I woke up face planted in the grass!! I looked at my timer GPS watch and over 1.5 minutes had passed. That was a strange feeling to say the least. I went to the hospital and had a slew of heart tests done since they couldn’t explain what had caused me to pass out. As you probably guessed, nothing showed up. After 3 days of intensive testing, they let me go home. No answers. Over the course of the next several weeks, I kept getting progressively worse, but no one could explain why. In the next couple of days I will continue my story. I hope I whet your appetite for more!
Tell us more!
Weren’t we praying for you last summer Tom?
I find it very SCARY that I too have been “lost in translation”. I have been a “Christian” most of my life, but after reading Guardian Angel this weekend I was SHOCKED to find that the way I was taught to understand many verses/the Bible is based on interpretation….What to do? Am I to learn Hebrew to really understand? Will I once again count on people to interpret and lead? I am sure there is much debate under even enlightened people/scholars…so who to trust? I trust God will make a way so I can truly understand the original meaning of His Word.
Thank You for the excellent teachings in ‘Guardian Angel’. I found it fascinating and it has opened a whole new world for me……down the rabbithole we go!!!
Yes, it is illuminating isn’t it? It’s amazing to see just how self-serving the past interpretations were. But now you have a new view – and now you will have to start rethinking a lot of ovther things. Welcome to the community where we explore together this new view – actually it’s a rather old view we are simply recovering.
Skip,I think I missed something along the way. What is the book “Guardian Angel ” about.? sorry,Mary Ann.
Go here to find out.
https://skipmoen.com/products/guardian-angel/
Part II: I trained for 6 months to run 5K’s, 10K’s, 10 milers, and half marathons for the Leukemia Society. I raced 7 times in 4 months and had a blast! I was running better than I ever had in my life and fund raising for a good cause at the same time. Several years earlier, I had been exposed to a black mold (deadly) which took its toll on me for a couple of years but seemed to be under control. I was on a protocol to abate it from my system for 2.5 years and thought all was well. What I didn’t know was that once you have black mold or fungus in your system, you ALWAYS have it in your body and it requires a permanent “managing” to keep it under control! (unless God chooses to supernaturally intervene and remove it which I believe it possible 🙂 All the training was gradually breaking down my resistance and defenses, and after running 30-35 miles per week plus all the races (very strenuous on the body), I was slowly burning out the immune defenses that I had worked so diligently to build up. I began to detect constant chronic, unrelenting fatigue after my last half marathon in November. By January, I knew I was in trouble, but kept working at my normal feverish pace at my chiropractic practice. In February, I lost my voice- I don’t mean a scratchy throat, I mean nothing would come out- period!! For over a month, I continued to try and practice. I would write things out for my staff, for patients, for my family, but even not using my voice did not speed the recovery. After 6 weeks, it was still no better and I was so exhausted, I would go to the office as close to patient treatment time as possible, put in my 3 hours of care, then come home and sleep for 4-5 hours, get up and eat a little something, then back to bed where I would stay for 16-18 hours until it was time to get up, prep, drive to the office and do it again. I did this for another month and finally just couldn’t take it any longer. I kept trying to think back in my life for any semblance of reference to this being like anything that I had ever experienced before…then it hit me! This was exactly how I felt when I had mono in college and lost an entire semester to the hospital and my bed at home. It took me 6-7 months to come out of it and regain the ability to return to school. And that was when I was 18!! At 52, I knew I was in trouble. I went to a clinic that I used to refer my patients to that had medical type conditions, and requested blood testing (up to this point, 3 doctors didn’t know what the heck was wrong with me). Sure enough, the mono test came back positive and the black mold/blood fungus had also gotten into my brain. I was one sick puppy. In the next couple of days, I will write Part III to include all the things God has taught me during this YEAR IN BED. In NO WAY do I believe God “caused” this or that he uses sickness to “teach us lessons” but man, did I learn some amazing things laying in bed 20 hours a day for month after month not knowing whether or not I was going to die. 3 different doctors told me separately that had I NOT been taking as good a care of myself as I have been over the last 15+ years, I surely would have died. Very humbling to say the least. More later! There’s so much more to tell.
where’s the rest of the story? It has been years since you published anything. I am very interested in knowing what happened.
Sorry for the lateness of this comment, but I only just discovered your blog. So, I hope you don’t mind this very late comment.
By way of background, I’m a biblical Hebrew and Old Testament instructor in the MOLLI department here at the University of Montana with an especially keen interest in the Genesis creation accounts. With this in mind, I have a few comments relevant to this post.
1. You may want to consider the notion that the occurrence of teshuqatek is a parablepsis in which a Bet was [mistakenly] replaced by a Qof. I am aware of Kaiser’s thoughts how this came about, but Occam’s razor suggests to me that Septuagint translators (as well as a host of other translations) got it right in translating the word as ‘apostrophe’ = turning and teshuqatek’s presence in Stuttgartensia arose somewhere in the copying of the text.
2. The use of mashal is similarly confusing. In my view mashal, correctly understood and as attested in a number of other verses, is better understood in the context of this verse as “take care of”.
For more detail with respect to #1 dnd #2, you may want to read my translation and commentary on 3:16 (Linked removed).
3. Finally, discussions of teshuqatek invariably give rise to Genesis 4:7. So, just a few words on this verse, if you don’t mind. I believe teshuqatek is correct in this verse. However, most translations get this wrong since they mistranslate the antecedent of ‘its’ in the second clause, “its desire is for you , but you must master it.” (NRS). In Hebrew ‘sin’ is a feminine noun and so cannot be the antecedent of ‘its’ (or ‘it’). A better choice is ‘anger’ (lit. “fallen face”, from the previous verse). Face (paneem) is masculine and, when accompanied by an adjective means some sort of emotion.
As before, I have provided more detail here (Linked removed)
Blessings,
Michael
P.S. I’ve bookmarked your blog. Nicely done.
Hello Michael. Welcome to the website. Please don’t add any offsite links. YOu’ll have to find a way to describe the places you want people to go another way.
Thank you,
Mark
I have read some of the comments. My understanding from the Genesis scripture and others see that Yahweh (God) created Adam, breathed life into him. Eve was taken from man (who already has the breath of life in her) and is given to Adam as a helpmate. Both these roles gave different functions, yet will bring a balance in this union. One can look at much of nature and its creatures and animals (both male and female) to see this. Both Adam and Eve both show their obedience to Yahweh (God). Woman if her male partner follows the word of Yahweh, does not cause conflict (the same applies to the man). A woman can be obedient to Yahweh (God) and a man may not be, and visa versa. Yet even in this situation ones obedience is FIRST to Yahweh (and Yeshua). This is one of the reason we are told NOT to be unequally yoked. In the NT, it speaks of “IN Yeshua there is NO male or female, slave or freeman …..” etc. For all are ONE in Yeshua as he is ONE with the Father (Yahweh). We are ALL “sinners” ( so one cannot say woman are the sinners or the lustful ones and need to be dominated) and “those who say they are without sin are a liar and there is no TRUTH in them. We are saved though Yeshua, by his “Righteous Merit” only, of being WITHOUT sin.
Man has dominated this world and have treated woman like second class being, to be ruled over. Men are genetically stronger than woman. Woman are nurturers and naturally LOVE, whereas “man” has to learn to LOVE and not “lust”. Woman need to “RESPECT” the man and the position he has as a provider and protector. (The verse in the NT). One can see this relates to Yahweh. He is a provider and protector, (male) yet He is also a nurturer (female). Yahweh said “Let us make man in our image”, both male AND female. These attributes are all a part of Yahweh’s very essence. I don’t think Yahweh is in conflict with Himself, but in unity, complete. “Man and woman shall join together and be ONE” as Yahweh is ONE. Yeshua said “He is ONE with the Father (Yahweh)”. This is “unity” completeness. Both man and woman with their unique individual purpose, does not make them less of one or the other. Man in past ages and even to today, because of their lack of understanding have degraded woman, and have abused them. I believe this is NOT what Yahweh intended.
Blessing to all our Brethren worldwide.
Perhaps you will want to read my book, Guardian Angel, to see how the Hebrew view differs.