Vowel Problems
To the woman He said, “I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception – bring forth children in pain. And your desire is for your husband, and he does rule over you.” Genesis 3:16 (SRI)
Greatly Increase – Perhaps we have become so numb to this story that we just don’t ask any questions about it. We’ve heard about “Eve’s curse” so many times that we simply assume this is what the text says. But maybe we need to ask some questions. Maybe we need to ask some very big questions, particularly questions about what this particular translation suggests about God.
After centuries of Greek-influenced misogyny, the Church has finally begun to acknowledge that God does not “curse” Adam or the woman. God describes what has happened and what will continue to happen as a result of this tragic occurrence. Since this statement is so crucially important for our understanding of the roles of men and women, we better be very careful when we investigate this verse. But there’s a small problem. It’s about vowels. Hebrew has no vowels, so any translation will have to add vowels to the consonants in order to decide what the words mean.
There are two biblical possibilities for vowel construction in the critical consonants that make up the phrase translated “greatly increase.” The consonants are H-R-B-H and A-R-B-H. You can see that the two words look the same; the only difference being the initial consonant. Translators usually assume the H-R-B-H root is R-B-H, a verb meaning “to be many.” If this root is repeated here, we get the translation “to be many, many,” resulting in “greatly multiply.” But a small shift in the vowels – from rabah to ‘arab – in the second word, changes the meaning entirely. Now it is not a repetition of R-B-H but rather a new word, A-R-B. This word, ‘arab, occurs more than thirty times in the Tanakh. It means “to lie in wait, to ambush.” If this second word is ‘arab and not a repetition of rabah, then the meaning would be “has caused to increase the lying-in-wait your sorrow.” Rearranged in English, God says, “The one who ambushed you has multiplied your sorrow.” WOW! Does this make a difference!
Bushnell offered this alternative nearly 100 years ago. It was ignored. Why? Because the weight of church tradition could not imagine that God didn’t curse Eve. There is nothing impossible about this translation of the Hebrew. What is impossible is its implication for the 2000 years of misogyny perpetrated by the church.
Bushnell’s suggestion has further merit when we consider some other elements of this passage. Meyers pointed out years ago that the proper understanding of the consequences is not about childbirth but rather about raising children. So, this text can’t be about conception and bearing children. It’s about the struggle in relationships as a result of disobedience. That fits neatly with the second part about “desire” and the husband. What is at stake are personal relationships – precisely the same issue in the serpent’s attempt to eliminate Adam. We also know that God is not issuing a curse. He is stating a fact. Disobedience will bring a mess and that mess will extend to both children and husband. Who is responsible for all this? It’s not Eve alone. The serpent did the deceiving. Eve listened, but the serpent spoke. Now we can see why God says, “I will put enmity between you and the serpent.” What He is saying is this: I am going to make it very difficult for you to ever be deceived again by this creature. I am going to make him something other than a walking, talking, resplendent beast. Now he will be revolting and you will never listen to him again.” In other words, from now on, that nice friendly encounter you had with him is going to become fearful and repugnant. The walking, talking, naked snake is going to look like something horrible. You won’t be listening to him anymore.
Havvah is right to blame the serpent. She is responsible too, of course, but the focus of God’s observation is about the effect of the serpent’s deception, not a prescription of eternal punishment. If the Son is going to arrive through a woman, then the hope of Mankind rests on the submissive heart of a woman, doesn’t it? Maybe this little story is about God assisting the ‘ezer kenegdo by creating a natural revulsion between the deceiver and the woman. Maybe God is making sure that she will listen to Him, just as she is supposed to. Maybe it’s all about God’s heart of compassion instead of instant punishment.
Topical Index: serpent, Eve, curse, rabah, ‘arab, Bushnell, Genesis 3:16
Wow, this information is just amazing on so many levels. Aside from the clearer understanding of Scripture, and the original plan for humans, it has sparked some other implications in my mind.
Growing up during the time of the Women’s Liberation Movement, I wondered what everyone was so excited about. Looking back, I see that within the feminine person, there was such an overwhelming sense of injustice about that which had been ‘forced’ upon them by religion, and yet it did not ring true in their being. How could such opression have come from the Creator? It is now amusing to me that there is, in truth, Women’s Liberation – freedom to be what we are created to be!
John 8:32 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Hallelujah!
Hello Dr. Moen
We are glad to have you back!!! Just one comment. Of course, this is just an opinion that goes beyond what is usual. Blessings!!!
“…But this is not the end of the story. There was a relationship between Eve and the Serpent – a relationship which, according to a number of rabbinic sources, bore fruit. There are those among our sages who taught that one of Eve’s children was not fathered by Adam, rather the father was the Serpent. That child’s name was Cain:
The mixed multitude are the impurity which the serpent injected into Eve. From this impurity came forth Cain, who killed Abel the shepherd. (Zohar)
Many rabbinic masters insist that these mystical sources should only be understood as a commentary on the thematic relationship between the behavior of Cain and the behavior of the Serpent, to explain a spiritual dynamic and not to be understood literally. Whether the Zohar explains Cain’s murderous, jealous outburst by pointing to his actual, physical father, or only to his “spiritual father” is for the reader to decide. But if these sources are read literally, many more questions arise, and our neatly organized concepts of biblical man may require revision.”
(by Rabbi Ari D. Kahn)
This quote pursuit to take in consideration that what happened at Eden was “sexual relation”between Eve and the serpent. And that this element must be taken in consideration when we are doing philological analysis. This is quite important because even when philology is very important, the next step is the contextual analysis. In my opinion, if we want to analyzed the sentence agaisnt Eve, first, we must start with what happened at Gan Eden. Then the sentence can have sense.
Of course, our gratitude for this space to share our opinions.
IGS
In my non-Hebrew, non-Greek vocabulary and my Greek thinking mind, I somehow always understood the Old Testament as a testimony to God’s faithfulness in the light of mankind’s unfaithfulness. The above story re-enforces that for me. The notion that God is not cursing but simply explaining how it is causes it to fit in with his faithfulness. Thanks Skip for this insight.