People come to Genesis 3:16 expecting to hear what God said to Eve in the Garden of Eden after the attack by the serpent tempter and her revelation to God of who was the source of her deception and eating of the fruit.
People expect to learn about the woman in this situation. They also expect to learn about God in this situation.
They expect to love and respect God, the Creator, even more based on what God says and does to her. But they are shocked and horrified at what appears to be unfair cruelty on God’s part. He appears, in most modern mistranslations of Genesis 3:16, to curse her with severe pain in childbirth.
They are then ashamed of Eve for apparently meriting such harsh treatment. And they are curious and wary of how the man fits into the situation.
The modern translations make it seem that God takes the rebellious man (who has just betrayed his bride and also accused God) and places him to rule over the woman. This puts the man in the place that belongs rightfully to God as the one who rules over her! All this is confusing and disheartening.
What is worse is that we have learned that many men in cultures around the world have relegated woman to a subservient and despised status in the home, in the church and in society because of the mistranslation of Genesis 3:16. They claim that women deserve harsh treatment. That this is justified because they are like their Mother Eve who was harshly treated by God.
Dr. Joy Fleming’s research shows that the many errors contained above are dead wrong and unnecessary. She shows that in Genesis 3 God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way!
Instead, in Line 1 of Genesis 3:16, God gave her good news and bad news connected to the other two who were in the Garden of Eden. The bad news was that she would experience “sorrowful-toil” which would result from the curse on the ground, even though that curse was to be made because of the rebellion of the man (3:17). The good news was that she would surely have “conception,” especially of the promised offspring who would crush the head of her deceiver Satan (3:15).
To correct the mistranslation of Genesis 3:16, Reverend Bruce C. E. Fleming and Dr. Joy Fleming have put together the Tru316 Project, with The Eden Podcast, The Book of Eden and the Tru316.com website. To support and further the work of the Tru316 Project they are launching the Tru Foundation and also a donor advised fund to help like-minded organizations. If you would like to help with a major gift contact them directly by email at this address: Bruce@Tru316.com.
