by Bruce C. E. Fleming
SUPERVERSEs! What comes to mind?
- Super Man? The comic book from 1938?
- Super Book? The cartoon series from 1981?
- Super Fans? The book from 2019?
It is time for SUPERVERSEs!
What kind of verses? These are the Bible’s super verses on women and men.
Which one is THE superverse? It is the key verse on women and men in the Garden of Eden. It is Genesis 3:16. It has to do with Eve and all her daughters down through time to this very day!
Have you heard someone refer to Eve in the past year? They probably had something in mind related to Genesis 3:16. In this verse are the words God gave to the woman. They come between God’s words to the serpent tempter in Genesis 3:14-15 and God’s words to the man in Genesis 3:17-19.
But God’s words to the woman are NOT like God’s words to the other two. The words used and the word patterns used to put them together are altogether different. Genesis 3:16 is not like the other verses. And that, in part, is what makes it a SUPERVERSE!
Few people have studied this whole verse in depth. Most just pull out a thought or two from it. Sad to say most thoughts people have about this verse are bad news for Eve and all her daughters. And these bad thoughts are not actually in Genesis 3:16!
- Was Eve a source of all evil like Pandora?
- Did God establish a patriarchal order of man over woman as in pagan societies?
- Did God curse woman with pain in childbirth?
- Answer key: None of the above!
People incorrectly lump the woman with the serpent as if she were the Temptress and received severe treatment like the Tempter got. They fail to see God’s promise that she was the one who would defeat the Tempter through her offspring.
People incorrectly lump the woman with the man, the one who blamed God and his partner and continued in his decided rebellion against God’s words. They fail to see she didn’t play the blame game. She hadn’t rebelliously disobeyed God on purpose like him when she ate from the tree.
So many incorrect ideas are attached to this verse. Many have proven harmful to our spiritual health and for our relationships at home, in church and in society!
What really happened in Eden? God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way!
Want to go deeper? Enroll in The Eden Workshop on Genesis 2-3! This is our Tru School 8-day fast-track zoom course. We do 8 zoom study sessions using the Study Guides from each chapter in The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3. Here’s the link for more info and to enroll! Tru316.com/workshop
Why the ‘s’ at the end of the word SUPERVERSEs? Because while Genesis 3:16 and the accompanying passage on the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 is “really super,” there are other verses in other passages on women and men that are “pretty super” as well.
Want to look into them as well? Here are the key passages related to the Superverse of Genesis 3:16.
– Genesis 2-3
– Ephesians 5:15-6:9
– 1 Timothy 2:8-3:16
– 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
– 1 Corinthians 14:34-40
– 1 Peter 3:1-7
Have you noticed? There is much written and talked about regarding these passages. But people disagree.
Have you noticed? People seem to go around and around in their discussions. They leave us frustrated and unsure.
What is wrong? They haven’t stopped to think about their beliefs related to Genesis 3:16.
Once Genesis 3:16 becomes clear all the other passages become clear too.
- Once we realize there is no curse on Eve we judge her less harshly.
- Once we realize God didn’t speak to her about childbirth we begin to see what God did talk to her about.
- Once we realize God didn’t tell the man to rule over the woman we begin to recognize God’s words of warning to her – he will rule over you.
Want to go deeper? Enroll in The Eden Workshop on Genesis 2-3! This is our Tru School 8-day fast-track zoom course. We do 8 zoom study sessions using the Study Guides from each chapter in The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3. Here’s the link for more info and to enroll! Tru316.com/workshop
Let’s think about all this a bit more. In Genesis 3:16 God promises the woman to take action in two ways. These actions are very different. They are each related to one of the others who was there at the Tree in the Garden of Eden.
In Line 1 of Genesis 3:16 you can see these two actions clearly in the English translation of Genesis 3:16 in The King James Version (KJV and NKJV) of the Bible. God multiplies in two different ways. The will result in two different things for the woman.
1. She will experience sorrowful toil (the Hebrew word is ‘itsabon) when she does fieldwork with her hands as will the man (see Genesis 3:17, ‘itsabon), and as happened to the parents if Noah (see Genesis 5:29, ‘itsabon).
2. She will surely have conception of offspring who will crush the head of the serpent tempter the enemy (see Genesis 3:14-15).
In the rest of Genesis 3:16 God takes no further action. Instead God tells her of what her life will be like now that the attack has occurred and they have disobeyed.
In Line 2. “In sorrow you will bring forth children.” This is a mix of good news and bad news. Much like the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was mixed fruit. As a mother of many “children” (fulfillment of the creation blessing of Genesis 1) she will have “sorrow.” This psychological grief came to pass as her firstborn son, Cain, refused to listen to God and rose up and murdered her second son, Abel. Then Cain continued I his sinful ways and so did his children after him.
In Line 3. “Your affection is for your husband.” This was good news. This affection (desire, teshuqah) was reassuring good news. God looked into her heart and confirmed her love was still there. She had not rebelled against God on purpose. She had not blamed the man.
In Line 4. “But he will rule over you.” This was bad news in contrast to Line 3. The man had already dethroned God. He had rejected God’s words and disobeyed. He had followed the serpent tempter’s words. He had chosen to follow his own desire and rule over himself. And next he would choose to rule over the woman too. It was not his place to rule over her. It was God’s place. Would he go one to usurp God’s place. Would he force himself on her in his sin to rule over her? That appears to be the case. Look at Genesis 3:20. There he calls her with a new name (God previously had called their name Adam, Genesis 5:5). The man used the same naming formula in Hebrew that he used when he ruled over the animals and named them!
Want to go deeper? Enroll in The Eden Workshop on Genesis 2-3! This is our Tru School 8-day fast-track zoom course. We do 8 zoom study sessions using the Study Guides from each chapter in The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3. Here’s the link for more info and to enroll! Tru316.com/workshop
Get clarity in the Tru School Eden Workshop Series. There are four. You can pick and choose or take all four. Learn more here: Tru316.com/workshop
Author of The Eden Book Series
