16
To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’el- hā·’iš·šāh ’ā·mar har·bāh ’ar·beh ‘iṣ·ṣə·ḇō·w·nêḵ wə·hê·rō·nêḵ bə·‘e·ṣeḇ tê·lə·ḏî ḇā·nîm tə·šū·qā·ṯêḵ wə·’el- ’î·šêḵ wə·hū yim·šāl- bāḵ
Word by word16 · parsed
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
ʼel- — “to / toward.” Sentence by sentence God addresses each party in turn; the woman, who acted first, is sentenced before the man — but, unlike the serpent, she is not cursed.
√ ʼishshâh — a womanArticleNounfeminine singular
hā-ʼiššāh — “the woman.” Not yet named Eve; she is still defined by her relation to the man (ʼîš), the naming of v. 20 reserved for after the sentence.
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
√ râbâh — to increase (in whatever respect)VerbHifilInfinitive absolute
The infinitive absolute harbāh intensifies the finite verb that follows it. Hebrew often piles a verb on its own root to swear a thing certain; here the certainty is of multiplied sorrow. Note the same root rābāh stood behind the creation-blessing “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28): the very faculty meant for blessing is now shot through with grief.
√ râbâh — to increase (in whatever respect)VerbHifilImperfectfirst person common singular
√ ʻitstsâbôwn — worrisomeness, iNounmasculine singular constructsecond person feminine singular
ʻiṣṣāḇōn (H6093) — “toil, painful labour.” The same noun reappears in v. 17 for the man’s toil over the ground: the woman’s sorrow and the man’s sweat are named with one word, binding the two sentences together.
√ hêrôwn — pregnancyConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular constructsecond person feminine singular
hêrōn (H2032) — “pregnancy, conception,” a word found in only three verses. K&D argue it stands in apposition to “sorrow” (the pains of pregnancy), since multiplied conception in itself would be blessing, not penalty.
√ ʻetseb — an earthen vesselPreposition-bNounmasculine singular
√ yâlad — to bear youngVerbQalImperfectsecond person feminine singular
tēlḏî (√yālad, H3205) — “thou shalt bear.” The promise of childbirth is implied inside the penalty: she will indeed bring forth the seed already promised in v. 15, but now through pain.
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural
√ tᵉshûwqâh — a longingNounfeminine singular constructsecond person feminine singular
təšūqāh (H8669) — “longing, desire,” one of Scripture’s rarest nouns. Its only near-parallel sentence is Genesis 4:7, where sin’s təšūqāh is toward Cain and he is to rule it — the identical pairing of desire + rule, which is why most read this clause through that verse.
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongConjunctive wawPreposition
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular constructsecond person feminine singular
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Conjunctive wawPronounthird person masculine singular
wə-hû — emphatic “and he.” The pronoun is spelled out though the verb already carries it: the stress falls on the husband as the one who rules.
√ mâshal — to ruleVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
yimšāl (√māšal, H4910) — “he shall rule.” The same verb God uses in Genesis 4:7 of mastering sin. Whether this is bare prediction of a fallen disorder or a divine ordinance is the fault-line between the commentators (cf. Barnes, who reads it as the parallel reiteration of “desire”).
בָּֽךְ׃סbāḵover you
Prepositionsecond person feminine singular