Question:
What is the meaning of Genesis 3:16?
Answer:
Genesis 3:16 says, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
It has two parts to it. First, the woman would have pain and travail in bringing forth children. Isaiah 26:17 says, “Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.” Man would have his pain and travail in working hard for a living. Genesis 3:17-19 says, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Second, the woman was to now look to the man to lead her, so she would not be deceived again. “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” The New Testament reveals to us that Eve was deceived — she really believed what the serpent was telling her. Whereas Adam also sinned, but he knew that they were doing wrong. I Timothy 2:11-14 says, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
Sin has a terrible price tag to it, and is never worth the pain, agony, and sorrow that it brings. How much better to repent and receive Jesus Christ, and then live for Him. John 10:10 says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Do you have that new life in Christ?