Genesis 3:16

Genesis 3:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you."
• New King James Version (NKJV)To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

Context of Genesis 3:16

14The Lord God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this, I will curse you. Among all the farm animals and wild animals, you are the one that I will curse. From now on, you will move across the ground on your stomach. You will eat dust from the ground. You will do this for your whole life. 15I will cause you and the woman to become enemies. Your descendants and her descendants will always be enemies. One of her descendants will attack your head. You will attack his heel.’ God said to the woman, ‘I will cause you to have great pain when you give birth to children. You will want to please your husband. But he will rule over you as your master.’ 17Then God said to Adam, ‘You listened to your wife and you did what she said. You ate fruit from the tree after I told you, “You must not eat fruit from this tree.” Because you did that, I will curse the ground. You will have to work very hard to make plants grow in it for your food. It will be like this for your whole life. 18Thorn bushes and thistles will grow in the ground. But you will eat plants that grow in the fields.

Genesis 3:16 word by word

אֶֽל־הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אָמַ֗ר הַרְבָּ֤ה אַרְבֶּה֙ עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ בְּעֶ֖צֶב תֵּֽלְדִ֣י בָנִ֑ים וְאֶל־אִישֵׁךְ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ וְה֖וּא יִמְשָׁל־בָּֽךְ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Unto the womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I will greatlyרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• thy sorrowעִצָּבוֹן‛itstsâbôn · toilH6093
• and thy conceptionהֵרָיוֹןhêrôn hêrâyôn · conceptionH2032
• in sorrowעֶ֫צֶב‛etseb · toilH6089
• thou shalt bring forthיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• and thy desireתְּשׁוּקָהteshûqâh · desireH8669
• to thy husbandאִישׁ'îysh · man: husbandH376
• and he shall ruleמָשַׁלmâshal · to ruleH4910

Cross-references for Genesis 3:16

• Genesis 35:16Then they left Bethel and they continued to travel. When they were still a long way from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth. She had a lot of pain.
• 1 Samuel 4:19At that time, Phinehas' wife was pregnant. She was ready to give birth. She heard the news that the Philistines had taken away God's Covenant Box. She heard that her husband Phinehas and his father Eli were dead. When she heard this news, she started to give birth to her baby. But she had a lot of pain.
• Psalms 48:6They cannot stop themselves shaking, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby!
• Isaiah 13:8They will be very afraid. Their bodies will hurt with great pain, like a woman who is giving birth. They will look at each other, as their faces show fear and pain.
• Isaiah 21:3Because of that vision, I am very upset. Bad pains attack me, like the pains of a woman who is giving birth. My body hurts because of the things that I have heard. I am afraid to look!
• Isaiah 26:17Because of your punishment, Lord, we had much pain. We were like a woman who is giving birth and she cries out with pain.
• Isaiah 53:11When God's servant sees the result of his pain, he will understand what he has done. And he will be happy. The Lord says, ‘My righteous servant will cause many people to be “not guilty”, because he will take the punishment for all their sins.
• Jeremiah 4:31I can hear people who are calling out. It sounds like a woman who is giving birth to her first baby. She is calling out with great pain. It is Jerusalem who is crying! She is calling out for help. She says, ‘Help me! I am very weak. These murderers have come to kill me!’
• Jeremiah 6:24The people say, ‘We have heard news about them, and we are very frightened. We feel too weak to fight. We are afraid and in pain, like a woman who is giving birth.
• Jeremiah 13:21The Lord will choose other people to rule over you. They are people that you wanted to be your friends, but now they will have power over you. So what will you say about that? You will be afraid and in much pain, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
• Jeremiah 22:23You live safely in beautiful houses that are made from Lebanon's cedar wood. But when I punish you, you will cry out with pain. You will feel pain like a woman who is having a baby.’
• Jeremiah 49:24The people of Damascus will become weak. They will try to run away. They will become confused because of their fear. They will feel pain like a woman who is giving birth.
• Micah 4:9You people in Jerusalem, you are crying aloud like people who have no king. You cry like people who have no wise leader. You have bad pains like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
• John 16:21It will be like this. When a woman is soon to give birth to a baby, she is sad. She knows that it will be painful. But after the baby is born, she is happy. She forgets her pain, because now she is so happy. She is happy because her child has been born into the world.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3At that time, people will be saying, ‘We are safe and there is no trouble for us.’ But then, when they are not ready for it, great punishment will suddenly happen to them. It will be impossible for them to run away. Pain will suddenly come to them, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
• 1 Timothy 2:15But even as women give birth to children, God will save them. They must continue to trust God and to love other people. They must live in a way that shows they belong to God. They must think carefully about how they live. Then God will save them.

Commentaries on Genesis 3:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Unto the woman he said - She being second in the transgression is brought up the second to receive her condemnation, and to hear her punishment: I will greatly multiply, or multiplying I will multiply; i.e., I will multiply thy sorrows, and multiply those sorrows by other sorrows, and this during conception and pregnancy, and particularly so in parturition or child-bearing. And this curse has fallen in a heavier degree on the woman than on any other…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8-21Verses 8-21 - XVI. The Judgment 15. שׁוּף shûp “bruise, wound.” ͂ (= ͂ ?) tērein ̓́ ektribein Job 9:17, ͂ katapatein Psalm 139:11, ́ suntribein Romans 16:20. 16. תשׁוּקה teshûqâh “desire, inclination.” ́ apostrofee ̓́ epistrophē Genesis 3:8-13; the sentence pronounced upon each, Genesis 3:14-19; and certain particulars following thereupon, Genesis 3:20-21. Genesis 3:8-9 The voice, we conceive, is the thunder of the approach of God and his call to Adam…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-19Verses 16-19 The woman, for her sin, is condemned to a state of sorrow, and of subjection; proper punishments of that sin, in which she had sought to gratify the desire of her eye, and of the flesh, and her pride. Sin brought sorrow into the world; that made the world a vale of tears. No wonder our sorrows are multiplied, when our sins are so. He shall rule over thee, is but God's command, Wives, be subject to your own husbands. If man had not sinned, he…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The judgment affects the woman's special role in childbearing and her relationship with her husband. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you: The marriage relationship now includes conflict instead of only security and happiness. New life in Jesus can restore a man and woman's marriage relationship (Ephesians 5:18–32; compare Matthew 20:25–28).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow--She was doomed as a wife and mother to suffer pain of body and distress of mind. From being the help meet of man and the partner of his affections [Ge 2:18, 23], her condition would henceforth be that of humble subjection.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 3:16

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Birth
• Curse
• Eve
• Fall of Man
• Family
• God
• Judgments
• Sin
• Temptation
• Wicked (People)
• Wife
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Above
• Adam
• Beguile
• Bread
• Clothe
• Coat
• Conception
• Dust
• Enmity
• Fall of man

Commentaries on Genesis 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings