sense of “desire, urge, impulse against” (or perhaps “desire to conquer,
desire to rule over”), and that sense well fits Genesis 3:16.^22
Some have assumed that the “desire” in Genesis 3:16 refers to sex-
ual desire. But that is highly unlikely because (1) the entire Bible views
sexual desire within marriage as something positive, not as something
evil or something that God imposed as a judgment; and (2) surely
Adam and Eve had sexual desire for one another prior to their sin, for
God had told them to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28), and cer-
tainly in an unfallen world, along with the command, God would have
given the desire that corresponded to it. So “your desire shall be for
your husband” cannot refer to sexual desire. It is much more appro-
priate (to the context of a curse) to understand this as an aggressive
desire against her husband, one that would bring her into conflict with
him.
Then God says with regard to Adam, “and he shall rule over you”
(Gen. 3:16). The word here translated “rule” is the Hebrew måshal.
This term is common in the Old Testament and it regularly, if not
always, refers to ruling by greater power or force or strength. It is used
of human military or political rulers, such as Joseph ruling over the
land of Egypt (Gen. 45:26), or the Philistines ruling over Israel (Judg.
14:4; 15:11), or Solomon ruling over all the kingdoms that he had
conquered (1 Kings 4:21). It is also used to speak of God ruling over
the sea (Ps. 89:9) or over the earth generally (Ps. 66:7). Sometimes it
refers to oppressive rulers who cause the people under them to suffer
(Neh. 9:37; Isa. 19:4). In any case, the word does not signify one who
leads among equals but rather one who rules by virtue of power and
strength, and sometimes even rules harshly and selfishly.
Once we understand these two terms, we can see much more
clearly what was involved in the curse that God brought to Adam and
Eve as punishment for their sins. One aspect of the curse was impos-
ing pain on Adam’s particular area of responsibility, raising food from
the ground: “cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat
of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to
you.... In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to
the ground (Gen. 3:17-19). Another aspect was to impose pain on
The Key Issues in the Manhood-Womanhood Controversy 41