(bright music)
Hi, I'm Erin and I work on Classroom here at BibleProject.
And this is one of our class sessions
exploring the book of Genesis.
To set the stage,
Tim and the students have arrived at a difficult passage,
Genesis 3:16.
Does God really wanna punish women with pain in childbirth?
That's what a lot of our modern English translations
could lead us to believe at first glance.
So let's take a closer look
at what the original authors might have had in mind.
Verse 16.
Oh, Genesis 3:16.
You know the joke of, "Get five rabbis in a room
to interpret a passage of Scripture
and you'll get 10 interpretations." (chuckling)
Genesis 3:16 is, is kinda like that.
So, I'm gonna do my best to focus
and steer our conversation,
but really significant issues come out of this
that I want us to talk about.
Let me start with two observations.
They're relatively simple,
they're not very well-known,
and they have huge significance
for how we understand God's words here.
So this is my translation,
"I will greatly multiply your grief
and your conception;
in grief, you will birth children."
That's the first half of verse 16.
Lemme just quickly survey other English translations.
This is the New International Version,
"I will make your pains in childbearing very severe."
So you walk away with a different sense from the NIV.
"With painful labor, you will give birth to children."
So on this reading,
Yahweh is intensifying the pains of child labor.
And that's pretty standard right across the board.
ESV, "I'll multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain, you'll bring forth children."
This is one of the —
I never know what to do here.
I think our English translations
are remarkable achievements.
Committees of scholars, brilliant.
It's, for the Hebrew Bible, the NIV committee,
it was like 20 scholars,
and they all are assigned different books,
but then they get together
and review each other's work and then vote.
They vote on tricky passages and choices.
And on each of these committees, in the last few decades,
really, really remarkable scholars.
And so, I never wanna undermine
confidence in our English translations,
but there are some times
where you can see how the vote swung.
And Genesis 3:16 is one of these.
And so, please know I'm not trying to —
This isn't a conspiracy theory,
this is just saying translation
is always an active interpretation,
and sometimes you just have to make a decision.
So here's two realities about the Hebrew text of verse 16.
First of all, the word "pain"
is not the Hebrew word for labor pain.
The word pain, "itsabon,"
is the same word used of the man in verse 17.
In "itsabon," you will eat from the ground.
Are you with me?
So whatever it is that characterizes
the "itsabon" of the human
is being put in parallel relationship.
And notice how the "itsabon" of the human is —
Here, I'll just pull it up here.
So "I will multiply your 'itsabon'"
and in "atsab," it's the same Hebrew root word in both.
And it's the same —
"Itsabon," is the same exact Hebrew word you use in verse 17.
But isn't it interesting — Oh, wow.
That it's translated pain in verse 16,
but toil in verse 17.
And notice how the "itsabon" of the man
is further unpacked by the sweat
of your hard difficult work,
resulting, eventually, in death, right?
But toil has a very different feel to it, doesn't it?
So there are actually three different Hebrew words
for labor pain.
There's a pretty developed vocabulary for labor pain.
It's pre-medical technology society.
For most humans, for most of human history,
childbirth is fraught with peril.
So we're obviously in that kind of cultural setting.
In many cultures, ancient Hebrew had a nuanced vocabulary
for labor pains.
"Itsabon" is never used for labor pains
or this root word at all.
So that's the first thing.
So we're gonna do a concordance work
on this noun, "itsabon," to figure out.
Here's the second thing,
is that this word that gets translated as childbirth
or in the ESV, childbearing.
NIV is childbearing —
Is not the word childbearing,
it's the word "to become pregnant."
It's the word for getting pregnant.
Oh, snap. Hmm.
Is this about infertility?
Oh, sorry, I'm jumping the gun. (laughing)
No, I'm —
So it's the —
Okay, now, just to make this point
and I just want no conspiracy theory,
I have the New American Standard here.
I'm just gonna do a search on concordance.
So, the form of this noun is actually unique.
It only appears here, "herayon,"
but it comes from the Hebrew root, "hara."
So let's just do a search on "hara," yes?
The verb occurs 62 times in the Hebrew Bible.
It's going to be used in the beginning of the next chapter,
"And she got pregnant."
"Cain had sex with his wife, she got pregnant."
Hagar got pregnant.
Sarai got pregnant.
It's not even a difficult word to translate.
She got pregnant
and it's always separated from the actual bearing.
"Sarai got pregnant and birthed a son."
Are you with me? Yes.
So that's the first —
It seems to me that's a very significant observation
that hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized it.
Now, the word down here
in the second half of what we're looking at
is the word for birth,
and it does have the word "etseb."
So this word, "etseb," whatever it means,
we'll talk about this next,
is applied both to pregnancy,
both how you get pregnant and the childbearing,
which means whatever this is about,
it's not about labor pains.
It's about the circumstances in which a baby is conceived
and the circumstances in which a baby is born.
Are you tracking with me? Yeah.
And again, we're making basic observations
about the meaning of words.
So then this makes the million-dollar question,
so what is this pain or toil?
What is this all about?
So, I'll just show you examples.
The word is gonna be used again in Genesis 1-11.
This is exactly what Yahweh experiences
when he looks on the innocent blood shed in the land
before the flood narrative.
And he has serious regrets about these humans.
And his heart is full of this kind of pain, "atsab."
We would call this emotional grief.
Grief, yeah?
Isaiah 54:6 where the family of Israel
is depicted as a barren woman
who has been abandoned by her husband.
And the prophet is saying, "Yahweh's going to call you back
as if you were a wife deserted,
who was 'atsab' in spirit."
So once again, it's an emotional grief, broken heart.
When David hears that his son, Absalom, has been killed,
he has 'atsab' for his son.
Now, what's interesting —
So those are all verbs.
This pain is a verb.
Other nouns, there's other nouns.
"Etseb," "otseb."
Hmm, this is a famous proverb,
"A gentle answer turns away anger,
but a word of 'otseb' stirs up anger."
So you can cause 'otseb' with a word, yeah?
"The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted."
Notice the synonym here.
That's so helpful.
"Brokenhearted, he binds up their 'otseb.'"
This was a Hebrew Bible scholar, Iain Provan,
who wrote a essay on this,
published it in a major biblical studies journal
over a decade ago.
I can't believe that more people don't quote from his essay.
It feels groundbreaking, at least for English translations.
So here's how he summarizes it.
He says, "The word 'etseb' is used of emotional pain
and the pain involved in work.
It can also be used of a more generalized kind of pain.
It is never used elsewhere in the Old Testament,
however, to refer to labor pains or birthpangs.
Conversely, there's a well established vocabulary
that's routinely used to describe labor pain,
'tsarar,' 'khebel,' and 'khul.'
If we take our lead
from the meaning of 'etseb' elsewhere in the Old Testament,
Genesis 3:16 refers to the agony, hardship, worry,
and anxiety of the circumstances
in which children are conceived, born, and raised,
and in which they die.
This is the same word's clear meaning,"
in the next verse,
"when it describes the man's work in the field."
Can you think of any stories in Genesis
where children are —
Let's just start with conceived,
since that's what the word is in Genesis 3:16,
where they're conceived amidst a whole mix of anger
and jealousy and broken relationships.
Let's just name them.
It will be a good exercise. Rachel and Leia.
Rachel and Leah.
I like that you just said Leah.
I was gonna say Leah. Oh, no, Leah?
Instead of Leia?
Yeah, Leah.
I'm lost in "Star Wars."
Sorry. (chuckling)
Yes, Rachel and Leah.
Ishmael and Isaac. Yes, yes.
Ah, notice how both of those stories also
begin with, as you noted, infertility.
What does it mean, "I will,"
Yahweh says, "I will increase 'itsabon'"?
When Rachel sees that she can't bear children,
who does she think is withholding this blessing from her?
Yahweh. She blames —
Yeah, and actually, she goes to Jacob
and she is like, "Give me children."
And he says, "What, am I God?" (chuckling)
So Sarai as well, yeah?
And so, it's this fascinating moment,
where, if Abraham's tests of faith have to do
with whether he trusts God's promise to give seed,
each matriarch is undergoing a similar test.
And I think that's what Genesis 3:16 is telling us.
So we're a far cry here.
I'm treating this real analytical right now.
The number —
From my years in pastoral ministry,
the number of women who I've had cups of coffee with
to talk about this verse,
and how they feel about God assigning them
to heightened physical pain in child labor —
'Cause that is the meaning of our English translations
that you walk away from.
And what that does to someone, psychologically,
I will never have that experience.
I can just only imagine. (chuckling)
And it's just one of these weird things
like how did we get here?
How did we get here?
That's not what it says or what it means,
but it doesn't remove all of the tension.
What this is telling us is that in this story,
there will be moments where God will use hardship
as a way to —
It's what the author of Hebrews says, isn't it?
A father disciplines the ones whom he loves.
But that's definitely the trajectory
or the context in which this increasing of "itsabon" —
Because the man's environment for his productivity
is also fraught with "itsabon" now too.
And so, Sarai or Rachel's struggle with infertility,
whether they're going to trust God or not,
is parallel to Abraham's test when the land won't produce.
When Abraham goes to Canaan,
what's the first thing that happens?
There's a famine.
And so, how's he gonna produce?
"Well, I'll go down to Egypt and leave my wife,
hang her out to dry."
It's totally parallel.
So Abraham's being tested in his domain of productivity
and the woman is —
Are you with me? Mm-hmm.
So this was huge for me.
I felt like —
Actually, it was like a lightning bolt hit me.
So we'll talk about the second half of verse 16 in a moment
'cause that's also fraught with the same kinda
translation, interpretation,
but thoughts or reflections,
questions about this conception in birth, grief?
Yeah, I'm just thinking about it
as the art form of poetry.
This makes so much more sense then,
because as far as paralleling stanzas about
the now consequences for the woman
versus now the consequences for human.
Now it makes more sense
'cause they're both process-oriented in this new reality
of what it would mean now to be fruitful and multiply.
That makes so much more sense now.
Totally.
Because her process is now "itsabon,"
his process is now "itsabon,"
and it makes so much more sense.
Yeah, that's right.
And so, really, this is filling out
the reality in which they will be fruitful
and multiply in an environment
where they're not safe around each other.
Think of how they hid their bodies.
That was the first thing they did,
they hide their bodies,
and now the way that their bodies
will work together in a family, in a community,
to be fruitful and multiply from the womb or the land,
it makes perfect sense.
Yeah. Yeah.
So you're saying it actually fits into its context more
when you see what the words actually mean.
Yeah, I think you're exactly right.
Because, otherwise, it doesn't really make sense
that it's like, you will have a lot of dangerous,
perilous birthing pains,
and you'll just have some hard days at work. (chuckling)
You know, like it's —
You're saying, in comparison.
Birth pains versus a hard day at work.
Yes, like toil, right?
That word just really, I feel like,
I think it does a disservice to men as well
in the nature of it is, it enlightens,
it's not grief, right?
It doesn't have the same weight.
It changes how you perceive Yahweh's intent.
And this is why I've come to call it God's lament.
I'm being a little —
I'm being, intentionally trying to stir up the pot there.
You could call these punishments,
but, in a way, it's Yahweh naming the new normal
in light of the decisions that they've made.
And, in this new normal,
Yahweh will use it, "I will increase,"
he will use this new environment
to test the faith of his people
so that they come to see he is the one who gives them life,
not their schemes to produce children
or to produce the fruit of the ground.
(bright music)