Diving Deeper Into “The Woman in Travail” – Genesis 3:16a
At present, Adonai has me fixated on Revelation chapter 12 and how it shapes so much of what we read in the entire book of Revelation. Previous investigations have clearly shown that Revelation chapter 12 is the most important chapter in the account of the Apocalypse. It’s distinction as the central axis—the thematic center of the entire book—is its most prominent feature, setting it apart as important and deserving of special attention. In previous articles, I have written about the man-child of Revelation 12, and have shown quite conclusively that he is not Yeshua, or the church, as is so commonly assumed; rather, the man-child represents the 144,000 who are the firstfruits of the resurrection. Furthermore, I have posited that the man-child of Revelation 12 is simply one of many (who the Bible has identified as a man-child) that Adonai has used to further the establishing of His kingdom at various times in history. I’ve shown how Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Yeshua have all fulfilled the role of a Biblical man-child, and they are just the tip of the iceberg—Yeshua, of course, being our quintessential example of a man-child. In the process of determining the identity of the man-child, I have settled on Revelation 12 as a foundational passage defining and identifying a Biblical man-child. Furthermore, I have discovered that Genesis 1-3, Psalm 2, and Psalm 8 are also passages that teach us how to identify a Biblical man-child. Taken together, Revelation 12, Genesis 1-3, Psalm 2, and Psalm 8 describe five major themes that define and identify a Biblical man-child. Each is listed below:
The Big Five
The man-child is born from a woman in great travail (Revelation 12:1-5 and Genesis 3:16).
There is a deadly conflict between the man-child and the serpent (Revelation 12:1-5, Genesis 3:15, Psalm 2:1-3 and 8-9, and Psalm 8:2).
Adonai will supernaturally preserve the life of the man-child, protecting him from the wiles and destructive schemes of the serpent (Revelation 12:5, Genesis 3:15, Psalm 2:8-9, and Psalm 8:2 and 6).
The man-child is someone of very low status who will be exalted to a high position of authority, power, dominion, and rulership (Revelation 12:5, Genesis 1:26-28, and Psalm 8:3-8).
The man-child is given authority to exercise dominion on Adonai’s behalf (Revelation 12:5, Genesis 1:26-28, Psalm 2:8-9, Psalm 8:5-8, and Psalm 91).
The first five verses of Revelation 12 depict a woman who is in labor to deliver a man-child. Furthermore, they describe a vindictive, murderous serpent intent on slaying her child as soon as he is born. At present, I’d like to concentrate on this passage and our first theme, “The man-child is born from a woman in great travail.” One of the most spectacular thematic connections in all of Scripture pertains to connecting Revelation 12:2 to Genesis 3:16:
Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. (Revelation 12:2)
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.” (Genesis 3:16)
As you can see, both passages are thematically connected through the common theme of pain in childbirth. However, if you take a close look at Genesis 3:16, you’ll notice that there are two statements about sorrow and/or pain, Genesis 3:16a and Genesis 3:16b (NKJV).
I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception
In pain you shall bring forth children
In the remainder of this article I want to focus on Genesis 3:16a. Let’s begin by diagramming the sentence.
Subject – I
Verbal Phrase – will multiply
Adverb – greatly; modifies the verbal phrase will multiply
Direct Object – 1) your sorrow and 2) your conception
As you can see, this verse begins by saying, “I will greatly multiply your . . .” Then it lists two direct objects connected by the conjunction “and.” While it is easy to understand what is meant by the phrase, I will greatly multiply your sorrow, what is meant by the phrase, I will greatly multiply your conception? Does this not seem confusing? What does it mean to multiply conception? To better understand what’s being said here, let’s take a look at multiple translations of Genesis 3:16a:
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.
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.”
NASB – To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall deliver children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
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.”
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.”
As you can see, there are some differences in some of our most popular translations. The KJV and NKJV are both consistent in their translation as “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception.” As noted above, this translation is confusing, because as Westerners in 2024, most of us do not have a clear idea of what it means to multiply your conception.
The NASB translation tries to clear the confusion by stating, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. Notice how the NASB specifies the nature of the pain (sorrow) specifically as that associated with childbirth. Childbirth is the act or process of giving birth to a baby, and has the following synonyms—labor, delivery, travail, and parturition. Therefore, the NASB translators view the sorrows as those specifically related to actual childbirth.
The NIV and ESV both specify that the pain pertains to childbearing. Childbearing denotes the process of conceiving, being pregnant with and giving birth to children, and is therefore a much broader concept that includes childbirth. With these translations and definitions, let’s turn our attention to exegesis, how to understand the original meaning intended by the authors so that it can be properly translated into a target language.
Here are a few theories I’ve come across regarding how Genesis 3:16a (I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception) should be understood:
Increased Frequency of Pregnancy Theory—One interpretation suggests a literal increase in the frequency of conception, potentially leading to more pregnancies. This could be seen as a burden or a challenge.
Increased Difficulty of Conception Theory—This interpretation takes "multiply" in a negative light, suggesting that conception will become more difficult or burdensome after the fall from grace.
Figurative Meaning Theory—It's possible that “multiply your conception” is a figurative way of expressing the overall hardships of reproduction. Conception itself might symbolize the beginning of the challenging reproductive process.
Concerning the Increased Frequency of Pregnancy Theory—Obviously, this view accepts a literal translation of Genesis 3:16a, that there will be a multiplication or increase in the frequency of conception. I think this is the weakest argument of the three suggestions. The entire context is about the negative consequences of Eve’s actions, and, therefore, whatever is “multiplied” must be a true negative consequence. There are just as many people who would see an increased frequency of conception as a blessing (those suffering from infertility, as well as those who simply see children as a blessing) rather than a burden, so the interpretation should not rest on people’s personal perceptions about childbirth, but on good exegesis.
Pertaining to the Increased Difficulty of Conception Theory—This suggestion is weak simply because the word(s) used in the Hebrew for multiply do not have a negative connotation. The Hebrew simply means many, multiply, increase, much, more, great, etc., regardless of whether the context is negative or positive. Again, this would not be good exegesis if we were to assign a negative connotation to the word multiply, because we would be imposing a connotation on the word that is normally not present. As you’ll see below, I do accept that conception will be more difficult. However, my acceptance is not based on arguments relying on giving the Hebrew word translated as multiply, a negative connotation (see below).
Regarding the Figurative Meaning Theory—Although I agree with the suggestion that the issue pertains to expressing the overall hardships of reproduction (and not just pain in the actual process of childbirth), I don’t agree with the notion that the phrase “I will multiply your sorrow in conception” is a figurative statement. Rather, I believe the issue is one of Biblical syntax, as described below.
In order to understand the meaning of “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception,” I do not think the answer should be found in a figurative interpretation; rather, I think the answer can be found in an exegetical manner. As stated earlier, the phrase, “I will multiply your conception,” seems clumsy. If that were the only possible interpretation, then I would advocate for some type of figurative interpretation. However, I think there is a better interpretation. I’ll present the literal Hebrew, then we’ll look at issues of Biblical syntax.
In the expression, הַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה (to multiply I will multiply), two separate verbal forms of the root verb רָבָה rabah are used. The first usage is הַרְבָּה, the infinitive absolute of רָבָה, means to multiply. The second usage is אַרְבֶּה, the Hiphil imperfect first person common of רָבָה, meaning I will multiply. The combination of these verbal forms in this fashion is a Hebrew figure of speech known as Polyptoton. This type of combination is used in order to add intensity to the sense. So, literally it’s read, to multiply I will multiply. But since these two verbs are combined as they are, it is a figure of speech and should be properly translated, I will greatly multiply.
Next, we have the phrase, עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ וְהֵרֹנֵךְ (your sorrow and your conception). Although these two Hebrew words have many possible translations, sorrow and conception are both good renderings. But the question is how do we translated them? Do we translate them literally as is done in the KJV and NKJV. As stated earlier, I believe this is confusing, and more importantly, it does not convey the meaning of the author.
Another approach is that of Ronald J. Williams in his William’s Hebrew Syntax[1]. Here Williams argues that the two Hebrew words translated “your sorrow and your conception,” are an example of the figure of speech known as Hendiadys. Hendiadys is a Greek word meaning “one through two,” that is, two words are used to express one thought. For example, we have the same type of thought in English when we say that someone is safe and sound. Commenting on Genesis 3:16, Williams notes:
“In Hebrew, whenever two substantives [nouns] are joined by the conjunction 'and' (§430b), they are a hendiadys if the combination expresses a single concept. To translate a hendiadys from Hebrew to English, the second substantive can often be translated as an adjective that modifies the first substantive. This is sometimes referred to as nominal hendiadys because it joins two words that are functioning as nouns, as opposed to verbal hendiadys, which is referred to as verbal coordination (§224) in this grammar.
I will greatly multiply your labour pain. Genesis 3:16 states that her labour pain will increase, not that her pain will increase and that she will also become pregnant more often!”
While I agree that two substantives (nouns) joined by a conjunction can sometimes signal the presence of a hendiadys and call for a translation as such, I do not believe that a hendiadys is warranted here. Williams interpreted וְהֵרֹנֵךְ “and your conception” as the adjective labour. I have two objections to this. The word וְהֵרֹנֵךְ translates to and your conception because the noun contains a prefix and suffix added to it. The noun is actually הֵרָיוֹן hērāyôn, and its definitions include physical conception, pregnancy or conception. The prefix added to hērāyôn is the Hebrew prefix וְ vav, meaning and. The suffix added to hērāyôn is the feminine singular prefix for your, hence the translation, and your conception. This word is only used three times in the Tanakh, and each time it is translated conception (Genesis 3:16, Ruth 4:13, and Hosea 9:11). Therefore, the first reason I disagree with the notion that a hendiadys is relevant here is because the Hebrew word הֵרָיוֹן hērāyôn does not mean childbirth. It means conception and/or pregnancy, and therefore has a meaning that is NOT pointing to physical birth, and as such should not be part of a hendiadys describing labor pains.
The second reason I don’t think we should apply the logic of hendiadys in this situation is because there is another syntactical interpretation we can make which I think fits the context better. It is well known in Hebrew syntax that the Hebrew conjunction, וְ vav, which is normally translated and, does not always mean simply and! The Hebrew conjunction וְ vav has quite a number of grammatical functions. One such function is called Explicative וְ Vav, where what follows the conjunction וְ vav is sometimes a clarification of something that preceded it. In other words, I’m suggesting that the וְ in וְהֵרֹנֵךְ (and your conception) is clarifying/explaining the noun עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ “your sorrow” that preceded it. Recently, I decided to take on Genesis 3:16a as a translation project. My translation would take on the following flavor:
I will greatly multiply your sorrow, namely/specifically, your conception/pregnancy.
Because I view the vav as an Explicative וְ Vav, my translation would use either namely or specifically. Thus, by using Explicative וְ vav we see that the word הֵרָיוֹן hērāyôn, properly translated as conception/pregnancy, is telling us what type of sorrow will be experienced. The idea being conveyed here is that the woman will experience multiple sorrows in conception AND pregnancy, not just in the painful, physical birthing process itself! That aspect of sorrows is specifically addressed in the next portion of Genesis 3:16 where it says, “In pain you shall bring forth children,” so it need not be addressed redundantly in the same verse!
This seems to be the reasoning of the NIV and ESV translators also, for they render Genesis 3:16a similarly by explaining the nature of the sorrow using the word “childbearing,” which includes all aspects of the reproductive process from conception through pregnancy through childbirth!
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.”
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.”
I prefer the rendering of the ESV because I think the word childbearing is more in line with the author’s intent. I also prefer the ESV translation over the NIV because the NIV translates עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ as your pain, instead of your sorrow. By using the word pain instead of sorrow, there is a subtle hint that childbirth is in mind instead of childbearing. It seems probable that the NIV and ESV translators may have had the Explicative וְ vav in view when rendering their translations. This is evidenced by the fact that both translations explainthe type of sorrow that will be experienced by a woman regarding reproduction. Furthermore, by using the word childbearing, the NIV and ESV both remain true to the accepted denotation of the Hebrew word הֵרָיוֹן hērāyôn (conception, pregnancy). The idea is that during each aspect of bringing forth a child there will be the possibility for sorrows of various sorts. The NIV and ESV translations do not limit the suffering only to childbirth, as suggested by the NASB translation we reviewed earlier.
The reason I have written this article is to provide exegetical evidence for my assertions that the suffering mentioned in Genesis 3:16a is much more than the actual physical pain of childbirth. In previous articles about the man-child of Revelation 12, I used thematic connections to come to my conclusions about the nature of the sorrows spoken of in Genesis 3:16a. But I feel that it is awesome to see those assertions which were based on thematic considerations backed up by the Hebrew when properly translated. When I began writing about the man-child of Revelation 12 and the importance of the theme of a woman in great travail, I did so simply based on the thematic connections Adonai was showing me in Scripture. Furthermore, I did so without any real support from Genesis 3:16, because I was only consulting the KJV and NKJV translations, which as noted earlier, in my estimation are clumsy translations that miss the mark regarding the author’s original intent. Since beginning my Revelation series almost three years ago, I have added a couple of years of Hebrew language study and am in a better position to be able to investigate the Hebrew behind our translations and come to my own conclusions about the author’s intent. I decided to look into the translations of Genesis 3:16a as a mini-project, and this paper is the result. And believe me, I was absolutely amazed to discover that in actuality, the Hebrew itself supports the view that the suffering of Genesis 3:16a pertains to suffering regarding childbearing, which includes all aspects from conception through pregnancy until the actual birthing process. The second part of Genesis 3:16 (In pain you shall deliver children) clearly addresses the sorrows and pains that will accompany actual childbirth. But it is my contention that the first part of Genesis 3:16 is more all-encompassing and should not be limited to just childbirth.
What this means is that I will be in a better position to identify the different types of suffering women have endured as a direct fulfillment of Genesis 3:16a, and this in turn will help me identify the prophetic forerunners of the man-child of Revelation 12.
Genesis 3:16a informs us that there will be much sorrow that will accompany the bringing forth of a Biblical man-child, even the very conception of a child will be fraught with agony and suffering. Therefore, we can rest assured that all the following scenarios are pointing prophetically to Genesis 3:16a:
The sorrow of Genesis 3:16a can be seen in the matriarchs who suffered many things just to conceive a child, let alone bring the child forth to birth! Sarah bore the stigma of barrenness for decade upon decade, then, once she was pregnant, she suffered through Hagar’s disrespect. Hagar despised Sarah because she was able to bear Abram a son when Sarah couldn’t.
Rebekah was barren the first twenty years of her married life. Isaac had to pray for her to conceive. And, once she finally conceived, she suffered a very difficult pregnancy. Rachel suffered barrenness, and her barrenness was a major source of dysfunction in Jacob’s family!
The sorrow of Genesis 3:16a can be seen in the story concerning the birth of Yeshua, our quintessential man-child. Remember how Herod had all the male babies two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas slaughtered in an attempt to kill off the messianic seed? The result was the suffering of an innumerable number of women whose babies were slaughtered at Herod’s command, as we read in Matthew 2:16-18:
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Exodus 1-2 begins the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the land of their insufferable bondage. We are quickly introduced to the story of Moses’ birth, with the simultaneous death decree upon all male babies. Exodus 1:22—So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.” Thus, immediately we are introduced to the suffering experienced by many of the pregnant mothers in Israel, especially Moses’ mother Jochebed, who had conceived a son destined to be drowned in the Nile River. Imagine her desperation when she placed him in the small ark and set him afloat on the Nile. What a seemingly hopeless situation. As you can see, Moses fulfills the first criterion for a forerunner of the man-child, the travail of a mother bringing forth a male child. Jochebed, however, was not the only one who experienced this travail and suffering at the time of Moses’ birth. There were countless other mothers’ voices weeping in lamentation and great mourning, refusing to be comforted because their male sons lost their lives too soon after birth.
[1] Beckman, John C. Williams’ Hebrew Syntax. 3rd Ed., University of Toronto Press, 2007, §72, p. 29.
Tony, I was just reading this morning and then realized that Sampson would be in this group. His mother was barren and then Yahushua spoke to her! ❤️
Tony thank you for this amazing breakdown of the text to help us understand