How many curses did God proclaim in the Garden of Eden after Adam and the woman[1] ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Three? Four? Ten[2]? I often hear people talk about God’s curse on the woman[3]. However, a closer look at the text reveals that the language of a curse is not used to describe the consequence of the woman’s transgression. Actually, God does not curse the man nor the woman. I think using this language of “curse” to describe what God said to the woman is unhelpful and damaging to women. If we believe that the first woman was cursed, then are all women cursed? Do women deserve to suffer through childbirth as God’s judgment on them? I will discuss the narrative of Genesis 3 and what God proclaimed to the woman to argue that God did not curse her or anything to that effect.
“So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
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.”
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
(Genesis 3:14-19, NIV)
Why wasn’t the woman cursed?
God proclaimed only two curses: one on the serpent because of what it did and one on the ground because of what Adam did. The woman was not cursed, nor was anything cursed because of her. Now this is interesting! Were there not three transgressors? Yes. Why not three curses? I will provide my opinion as to why the woman was not cursed, nor anything cursed because of her. Much of what I will say are deductions based on details of the text; you may be the judge as to whether it is warranted or not. History of biblical interpretation has not often looked at why the woman was not cursed, as it was assumed she had been cursed and that her body was cursed, leading to pain in childbirth.
New Testament writings hold Adam responsible for “the fall.” The blame of sin entering the world was put on Adam in Paul’s letter to the Romains (Rom 5:12-21).
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”
(Rom 5:15, NIV)
Nonetheless, the woman was the one who ate first, and she gave it to Adam, inviting him to eat it as well. Why is the blame not put on the woman or on both of them equally? I think there are several possible reasons for this. First is the possibility that Adam was held responsible as he was to lead the woman as “head” of the couple[4], the complementarian position. Second, that the command was given to Adam alone. Third, that the woman was deceived and so did not fully understand what she was doing. Adam, on the other hand, was not deceived (1 Tim 2:13-14). We can therefore deduce that he willfully and knowingly rebelled.
Did Adam have authority over the woman?
First, on Adam being responsible for leading the woman, the complementarian interpretation of Genesis 1-2[5]. The idea of Adam’s “headship” is based on inferences drawn from elements of the text[6], not on anything explicitly stated in Genesis 1-2[7]. Genesis 1-2 teaches the equality of men and women without denying differentiation (Gn 1:26-28). See my blog post Does the Creation Narrative Teach Male Authority that supports this claim. Rulership of the man over the woman is a consequence of the fall; it is the effect of sin in the world, not God’s perfect design (Gn 3:16).
The command was given to Adam in the singular.
God placed Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it. Before the woman was even created, God instructed Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
(Gn 2:15-17, NIV)
A detail that may escape the English reader is that the command was given to Adam in the singular form in Hebrew. This does not mean it did not also apply to the woman formed from Adam afterward. However, we are not told explicitly that God commanded the same thing of the woman. We can infer from the woman’s discussion with the snake that she was aware of the command. However, she does not report it was previously formulated. The command is now in the plural form (they must not eat), referring to the tree in the middle of the garden (not the tree of knowledge of good and evil), and the woman added that they must not even touch it (which does not seem to have been forbidden to Adam). We could speculate from this that the woman was not taught very well by Adam or that she misunderstood. The snake, knowing this, saw her as prey for deception. However, there is the possibility that this is a proper interpretation of the command, a midrash of sorts.
The woman saw that the fruit of the tree was pleasing to the eye and good for attaining knowledge, and so she ate first of the fruit, then handed it over to the man, Adam, who we now learn was right next to her! He was there the whole time but did not intervene in the dialogue between the snake and the woman. He passively ate the fruit the woman gave him after she had eaten. I can only imagine Adam wanting to see what would happen to the woman before eating it himself. Since she did not immediately fall down dying, perhaps Adam thought, “Maybe God lied, and I will not die if I eat of this fruit, as the woman ate and she still lives! Let me now grab for myself this knowledge of good and evil.”
God, knowing what happened, came to confront them. But he called only to the man, “Adam! Where are you?” Adam answered back, giving an account of himself only, that he heard his voice and was afraid and hid. There is disunity between those that had shared a one-flesh relationship. He distanced himself from his wife; they were no longer “we” but “I.” God asked him, “did you (singular) eat of the tree I told you (singular) not to eat? Again, God reiterated that the command was given to the man, not both of them, as only Adam was in the garden when it was delivered.
Complementarians see God addressing the man first as supporting the view that the man was in charge and answers for both of them[8]. However, since God addressed Adam in the singular only, he addressed Adam for his own sin, not that of the woman’s. God then addressed the woman for her own transgression, nullifying any idea that the man was responsible for her action.
God then laid out the consequences of their actions and banished them from the garden[9].
All this explains why Adam was seen as being more culpable for the transgression by Paul. The command was given to Adam when he was alone, he was with the woman the whole time she conversed with the snake, he ate, and God confronted his disobedience to the command directly given to him by God.
The woman was deceived
However, the woman followed her husband out of the garden (Gn 3:16, Gn 4:1-2). She is banished as well since she participated in the transgression (1 Tim 2:14) and is guilty of her own disobedience. But it is noted that she was deceived (Gn 3:13, 1 Tim 2:14), whereas the man willfully and knowingly disobeyed
God. Just as manslaughter (killing without intent) is not as evil as first or second-degree murder, sinning without full knowledge is not as severe as willfully and knowingly disobeying. The woman transgressed, but her transgression was not as severe as her husband’s. Therefore, the punishment or consequence of that sin was not as severe. The ground was cursed because of Adam, but the woman was not cursed, nor was anything cursed because of her. God held Adam as more culpable for his willful disobedience than she was for being deceived.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that God did not curse the man either; God cursed the ground because of Adam. What God curses, God destroys. We see God’s grace abounding! He deflected the consequence of Adam’s sin to the ground from which he was taken. God also provided the means by which they were to be redeemed. He did not kill them immediately but endured patiently and lovingly with them. God ultimately looks past our transgressions and sees the covering love of Jesus in its place.
“This teaching that God cursed Eve, and through Eve all women, comes over into theology from the Babylonian Talmud. Scripture nowhere says Eve was cursed, or women either.”
Katherine Bushnell, God’s Word to Women
[1] The woman is only named Eve after their interaction with the snake and God’s confrontation of their sin. Therefore I refer to her as the woman as it is presented in the text.
[2] Records of a Jewish Talmud proclaim 10 curses on Eve.
“TEN CURSES WERE UTTERED AGAINST EVE.
1. ‘Greatly multiply’ refers to catamenia, etc.,;
2. ‘thy sorrow’ in rearing children;
3. ‘thy conception’;
4. ‘in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children’;
5. ‘thy desire shall be unto they husband’; [followed by language too coarse for reproduction, leaving no doubt of the rabbinical interpretation of “desire”];
6. ‘He shall rule over thee’ [more, and fouler language] ;
7. she is wrapped up like a mourner, i. e.
8. dares not appear in public with her head uncovered;
9. is restricted to one husband, while he may have many wives;
10. and is confined to the house as to a prison.”
Dr. Hershon’s. “ten curses of Eve” of “Genesis with a Talmudic Commentary” (Bagster, London) p. 137
as cited by Katharine C. Bushnell. “Did God curse Eve” in God’s Word to Women: 100 Bible Studies On Woman’s Place In The Divine Economy. P.48-49 https://godswordtowomen.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/gods_word_to_women1.pdf
Or another,
“Ten decrees were passed with regard to Eve.
The first is menstruation, when she is driven from her house and banned from her husband.
The second is that she gives birth after nine months.
The third is that she nurses for two years.
The fourth is that her husband rules over her.
The fifth is that he is jealous of her if she speaks with any other man.
The sixth is that she ages quickly.
The seventh is that she ceases to give birth while men never cease being able to beget children.
The eighth is that she stays in the home and does not show herself in public like a man.
The ninth is that when she goes out into the marketplace her head has to be covered like a mourner. That is why women precede the bier, saying: We have brought death upon all the inhabitants of the world.
The tenth is that if she was upright, her husband buries her. For we find that this was the case with our ancestors: our father Abraham buried Sarah our mother. Isaac buried Rebecca our mother. Jacob buried Rachel and Leah.”
Anthony J. Sadarini, S.J.’s translation, The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (Abbot De Rabi Nathan) Version B: A Translation and Commentary, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1975) pp. 251-2. As cited by Berel Dov Lerner. “The Ten Curses of Eve (an unpublishable article on women in Judaism)”. Learner’s Jewish Bible Blog. October 24, 2005. http://jewishbible.blogspot.com/2005/10/ten-curses-of-eve-unpublishable.html
[3] For example: Why did God punish women with pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16)? https://www.gotquestions.org/pain-in-childbirth.html
[4] Dr. Georgia Purdom. “Who Gets the Blame for Original Sin—Adam or Eve?” From Answers in Genesis. May 29, 2012. https://answersingenesis.org/sin/original-sin/who-gets-the-blame-for-original-sin/
[5] “Following the dual creation narrative, then, Genesis 3 tells the story of an ominous role reversal at the fall of humanity where the Serpent (Satan) approaches the woman, who leads the man to join her in transgressing their Creator’s command. This turns biblical lines of authority on their head, according to which God rules over the man who is responsible to lead and care for his wife and together with her is given charge of the animal world. Consequently, God holds each party accountable and pronounces a series of judgments on the Serpent, the woman, and the man.”
“While assigned to the man as his helper and thus placed under his overall care and responsibility, the woman is the man’s partner in ruling the earth for God. “
Köstenberger, Andreas J., Köstenberger, Margaret Elizabeth. God’s Design for Man and Woman: A Biblical-Theological Survey (Kindle Locations 470-474, 626-627). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
[6] The complementation case for Male authority over the woman prior to the fall in Genesis 1-2 goes as follows:
Adam was created first, and so has authority over the woman;
Woman was created to be man’s helper (subordinate);
Woman was made for man, not the other way around implying male priority;
The command was only given to Adam, therefore he was in charge;
Adam is recognized to have authority over the woman because he named her Eve, naming something implies having authority over;
God spoke first to Adam, showing that he put him in charge;
And some add that Eve was deceived, showing that women are more prone to deception.
Adapted from Giles, Kevin. “Chapter 4: In the Beginning: Genesis 1-3” in What the Bible Actually Teaches on Women. United States: Cascade Books, 2018. Scribd edition p.115-116.
All of these are inferences not explicitly stated anywhere in the Bible.
[7] Giles, Kevin. “Chapter 4: In the Beginning: Genesis 1-3” in What the Bible Actually Teaches on Women. United States: Cascade Books, 2018.
[8] Golden, Steve. Is Male Headship a “Curse”? Answers in Genesis. August 31, 2012. https://answersingenesis.org/family/gender/is-male-headship-a-curse/
[9] The text refers to “Adam” in the singular form: “lest he reach out his hand and grab of the fruit of the tree of life and live forever.” The verbs and nouns are all in the third person masculine singular in verses 22-23. Adam can refer to the person Adam found in the story, but is also the word used for human or humanity. Adam is grammatically singular, therefore it agrees with the verbs in the singular form. However, in Gn 1:26 God said let us make Adam in our image, in our likeness, and let them (plural) rule over the fish etc.…” Did God expel the man Adam from the garden or humanity from the garden? Both are possible grammatical interpretations, but since we know Eve followed Adam out of the garden (Gn 4:1), it most likely refers to Adam as humanity.
Katharine Bushnell interpreted it as meaning that only the man was expelled: “Eve repented; but there is no inference that Adam repented at this time, for he was expelled from the garden. What must have happened, after this? Before Cain could have been born (Genesis 4:1) either Adam must have repented and become again the child of God, or Eve must have turned from God and followed Adam out of Eden. The fact that Cain was a murderer certainly argues that Eve followed Adam.” From “Lesson 16: God’s warning to Eve” in in “God’s Word to Women: 100 Bible Studies On Woman’s Place In The Divine Economy”. P.55
