THE IMPLICATIONS OF DISOBEDIENCE

Now the serpent appears on the scene. Being intelligent, it starts a discussion with the woman, making her the first person to do so (possibly a testament to women's verbal prowess?). The woman is the one who enjoys the forbidden tree's beauty and nutritional merits as well as its potential "to make one wise" (3:6). In order to avoid eating from the tree of life and gaining immortality along with their enlightenment, both the woman and the man are finally driven out of Eden for their transgression. They may now know, perceive, and comprehend "good and wicked" (3:22), which refers to everything, making them like God. But they cannot consume anything from the life tree or gain immortality too.

This gets us to the verse in the Hebrew Bible that, for those who care about human equality, may be the most challenging. According to Genesis 3:16, men have the authority to govern women. Different feminists have approached this book in different ways. Recognizing that the meaning has been warped by the standard translations and that it is best read in the context of its agrarian social background is one option. The passage should start, "I will much increase your work and your pregnancies," rather than the well-known "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbirth." Itzavon, the word meaning "labor," is the same term that God used to tell man in Genesis 3:17–19: "men will face endless toil" (itzavon). It is much less accurate to translate "pangs" or "pain" as is commonly done. The Hebrew word for pregnancy, not childbirth as most translations have it, is pregnancy, and the lady will have several pregnancies in addition to labor. In other words, women need to have a lot of kids. The next condition also states that they must put forth a lot of effort. The verse legitimizes what life was like for Israelite women by demanding that women play active, productive, and reproductive responsibilities. Women will give birth, and men and women will work together as partners (ezer k'negdo) in domestic life.

In light of this, the second half of the verse's assertion that men generally dominate society is false. The many pregnancies referenced in the first half of the stanza are more likely tied to the idea of the masculine "rule." Because of the risk of dying after childbirth, a woman may oppose having more children, but because she will "turn" (teshuqah, 3:16) toward her lover rather than "want" or "drive," as in many translations, she will be sexually re-joined to him (Gen 2:23–24). Male domination is not broadly defined in this passage because it solely refers to sexuality, but male interpretive traditions have expanded that idea by asserting that it refers to male dominance in general.