Cheryl Schatz

gengwall you said:

So, although I agree with your assessment of history in its practical application of Gen 3:16, I don’t believe that tips the balance in what the verse is saying about wives and husbands generically. In other words, I don’t think the verse is presenting a case of “bad spouse; worse spouse”, and it certainly is not presenting a “good spouse; bad spouse” scenario.

I don’t think that Genesis 3:16 is all about everyone’s marriage. I do believe that it shows Adam’s rebellion and the tendency for the majority of men to struggle with wanting to control shows that somehow this tendency has come through Adam’s sons. Some women also have a sin problem with control, but typically it is far less in women then in men. But Genesis 3:16 is all about Adam and Eve and so we cannot get information about most wives from someone who didn’t inherit the sin nature that the rest of us have.