Sexual Desire? Eve, Genesis 3:16, and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN Ascii] (Essay‪)‬

Yhwh Elohim says to the woman, "I shall multiply your suffering and your ... pregnancies; with pain you shall give birth to sons; and your desire shall be unto your husband, and he shall rule over you" (3.16). Any interpretation of this utterance--as a curse, aetiological statement of fact, blessing or otherwise--is largely dependent on the reader's gender position and may vary considerably. (1) Thus states Athalya Brenner in her important monograph The Intercourse of Knowledge. Those who have spent any time in the literature surrounding the interpretation of this verse will probably only affirm Brenner's dictum. In fact, some may be inclined to suggest that she is given to understatement. Her words could give the impression that readings of this verse "may vary," when in fact they regularly do much more--at times they clearly oppose or contradict each other. There is also a risk in saying too little in speaking of one's "gender position," Clearly there are a variety of factors in play, not the least of which is one's religious or theological persuasions, or one's place in history, society, and culture. All of this, to be sure, contributes to one's "gender position," but we need to be dear. The effects of one's wider presuppositions are truly far-reaching and profound in reading this verse.