The ESV Revision of Gen. 3:16b and Its Theological Bias
What we must understand is that, behind this new ESV rendering, there is a theological precommitment or bias: A theological bias which both assumes and asserts the idea that a) man ruled over or dominated woman before the Fall; b) that as a result of the Fall, instead of submitting to male rule, woman would now have a strong urge to achieve dominance over man and would attempt to do so; and c) that God has decreed, instead, that male rule or dominance of the woman should prevail.
However, Genesis 1 and 2 do not support this theological bias and its assumptions. Let us look again at Genesis 1:26-27:
Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, to be like us. Let them
be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, the livestock, everything
that crawls on the earth, and over the earth itself!" So God created mankind in
his own image; in his own image God created them; he created them male
and female. God blessed these humans by saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply,
fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly,
and every living thing that crawls on the earth!"
be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, the livestock, everything
that crawls on the earth, and over the earth itself!" So God created mankind in
his own image; in his own image God created them; he created them male
and female. God blessed these humans by saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply,
fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly,
and every living thing that crawls on the earth!"
Genesis 1:26-28, ISV
These verses clearly teach that both the man and woman were originally created in God’s image; that they were both equally authorized to share the mastery and management of the earth, its resources, and animal life; and that they were expected to do so as equal partners and coworkers under God. And the fact that, in the ISV, the terms “mankind” and “these humans” are used synonymously certainly makes clear that being “male” or “female” neither diminishes Adam and Eve’s common “human essence,” nor does it obviously give one gender intrinsic priority or authority over the other. Therefore, there is no basis in these verses for our assuming any hierarchical authority/submission structure had ever been put in place prior to the Fall, and which was to eternally define the relationship between men and women.
Then in Genesis 2, after God has placed the man in the Garden of Eden to govern and manage it for him, he decides that it is “not good” for the man to be alone. There we read:
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him
a companion that is a suitable match for him." After the LORD God formed from
the ground every wild animal and every bird that flies, he brought each of them to
the man to see what he would call it. Whatever the man called each living creature
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him
a companion that is a suitable match for him." After the LORD God formed from
the ground every wild animal and every bird that flies, he brought each of them to
the man to see what he would call it. Whatever the man called each living creature
became its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds that fly, and
to each of the earth's animals, but there was not found for the man any companion
corresponding to him, so the LORD God caused a deep sleep to overshadow the man.
When the man was asleep, he removed one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh
where it had been. Then the LORD God formed the rib that he had taken from the man
into a woman and brought her to the man. So the man exclaimed, "At last! This is bone
from my bones and flesh from my flesh. This one will be called 'Woman' because she
was taken from Man." (Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cling to
his wife, and they will become one flesh.)
Genesis 2:18-24, ISV
into a woman and brought her to the man. So the man exclaimed, "At last! This is bone
from my bones and flesh from my flesh. This one will be called 'Woman' because she
was taken from Man." (Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cling to
his wife, and they will become one flesh.)
Genesis 2:18-24, ISV
The fact that God created woman as “a companion” who is “a suitable match” for the man (v. 18); that she alone was created as a “companion corresponding to him” (v.20); and that the man, with great joy, acknowledged her alone as the companion who corresponded to himself and was the best match (v. 23)—all this clearly conveys that God’s original intent was that men and women would have a relationship that not only involved shared authority and responsibility for the governance and management of the earth and its creatures, but also true companionship, mutuality, and intimacy.
But there is no clear and unambiguous indication, in this passage from Genesis 2, that it ever involved male dominance and female subjugation. In fact, this idea is reading back into Genesis 1-3 a questionable interpretation of 1 Tim. 2:12-15, which is beset with interpretative problems of its own, as Jamin Hubner has recently demonstrated.[1]
[1] Jamin Hubner. “Revisiting the Clarity of Scripture in 1 Tim. 2:12,” Priscilla Papers, Vol. 30, No. 3, Summer 2016, pp. 18-25.
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