John J. Davis, in Paradise to
Prison tells us the desire of woman is a “deep natural attraction to her
husband.” He goes on to say that, “some commentators have felt this is not so
much a curse as a compensation for the sorrow of childbirth.” And he seems to
agree.[1] The
desire of woman being a deep natural attraction to her husband and that it is
compensation for the sorrow of childbirth seems contradictory to what took
place in the garden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and His subsequent judgment
against them. Why would God compensate Eve for the sorrow of childbirth with a
deep natural attraction to her husband Adam? She already had that.
Busenitz states Eve’s desire is
for “procreation and the continuation of life…”[2] Now
he is arguing against some camps that believe “desire” is rendered a wanting to
rule the man, to overtake him as such. Susan T. Foh in What is the Woman’s
Desire says, a woman’s “desire is to contend with him [man] for leadership in their
relationship.”[3] Both these authors offer keen
insight into comparing Gen. 4:7, and Song of Solomon [Canticles] 7:10 [11] with
v. 16b. Both agree in some fashion that using 4:7 does not seem to fit with
woman overtaking or ruling over man, but 7:10 may offer some insight into her genuine
desire for him.
I gather that
“desire” as expressed in Gen. 3:16 is quite the heady topic. All three authors
made very convincing arguments as to why they are correct in their interpretation;
I however, am not quite convinced. It seems this is one of those verses that
require a great deal of research and consensus before I will give a go at
agreeing with either of them.
[1] John J. Davis. Paradise
to Prison: Studies in Genesis (Salem:
Sheffield Publishing Company, 1975), 94.
[2] Irvin A. Busenitz, “Women’s
Desire for Man:Genesis 3:16 Reconsidered.” Grace Theological Journal 7.2
(1986) 203-12, http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/01-Genesis/Text/Articles-Books/Busenitz-Gen3-GTJ.pdf
(accessed September 13, 2012).
[3] Susan T. Foh, “What is the
Woman’s Desire.” The Westminster Theological Journal 37, no. 3 (Spring,
1975) 376-383, http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c2c4c669-1cd6-4c59-a518-9b47310c3be9%40sessionmgr15&vid=5&hid=11
(accessed September 13, 2012).
No comments:
Post a Comment