Eve: Faithful, Waiting, Expecting, Hoping (Genesis 3)
- Elaine R Kelly
- Dec 15
- 10 min read
I'm afraid Eve has been given a bad name, framed for things that were not her fault, aour nd blamed for the sins of others. Perhaps it has been easier for humans through the centuries to point the finger at her, instead of realizing her story shows our own faults.
In the Bible, Eve seeks God's wisdom but admits her mistake and is faithful to God. God blesses her with increased conception and the ability to partner with God in creation, causing Adam to call Eve the mother of all living. After the fall, toil increases because of the curse on the ground, and Satan (the serpent) makes life difficult for humans, but God promises Eve that through her seed, God will crush the deceiver.
At Advent, we wait with Eve, the faithful daughter of God, expecting, hoping, and believing that God will send someone from Eve's seed to crush the serpent and defeat death.
Mary's child is the fruition of God's promise to Eve.
Literal or Metaphorical Truth
For simplicity, I refer to Adam and Eve as real people. Some Christians believe that Adam and Eve had to be real people [1] or the Fall didn't happen, sin didn't enter the world, and there was no need for Jesus. They may say that accepting the authority of Scripture requires a literal reading. The historic church accepted the authority of Scripture, whether truth was revealed through a historical account, an allegory, or a metaphor. God knew from the beginning that humans would be tempted to rule themselves instead of letting God rule. The story of Adam and Eve reveals the truth of the human instinct to disobey God, our need for Jesus, and God’s faithfulness. Whether you read Genesis literally or figuratively, this story influences beliefs about God’s character, human nature, the fall, sin, salvation, and gender roles.
Eve: An Equal Partner
Let's look at how Eve is portrayed in Genesis:
Eve is created in God's image (Genesis 1:27)
God blessed Eve and told her to be fruitful and to rule over the earth (Genesis 1:28). Adam had the same power and authority as Eve.
God divided the human into man and woman, an equal counterpart to the man, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh (Genesis 2:21-23)
She is tricked by the crafty serpent who tells her half-truths and plays on her thirst for knowledge (Genesis 3:1-4). She is not intentionally disobedient. Adam was with her, listening to the serpent, and he chose to take the forbidden fruit and eat it. It appears her motive was to gain knowledge, perhaps to grow more in goodness and in God's wisdom; his motive may have been to use knowledge to gain power, to gain God's ability to rule. She was gullible; he was intentionally disobedient.
They gained the knowledge of good and evil and began to cover themselves and hide from God (Genesis 6-10). God looked for them and asked each one to be personally accountable.
Adam was dishonest with God, blamed the woman, and blamed God for putting the woman with him (Genesis 3:12). He positioned himself as opposed to God. Eve was honest with God and admitted the serpent deceived her (Genesis 3:13).
Curses and Blessings (Genesis 3:14-19)
God cursed the true culprit, the serpent, and put enmity between the serpent and the woman. Eve is on God's side, not the Serpent's.
"Nowhere in the Bible is it recorded that God cursed mankind or one half of mankind." - Session Five of She Shall Be Called Woman [2]
Bruce Fleming has written extensively that God did not curse woman or man in any way [3]. God promises that the serpent would strike her children's heel, but her offspring would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15).
God blesses Eve with the prophecy that God will crush Satan through a woman's offspring. The serpent is understood to be Satan, and Eve's offspring is understood to be Jesus. God partners with Eve.
"I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head and you will crush his heel. (Genesis 3:15 Evangelical Heritage Version)
Eve's seed refers to Jesus, our Redeemer. God honours people in the Bible by promising to multiply their 'seed', meaning descendants or offspring. God tells Abraham that all nations will be blessed through Abraham's seed (Genesis 22:16-17-8). God blesses Isaac's seed (Genesis 26:4-5). Jacob's seed (Genesis 28:14), and David's seed (1 Chronicles 17:11-12). The word seed was not associated with either male or female. After Adam unfairly blames Eve, God blesses Eve's seed. When Leah is not loved by her husband, God blesses her seed (Genesis 29:31). Katharine Bushnell points out that God blesses Eve with promises about her seed.
The promise honors Eve quite as much as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the honor could not have been conferred upon her but for the same reason as upon them,—namely, because of excellence found in her. God's Word to Women Lesson 11 ([4].
God reveals the future to Eve, explaining that the curse he's about to put on the land (because of Adam) will mean multiplied painful toil in her labour on the land. The Bible does not indicate unavoidable pain and sorrow for the woman, and manageable labour and toil for the man. Adam is guilty of his own choice. God tells Adam, 'Cursed is the ground because of you." Tim Mackie of the Bible Project [5] explains that the Hebrew word 'itsabon' is never used for labour pains; it relates to field work for both men and women. Tim Mackie of the Bible Project (12) explains that the Hebrew text uses the word for getting pregnant (multiplied conception), not giving birth (multiplied labour pains).
God blesses Eve with multiplied conception and fertility in childbirth (Genesis 3:16a). Many translations in the 1600s- 1800s retained these two concepts: a multiplied toil/labour (on the land) and a multiplied conception (fertility). Multiplying Eve's conception and fertility is a logical follow-up to the way God blesses Eve's seed in verse 15, and it is also a more accurate translation. It has nothing to do with pain or sorrow but with more toil/work because of the cursed, infertile ground. It has nothing to do with multiplying pain in childbirth or delivery, but with increased fertility and conceiving. Katharine Bushnell calls the idea that women must suffer because of Eve an attack on God's character of justice [6]. God honours Eve and her seed in verse 15 and does not turn around and punish her or increase her pain in the next verse.
But what about: "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children (Genesis 3:16a KJV). Who is the cause, and what are they causing?
What the Bible reveals about God's character is that God loves us and works to bring reconciliation. It is not in God's nature to punish for punishment's sake [7]. We know God is good. God does not inflict pain on women or men. God comforts and consoles us when we suffer. Believing that God is both just and loving, Katharine Bushnell puts forward her translation in God's Word to Women Lesson 15 [8]:
A lier-in-wait [snare/serpent] has increased your sorrow and your sighing. In sorrow [anguish/trouble] you shall bring for the children." (Genesis 3:16a)
Ishshah's Story explains [9] that Satan is initiating the action and causing increased sighing. Eve's sighing was increased, not her conception or her childbearing. The Hebrew word HRN is translated in the Greek Septuagint as "sighing". The Septuagint never uses the word HRN to mean conception; it uses the word HRJWN to mean conception.
A lier-in-wait - not God - increased Eve's sorrowful toil and her sighing. The Hebrew consonants ARB mean snare, ambush, snare, or lier-in-wait. Ancient Hebrew did not have vowels, and it reads right to left, so it could read either:
HaRBeh AaRBeh, (without vowels HRB ARB) "Multiplying, I will multiply."
HiRBah AoReB, (without vowels HRB ARB) “a lier-in-wait has caused to multiply.”
God does not multiply Eve's sorrow; the Serpent lay in wait, ambushed her, caught her in a snare and increased her sorrow and sighing. God gives insight into the mental anguish she will have in bringing forth children.
Eve's Desire is Good (Genesis 3:16b)
Eve wants to align with God, aims to have God's wisdom, and when she learns good from evil, she is honest with God about her mistakes, and she honours God as ruler.
Eve does not desire to align with Satan or aim to oppose men. Her desire is not selfish or sinful lust. The text gives no indication that Eve has a negative desire or wants to rule over men.
"... toward thy husband [is] thy desire, and he doth rule over thee." (Genesis 3:16b Young's Literal Translation, 1898)
God can see Eve's desire towards her husband, her turning towards her husband, her efforts to make peace and rebuild her partnership with Adam. Katherine Bushnell explains that God warns Eve about Adam's sinful desire to rule over her [10]. Today, Satan can deceive religious leaders and gatekeepers who put human limitations on women. When men are like Adam and choose to rule like God, women must decide whether to turn toward men or toward God.
While this passage may say "he does rule" or "he shall rule", it appears as an imperative. However, Ishshah's Story points out that the Hebrew word may not be imperative [11]. It could be translated as 'will', simply telling the future, not being imperative. Katharine Bushnell's Lesson 16 notes that God is prophesying or warning Eve, not stating an imperative. "All the stress of teaching women’s supposed obligations to man is in the “shall be,” which is supplied by the translators" [12] She Shall Be Called Woman [13] explains that God is prophesying or predicting to Eve about the consequences of her turning away from God and toward her husband, either placing him between herself and God or choosing him rather than God.
Theologian Marg Mowczko quotes evidence from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB) that 'teshuqa' does not mean 'desire to control' [14]. It may mean a 'longing' of a woman for a man (Genesis 3:16), a 'longing' of a man for a woman (Song of Solomon 7:10), or a longing of sin personified to devour Cain (Genesis 4:7). The word 'teshuqa' may mean 'turning to', 'longing', 'desiring', 'attracted to', or 'running after' but the evidence shows it. Ancient texts translated Eve's teshuqa as Eve's turning, her direction or alliance, would be towards her husband. Katharine Bushnell published her research on these translations in 1921, showing that this mistranslation impacts the "status and welfare of one-half the human race". You can see a PDF of her chart here [15] or review the history of the translation of "Teshuqa" here[16]. The chart shows the word 'teshuqa' was translated in Song of Solomon as a positive action, with the husband 'turning toward' or 'longing' for his lover. Then, in the 1500s, the word was translated as a negative action, with the husband lusting for his lover. Bruce C. E. Fleming sees Eve's desire as a loving, good longing [17] for her husband. The word 'desire' is Eve's positive attitude toward her husband, just as the lover feels a positive attitude towards his lover in Song of Solomon feels towards his lover.
I am my beloved's, and his 'desire' is toward me." (Song of Solomon 7:10 KJV)
Eve is not Adam's adversary, and not partnering with Satan to oppose Adam.
Eve Reconciled with Adam
After God blesses Eve with multiplied conception and fertility, Adam calls Eve "the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:20). Eve is happy when she achieves her desire, and they are reunited as one flesh and God helps her give birth to her first child (Genesis 4:1). Eve's ability to give birth to new life, despite the curse on the serpent and on the ground, signifies hope for future generations.
God created humans as equals and then used Satan to demonstrate the human tendency to rule ourselves. God blesses Eve with a prophecy about her seed and then gives Eve insight that the knowledge of good and evil means human struggles and tells her that Adam wants to rule.
Eve, symbolic of all the living, has hope for the future. We wait with Eve, expectant and hopeful, for the one who will crush Satan's head. At Advent, we prepare our hearts and make room in our lives for Jesus. God's wisdom is revealed in Jesus, who gives us the knowledge of good and evil, who uplifts the marginalized and brings down those who want to rule over themselves and others. Jesus is the way for all humans to reconcile and turn towards God.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)
The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)
Adam and Eve really existed, and why that matters, Subby Szterszky, https://www.focusonthefamily.ca/content/adam-and-eve-really-existed-and-why-that-matters
She Shall Be Called Woman (session five) https://www.womenforthenations.org/one-five
Bruce C. E. Fleming https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/book-eden-genesis-2-3-god-didnt-curse-eve-or-adam-or-limit-woman-any-way/
God's Word to Women, by Katharine Bushnell, 2016 edition, is available on Amazon. God's Word to Women 100 lessons from the book: https://godswordtowomen.wordpress.com/100-lessons/
Does God Punish Women with Pain in Childbirth?, Bible Project https://youtu.be/h_zIJt0Kpes
God's Word to Women "Genesis", https://godswordtowomen.wordpress.com/category/genesis/
She Shall Be Called Woman (session six) https://www.womenforthenations.org/one-six
God's Word to Women, by Katharine Bushnell, ibid.
Teshuqa and the meaning of Genesis 3:16, Charis, 2008, https://godswordtowomen.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/teshuqa-and-the-meaning-of-genesis-316/
Another look at Genesis 3:16, Ishshah's Story, https://ishshahsstory.com/2015/08/06/another-look-at-genesis-316/
Another look at Genesis 3:16, Ishshah's Story, ibid.
God's Word to Women, by Katharine Bushnell, ibid.
She Shall Be Called Woman (Session Seven) https://www.womenforthenations.org/one-seven
Marg Mowczko, Teshuqah: The Woman’s “Desire” in Genesis 3:16, Marg Mowczko, 2015, https://margmowczko.com/teshuqah-desire/
Bushnell, Katharine "teshuqa" chart
Bushnell, Katharine, God's Word to Women, Lesson 18 https://godswordtowomen.org/lesson%2018.htm
Bruce C. E. Fleming, author of The Book of Eden, Genesis 2–3: God Didn’t Curse Eve (or Adam) or Limit Woman in Any Way, "What does Genesis 3:16 really say", https://tru316.com/blog/f/what-does-genesis-316-say-reason-for-the-tru316-project
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