Genesis 3:16

Summary

The verse reports a divine speech addressed to "the woman" (ha'ishah, H0802G), announcing an intensified condition of pain connected to pregnancy and childbirth, and describing a relational configuration between her and "your husband" ('ishekh, H0376H) involving teshuqah ("desire", H8669) and mashal ("to rule", H4910).

Key words

• harbah 'arbeh — harbah ("certainly ", H7235A) is a hiphil absolute infinitive paired with 'arbeh ("I will increase", H7235A), a hiphil imperfect first-person form; this infinitive-plus-finite-verb construction intensifies the verbal action, commonly rendered "I will surely increase" or "greatly increase."
• 'itzevonekh — 'itzevon ("pain", H6093) appears as a masculine singular noun in construct state with the second-person feminine suffix -kh ("your", H9022), meaning "your pain," specifically bound grammatically to what follows.
• heronekh — heron ("pregnancy", H2032), also construct with the suffix -kh, so 'itzevonekh weheronekh forms a pair: "your pain and your pregnancy," both governed by the intensified verb 'arbeh.
• teshuqatekh — teshuqah ("desire", H8669), feminine singular construct with -kh, "your desire," followed by the phrase 'el-'ishekh ("to your husband").
• yimshol-bakh — mashal ("he will rule", H4910), qal imperfect third-person masculine, followed by the preposition be- ("over/in", H9003) plus the second-person feminine suffix, literally "he will rule over you."

What the text says

The verse divides into two main clauses. The first clause centers on the emphatic verbal construction harbah 'arbeh, an infinitive absolute followed by a finite imperfect of the same root, both from H7235A ("to increase"). This construction takes as its objects two construct-suffixed nouns joined by we- ("and", H9002): 'itzevonekh ("your pain") and heronekh ("your pregnancy"). The clause continues with be-'etzev telidi vanim — "with pain you will bear sons/children" — where telidi is a qal imperfect second-person feminine form of yalad (H3205), governed by the preposition be- ("with", H9003) attached to 'etzev ("pain", H6089A), a noun distinct in form from 'itzevon used earlier, though related in meaning.

The second clause shifts to the relational statement: we-'el-'ishekh teshuqatekh ("and to your husband [is] your desire"), a nominal clause without an explicit verb, linking 'ishekh ("your husband", H0376H) and teshuqatekh ("your desire", H8669) through the preposition 'el- ("to", H0413). The final segment, we-hu' yimshol-bakh, uses the independent pronoun hu' ("he", H1931) for emphasis before the qal imperfect yimshol ("he will rule", H4910), followed by bakh ("over you").

Differences between versions

The LXX renders heronekh ("your pregnancy", H2032) with stenagmon ("groaning/sighing"), differing from the Hebrew term for "pregnancy." The LXX also translates teshuqatekh ("your desire") as apostrophe ("turning back" or "return"), whereas the Vulgate renders the same clause as sub viri potestate eris ("you will be under your husband's power"), diverging from both the Hebrew's noun-based "desire" construction and the LXX's "turning" sense.