Gen 3:16 – TIPs

bear child / give birth

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “bear (a child)” or “give birth to” is translated in Mairasi as “go to the forest,” reflecting the traditional place of childbirth for Mairasi women. (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Spanish it is translated as dar a luz, literally “to give to light.” Likewise, in Portuguese (dar à luz) and Italian (dare alla luce). (Source: Mark Terwilliger)

See also in childbirth / travail and birth.

your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you

The Hebrew in Genesis 3:16 that is translated as “your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” in English is translated in Cherokee as “you will think of your husband with longing, and he will be the one who speaks for you.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 45)

pregnant

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that are translated as “(become) pregnant” in English is rendered as “got belly” (Sranan Tongo and Kituba) as “having two bodies” (Indonesian), as “be-of-womb” (Sinhala), as “heavy” (Balinese), and as “in-a-fortunate-state” (Batak Toba). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Kafa it is translated as “having two lives” (source: Loren Bliese), in Southern Birifor as tara pʊɔ or “having stomach,” in Kamba as “be-heavy” (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin), in the Swabian 2007 translation by Rudolf Paul as kommt en andere Omständ, lit. “be in different circumstances,” and in Newari as “have in the womb” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Mairasi it is translated as “have a soul [ghost].” (Source: Enggavoter, 2004)

The Promise of a Redeemer

Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.

For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here .

For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.

God Judges Adam and Eve

The following is a stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century, depicting God judging Adam and Eve:

Source: Der gläserne Schatz: Die Bilderbibel der St. Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder), Neuer Berlin Verlag, 2005, copyright for this image: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

complete verse (Genesis 3:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 3:16:

Kankanaey: “God also said to the woman, ‘Your (sing.) hardships/sufferings will more-than-adequately increase-in-number, especially when you (sing.) give-birth, but you (sing.) will nevertheless desire/crave your (sing.) spouse and he will be-the-one-to-rule-over you (sing.).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Then to the woman he said — ‘I will increase your birth pains. Experiencing great pain, you will give birth to children, Yet, your desire will be attracted toward [your] husband. And he will keep you under [his] authority.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “He also said to the woman, ‘Because of what you (sing.) have-done, I will-increase your (sing.) suffering in pregnancy and your (sing.) pain in giving-birth. But in-spite-of that/[lit. on-the-other-side of that], you (sing.) will- still -desire your (sing.) husband, and he will-rule over you (sing.).'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Yahweh said to the woman, ‘You will have great pain when you give birth to children; you will suffer great pain as your children are being born. You will greatly desire your husband to show affection for you, but he will rule over you.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")