To the woman He
said, "I shall surely increase your sorrow and your pregnancy; in pain you
shall bear children. And to your husband will be your desire, and he will rule
over you." (Genesis 3:16)
Notice from the above text how Yahweh punished Eve for eating the fruit. Compare her punishment with Adam, it seems clear, Yahweh was lenient towards man and extremely harsh towards the woman. Let’s take a closer look at the text, women will bear labour pain. Question is, how could a loving caring God make every women on earth suffer with such a traumatic pain for the error of one person?
Here's the
interesting part, the husband of the woman will be her desire and he will
rule over her. Jewish commentator Rashi gives us a good explanation of what
that means:
Rashi's commentary
:
And to your husband
will be your desire: for intimacy, but, nevertheless, you will not have
the audacity to demand it of him with your mouth, but he will rule over you.
Everything is from him and not from you. — [from Eruv. ad loc.]
Classical
commentator Rashi explains this verse is saying women have no right over
their husband, they can't even demand intimacy even if they had the urge
to. The key point to note is MAN WILL RULE OVER HIS WIFE. This is
such a strong statement giving man all power to dominate over his
wife. What does it mean "Rule over you"?
If you search the
word "Rule" in any English dictionary you'll find it typically means
:("exercise ultimate power or authority over an area and its
people. control of or dominion over an area or people.) in other
words the husband is the sole ruler, King, authority, judge dominator over his
wife. Which means the husband does what he likes when he likes, taking
precedence and his wife cannot do anything about it other than accepting his
decision.
Here's the problem
Christians face. If man is the master over his wife making her no less than a servant, then what prevents
him from beating her? There is no prohibition in the bible regarding wife
beating. Think about it, if the husband is her desire who rules over her,
it's natural he can beat her if she displeases him. If the bible allows the
master to beat his servant whether man or women (Exodus 21:20) what could prevent the husband from beating his wife
since he is her master who owns her. She has no free will.
Let's break this
down :
The desire for a woman
will be her husband.
Her husband will
rule over her.
Women has no say nor
can she demand anything from her husband.
Her husband has all
power and authority to do what he likes.
Her husband can
beat her as he is her ruler
The bible does not
prohibit wife beating.
Let the bible speak!
