THESIS: The Pentateuch frequently recalls Genesis 3:16–19 to highlight ironic redemptive reversals.
ABSTRACT: Scholars commonly view Genesis 3:16–19 as describing where certain world problems derived, thus minimizing the passage’s role to etiology. This paper, however, suggests that 3:16–19 plays a more strategic role within the final form of the Pentateuch. Other studies have illuminated the significance of Genesis 3:15 by demonstrating intertextual references through the Pentateuch and beyond (Alexander, Hamilton, Chen). Similarly, this paper will study apparent echoes and allusions (as defined by Beetham) to Genesis 3:16–19 throughout the Pentateuch to establish the passage’s compositional significance.
Intertextual references to Genesis 3:16–19 in the Pentateuch show that this passage is vital for understanding divine justice and redemption. Hamilton’s study of Genesis 13:15 (TynBul 58.2 [2007]: 253–73) revealed that the Abrahamic and Davidic blessings largely reverse the judgment in Genesis 3. This paper supports Hamilton’s thesis but also highlights additional references, concentrating on those backed by shared lexemes within the Pentateuch.
Passages building upon Genesis 3:16–19 either (1) refer to judgment or (2) highlight ironic redemptive reversal (using G. K. Beale’s terminology), and this paper focuses on those addressing the latter. This work demonstrates that these ironic references evoke judgment while introducing divine remedy. Specifically, the motif of barren women giving birth to sons of promise ironically reverses Genesis 3:16. References to Jacob and the nation returning to the land echo Genesis 3:19. Other reversals of Genesis 3:16–19 include YHWH providing bread in the desert, dust describing Abraham’s many descendants, and dust or ash in cleansing rituals removing death’s effects.
This paper will not directly address the complementarian versus egalitarian debate of Genesis 3:16 but will provide a more holistic context from which to discuss the question. This study will also enhance the interpretive dialogue over Genesis 3:15 by providing a more informed understanding of the function of Genesis 3:14–19 within the Pentateuch.