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Neighbor,
Remember that thing I was waiting to share in last night’s workshop?
The part that made me actually sick to my stomach when I discovered it?
Well... it ended up being a party of one for that workshop,
so rather than hang out in a Zoom room dazzling myself with my own brilliance,
I wrote late into the evening,
then made myself a most delicious egg, cheese and avocado sandwich,
and went for a walk in a new-to-me part of Tampa instead.
I still soooooo want to share it with you though, so here it is.
It's a longer read today,
and so, so worth it.
But maybe grab your coffee first...
Where We Left Off
We were at the part in the story where God has swiftly confronted the serpent
and handed down consequences for his predatory deception of the woman,
like belly crawling and dust eating...
but God wasn't done speaking.
God went on to say:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.” Hmmmm. Okay. Interesting.
Let's walk through what just happened here,
because I'm telling you:
This changes everything we've been taught about gender and justice from Genesis.
The Woman Identified as the Threat
First, notice God is speaking to the serpent (aka evil)—
and identifies the woman as the primary enemy.
Not “humanity.”
Not “the man.”
The woman.
God tells this dusty deceiver that from now on,
there will be deep, irreconcilable opposition—
enmity—
between it and her.
But here’s the kicker:
God creates the enmity.
As if to say, “You messed with her. Now she’s your problem.”
The Promise That Changes Everything
Then comes the prophecy that we call heaven's first shout-out to the "good news": Her offspring—her seed—will crush the serpent’s head.
Let that sink in.
The victim of deception becomes the mother of the One who will destroy the deceiver.
The one who was targeted by evil becomes the One through whom evil’s defeat will come.
And if you've read ahead in the book,
you'll notice the One who destroyed the deceiver,
required no man's seed to be conceived.
The One was her offspring, not the man's.
God, not the man, became her multiplier.
(We’ll come back to this. The phrasing matters more than you’ve been told.)
Evil didn’t win when it deceived her.
Evil sealed its own fate.
In choosing her as its target,
evil exposed a man willing to stand by
and wound up paying for that “victory”
by gaining the God of the universe as its direct opponent.
Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes.
What This Means for Every Woman
This isn’t just about Eve, Mary and Jesus (though it includes them).
This is about the cosmic role women play in God’s plan to overcome evil.
No wonder women are disproportionately targeted by:
- Human trafficking
- Domestic violence
- Sexual Assault
- Religious oppression
- Educational restrictions
No wonder lots of churchy spaces preach justice and freedom while practicing oppression and control.
Evil remembers something we’ve mostly forgotten:
women were made to be at enmity with darkness.
We carry the seed of its destruction.
Just as Eve did. Just as Mary did.
Then God Turns to Address Her Directly
“I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort.
Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.” Now, before you scrunch your eyes and think:
“Here comes the unfair punishment on top of an already hurt and suffering person's head.
God sucks and is untrustworthy, unloving and unjust,”
or
nod your head in approval, thinking:
"Exactly. She messed up, she deserves pain and subordination. God said it. Case closed.
That’s the new natural order. That’s divine justice.
Women need male headship, and this is where God instituted it.”
But what if both takes are wrong?
But here’s what this narrative doesn’t line up with:
Is the God revealed in Jesus—
who talked a-whole-heck-of-A-LOT about abuse of power,
burned against injustice,
and moved toward those trampled underfoot by predators and corruption
with mercy, compassion, and advocacy.
The Jesus around whom vulnerable, violated, and silenced women moved with safety, dignity, and ease.
Well, as it turns out...
We’ve been bamboozled...
And it's a whole translation scandal.
Dr. Joy Fleming has uncovered something that ought to make your blood boil,
just as surely as it lifts your spirit and liberates your soul:
modern English translations have been mistranslating Genesis 3:16 for a good long while.
Let's look at what the Hebrew text actually says in Genesis 3:16—
stripped of biased theological spin:
“Multiplying I-will-multiply
your sorrowful toil
and your conception.
In grief you will bring forth children.”
This is both a promise of God’s faithfulness to multiply her fruitfulness—
and a clear-eyed explanation of the sorrow it will cost now.
And what I saw next, through that lens, unraveled everything for me.
In Genesis 1,
God told them both,
man and woman,
to be fruitful and multiply.
But after the betrayal,
God speaks to her alone:
“Multiplying, I-will-multiply…” God doesn’t revoke the mission.
He takes it up Himself.
God steps in on her behalf—
not just to clean up the aftermath,
not just as her protector and provider,
but as her multiplier.
This is just the first time God stands in for Adam.
If you've read ahead, you know it won't be the last.
Dr. Joy Fleming also notes that the second part of this passage has to do with parenting,
not child birth—
and the grief that will accompany raising children in a world now tainted by anti-love impulses,
and governed by the knowledge of good and evil.
The word for “toil” is the same one used for the man’s work (coming up)—
suggesting parallel consequences caused by the cursed ground,
a direct result of the man’s betrayal and collusion—
not a punishment for the woman having been deceived.
A Warning, Not a Command
“Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.” This is the line that’s been used to build entire empires,
establish generations of male dominance,
and sustain contempt for women.
They said it was God's design.
They said it was righteous judgment.
They said it was rooted in the creation order.
But what if it’s none of those things?
What if God isn't prescribing male rule,
but describing what will happen because of man’s collusion with ‘sin’?
The Hebrew word for "rule" used here means to dominate or control,
the same word used for kings ruling subjects.
But interpreting this as God's command creates an impossible justice problem.
Because a quick recap of what this story has shown us already:
- The woman was deceived by the serpent.
- The man stood by, said nothing, then blamed both her and God when confronted.
- She was from his own flesh and bone and he became her betrayer.
- He colluded with her perpetrator rather than defending her.
So if this verse is a command,
we’re saying God’s response to deception and betrayal is to...
make the victim subordinate to her betrayer?
Reward the man’s collusion with kingly power and authority over
the woman he’s already actively betrayed?
From then until Jesus returns?
That would mean that God punishes the deceived and
rewards the deceiver’s accomplice with "headship".
Make it make sense.
Is that just?
This interpretation demands we call injustice “righteous” and label cruelty as “divine design.
Since man and woman were created as equal allies—
and since this interpretation violates every principle of justice—
this can't possibly be a command,
but rather must stand as a caution about what 'sin' produces in the human heart.
Control will replace communion.
Power will hide behind partnership.
Dominance will masquerade as divine order.
Our Creator is exposing this by saying:
“Woman, you’re going to long for connection with him—
but he’s going to try to control you.” This isn’t punishment.
It's a prophecy.
If male overlording isn't God's will,
then we've been reading it wrong on purpose—
because using this verse to justify male dominance is the very rebellion it prophecies.
Because look what happens next…
God Turns to the Man
and outlines the consequences (summarized by me):
The ground is cursed because of you.
Your labor will be painful and futile.
You’ll eat by the sweat of your brow until you return to the dust.
Notice the difference in God’s response:
To the woman: She’s prepared for how the consequences will impact her and her children. God reclaims the promise once entrusted to the man, becoming the one who will fulfill it. And she’s warned about the man’s coming desire to dominate.
To the man: The ground is cursed on his account. He’s given a new, harsher reality—his work will now be marked by futility, fatigue, and frustration. And his end is death and dust
The Earth-Shattering Truth Becomes Clear
The serpent gets cursed.
The ground gets cursed by proxy, on account of the man.
The woman gets entrusted with a promise and warned about opposition.
One of these things is not like the others.
Therefore:
Genesis 3:16 isn’t God’s command for men to rule women.
It’s God’s warning to women (and men) that men will try.
God never instituted male dominance over women.
What This Means for You, Woman
God has not capped your potential.
God has not given men unilateral authority over you based on their anatomy.
You are not cursed.
You are not the problem.
You are not being punished for existing.
You are not the source of evil in the world.
You are not a threat to men when you take up space.
You are still carrying the seeds of darkness’s destruction.
And every time you:
- Speak truth in the face of deception
- Refuse to be silenced by intimidation
- Protect the vulnerable from predators
- Call out abuse instead of covering it up
- Choose courage over compliance within corrupt systems
You are fulfilling your calling to be at enmity with evil,
by sowing those seeds generously.
No wonder glass ceilings seem to appear out of nowhere.
No wonder abusers target you with such focused hatred and intensity.
No wonder religious systems work so hard to convince you to sit down and shut up.
The Questions That Change Everything
So here’s what I want to leave you with:
What if everything that’s tried to shrink, silence, or sideline you
exists because oppressive systems are threatened by who you really are?
What if your voice, your strength, your internal wrestle to accept hierarchy—
even the things you’ve been told make you “difficult” or
(my personal favorite)
“like a wild stallion no one can tame”—
aren’t flaws, but features?
What if they’re exactly what God equipped you with to be at enmity with evil?
Delightfully dangerous,
Camille
ps.
I’m looking for 4 women who are ready to reclaim their voice,
establish themselves in their true calling,
and finally hear what the real God has to say about her protection, power, and purpose.
If that’s you, hit reply.
We should talk.
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