In Genesis 3:16, it says that he [her husband] shall rule over Eve. Was there a difference here in ruling over Eve as opposed to what God originally intended?

This text is from a transcript of a talk by David Gooding, entitled ‘The Creator and the Creation Stories’ (2001).

What God originally intended in the man-woman relationship is stated in Genesis 1 towards the end, and then in the early verses of chapter 2. Paul expounds on chapter 2, which concerns man and woman before the fall, and he makes the point that Adam was formed first, not Eve (1 Tim 2:13). Secondly, we notice that the woman was formed out of Adam, not Adam out of Eve (see Gen 2:22). And thirdly, we are told that the woman was made as a helpmate for the man (see Gen 2:20–22). It is not said that man was created to be a suitable help for the woman, though undoubtedly he was to look after her. That is the order in God’s creation; it’s a question of rank.

Many people don’t like the idea of rank; they see it as some nasty thing. But we all believe in rank, don’t we? In a game of football, you have to have rank. There are eleven players, but one has to be the captain; above him is the manager and above him is the chairman of the board. That’s how the thing is run. When they’re off the field, the captain himself is subject to the manager, but on the field the captain has to decide who is going to do this, that and the other. That’s how the game has to be run. There would be confusion if you didn’t have rank. And in the kingdom of Christ there is rank. Adam and Eve were both to have dominion—if he was king of the earth, she was his queen. But God had given the leadership role to man, even before the fall.

After the fall, the word rule is used: ‘Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you’ (3:16). As I understand the Hebrew, though I’m not an expert Semitist, this is a strong word. It inclines to mean ‘mastery over’. In husband-wife relationships, this seems to denote that they would not become the ideal they had been to start with, but there was now an element of coarseness and mastery. It’s not always true, of course, but you only have to study the history of the ancient world to see how often it has been, and still is true in our modern world, though it shouldn’t be among Christians.