Genesis 1:28

1:28 God blessed ¹  them and said ²  to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! ³  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” ⁴ 

Genesis 3:16

3:16 To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase ⁵  your labor pains; ⁶ 

with pain you will give birth to children.

You will want to control your husband, ⁷ 

but he will dominate ⁸  you.”

Job 14:4

14:4 Who can make ⁹  a clean thing come from an unclean? ¹⁰ 

No one!

Job 15:14

15:14 What is man that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Job 25:4

25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?

How can one born of a woman be pure? ¹¹ 

Psalms 51:5

51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,

a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. ¹² 

Luke 2:22

Jesus’ Presentation at the Temple

2:22 Now ¹³  when the time came for their ¹⁴  purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary ¹⁵  brought Jesus ¹⁶  up to Jerusalem ¹⁷  to present him to the Lord

Romans 5:12-19

The Amplification of Justification

5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people ¹⁸  because ¹⁹  all sinned – 5:13 for before the law was given, ²⁰  sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin ²¹  when there is no law. 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type ²²  of the coming one) transgressed. ²³  5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. ²⁴  For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, ²⁵  how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. ²⁶  For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, ²⁷  led to condemnation, but ²⁸  the gracious gift from the many failures ²⁹  led to justification. 5:17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, ³⁰  death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

5:18 Consequently, ³¹  just as condemnation ³²  for all people ³³  came ³⁴  through one transgression, ³⁵  so too through the one righteous act ³⁶  came righteousness leading to life ³⁷  for all people. 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man ³⁸  many ³⁹  were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man ⁴⁰  many ⁴¹  will be made righteous.

[1:28]  ¹ tn As in v. 22 the verb “bless” here means “to endow with the capacity to reproduce and be fruitful,” as the following context indicates. As in v. 22, the statement directly precedes the command “be fruitful and multiply.” The verb carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); Gen 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).

[1:28]  ² tn Heb “and God said.” For stylistic reasons “God” has not been repeated here in the translation.

[1:28]  ³ tn Elsewhere the Hebrew verb translated “subdue” means “to enslave” (2 Chr 28:10; Neh 5:5; Jer 34:11, 16), “to conquer,” (Num 32:22, 29; Josh 18:1; 2 Sam 8:11; 1 Chr 22:18; Zech 9:13; and probably Mic 7:19), and “to assault sexually” (Esth 7:8). None of these nuances adequately meets the demands of this context, for humankind is not viewed as having an adversarial relationship with the world. The general meaning of the verb appears to be “to bring under one’s control for one’s advantage.” In Gen 1:28 one might paraphrase it as follows: “harness its potential and use its resources for your benefit.” In an ancient Israelite context this would suggest cultivating its fields, mining its mineral riches, using its trees for construction, and domesticating its animals.

[1:28]  ⁴ sn The several imperatives addressed to both males and females together (plural imperative forms) actually form two commands: reproduce and rule. God’s word is not merely a form of blessing, but is now addressed to them personally; this is a distinct emphasis with the creation of human beings. But with the blessing comes the ability to be fruitful and to rule. In procreation they will share in the divine work of creating human life and passing on the divine image (see 5:1-3); in ruling they will serve as God’s vice-regents on earth. They together, the human race collectively, have the responsibility of seeing to the welfare of that which is put under them and the privilege of using it for their benefit.

[3:16]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verb form is emphasized and intensified by the infinitive absolute from the same verb.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “your pain and your conception,” suggesting to some interpreters that having a lot of children was a result of the judgment (probably to make up for the loss through death). But the next clause shows that the pain is associated with conception and childbirth. The two words form a hendiadys (where two words are joined to express one idea, like “good and angry” in English), the second explaining the first. “Conception,” if the correct meaning of the noun, must be figurative here since there is no pain in conception; it is a synecdoche, representing the entire process of childbirth and child rearing from the very start. However, recent etymological research suggests the noun is derived from a root הרר (hrr), not הרה (hrh), and means “trembling, pain” (see D. Tsumura, “A Note on הרוֹן (Gen 3,16),” Bib 75 [1994]: 398-400). In this case “pain and trembling” refers to the physical effects of childbirth. The word עִצְּבוֹן (’itsÿvon, “pain”), an abstract noun related to the verb (עָצַב, ’atsav), includes more than physical pain. It is emotional distress as well as physical pain. The same word is used in v. 17 for the man’s painful toil in the field.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “and toward your husband [will be] your desire.” The nominal sentence does not have a verb; a future verb must be supplied, because the focus of the oracle is on the future struggle. The precise meaning of the noun תְּשׁוּקָה (tÿshuqah, “desire”) is debated. Many interpreters conclude that it refers to sexual desire here, because the subject of the passage is the relationship between a wife and her husband, and because the word is used in a romantic sense in Song 7:11 HT (7:10 ET). However, this interpretation makes little sense in Gen 3:16. First, it does not fit well with the assertion “he will dominate you.” Second, it implies that sexual desire was not part of the original creation, even though the man and the woman were told to multiply. And third, it ignores the usage of the word in Gen 4:7 where it refers to sin’s desire to control and dominate Cain. (Even in Song of Songs it carries the basic idea of “control,” for it describes the young man’s desire to “have his way sexually” with the young woman.) In Gen 3:16 the Lord announces a struggle, a conflict between the man and the woman. She will desire to control him, but he will dominate her instead. This interpretation also fits the tone of the passage, which is a judgment oracle. See further Susan T. Foh, “What is the Woman’s Desire?” WTJ 37 (1975): 376-83.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb מָשַׁל (mashal) means “to rule over,” but in a way that emphasizes powerful control, domination, or mastery. This also is part of the baser human nature. The translation assumes the imperfect verb form has an objective/indicative sense here. Another option is to understand it as having a modal, desiderative nuance, “but he will want to dominate you.” In this case, the Lord simply announces the struggle without indicating who will emerge victorious.

[14:4]  ⁹ tn The expression is מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”; see GKC 477 §151.b). Some commentators (H. H. Rowley and A. B. Davidson) wish to take this as the optative formula: “O that a clean might come out of an unclean!” But that does not fit the verse very well, and still requires the addition of a verb. The exclamation here simply implies something impossible – man is unable to attain purity.

[14:4]  ¹⁰ sn The point being made is that the entire human race is contaminated by sin, and therefore cannot produce something pure. In this context, since man is born of woman, it is saying that the woman and the man who is brought forth from her are impure. See Ps 51:5; Isa 6:5; and Gen 6:5.

[25:4]  ¹¹ sn Bildad here does not come up with new expressions; rather, he simply uses what Eliphaz had said (see Job 4:17-19 and 15:14-16).

[51:5]  ¹² tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.

[2:22]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[2:22]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows most mss, including early and important ones ({א A B L}). Some copyists, aware that the purification law applied to women only, produced mss ({76 it^pt vg} [though the Latin word eius could be either masculine or feminine]) that read “her purification.” But the extant evidence for an unambiguous “her” is shut up to one late minuscule ({codex 76}) and a couple of patristic citations of dubious worth ({Pseudo-Athanasius} whose date is unknown, and the {Catenae in euangelia Lucae et Joannis}, edited by J. A. Cramer. The Catenae is a work of collected patristic sayings whose exact source is unknown [thus, it could come from a period covering hundreds of years]). A few other witnesses (D pc lat) read “his purification.” The KJV has “her purification,” following Beza’s Greek text (essentially a revision of Erasmus’). Erasmus did not have it in any of his five editions. Most likely Beza put in the feminine form αὐτῆς (auths) because, recognizing that the eius found in several Latin mss could be read either as a masculine or a feminine, he made the contextually more satisfying choice of the feminine. Perhaps it crept into one or two late Greek witnesses via this interpretive Latin back-translation. So the evidence for the feminine singular is virtually nonexistent, while the masculine singular αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) was a clear scribal blunder. There can be no doubt that “their purification” is the authentic reading.

[2:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Joseph and Mary) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (ef Jw) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”

[5:13]  ²⁰ tn Grk “for before the law.”

[5:13]  ²¹ tn Or “sin is not reckoned.”

[5:14]  ²² tn Or “pattern.”

[5:14]  ²³ tn Or “disobeyed”; Grk “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.”

[5:15]  ²⁴ tn Grk “but not as the transgression, so also [is] the gracious gift.”

[5:15]  ²⁵ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:16]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and not as through the one who sinned [is] the gift.”

[5:16]  ²⁷ tn The word “transgression” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

[5:16]  ²⁸ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[5:16]  ²⁹ tn Or “falls, trespasses,” the same word used in vv. 15, 17, 18, 20.

[5:17]  ³⁰ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:18]  ³¹ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[5:18]  ³² tn Grk “[it is] unto condemnation for all people.”

[5:18]  ³³ tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[5:18]  ³⁴ tn There are no verbs in the Greek text of v. 18, forcing translators to supply phrases like “came through one transgression,” “resulted from one transgression,” etc.

[5:18]  ³⁵ sn One transgression refers to the sin of Adam in Gen 3:1-24.

[5:18]  ³⁶ sn The one righteous act refers to Jesus’ death on the cross.

[5:18]  ³⁷ tn Grk “righteousness of life.”

[5:19]  ³⁸ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:19]  ³⁹ tn Grk “the many.”

[5:19]  ⁴⁰ sn One man refers here to Jesus Christ.

[5:19]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “the many.”