The Literal Meaning of Genesis (continued)
BOOK ELEVEN pal ment, And you shall be subject to your husband, and he shall rule over you, to see how it can be understood in the proper sense.
For we must believe that even before her sin woman had been made to be ruled by her husband and to be submissive and subject to him.!3¢ But we can with reason understand that the servitude meant in these words is that in which there is a condition similar to that of slavery rather than a bond of love (so that the servitude by which men later began to be slaves to other men obviously has its origin in punishment for sin). St. Paul says,
Through love serve one another.137 But by no means would he say, "Have dominion over one another."" Hence married persons through love can serve one another, but St. Paul does not permit a woman to rule over a man.!3® The sentence pronounced by God gave this power rather to man; and it is not by her nature but rather by her sin that woman deserved to have her husband for a master. But if this order is not maintained, nature will be corrupted still more, and sin will be increased.
CHAPTER 38
The punishment of Adam and the name given to the woman.
51. God, then, said to her husband: "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the one tree whereof I commanded you not to eat, cursed 1s the earth in your works. In sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life: thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the crops of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread until you return to the earth from which you have been taken, for you are earth and unto earth you shall reborin:
Who does not know that these are the labors of man on earth? And there surely can be no doubt that they would not be if man had not lost the happiness that was his in Paradise. We must not hesitate, then, to take these words also first in their proper sense. Nevertheless we must safeguard the prophetic meaning and be open to it, as it is foremost in God's intention when He speaks these words.