Why Are Women Emotional According to the Word?

After pondering and observing the behavior of my fellow men and women I was frustrated at not being able to understand why women have contrary feelings. After failing to find the answer in the world, I started chatting with my sister's about the subject...got a little farther with them, but it seemed they were stumped at the question.

So I pulled out my Bible and started reading about Eve...and when I got to her punishment I realized that the answer was staring us in the face the whole time!



These are the only two English translations which don't leave you with an ambiguous reading of the text--aside from the Septuagint which says the woman will have an aversion towards her husband...some others use the words submission and recourse--and seeing that the context of this part of the story is a punishment of Eve (and all women): God made it clear that not only would Eve have a positive desire for her husband, but also a negative one. This is why women since Eve have all tried to change and control men, and why they have a natural aversion that comes out towards the man.

With this fresh understanding it makes sense why God gave man the authority to rule over the woman, because she misused her power and influence to cause Adam to disobey God with her instead of checking in with her husband to see if the serpent was correct. After today it makes complete sense why women are so emotional: it was to serve as a reminder of their mother's punishment.

Lol God sure is funny: He placed the desire to serve and rebel in the woman.

HARK! said:

Here is how the CLV translates:



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When I have questions about their translation I first look at their word for word rendering of the Hebrew script below that translation. Remember that Hebrew reads from right to left; and each English word. beneath each Hebrew word, would read in the same order.

If I still have questions I would look to the ancient Hebrew translation, or even the otiot themselves.

A better translation of the H8669 תשוקתך would be desire, or course, as in the course of a river.

"desire of you"

Notice that the next two words are "and he"

Together those words, "desire of you and he," follow bearing sons.

It would seem that YHWH is saying that bearing sons would be the desire of both the man and the woman.

There is nothing in the Hebrew text about the woman controlling nor being contrary. This was added by man.

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Yes I've looked at the Hebrew and Greek and, the phrase "your desire shall be for your husband" doesn't make sense if it's only a positive thing, because then there would be no need for God to say the man will dominate or rule over the woman. It makes more sense if God put the desire in the woman to serve her husband and at the same time not want to serve him...outside of this we can't explain historically why this has been the case for nearly six millennia. As a man with four sisters and a majority of women in my family I've been able to observe write a bit about women, and even many of the women in my family agree with what I've shared here.

Maria Billingsley said:

I am a guest on this forum and came across your post. This verse has been used to confirm the practice of controlling women for centuries, so it is not a fresh revelation. If you notice it was a curse and that curse has been lifted by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The new fresh understanding is " love one another" . If a woman finds herself in a contentious situation with her husband there is usually a very good reason.
As far as birth pains, God has also given the woman the strength and endurance to bring life into the world . After doing so, the miracle of forgetting that pain gives us the strength to endure it over and over again.
Thank you for letting me share as a guest.
Be blessed.

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Thank you sister for posting and sharing your thoughts. I pray that you and all of our sisters don't take my OP as bashing women because I'm not. My OP is primarily concerned with understanding why women have contrary emotions within themselves and how this dynamic affects the relations and understanding between men and women in general.

As for the curse upon Adam and Eve...we still have to work hard to survive since they got kicked out of Eden and women still experience difficulty in child labor and raising children.

Inquiring Christ's Mind said:

Thank you sister for posting and sharing your thoughts. I pray that you and all of our sisters don't take my OP as bashing women because I'm not. My OP is primarily concerned with understanding why women have contrary emotions within themselves and how this dynamic affects the relations and understanding between men and women in general.

As for the curse upon Adam and Eve...we still have to work hard to survive since they got kicked out of Eden and women still experience difficulty in child labor and raising children.

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Now to be fair to the other part of your first comment it is true that the Word does speak of the woman being saved in child bearing if she is faithful in the Lord. And I can say from observing the pregnancies of three of my four sisters that the older and younger of them experienced really hard labor becuase they were very dominant and headstrong; but my middle sister had the easiest and most painless child birth experience since she was more submissive to her husband. And from some other women I talked to I did notice a similar pattern among believers and unbelievers in general.

HARK! said:

It doesn't make sense; because as I have demonstrated, that his not what the Hebrew says. It's a mistranslation.

What it says is that the man and the woman will "desire," (as in the natural course of a flowing river) to bare progeny.

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HARK! said:

As I have demonstrated, the scripture does not say that man will rule over her. It says that he will rule in her.

What does this mean? Could it mean that just as Messiah rules in men that men should rule in women as a loving example of our Father's nature?

I see nowhere in scripture that tells us that the woman should serve the man; but she is to help the man.

If the woman is to serve the man; should she not serve him in the same way that kadosh men serve the Messiah, as he serves us as our King? Personally, I think that more responsibility is put on the man; as he is tasked with leading in such a way that would make it easy for the woman to draw nearer to our heavenly Father, through his example.

The scripture says that the woman was designed to help the man. Help the man what? What is man's primary responsibility to YHWH? How can the women help the men with that; and how can men lead women to do that?

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I mean if you want to be politically correct and not offend women or people who have a modern leaning then your translation is fine...however this still doesn't add up because the context of this part of the story is a clear punishment of all three parties. If all God was saying to Eve was that her desire would be to help her husband and the husband gently lead her...they already had that going when they first met, so this would be a redundant and unnecessary statement from God.

When you look at the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint they both clearly state that the husband will rule over the woman and not through her. The main difference in there reading is that the MT says "your desire shall be for your husband" while the LXX says "your aversion". Women historically have shown that whether or not they are with a man they have a tendency to challenge the man's dominance, and whether people like to admit it in our modern world or not, women end up submitting themselves to the man showing himself to be dominant. Whether this is done as a tyrant or a king is irrelevant because women have been seen to submit to both types of men.

Other than that we couldn't make sense of the words of Paul when he said that the man is over the woman; Christ is over the Church; and God is over Christ. It is clear that this hierarchy was determined from Eden or else we'd have no clear chain of command or authority.

Petros2015 said:

This podcast features an interview with Rabbi Ariel Burger who talks about a lot of things, but at 21:45
he talks about the definition of the word "help meet" which is referenced. I can't get the link to the exact audio file, but check it out (scroll down)
Most Protestants use the words from the King James like a road-bump and bastardize it to "helpmate" which I could have sworn was what it was.

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

But that's not what it means.

Radio & Podcasts

Our audio offerings. Big conversations to moments of discovery.

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Ariel Burger — Be a Blessing

From being a spectator to bearing witness. Maladjustment with moral force. Lamentation. The creative space between words.

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Tippett: And that word, unity, is out there in our political life right now, and it’s controversial.

I also love this, because this feels connected, to me — you said that one of the virtues, one of the ways to be maladjusted positively is to push against false dichotomies, which are everywhere in this culture, and claim the countercultural both/and paradoxical thinking, and that, you said, perhaps Elie Wiesel’s favorite phrase was “and yet.” And this idea that, even going back to Genesis, that even the idea that “helpmeet” — the word that gets translated as “helpmeet,” even the first couple of Adam and Eve — that there’s an otherness, actually, in the actual language and imagery in that story. You’ve said this: “The first couple are the first friends, the first strangers, and the first to encounter an ‘other.’”

Burger:The first human relationship. And that phrase in the original Hebrew is so paradoxical. It’s really not “helpmeet” — I don’t even know what a “helpmeet” really means.

Tippett:I know; I think that’s the King James version. It was that Eve is just created to become Adam’s helpmeet, is the language a lot of people learned, in church, at least.

Burger:Right; I’ve seen it too, from a young age, but I don’t know what a “meet” is. [laughs] But the original Hebrew is really fascinating, because it’s two words. It’s not one word. And they’re two words that mean, really, the opposite: one is “helper” and one is “against him.” And that’s the real key to understanding this idea of otherness, that really one of the best things that you can do for me, one of the best ways you can help me in my search for truth, which is a never-ending search, and my desire to improve myself and become a better person, is to confront me with your different perspective, your different opinion, your different take on things. And the way that professor Wiesel asked the question is, what does it mean to disagree for the sake of the other?




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Not sure what the point of this post is. Helpmeet and Helpmate are similar but not the same thing. The speakers seem confused and can't understand that the word meet in Old English translates to "suitable, appropriate". The narrative is pretty clear that God gave the Man responsiblities in Eden; God saw Adam was lonely: so as a solution to his loneliness God created the Woman to be a suitable helper to Adam to assist in the work God gave him, and to keep one another company.

Benjamin Müller said:

1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."​

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God does not put conflicting desires in people. That conflict comes from the devil.​

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John 14:17, 23 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. [23] Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

This is a type of spiritual marriage.

Gen. 2:24 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."

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Jesus Christ came as the second Adam because Adam did not pass the test nor fill his obligation as a husband. ​

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Those in the church have been deceived by the serpent at various times; and Christians, though baptized with the Holy Spirit still sin, because overcoming is a life-long process. Eve's deception which lead to disobedience and sin, is what we do as Christians almost daily. ​

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Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness and if Christ had to undergo a trial, Adam had to as well. Christ overcame. Adam failed.​

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Jesus Christ was willing to die for his bride. By His blood our sins are cleansed. By his death we're reconciled to the Father and by his life we live. [Romans 5] Adam did not fulfill the role of Christ; besides taking part in the forbidden fruit, he refused to take responsibility for Eve. He did not offer himself as atonement. He did not plead for her. He tried to hide and then when found out, played the blame-game, blaming both the woman and God. Adam did not show the same love for his bride that Christ showed for his bride: the church. ​

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The test wasn't so much on Eve, as it was on Adam. And mankind has been following in the steps of Adam ever since. ​

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A woman who grows up in an environment where her father or husband walks after God will be far more emotionally stable then a woman whose father or husband walks in the way of Adam. And walking in the way of Adam is one reason, if not the primary reason, why women rebel and strive against men. And in many cases, justifiably so.​

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Besides biological responses which God made in women, such as hormonal fluctuations and difference in the wiring of the brain, if you want to get down to way women are more emotionally unstable, rebellious against men, it goes back to Adam. You rarely see Christian women behaving so rebelliously against men, because they are in a community in which their men are striving to be like Christ. And when the men are fulfilling that role, the women feel secure and loved. Their husbands recognize their gifts and give women the freedom to become that Proverbs 31 wife. You hear all about the Proverbs 31 wife, but you rarely hear about the Psalms 31 husband. ​

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Her husband has full confidence in her​

and lacks nothing of value.​

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Her husband is respected at the city gate,​

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.​

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Her children arise and call her blessed;​

her husband also, and he praises her:​

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A Proverbs 31 husband is to be confident in his wife, if he's confident in her then he doesn't restrain her with a leash. She has full freedom to pursue her endeavors; he is respected elder, so he is a godly man; he praises her; he understands her value and is grateful for the work of her hands. ​

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Women need to feel valued and appreciated. They need to hear that praise from their husband. I have witnessed many husbands, instead of building up their wives, they tear them down and nitpick at them in public. How is that being a loving husband?​

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When you see truly emotionally unstable women, many came from unstable homes; many are dealing with trauma. 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted; that type of trauma produces unstable emotions (And without Christian guidance, these women have a poor prognosis in overcoming that trauma). ​

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But men can also be emotionally unstable; how many men have anger management issues? And their lack of stability comes from their negative upbringing.​

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God purposely designed men and women differently. For men and women practicing Christianity, the difference between genders is suppose to be complimentary and produce successful communities and social structures within the church. ​

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In the world, the difference between genders creates conflict, turmoil and trauma. And the root cause is Adam.​

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The story of Adam and Eve is clear that God didn't make anything confusing: He punished them for their disobedience and established a clear hierarchy. And when asking the question about where the nature of men and women come from, only the Edenic narrative can completely and truthfully answer and help is understand what we're going through at present. For it is clear that through man came sin and through sin came death: which is why we need to blood of Christ to cleanse and forgive is of our sins and why we are promised the gift of eternal life.

That said if you want to understand women you have to understand the first woman Eve, and while we don't have everything fleshed out as we'd personally like, it's clear God wants us to work to understand these things. With the written information available we know women test men because God told Eve from the beginning she would be doing that to Adam and that he ultimately would have authority over her. While it's true that many of our women have problems due to not being properly trained by their parents, women are still held accountable by God for what they do, say and think as He did not make it impossible for them to rule over their own selves. In the end this doesn't change the command God gave in Eden.

While there are men who can be neurotic this emotional struggle is more pronounced in women than men generally speaking, and evolution nor materialism can answer why this is...only the story of Adam and Eve. While men have failed in many things it cannot be forgotten that death came into the world because of a woman

As regards the Proverbs 31 citation don't forget the opening line:

"A good wife who can find?"

A man simply having a wife doesn't make the woman good by default, according to the mother speaking these words this type of woman is rare. And what does this mother have to say about her own sex to her son?

"Don't spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings."
Proverbs 31:3 GNBDK

Keep in mind a woman is speaking these words and not a man...and according to Proverbs there are only two types of people in the world:

1) Wise
2) Foolish

And according to Proverbs 9 these are the only two women have a choice between:

1) Wise
2) Foolish

And since good men and women are hard to find...that means there are more foolish men and women in the world than wise ones. Proverbs is only concerned with instructing why you want to be wise instead of foolish and how to tell the difference between the two when meeting people.

God knows exactly how he wired women and still holds them responsible for their lives even though our modern world fails to do so. All that said this thread has ben created to talk more about this and give believers a solid footing to stand on since I haven't heard anyone try to address this subject biblically.