Atsav: TOIL & SORROW, and a New Look at Genesis 3:16

HARD WORK/TOIL/GRIEF/SOOROW: Atsav, verb (Stong’s 6087, 6088); masculine noun (Strong’s 6089, 6090, 6092, 6093); feminine noun (Strong’s 6094).

Root verb: עָצַב

Sounds like: atz-ahv

One of the wonderful things about reading the Hebrew Bible in the original language is the discovery of long-held misinterpretations and its impact on the full story of the Gospel message.

A study on the Hebrew word atsav highlights a particular Biblical text that has been widely misinterpreted throughout history and it changes the narrative of what has often been described as the Curse of Eve.

After Eve and Adam sinned in the Garden they learned of their consequences for disobedience. They had to leave YHWH’s perfect Garden and go into the wilderness. There life would be drastically different and YHWH spoke to each of them about what life would be like for them as wilderness residents:

Genesis 3:16 (NASB)

To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall deliver children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

Did this mean that from that point on, women would find the action of giving birth painful? That seems to be the interpretation according to most translations, but actually the text says nothing of the sort. Here is a more literal (Hebrew word by Hebrew word) translation of the verse:

Genesis 3:16

To the woman He said,

“Greatly multiplied will be your hard work [its’vohnek עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ] and conception; in sorrow [b-etsev בְּעֶ֖צֶב] you shall bear children. To your husband your desire shall be, and he shall rule over you.”

This passage was not talking about pain in childbirth; it was talking about the difficulties in conception and the emotionally draining hard work it would be to conceive, carry, and raise a child. The Hebrew word for hard work (atsav) was then repeated in Adam’s curse:

Genesis 3:17b-19

[YHWH to Adam:] “Cursed is the ground because of you; with hard labour [b-itsa’vohn בְּעִצָּבוֹן֙] you shall eat from it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; yet you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Eve and Adam’s curse had nothing to do with bodily pain. What we are being told is that for life to continue in the wilderness, humanity would have to work hard (toil) to continue their existence. Struggling to obtain food and struggling to continue the human life-line was what life in the wilderness would look like. This hard work was wrapped up in sorrow and grief. Many wives and husbands would feel the sting of infertility and many would also feel the sting of famine. The dynamics between wife and husband would also change. In Eden, YHWH called them to be co-rulers of earth, but in the wilderness male humans would pull rank on their wives and expect submission. Whereas Eden was a feast amongst equals, the wilderness was a barren place of toil and inequality. Humans would have to work extra hard to see any results of a flourishing life and any success would be tainted with constant hardship. Humans would live, but not without toil and tears.

For the record, atsav was never used to describe physical pain and so we can safely say that women were NOT cursed to have pain in childbirth, although it doesn’t exclude the possibility that pain would occur. Physical pain is often a bi-product of hard labour.  Hebrew words which do describe physical pain (although they are also used to describe emotional and metaphorical pain) are ka’av (Strong’s 3510), k’ehv (Strong’s 3511), makov (Strong’s 4341), khal’khalah (Strong’s 2479), tsiyr (Strong’s 6735). Some of those words were used to describe the pain of giving birth, but none of them were atsav.

It should also be noted that these so-called curses were not punishments from YHWH. First to note is that the only things actually cursed in the Genesis 3 account was the snake (Genesis 3:14) and the ground (Genesis 3:17). The consequences that Adam and Eve would face were merely the result of living in the wilderness, outside the Garden of Eden. The moment they followed the snake’s instructions was the moment they chose their new Governor, and now they had to move into his domain. The wilderness was far away from where YHWH wanted humans to be, and fortunately He would not abandon them in their darkest hour. The words of Genesis 3:16-17 were merely the results of what they had done to themselves. 

God had the graciousness to connect with Eve and Adam personally, to describe to them what might be the hardest and most shocking changes they would face in their new habitat… nothing would come easily. Everything would be hard work and it would break their hearts. What a culture shock for Eve and Adam to experience and what a kindness it was for YHWH to break the news to each of them personally. After this sad exchange, YHWH gently covered them in clothing that He made Himself and sent them out into their new land. But He would not abandon them there.

Hard Work

Atsav was simply part of the curse of living in the wilderness, outside of Eden.  The next time the word is found in the text is at the beginning of Noah’s story:

Genesis 5:28-29

Now Lamech lived 182 years, and fathered a son. And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labour [u-mey-its’vohn וּמֵעִצְּב֣וֹן] of our hands caused by the ground which YHWH has cursed.”

In other words, Noah would offer some sort of comfort from the curse. The actions of Noah (the comforter) would lighten, but not eliminate, the burden of life in the wilderness. YHWH cleared out the wicked in the great flood but He also promised that He would not take the same action again. No longer would humans work to death. Humans were fallible. They would continue to screw up. A repetitive clearing and a reckoning wouldn’t fix the problem for generations to come, so YHWH formed a new plan. 

Over and over, this is the Biblical message: we will be saved from our wilderness wandering. YHWH would provide a way to remove us from the wilderness, and all the curses laid upon it, and bring us home. Instead of a mass wipe-out, YHWH would send a part of Himself to die in order to clear the curse and bring His people back to the Garden, to be in His Presence.

YHWH would provide His Anointed One to be the sacrificial lamb, but until that time, humans would have to find a way to cling to life in the wilderness… and it’s only by emotionally exhausting hard work would they survive.

Proverbs 14:23

In all labour [etsev עֶ֭צֶב] there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

The Emotional Pain of Sorrow and Grief

Atsav on its own, without a direct nod to emotional turmoil, is rare. You can find it in Psalm 127:1-3 which talks about labouring in vain and eating the bread of “painful labour”, and Proverbs 5:10-11 which talks about possessions gained by hard work, but in the majority of passages atsav was repeatedly used to describe sorrow and grief:

• When Dinah was raped, her brothers felt great sorrow for their sister (Genesis 34:7). 
• When Joseph reconnected with the brothers, who had turned against them, he told them to not be sorrowful about their betrayal (Genesis 45:5)
• Saul withheld the information from Jonathan that he wanted to kill David because he knew it would cause him grief (1 Samuel 20:3)
• When David’s son, Absalom, died, David grieved at his loss (2 Samuel 19:2)
• When the scriptures were read publicly at the rebuilt Temple, the people wept but Nehemiah told them to not be grieved; this was a time for feasting and celebrations (Nehemiah 8:10-12)

Even God grieved that humanity had fallen into the depths of depravity: 

Genesis 6:5-6

Then YHWH saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. So YHWH was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved [wa-yit’atsev וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב] in His heart.

Humanity broke YHWH’s heart, and it wasn’t just before the flood, it happened time and time again:

Psalm 78:40-41

How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved [ya-a’tsivuhu יַ֝עֲצִיב֗וּהוּ] Him in the desert! Again and again they tempted God, and pained [hee-t’vu] the Holy One of Israel.

As many times as His people rejected Him, YHWH forgave them and held His promise to save them.

Isaiah 63:9-10a

In all their distress He was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved [w-its’vu וְעִצְּב֖וּ] His Holy Spirit…

Their actions had consequences, however, and the fall of Israel to the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans was God’s wake-up call to His people. Living in the wilderness meant dealing with the harshness of war and exile, but through it all, YHWH never wavered on His great promise of rescue and salvation.

Isaiah 14:3

And it will be on the day when YHWH gives you rest from your hardship [mey-ats’b’ka מֵֽעָצְבְּךָ֖], your turmoil, and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,

“How the oppressor has ceased, and how the onslaught has ceased! YHWH has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into shouts of joy.”

YHWH will Bind up our Sorrows

We carry a lot of grief and sorrow and that has saddened YHWH (“In all their distress, He was distressed” (Isaiah 63:9)), but that’s what life looks like in the wilderness. However, it’s not always easy to identify those who are struggling because many of us carry our sadness behind smiling faces. Job confessed to that behaviour:

Job 9:27-28a

“Though I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put my face in order and be cheerful,’ [the truth is] I am afraid of all my sorrows [ats’vohtai עַצְּבֹתָ֑י]” …

We can smile all we want but hiding our grief behind a wall of fake cheerfulness helps no one:

Proverbs 15:13

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad [u-v-ats’vat lev וּבְעַצְּבַת־לֵ֝ב], the spirit is broken.

YHWH doesn’t want us to be sad and broken-spirited. He wants to rescue us from our hardship and misery. In fact, He promised to be like a nurse to our grief:

Psalm 147:3

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds sorrows [l-ats’vohtam לְעַצְּבוֹתָֽם].

Humans have a choice: follow YHWH or follow something else that holds humans captive (including power, greed, addictions). David gave a warning to those who chose poorly:

Psalm 16:4a, 10-11

[David:] The pains sorrows [ats’vohtam עַצְּבוֹתָם֮] of those who have acquired another god will be multiplied…

…But You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the way of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Those who chose to follow YHWH would not only be healed of their sorrows, but the grave would also not be able to hold them captive. They would experience eternal pleasures and a fullness of joy in YHWH’s presence, unburdened by the limits of the wilderness.

The Hard Work Ministry

Hard work takes a shift in the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament). Everyone still had to work hard in order to live, but Yeshua changed the focus:

Luke 5:1-11

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. 

Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 

Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard [Greek: kopiasantes] all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 

And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. 

But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. 

And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Simon worked hard all his life, as a fisherman, but Yeshua showed him that there was a different end game. No longer would Simon work catching fish, now he would work to catch people for the YHWH’s Kingdom. After this point,  “hard work” was described in ministerial terms. For example, here’s Paul’s words to the people of Ephesus before he left them:

Acts 20:32-35

“And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands served my own needs and the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard [Greek: kopiontas] in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

With Yeshua, our hard work shifts from working to survive for ourselves, to working in order to help others. It’s important that we work hard, but we are not meant to do it for our own reward. Working hard in the ministry, means putting all your efforts into furthering the Kingdom. Our hard work should lift others up. By showing love and compassion to the less fortunate we fulfill our true purpose of being God’s Image bearers and leading people back to Him.

Our sorrow won’t disappear completely, but we have hope and we have joy knowing that Yeshua paid our entrance fee back into God’s Garden Kingdom, where YHWH keenly awaits our reunion.

Psalm 139:23-24

[David:] Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful [otsev עֹ֥צֶב] way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

Life was never meant to be hard work. It was not what God intended. Adam and Eve used to enjoy wandering in the Garden with YHWH, without a care in the world. That’s the kind of life we’re getting back to when our days here reach an end. Toiling the earth for food and toiling for progeny will no longer be an issue. Life will be without hardship and struggle in YHWH’s Garden Kingdom, and that’s a great relief for many of us who find every day a burden. There is an eternal home of peace awaiting, and it’s worth the struggle to get there.

Next week: A-ha!