teshuqah (H8669)

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H8669 teshuqah (teh-shoo-KAH) — a turning toward; usually translated "desire." Appears only three times. 

Word: תְּשׁוּקָה · noun · Strong's H8669

In brief

Teshuqah appears three times in the Hebrew Bible, and one of them is Genesis 3:16: "your teshuqah will be toward your husband, and he will rule over you." The oldest translation, the Greek Septuagint, rendered it "turning". Most English Bibles say "desire," and some recent teaching reads it as a desire to control him. The word's history shows how much these choices shape the verse.

Where it appears

  • Genesis 3:16 — the woman's teshuqah toward her husband.
  • Genesis 4:7 — sin crouching at the door; its teshuqah is toward Cain, "but you must rule over it."
  • Song of Songs 7:10 — "I am my beloved's, and his teshuqah is toward me." Here it is the man's longing for the woman.

Translation history

  • Septuagint (Greek, 3rd–2nd century BC): apostrophē, "turning," in Genesis 3:16 and 4:7 [see source below].
  • Through the time of Jesus and Paul: the Scriptures most readers knew said "turning."
  • 1528, Santes Pagnini: his Latin translation is credited with introducing "desire," a rendering later English Bibles followed.
  • 1975, Susan Foh: argued in the Westminster Theological Journal that the woman's desire is to control her husband, reading 3:16 through 4:7 
  • 2016, ESV: changed 3:16 to "Your desire shall be contrary to your husband."
  • 2025, ESV: reverted to "Your desire shall be for your husband."

How translations render it

Translation Genesis 3:16
KJV "thy desire shall be to thy husband"
ESV (2016) "Your desire shall be contrary to your husband"
ESV (2025) "Your desire shall be for your husband"
NIV (2011) "Your desire will be for your husband"
NRSV "yet your desire shall be for your husband"
NET "You will want to control your husband"

Genesis 3:16 describes what will happen after the fall. It is not a command. Reading teshuqah as "turning" makes the verse a description of a woman turning to her husband and away from God, with domination as the result.

See for yourself

  1. Read Song of Songs 7:10. Does "a desire to control" make sense there?
  2. Read Genesis 3:16 and 4:7 together. What is similar, and what is different?
  3. Is Genesis 3:16 a command from God or a description of what sin will produce?

Related words

ish / ishah (H376 / H802) · 'adam (H120)

Sources