Jerome was one of the very few early Christian scholars to know any Hebrew. This is a unique introduction, translation, and commentary of his Questions on Genesis - a fascinating work showing a Christian working alongside Jews in an age very different from our own. Jerome's influence on the Church is well known - but this work is equally important for the light thrown on the history and origin of many ideas at the heart of the Jewish tradition.
Q : Could you please explain to me why most (Protestant and Novus Ordo ) translations translate what St. Jerome renders of Gen. 3:16 as " sub viri potestate eris " as instead something along the lines of "your urge/desire shall be for your husband"? The LXX uses "αποστροφή" ("turning back"? submission?). It looks like the Hebrew is תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ (longing, desire?); the word reappears in Gen. 4:7 and Canticles 7:10 ("Ego dilecto meo, et ad me conversio ejus.", so it's Gen. 3:16 reversed as the Bridegroom is now the one longing/desiring). Perhaps St. Jerome's MSS used a different Hebrew word? I suppose both these senses could be related: Women now (rightly or wrongly) seek their fulfillment from men and depend upon men more than Eve did before the Fall?
A : The primal meaning of תְּשׁוּקָה is “craving,” the naturally-driven “impulse” (on an immediate level, the context of Gen 3:16 and CC 7:10 implies the impulse naturally driving the spouses towards one another on the basis of their sexual differentiation).
Gen 4:7 specifically talks about the “impulse” (תְּשׁוּקָה/Vul. appetitus ) of sin (the “appetite” or “lust” for it that is to be rationally dominated over/conquered).
Thus (after the Fall), the original craving of the spouses can also become a lustful appetite (interpreting Gen 3:16 by way of Gen 4:7 regarding that particular term), under the new conditions their Original Sin has brought about (cf. Gen 3:6-16a).
The comparison leading to a mutual interpretation is all the more pertinent from the fact that the two verses are further paralleled due to the notion of “dominion,” “ruling over,” “governing” (משׁל/ MāŠaL , where you get the identical three consonantal root basis for “parable”/”proverb” from) they respectively end with:
3:16: “Yet your craving [תְּשׁוּקָתֵךְ] shall be for your husband, and he shall have dominion/rule /govern [יִמְשָׁל/ dominabitur ] over you.”
4:7: “[…] Towards you is its craving [תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ], yet you can have dominion/rule/govern [תִּמְשָׁל/ dominaberis ] over it.”
About Canticles 7:10 (“Ego dilecto meo, et ad me conversio ejus.”), based on the Hebraic text, one can refine the translation (as did St. Jerome himself with his use of conversio ) without losing any literalness, as follows:
“I’m my Beloved’s and upon/towards me [עָלַי] is His longing [תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ].”
One of the Targums of Canticle of Canticles has 7:11 (11 in the Hebrew text, 10 in the LXX & the Vulgate) interpreted as:
“I’m my Beloved’s and He longs for my perfection.”
Returning to Gen 3:16 and your question (“Women now (rightly or wrongly) seek their fulfillment from men and depend upon men more than Eve did before the Fall?”), the new conditions brought about with the Fall also made the acquiring and maintenance of the necessities of existence (including learning) a product of hard labor, for which the natural order of dependency of the woman upon her husband is confirmed, but with the involvement of pains (as part of the punishment for sin).
Finally, the texts of Proverb 12:4 and 31:10-11 explain that the Torah (= the episteme of YHWH) restores the virtuous woman as the “crown of her husband” and the “pearl” and “heart” of his life.