Bede

On Eve

Introduction by George Brown

Bede says: He said to the woman: I will multiply your hardships and labors. You will give birth to your sons in pain. "These words are also better understood figuratively as God's message for woman, since in fact a woman had not yet given birth. And the pain and lament of giving birth apply only to the mortal body, the [sentence of] death caused by her disobediance to His teachings. This penalty relates also to the literal sense of the text,

Original Latin