Some Bible teachers understand the last two clauses of Gen 3:16 as defining how families should operate.
Gen 3:16 I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
According to this position, the woman is to be emotionally dependent on her husband, submissively desiring him. He is to rule over her and his home like a little king in his castle. The verse is sometimes viewed as the basis for NT passages on the different roles of the husband and the wife (Eph 5:22-33; Col 3:18-19; and 1 Pet 3:1-7).
In fact, Gen 3:16 is not instruction on how families are to operate, but a description of how fallen people live in vicious tension. In the gospels, the Lord Jesus actually forbids this pattern of life.
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