261. Verse 16. And unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth sons, and thine obedience shall be to thy man [vir], and he shall rule over thee. By the "woman" is now signified the church as to proprium, which it loved; by "greatly multiplying her sorrow" is signified combat, and the anxiety it occasions; by "conception" every thought; by the "sons whom she would bring forth in sorrow" the truths which she would thus produce; by "man" here as before, the rational which it will obey, and which will rule.