Genesis 3:15

Context

The verse belongs to the scene in Genesis 3 in which, after the woman and the man are deceived by the serpent and eat the forbidden fruit (the Fall), God pronounces judgment in turn on the serpent, the woman, and the man. Following the curse of verse 14, verse 15 declares that God will put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed: "it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

The word "seed" translates the Hebrew zera. It is singular in form but can refer collectively to an entire line of descendants.

Interpretations

• Messianic prophecy: Since the time of the Church Fathers, beginning with Irenaeus in the second century, the church has identified the seed of the woman as Christ and the serpent as Satan (Revelation 12:9). On this reading, the verse is the first promise that Christ would defeat Satan, even though he himself would be wounded on the cross. For this reason it is called the Protoevangelium (the "first gospel"). This is the common interpretation among the major Protestant denominations.
• Collective and progressive reading: This view takes the seed first to mean humanity as a whole (or the people of God) and holds that the promise narrows over the course of history until it is finally fulfilled in Christ. Its proponents point to Romans 16:20 ("And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly"), which applies the same imagery to the community of believers.
• Etiological reading: Some biblical scholars hold that the verse was originally a story explaining why humans and serpents are hostile to each other, and they regard its messianic sense as a later interpretation.

Debates and Issues

The Latin Vulgate rendered the pronoun as feminine ("she shall crush thy head"), and this translation became the background for the Catholic tradition that connects the verse with Mary. Religious art depicting Mary standing upon the serpent is one example. Protestants note that the pronoun in the Hebrew text is masculine (or neuter) and therefore take the subject to be the seed, that is, Christ. Official Catholic Bible translations today also follow the Hebrew text, while the Mariological interpretation continues as part of Catholic tradition.

In the Korean Church

The verse is frequently presented in Christmas and Advent sermons as the first messianic promise in the Old Testament, and it serves as the starting point in Bible studies centered on redemptive history.

Related Passages

• Romans 16:20
• Galatians 4:4
• Hebrews 2:14
• 1 John 3:8
• Revelation 12:9