Genesis 3:15

15. Enmity between thee and the woman That a sense of enmity exists between the entire serpent race and mankind is a conspicuous fact, account for it as we may . But no better reason for it can be given than that presented in this Scripture, namely, because it was basely associated with man’s original sin .

It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel . It is difficult to ascertain the precise meaning of the word שׁו Š, here rendered bruise . It occurs but three times, namely, here, Job 9:17, and Psalms 139:11. The Septuagint renders it here by τηρεω , to watch for; in Job by εκτριβω , to rub; in the Psalm by καταπατεω , to tread upon . The Vulgate translates it by two different words in this passage, contero, to bruise, in the first sentence, and insidior, to lie in wait for, in the second, but in Psalms 139:0 it has conculco, to tread upon . The word evidently denotes some sort of deadly stroke or wound, and the universal habit of man to seek to wound the serpent’s head, while the serpent is apt to wound the heel, (comp . Genesis 49:17,) confirms the realistic character of this narrative .

But while this Scripture is capable of such a simple and literal interpretation, it has also its profounder allusions. As the serpent was but the instrument of the devil, the father of lies, (see note on Genesis 3:1,) so the curse pronounced against the crooked, crawling beast has a deeper application to Satan and his seed. The base crawling, the dust-eating, and the heel-biting of serpents symbolize the habits of the old serpent, the devil. He evermore moves about his demoniacal work in conscious condemnation, as if in trembling (James 2:19) and in torment .

Matthew 8:29. Like unto the natural enmity existing between the serpent-race and man is that irrepressible conflict between Satan and the redeemed man . Tayler Lewis suggests that head and heel in this Scripture may denote the strong contrast between the methods of contest of these two eternal foes . The seed of the woman fights in a bold and manly way, and strikes openly at the head. Biting or striking at the heel, on the contrary, “denotes the mean, insidious character of the devil’s warfare, not only as carried on by the equivocating appetites, but also as waged by infidels and self-styled rationalists in all ages, who never meet Christianity in a frank and manly way.”

But who, in this deeper sense, is that “seed” who shall bruise the serpent’s head? The masculine pronoun HE ( הוא ) is not without significance . The reading is not ipsa, she herself, as the Vulgate has it, and which some Romanists understand of the Virgin Mary; nor it, of the English version, which fails to convey the force of the Hebrew, הוא . We fully accord with the great body of Christian interpreters who recognise here the first Messianic prophecy, the protevangelium . But this prophecy, given in Paradise before the expulsion of the transgressors, should not be explained exclusively of the personal Messiah . That promised seed comprehends also the redeemed humanity of which he is Head that great company who both suffer with him and with him shall also be glorified. Romans 8:17. The final triumph will not be won without much bloodshedding and many wounds. The old serpent has more than once bruised the great Conqueror’s heel, and many of the faithful “have resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:4. So only those who belong to Christ as their great head and leader, are the seed of promise; all others, though born of woman, by espousing the serpent’s cause and doing the lusts of the devil (John 8:44) are of the seed of the serpent, a “generation of vipers,” (Matthew 23:33,) whose end is perdition .

“Against the natural serpent,” says Keil, “the conflict may be carried on by the whole human race by all who are born of woman but not against Satan. As he is a foe who can only be met with spiritual weapons, none can encounter him successfully but such as possess and make use of spiritual arms. Hence the idea of the seed is modified by the nature of the foe. If we look at the natural development of the human race, Eve bore three sons, but only one of them, namely, Seth, was really the seed by which the human family was preserved through the flood, and perpetuated in Noah. So, again, of the three sons of Noah, Shem, the blessed of Jehovah, from whom Abraham descended, was the only one in whose seed all nations were to be blessed; and that not through Ishmael, but through Isaac alone. Through these constantly repeated acts of divine selection, which were not arbitrary exclusions, but were rendered necessary by differences in the spiritual condition of the individuals concerned, the seed to which the victory over Satan was promised was determined, and ceased to be co-extensive with physical descent. This spiritual seed culminated in Christ, in whom the Adamitic family terminated, henceforward to be renewed by Christ as the Second Adam, and to be restored by him to its original exaltation and likeness to God.… On the other hand, all who have not regarded and preserved the promise, have fallen into the power of the old serpent, and are to be regarded as the seed of the serpent, whose head will be trodden under foot.” Matthew 23:33; John 8:44; 1 John 3:8. Comp . the conflict between Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his angels in Revelation 12:7-9.