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NASB | Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity (open hostility) Between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel." [Gal 4:4] |
Subject: The serpents curse |
Bible Note: This is a very interesting Scripture to understand. I wonder whether we follow a consistant hermeneutic in interpreting it. Genesis 3:14-15 (14) And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all beasts, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (15) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. This curse seems to be directed to both a snake, and the devil. We know Satan is called "that ancient serpent" in Revelation 20:12, and refered to as the serpent elsewhere as well. But we don't generally understand that Satan crawls on his belly on the ground, eating dust. We reserve that for snakes. So we commonly understand God to be cursing snakes as well as the devil. But then the LORD addresses the serpent, and speaks of "her seed" and "your seed". This would seem to go beyond snakes, and appears to be the first prophecy of the Redeemer. "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." "He will cause you major hurt, and you will cause Him minor hurt," is how I often hear this interpreted. But what about this thing of the seeds? If we understand that "her seed" refers to a specific person, why would we not then understand "your seed" refering to a specific person? Or to put it the other way, if we understand "your seed" to refer to a catagory of people, why would we not understand "her seed" to equally refer to a catagory of people? What other Scriptures provide us with information on either the seed of the serpent, or the seed of the woman? What are your thoughts? Love in Christ, Mark |