However, both Testaments of the sacred volume treat him as the personal, arch-enemy of Almighty God. He is the murderer of fallen humanity Jn. The woman of the context is Eve. But the main focus is not upon her; rather it is upon her seed see below. While some see it as an abiding antipathy between humans and snakes Owen, 13 , clearly the scope moves far beyond such a trite explanation. This theme is well illustrated in the parable of the tares see Mt.
There are two components. First, there is a standard of truth and righteousness which proceeds from the very nature of deity. Second, rational individuals are creatures of moral responsibility. When men or spirit beings, e. God, then, is the author of the enmity only in the sense that he makes demands upon responsible beings — which frequently they choose to ignore cf. An affirmative answer to the first question is not plausible. Clearly, the seed promise of this entire book Gen.
Frankly, it will not. The translation should conform, they suggest, to the nature of the circumstances. Others allege that the text actually contains similar, though different, words. But bruise is from suph , whereas crush is from saaph , an allied root Stigers, 79; see also Harris, et al. To bruise the head is a picture of fatal and final destruction. In the final analysis, we must say that the complete biblical picture does reveal a difference in the significance of the terms.
There are a number of important points that we would make in concluding this discussion. These are practical points from which we may learn and enhance our own spiritual lives.
Consider the following. There is the fact that Satan is a real enemy, and a formidable opponent. Clearly, this is a metaphor that in the context is to be contrasted with the blow the serpent receives the crushing of his head , but it is immediately apparent what this involves—the shedding of substitutionary blood.
That seems to be what lies behind the provision of animal skins as a covering for Adam and Eve in Genesis Blood needs to be shed for sin to be forgiven, something that accounts for why it is that Abel's offering the firstborn of his flock is accepted but Cain's the fruits of the soil is not Gen. The way is now clear: "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" Heb.
Third, this verse establishes a cosmic explanation for the disorder of the world: Satan is at work. True, there is no mention of Satan here, only a serpent. Adam and Eve are responsible for their actions and are punished accordingly, but their actions are inextricably entwined with the serpent's malevolence.
There is more by way of explanation for sin than "free will. Genesis draws a veil over the origins and nature of this rebellion sin existed before the fall in Eden , and is only partially unveiled elsewhere 1 Chron.
Eve's sin was more than something internal; it came from outside, Genesis seems to say. Did the serpent actually speak? Why not? Toggle navigation. Follow us. Subscribe to the Verse of the day. Never miss a post Name. Verification Code. Today's Devotionals. Understood of Christ, the seed of the woman, his heel means, first, his humanity, whereby he trod upon the earth, and which the devil, through the instrumentality of wicked men, bruised and killed; and, secondly, his people, his members, whom Satan, in divers ways, bruises, vexes, and afflicts while they are on earth, but cannot reach either Christ their head in heaven, or themselves when they shall be advanced thither.
In this verse, therefore, notice is given of a perpetual quarrel commenced between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil among men: war is proclaimed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, Revelation Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, no more can Satan and a sanctified soul.
And all the malice of persecutors against the people of God is the fruit of this enmity, which will continue while there is a godly man on this side heaven, and a wicked man on this side hell. But, 3d, A gracious promise also is here made of Christ, as the deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. By faith in this promise, our first parents, and the patriarchs before the flood, were justified and saved; and to this promise, and the benefit of it, instantly serving God day and night, they hoped to come.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary ,15 God passes sentence; and he begins where the sin began, with the serpent. The devil's instruments must share in the devil's punishments. Under the cover of the serpent, the devil is sentenced to be degraded and accursed of God; detested and abhorred of all mankind: also to be destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head.
War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. It is the fruit of this enmity, that there is a continual warfare between grace and corruption, in the hearts of God's people. Satan, by their corruptions, buffets them, sifts them, and seeks to devour them.
Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a sanctified soul. Also, there is a continual struggle between the wicked and the godly in this world. A gracious promise is here made of Christ, as the Deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Here was the drawn of the gospel day: no sooner was the wound given, than the remedy was provided and revealed.
This gracious revelation of a Saviour came unasked, and unlooked for. Without a revelation of mercy, giving some hope of forgiveness, the convinced sinner would sink into despair, and be hardened. By faith in this promise, our first parents, and the patriarchs before the flood, were justified and saved. Notice is given concerning Christ. His incarnation, or coming in the flesh. It speaks great encouragement to sinners, that their Saviour is the Seed of the woman, bone of our bone, Heb , His sufferings and death; pointed at in Satan's bruising his heel, that is, his human nature.
And Christ's sufferings are continued in the sufferings of the saints for his name. The devil tempts them, persecutes and slays them; and so bruises the heel of Christ, who is afflicted in their afflictions. But while the heel is bruised on earth, the Head is in heaven. His victory over Satan thereby.
Christ baffled Satan's temptations, rescued souls out of his hands. By his death he gave a fatal blow to the devil's kingdom, a wound to the head of this serpent that cannot be healed. As the gospel gains ground, Satan falls. Barnes' Notes on the Bible Here begins the judgment. Sentence is pronounced upon the serpent in the presence, no doubt, of the man and woman. The serpent is not examined, first, because it is a mute, unreasoning animal in itself, and therefore incapable of judicial examination, and it was the serpent only that was palpable to the senses of our first parents in the temptation; and, secondly, because the true tempter was not a new, but an old offender.
This sentence has a literal application to the serpent. The curse Genesis , see the note of the serpent lies in a more groveling nature than that of the other land animals. This appears in its going on its belly and eating the dust.
Other animals have at least feet to elevate them above the dust; the serpent tribe does not have even feet. Other animals elevate the head in their natural position above the soil: the serpent lays its head naturally on the sod, and therefore may be said to eat the dust, as the wounded warrior bites the dust in death. The earthworm is probably included in the description here given of the serpent group. It goes upon its belly, and actually does eat the dust.
Eating the dust, like feeding upon ashes, is an expression for signal defeat in every aim. The enmity, the mode of its display, and the issue are also singularly characteristic of the literal serpent.
It is the custom of Scripture jurisprudence to visit brute animals with certain judicial consequences of injuries they have been instrumental in doing to man, especially if this has arisen through the design or neglect of the owner, or other responsible agent Genesis ; Exodus In the present case the injury done was of a moral, not a physical nature.
Hence, the penalty consists in a curse; that is, a state of greater degradation below man than the other land animals. The serpent in the extraordinary event here recorded exercised the powers of human speech and reasoning. And it is natural to suppose that these exhibitions of intelligence were accompanied with an attitude and a gesture above its natural rank in the scale of creation. The effect of the judicial sentence would be to remand it to its original groveling condition, and give rise to that enmity which was to end in its destruction by man.
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