Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman
Genesis 3:15 is termed the protoevangelium (“proto” means “first”), the first announcement of the gospel of Jesus. God providing hope.
Immediately after the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to trust in their own version of what was good (tov), rather than relying on God’s estimation of the same, and bringing a death sentence on the entire human race, the Lord God punished the serpent and provided hope for the humans:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your SEED and her SEED. He shall strike[1] your head, and you shall strike[2] his heel. Genesis 3:15
The seed to come from the woman will strike the serpent’s head—the business end of a snake. In doing so, that future seed will reverse the death-work of the serpent. The Seed will bring humanity back to its intended position on Eden Mountain, with full access to the tree of life and direct fellowship with God. In the words of John Milton, it is a case of paradise lost, paradise found. When that seed would arrive on the scene and how that 180-degree reversal will play out in the redemptive story can be followed, but only observed through a canonical approach to Scripture. God’s promise of future glory is cryptic but nonetheless clear.
Within the generations of people to come in history, two groups of people can be identified. The first group will behave just like the serpent, rebelling against the Word of God and at times trying to eliminate, persecute, or mistreat men and women in the second group, the seed of the woman. It is important to understand that the seed of the serpent will not necessarily be biological descendants. Instead, they will be “spiritual” descendants. They think and act like the first serpent. Their attitude toward the seed of the woman is one of hostility, even going so far as to persecute and murder the seed of the woman.
The second group is the “Seed of the Woman.” Here we must be clear. The men and women of the second group are not perfect specimens of humanity. They, too, sin.[3] Yet, they remain as the group through which God would one day bring the ultimate “seed of the woman.”
Hostility, envy, jealousy, anger, silent war, backbiting, murder, are all symptomatic of a pattern you can trace through the entire Bible. The “seed of the serpent” will persecute the “seed of the woman,” and the “seed of the woman” will not retaliate, but will ultimately strike the business end of the serpent—its head.
In my weekly Old Testament Hebrew class, I am analyzing the Hebrew text of 1 Samuel. The seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), those who persecute the seed of the woman, is depicted in numerous ways throughout the book. Let me show you one pattern—involving the head--that clearly reflects a connection to God’s Gospel promise of Genesis 3:15: “He will strike your head.”
In 1 Samuel 5:3-4, the false god Dagon of the Philistines falls face down to the ground in front of the Ark of the Covenant with his head cut off. The Philistines, perennial enemies and persecutors of Israel, had captured the Ark and placed it inside their temple, smack in front of their god, Dagon. The result was catastrophic for Dagon. He fell forward and his head came off. Remind you of anything? “He will strike your head.” Dagon and the Philistines are portrayed as the seed of the serpent.
There is another seed of the serpent in 1 Samuel. He is dressed in scales, and trespasses into the Promised Land, and defies Israel’s God and his people: Goliath (1 Samuel 17). But he faces a seed of the woman, young David, who earlier had been anointed as future king (1 Samuel 16). As a result of a stone slung to his forehead, the giant Goliath also falls on his face down to the ground. David then proceeded to cut off his head. Clearly, this is an echo to the fate of Dagon and the seed of the serpent: “He will strike your head.”[4] Goliath is depicted as a seed of the serpent.
But there is a third seed of the serpent in 1 Samuel. His name is Saul, the first King of Israel. He too persecutes David, the seed of the woman, attempting to kill him on a number of occasions (observe: David does not retaliate).
But at the end of the story, Saul suffers the same fate as Dagon and Goliath. He also falls forward onto his sword and onto his face (1 Samuel 31:4) and then the Philistines come and cut off the head of his dead body (1 Samuel 31:8-10). This ends the tragic story of the seed of the serpent in 1 Samuel—in keeping with the promise of Genesis 3:15: “he will strike your head.” Saul[5] is a seed of the serpent.
How ironic: the tallest characters in 1 Samuel all have their heads cut off: Dagon, Goliath, and Saul (“head and shoulders above all”1 Sam 9:2). But, also, how hopeful it is for those who have been mistreated and persecuted by the seed of the serpent. God’s promise will be fulfilled. Paul agrees, writing from this side of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The God of peace will soon shatter Satan under your[6] feet. Romans 16:20
Thank you for reading.
[1] Serpents bite. This is why I have translated this verb as “strike” rather than “crush.” By biting the heel, the serpent is indeed “striking” the heel.
[2] Robert Alter translates the verb, “and you will boot him with your heel.” Alter brings out the following comparison. “The first verb probably refers to the hissing sound of the snake just before it strikes, the second, identical in form, meaning to trample.” Alter suggests the Hebrew terms are homonyms. p. 17.
[3] Noah, as a seed of the woman, gets drunk. Abram, seed of the woman, lies out of fear for his safety. Jacob, seed of the woman, deceives his father.
[4] The circumstances of Dagon’s decapitation and of Goliath are an echo of Hannah’s words in 1 Samuel 2:9-10.
[5] Saul of Tarsus starts out as a seed of the serpent, persecuting Christians with murderous intentions (Acts 9:1). But due to the undeserved intervention made by Jesus (Acts 9), Saul becomes another seed of the woman. This is why “scales” fall from his blind eyes after his turn-around in Acts 9 and he is unaffected by the serpent’s bite in Acts 28 while on the island of Malta. Saul began like his namesake, King Saul, an antagonist, both from the tribe of Benjamin, but ended as a protagonist, Paul the apostle of Jesus.
[6] “You” is plural, referring to the congregation at Rome.