Full Gen 3:14–15. Hebrew zera (זֶרַע) is grammatically singular (like English "sheep"). The descendant who crushes the serpent is born of a woman, unusual in Hebrew genealogy, which runs through fathers. Bereshit Rabbah 23 (Jewish midrash, compiled c. 300–500 AD but preserving earlier oral tradition): "Eve had respect to that seed which is to come from another place, and who is he? He is the Messiah the King." As with the Targums, the written date is later than the New Testament, so this is corroborating reception rather than pre-Christian proof, but it shows the Christian reading standing inside an older Jewish interpretive current, not manufacturing one from nothing.
Genesis 3:15: The Protoevangelium
The first gospel, announced inside the curse itself.
Primary passage:Genesis 3:15 →
Commentary
Full verse-by-verse commentary and cross-references live on the verse page →
Key passage
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Cross-references
- Gen 3:15The protoevangelium — first messianic statement.
- Rev 12:9The serpent identified as Satan / the dragon.
- Heb 2:14Through death he might destroy him that had the power of death — the bruising fulfilled.
- Rom 16:20The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Typological connection
Genesis 3:15 announces the entire program of redemption inside the announcement of the curse. Every later messianic specification narrows this seed.
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