Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
From Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium (first gospel-promise), the foundational messianic promise that runs through the whole of Scripture. In the immediate aftermath of the Fall, God pronounces judgment on the serpent and embeds within the curse the first promise of redemption: 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 (Genesis 3:15). The promise establishes the substantive structure of redemptive history: there will be enmity between the serpent's seed (the children of the devil, those in rebellion against God) and the woman's seed (the line of promise, culminating in the one great Seed); the woman's seed will crush the serpent's head (a mortal wound, decisive victory) while the serpent will bruise the seed's heel (a real but non-fatal wound, the suffering of Christ). The promise is fulfilled in Christ: He is the seed of the woman (born of a woman, Galatians 4:4); He crushes the serpent's head at the cross and resurrection (Hebrews 2:14, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; Colossians 2:15, the principalities and powers spoiled and triumphed over; 1 John 3:8, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil); the serpent bruises His heel in the suffering of the cross. The promise is extended to the church: the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly (Romans 16:20), the church sharing in Christ's victory over the serpent. The patriarchal-Reformed reader holds the seed-of-the-woman promise as the foundational thread of biblical theology: from Genesis 3:15 through the line of promise (Seth, Noah, Abraham, Judah, David) to Christ the great Seed, the whole of Scripture is the unfolding of the protoevangelium, the war between the two seeds, climaxing in Christ's decisive crushing of the serpent.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
From Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium: God's promise that the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head while the serpent bruises his heel; the foundational messianic promise fulfilled in Christ, who crushes Satan at the cross and resurrection (Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8).
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SEED OF THE WOMAN, n. phr. (biblical theology) From Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium (first gospel-promise): 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. Establishes the structure of redemptive history: enmity between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed; the woman's seed crushes the serpent's head (decisive victory) while the serpent bruises the seed's heel (the suffering of Christ). Fulfilled in Christ: the seed of the woman (Galatians 4:4); crushes the serpent at the cross and resurrection (Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8). Extended to the church (Romans 16:20). The foundational thread of biblical theology from Genesis 3:15 to Christ.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 3:15 — "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."
Galatians 4:4 — "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law."
Hebrews 2:14 — "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
Romans 16:20 — "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The seed-of-the-woman promise is the foundational thread of biblical theology; the principal contemporary neglect is the failure to trace the protoevangelium through the whole of Scripture as the unfolding war between the two seeds climaxing in Christ.
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Seed of the woman as a biblical-theological theme does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal contemporary neglect is the failure to trace the protoevangelium (Genesis 3:15) through the whole of Scripture as the foundational thread of biblical theology. The promise establishes the substantive structure of redemptive history: the enmity between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed; the line of promise running from Seth through Noah, Abraham, Judah, and David to Christ the great Seed; the war between the two seeds (the children of the devil and the children of God, a theme the NT continues, John 8:44; 1 John 3:8-12); and the decisive crushing of the serpent by the woman's seed at the cross and resurrection. The patriarchal-Reformed reader recovers the substantive seed-of-the-woman theme as a key thread of redemptive-historical reading: the whole of Scripture from Genesis 3:15 onward is the unfolding of the protoevangelium, the war between the two seeds, climaxing in Christ's decisive victory over the serpent and extended to the church which shares in His triumph (Romans 16:20). The theme integrates the warfare of biblical history, the line of messianic promise, and the cosmic victory of Christ over Satan into a single coherent biblical-theological structure.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Genesis 3:15 protoevangelium; the seed of the woman crushes the serpent's head; fulfilled in Christ (Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15); extended to the church (Romans 16:20).
Usage
"Seed of the woman: the protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15, the first gospel-promise."
"The woman's seed crushes the serpent's head; fulfilled in Christ at the cross and resurrection."
"The foundational thread of biblical theology from Genesis 3:15 to Christ."