Question:  Dear Greg,

            Who or what is the serpent’s “seed” in Genesis?  I understand the woman’s “seed” is the first mention of our coming Savior, but the serpent’s seed confuses me.  Is it literally an offspring of Satan that Eve gave birth to or am I really off base?  I think I would have to lean toward that being the case except for the part that says Adam knew Eve and she bore Cain; then I’m confused again.

            Thanks,

            Stephanie

Answer:  Dear Stephanie,

            This verse is the earliest reference to the promise of a Savior, to redeem humans from sin.  The woman of this text is Eve, the mother of all living—and as Romans 5:12 tells us, sin entered the world by one man (one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve).  But this birth is specifically talking about childbirth, so the sense of this passage is that the offspring of Eve (all human beings) are at war with the serpent, and his offspring (sin and evil—John tells us that the devil is the “father” of all liars).  Just as Eve is not literally the mother of all living, the metaphor goes further with the serpent, Satan.  He has no physical offspring, but he has a product--he has fruit—and it is sin and death.  The verse prophesies that the “seed of the woman” (Jesus, the Son of God and the son of man, God in the flesh) would defeat Satan (“crush his head”) and his followers (demons) even though Satan would strike his heel (Jesus would be crucified, but he would rise victorious from the grave, defeating sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht