Genesis 3:15 in the New Testament
to Gen 3:15 in the NT. For instance, in Luke
10:18–19 we read, “[Jesus] said to them, “I
was beholding Satan falling as lightning
from heaven. Behold, I have given to you
the authority to tread upon snakes and
scorpions,90 and upon all the power of the
one who is at enmity.”91 Luke 10 portrays
Jesus telling his disciples that they will
tread upon snakes and overcome the
enemy, and in Rom 16:20, as noted above,
Paul tells the Romans that God will soon
crush Satan under their feet.92 Earlier in
Romans, Paul wrote that “the creation
was subjected to futility . . . in hope” (Rom
8:20). If, as most commentators think, the
subjection to futility in view is the curse
of Gen 3, the corresponding hope would
appear to be the promise of one who
would defeat the serpent in Gen 3:15.93
The scene in Rev 12 is also surely
infl uenced by Gen 3:15.94 As a woman is
giving birth to her seed (12:1–2), a dragon
appears hoping to devour the child
(12:3–4). Clearly there is enmity between
the seed of the woman and the snake.
She gives birth to a male child, who is
identifi ed as a scion of David through an
allusion to Ps 2, and child and mother are
supernaturally protected from the dragon
(12:5–6). The dragon is thrown down to
earth after a battle in heaven (12:7–12),
whereupon he again pursues the woman
and her seed (12:13). They again benefi t
from divine protection (12:14–16), so the
dragon leaves off pursuit of the singular
seed that he might make war on the rest of
the collective seed of the woman—those
who obey God and hold to the testimony
of Jesus (12:17).95 In Rev 13:3 we read of
a beast with a head that seems to have a
mortal wound, and as Beale comments,
“Such a wound on the head of the grand
. .
43
nemesis of God’s people refl ects Gen. 3:15,
especially when seen together with Rev.
12:17.”96
Alexander, Schreiner, and Wifall have
rightly noted other passages in the NT
that incorporate imagery from Gen 3:15.
These texts mainly describe the enemies
of the seed of the woman (or in some
cases, “all things”) being placed under his
feet (Matt 22:44 and parallels; Acts 2:35; 1
Cor 15:25; Eph 1:20–22; Heb 2:5–9, 14–15;
10:13).97 Wifall also notes the relevance
of the fact that Jesus is named as being
born of (i.e., the seed of) the woman (Gal
4:4) and the seed of David (Rom 1:3; 2
Tim 2:8).98
Conclusion
I began this study with the suggestion
that if we adopt the hypothesis that the
Old Testament is a messianic document,
written from a messianic perspective, to
sustain a messianic hope, we might fi nd
that the interpretive methods employed
by the authors of the NT are legitimate
hermeneutical moves that we can imitate
today. This hypothesis would work
under the assumption that in the Bible’s
metanarrative,99 from the moment God
uttered his judgment against the serpent,
the seed of the woman (the collective of
those who trust God) were hoping for the
seed of the woman (the man who would
achieve the ultimate victory over the
serpent).100 If the books of the Bible were
written by and for a remnant of people
hoping for the coming of this person, we
would expect to fi nd in these texts various
resonations of this promise of God. I have
argued that we do, in fact, fi nd imagery
from Gen 3:15 in many texts across both
testaments. We have seen the seed of the
woman crushing the head(s) of the seed
of the serpent, we have seen shattered
enemies, trampled enemies, dust eating
defeated enemies, and smashed serpents.
I fi nd this evidence compelling. Hopefully
others will as well, even if they do
not entirely agree with the thesis that the
OT is, through and through, a messianic
document. There are no doubt those who
will remain unpersuaded. We do not yet
see all things under his feet. May that day
come soon.101