Genesis 3 · Verse 15

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.
Genesis 3:15, King James Version

Genesis 3:15 in other translations

BSBAnd I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
WEBI will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
ASVand I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
YLTand enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee--the head, and thou dost bruise him--the heel.'
DARBYAnd I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall crush thy head, and thou shalt crush his heel.
BBEAnd there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.
WebsterAnd 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.

What does Genesis 3:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
15. thy seed--not only evil spirits, but wicked men. seed of the woman--the Messiah, or His Church [Calvin, Hengstenberg]. I will put enmity between thee and the woman--God can only be said to do so by leaving "the serpent and his seed to the influence of their own corruption; and by those measures which, pursued for the salvation of men, fill Satan and his angels with envy and rage." thou shalt bruise his heel--The serpent wounds the heel that crushes him; and so Satan would be permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ and bring suffering and persecution on His people. it shall bruise thy head--The serpent's poison is lodged in its head; and a bruise on that part is fatal. Thus, fatal shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from Christ, though it is probable he did not at first understand the nature and extent of his doom.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 I will put enmity between thee and the woman - This has been generally supposed to apply to a certain enmity subsisting between men and serpents; but this is rather a fancy than a reality. It is yet to be discovered that the serpentine race have any peculiar enmity against mankind, nor is there any proof that men hate serpents more than they do other noxious animals. Men have much more enmity to the common rat and magpie than they have to all the serpents in the land, because the former destroy the grain, etc., and serpents in general, far from seeking to do men mischief, flee his approach, and generally avoid his dwelling. If, however, we take the word nachash to mean any of the simia or ape species, we find a more consistent meaning, as there is scarcely an animal in the universe so detested by most women as these are; and indeed men look on them as continual caricatures of themselves. But we are not to look for merely literal meanings here: it is evident that Satan, who actuated this creature, is alone intended in this part of the prophetic declaration. God in his endless mercy has put enmity between men and him; so that, though all mankind love his service, yet all invariably hate himself. Were it otherwise, who could be saved? A great point gained towards the conversion of a sinner is to convince him that it is Satan he has been serving, that it is to him he has been giving up his soul, body, goods, etc.; he starts with horror when this conviction fastens on his mind, and shudders at the thought of being in league with the old murderer. But there is a deeper meaning in the text than even this, especially in these words, it shall bruise thy head, or rather, הוא hu, He; who? the seed of the woman; the person is to come by the woman, and by her alone, without the concurrence of man. Therefore the address is not to Adam and Eve, but to Eve alone; and it was in consequence of this purpose of God that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin; this, and this alone, is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Thus he bruises his head - destroys his power and lordship over mankind, turning them from the power of Satan unto God; Act 26:18. And Satan bruises his heel - God so ordered it, that the salvation of man could only be brought about by the death of Christ; and even the spiritual seed of our blessed Lord have the heel often bruised, as they suffer persecution, temptation, etc., which may be all that is intended by this part of the prophecy.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 3:14-15

God passes sentence; and he begins where the sin began, with the serpent. The devil's instruments must share in the devil's punishments. Under the cover of the serpent, the devil is sentenced to be degraded and accursed of God; detested and abhorred of all mankind: also to be destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head. War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and…

Read the full comment on Genesis 3:14-15 →

Genesis 3:15 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאֵיבָ֣ה\׀ve.'ei.Vahand enmityH342
אָשִׁ֗ית'a.ShitI will putH7896
בֵּֽינְךָ֙bei.ne.Khabetween youH996
וּבֵ֣יןu.Veinand betweenH996
הָֽאִשָּׁ֔הha.'i.Shahthe womanH802
וּבֵ֥יןu.Veinand betweenH996
זַרְעֲךָ֖zar.'a.Khaoffspring yourH2233
וּבֵ֣יןu.Veinand betweenH996
זַרְעָ֑הּzar.'Ahoffspring herH2233
ה֚וּאhu'heH1931
יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ye.shu.fe.Khahe will bruise youH7779
רֹ֔אשׁRoshheadH7218
וְאַתָּ֖הve.'a.Tahand youH859
תְּשׁוּפֶ֥נּוּte.shu.Fe.nuyou will bruise himH7779
עָקֵֽב\׃\ \ס'a.KevheelH6119

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 3:15

  • 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.

  • 1 John 3:8

    He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

  • Revelation 12:17

    And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

  • Isaiah 7:14

    Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

  • Hebrews 2:14-15

    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; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

  • 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,

  • John 8:44

    Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

  • Matthew 1:23

    Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

  • Revelation 12:7-13

    And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. …

  • Isaiah 53:3-4

    He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

  • Matthew 13:38

    The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

  • Luke 10:19

    Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
enmity.
Nu 21:6,7; Am 9:3; Mr 16:18; Lu 10:19; Ac 28:3-6; Ro 3:13
thy seed.
Mt 3:7; 12:34; 13:38; 23:33; Joh 8:44; Ac 13:10; 1Jo 3:8,10
her seed.
Ps 132:11; Isa 7:14; Jer 31:22; Mic 5:3; Mt 1:23,25; Lu 1:31-35,76
Ga 4:4
it shall.
Ro 16:20; Eph 4:8; Col 2:15; Heb 2:14,15; 1Jo 3:8; 5:5; Re 12:7,8,17
Re 20:1-3,10
thou.
49:17; Isa 53:3,4,12; Da 9:26; Mt 4:1-10; Lu 22:39-44,53
Joh 12:31-33; 14:30,31; Heb 2:18; 5:7; Re 2:10; 12:9-13; 13:7; 15:1-6
Re 20:7,8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 3:14

    And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

  • 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.

  • Genesis 3:16

    Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Read all of Genesis 3

Genesis 3:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y enemistad pondré entre ti y la mujer, y entre tu simiente y la simiente suya; ésta te herirá en la cabeza, y tú le herirás en el calcañar.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et je mettrai inimitié entre toi et la femme, et entre ta semence et sa semence. Elle te brisera la tête, et toi tu lui briseras le talon.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ich werde Feindschaft setzen zwischen dir und dem Weibe und zwischen deinem Samen und ihrem Samen; er wird dir den Kopf zermalmen, und du, du wirst ihm die Ferse zermalmen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius: ipsa conteret caput tuum, et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.