Enmity, the seed, and the one verb used twice (Genesis 3:15)
Says God puts אֵיבָה, enmity, between the serpent and the woman, and between the serpent's seed and her seed. Then הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ, and אַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב: one verb, שׁוּף, twice. The BSB has He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. A footnote gives bruise in both clauses. The pronoun הוּא is masculine singular, agreeing with זֶרַע, seed. The Greek has masculine αὐτός with neuter σπέρμα, and uses τηρέω twice. That is a fact of the Greek wording. See the Hebrew note and the Greek note. See also the Romans note on 16:20.
Uncertain The four readings of 3:15, with their grounds, objections and holders, are treated in the Hebrew note and in the historical notes. No lean is taken here among them, and no first gospel reading is adopted. Whether Romans 16:20 alludes to this verse remains open, as that Romans note already reads it.
Claims
- SaysGod puts enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between the serpent's seed and her seed; one verb is used twice; the BSB has crush and strike, with a footnote bruise; the pronoun is masculine singular, agreeing with seed; the Greek has masculine autos with neuter sperma, and uses tereo twice.
- UncertainThe four readings of 3:15, with their grounds, objections and holders, are treated in the Hebrew note and in the historical notes. No lean is taken here among them, and no first-gospel reading is adopted. Whether Romans 16:20 alludes to this verse remains open, as that Romans note already reads it.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 3:1–24
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 3:1–24 (WLC/OSHB), cantillation removed
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 3:1–24, vol. 1, pp. 4–6 (oldtestamentingr01swetuoft, viewer leaves n35–n37); Swete numbers ENG 2:25 as 3:1a and ENG 3:1 as 3:1b; read on the page images
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2026-11-10
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