Genesis 3:15

[Marian_Devotee]

Got a question about this part of the verse (using my Douay-Rheims bible):

“She shall crush thy head”

What I’m wondering is the grammatical tense of this phrase; in other words, has this occurred, is it occurring, or will it occur?

 

[Gorgias]

Got a question about this part of the verse (using my Douay-Rheims bible):

What I’m wondering is the grammatical tense of this phrase; in other words, has this occurred, is it occurring, or will it occur?

Well, first off, there’s the question of the pronoun. “She”, as a feminine, is problematic. It’s not that Mary will crush the head of the serpent, but her offspring will. I’ve seen others assert that the use of “she” was a mis-translation, although I can’t speak to the details of that argument.

As far as verb tense goes, it’s a simple future tense. In the Latin version, it’s “conteret”. See the Bible verse at NewAdvent at this link.

 

[jcrichton]

Got a question about this part of the verse (using my Douay-Rheims bible):

What I’m wondering is the grammatical tense of this phrase; in other words, has this occurred, is it occurring, or will it occur?

…as I understand it should read “he will crush your head;” this passage is speaking about the enmity that God places between the woman (Eve) and the serpent (Satan); between the woman’s seed and the serpent’s; ultimately, he (Jesus) crushes the serpent’s (Satan’s) head…

Father Mitch Pacwa explained that there was an error in transcription where “she” was introduced instead of “he;” but both the earlier Hebrew and Greek Writings hold “he” (the seed) correctly.

…what I find of great interest is that though enmity is forged between the woman (Eve/Mary) and the Satan and between the woman’s seed and Satan’s, it is Satan himself that strikes the seed’s heel and so it is Satan who is in deed subjugated!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[MarcoPolo]

Here is a thread discussing that subject. And another one.