Interpreting Gen. 3:15

[Aureole]

I have just recently got myself a new Bible, and while I was going through some random passages I read Gen. 3:15:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head,”

I found this quite odd. I’ve always seen it written as “… he shall crush your head…” and I actually had it taught that way to me. To me this new version seems both less dramatic and less complete. Bruising a head is a lot different than crushing a head.

So my question is, which is more traditional, bruise or crush? Also, doesn’t this entail that Jesus won’t actually destroy Satan if He is only ‘bruising’ his head? Could anyone help me with this passage?

Thanks much for your time.

(By the way, the version I was taught with was the Jerusalem Bible, and the version I’m using now is the RSV-CE.)

 

[Thal59]

The Hebrew can be read as: “It shall crush thy head.” (It meaning the woman’s seed.)

But here is a direct Hebrew-English translation as found in “the Five Books of Moses” by Everett Fox who holds the Allen M. Glick chair in Judaic and biblical studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

“I put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed: they will bruise you on the head, you will bruise them in the heel.”

This translation helps to illuminate a two-fold meaning; not simply that Jesus (the woman’s seed) shall have the final victory over Satan, but that there will be an on-going struggle between the two. (Signified by the bruises.) However, a bruised head denotes a perpetually inferior position to the one who suffers a bruised heal from standing upon the head of the serpent.

Thal59

 

[Aureole]

Thal59:

The Hebrew can be read as: “It shall crush thy head.” (It meaning the woman’s seed.)

But here is a direct Hebrew-English translation as found in “the Five Books of Moses” by Everett Fox who holds the Allen M. Glick chair in Judaic and biblical studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

“I put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed: they will bruise you on the head, you will bruise them in the heel.”

This translation helps to illuminate a two-fold meaning; not simply that Jesus (the woman’s seed) shall have the final victory over Satan, but that there will be an on-going struggle between the two. (Signified by the bruises.) However, a bruised head denotes a perpetually inferior position to the one who suffers a bruised heal from standing upon the head of the serpent.

Thal59

Well that helps to explain a lot. It appears the RSV-CE is a much better translation, I only thought this passage odd. Thanks for the translation, I appreciate it. Though I always thought that Christ would eventually have the final victory over Satan, not a perpetual struggle. I’ll look into that some more though, perhaps I’m mistaken.

Thanks again for your help.

God bless.

 

[Thal59]

Aureole:

Well that helps to explain a lot. It appears the RSV-CE is a much better translation, I only thought this passage odd. Thanks for the translation, I appreciate it. Though I always thought that Christ would eventually have the final victory over Satan, not a perpetual struggle. I’ll look into that some more though, perhaps I’m mistaken.

Thanks again for your help.

God bless.

Though I always thought that Christ would eventually have the final victory over Satan, not a perpetual struggle.<<

You have misunderstood here. Christ will, someday, have a final victory over Satan. The struggle is not perpetual, as in forever. It occurs from the proclamation of God in Gen 3:15, until that day when Satan is destroyed. But in between, there is enmity which causes a violent struggle between Christ and Satan. In other words, neither will succumb to the other in the smallest manner, not even for a second. This was demonstrated when Jesus refused to do anything the devil challenged Him to do, no matter how easy it would have been for Jesus to comply, no matter how great the promised reward would be.

Thal59