Need help with Gen 3:15

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Hello All:

One of the verses from Genesis that I’m to cover in this week’s Religous Ed class (7th grade) is 3:15

I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

Can I get some help with translating the symbolism here? I anticipate being asked.

Thanks
 
The serpent = Devil
The offspring = Jesus
The woman = Mary
The crushing of head = defeat of devil, Redemption of human race.

This verse is called the protoevangelium which means the first Gospel because it’s the first prophecy regarding the Redemption of mankind by Jesus.
 
Thanks much.

But what is the bruising of the heel to represent?
 
Sugar_Ray said:
Thanks much.

But what is the bruising of the heel to represent?
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Hi,
The heel represents suffering and physical death but not defeat because we know that Jesus defeated death.😃

I believe woman is referring to mankind but also referring to His virgin birth. I dont believe the woman is specifically Mary because we(believers)are His offspring because we share in His death and resurrection.😃 👍
 
Sugar_Ray said:
But what is the bruising of the heel to represent?
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The cross. Victory comes with a price.

Also…

You might throw in the stories of Judith and Jael and how they point to the same victory. Help here.

You might also talk about Mary as The New Eve, and emphasize that Mary is implicitly mentioned all through Scripture (see: Rev 12). Too many of us Catholics have no idear how much Mary is talked about in the Bible!

God Bless,
RyanL
 
The serpent = Devil
The offspring = Jesus
The woman = Mary
The crushing of head = defeat of devil, Redemption of human race.

For those of us who have trouble moving from the literal meaning to the spiritual, this might be one of the best passages for that movement.
 
ALLFORHIM said:
I believe woman is referring to mankind but also referring to His virgin birth. I dont believe the woman is specifically Mary because we(believers)are His offspring because we share in His death and resurrection.😃 👍
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The “seed” of the Woman is Jesus (i.e., Jesus comes ***from ***her).

We are His offspring (i.e., we come from Jesus).

Therefore the Woman is not Mary, it is mankind.

How does that make sense?

God Bless,
RyanL
 
Sugar_Ray said:
Hello All:

One of the verses from Genesis that I’m to cover in this week’s Religous Ed class (7th grade) is 3:15

I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

Can I get some help with translating the symbolism here? I anticipate being asked.

Thanks
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They may be too young as seventh graders but you could bring to there minds a visual by asking them if they’ve seen The Passion of Christ. In the opening scene, Jesus( the new Adam) is in a Garden ( the new Eden) and a snake approches him while he prays in agony to do the Father’s will (not to go against it like the first Adam) and he literally crushes the serpent. It’s a great typological scene chalk full of scripture especially the Protoevengelium.
And of course Mary as the New Eve is at the ‘three of life’ (the cross) not taking the fruit but offering it(Jesus her Son) at the crucifixion. That movie also portrays her as the New Eve in this way and more.
 
OK…we’re getting there but…

“and between your seed and her seed” is spoken to the serpent - correct?

So who is the seed of the serpent? Those who reject Christ?
 
Sugar_Ray said:
OK…we’re getting there but…

“and between your seed and her seed” is spoken to the serpent - correct?

So who is the seed of the serpent? Those who reject Christ?
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Again, if you’ve seen the Movie the Passion of Christ, remember that freaky hairy baby in the arms of the Satan? That scene is burned into my brain. Anyway, it could be reffering to the anti-Christ or just to enemies of the Church through out time. Be careful you might not want to go into a discussion about the anti-Christ and apocalyptic themes too soon at this age level.
 
The Apostle Paul said, “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…” (I Timothy 3:16). The virgin birth points back to the promise in Genesis 3:15. For further study spend some time reflecting on Christ as the fulfillment of the promise of the “seed of the woman” in Matthew 1:18; Galatians 3:16, 19; 4:4; Genesis 12:7; II Samuel 7:8, 12; Romans 1:1, 3; 16:20. The undying opposition is further seen in the **bruising or crushing of Satan’s head in **Genesis 3:21; Luke 1:26–35; John 8:44; Matthew 1:18; Isaiah 53; Galatians 3:16, 19; John 19:30; Revelation 20:10.
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hopeofisrael.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=27

I think the literal woman of the passage is EVE, and one has to typology make Mary the new Eve, biblescripture.net/First.html
 
Franciscan said:
The serpent = Devil
The offspring = Jesus
The woman = Mary
The crushing of head = defeat of devil, Redemption of human race.

This verse is called the protoevangelium which means the first Gospel because it’s the first prophecy regarding the Redemption of mankind by Jesus.
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whoah. Did I walk into the wrong room.
 
Valke2 said:
whoah. Did I walk into the wrong room.
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:rotfl: I get it Valke2… LOL… All kidding aside, the Jewish interpretation would be a welcome comparison. Although I’m sure we view the passage differently, I would certainly like to see your opinion of Gen 3:15.
 
Catholic_Dude said:
Tell us!
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heh.
There are a couple of things that strike me about the story. God puts the tree of life in the middle of the garden. But when Eve talks to the snake, she says "it is only from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: “You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.”

Additionally, God did not prohibit the touching of the tree. Eve adds this extra prohibition. Why? I think she is adding these so that the snake can more easily make its argument. I.e., so that when she holds the apple and doesn’t die, it is easier for her to believe that she won’t be punished for eating it. Likewise, that the tree of knowledge of good and evil is not really in the center of the Garden makes it easier for her to convince hereself that she is not violating God’s commandment.

As for a more general overview, there’s a midrash on this that speaks to me. (A midrash is a story used to explain something in the Scriptures). It states that everything in the Garden with the snake took place on the 6th day and that the creation of man was not completed until after God cast them out of the Garden.
This perspective is one of that views God as the parent who realizes it is time for his children to leave home. That there was never really any question that Adam and Eve would not eat from the tree. It was a rigged game. And that their knowledge of good and evil and seperation from God was a necessary step. There comes a point when a child stops viewing his parents as the entire world. It is a painful and necessary part of life.

And although God does “curse” them, He also clothes them.
(From this Jews learn that clothing the naked/charity is one of the greatest mitzvot and one of the ways that we can walk in God’s ways).

More later.
 
I have a further question re. Gen. 3:15.

Why, in the dhouay rheims (sp?) does it say, roughly, “she shall bruise your head and you shall bruise her heel” and the Ignatius Study Bible (rsv- Catholic edition) it says “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel?”

Asking due to questions from a non-Catholic Christian, and can’t answer her!

Thanks for the help!!!
God Bless,
Margarete
 
margarete said:
I have a further question re. Gen. 3:15.

Why, in the dhouay rheims (sp?) does it say, roughly, “she shall bruise your head and you shall bruise her heel” and the Ignatius Study Bible (rsv- Catholic edition) it says “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel?”

Asking due to questions from a non-Catholic Christian, and can’t answer her!

Thanks for the help!!!
God Bless,
Margarete
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Hi Margaret,

Try this site for an answer to your question. www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm
Would just have copied the entry but was afraid it might break the no copying rules.

Nita
 
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