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:
14 19. The Sentence
14. cursed art thou ] The word “cursed” is only used in addressing the serpent, as the originator of the temptation, and in reference to “the ground” as the sphere of man’s penalty ( Gen 3:17). Jehovah does not pronounce a curse either upon the man or upon the woman.
above ] Better, as R.V. marg., from among. Taken from among the other animals, the domestic cattle and the wild beasts, the serpent alone receives the curse. So LXX , Vulg. “inter.” An objection to the rendering “above” is, that it would imply a curse of some sort upon all animals, and a special one upon the serpent.
upon thy belly, &c.] It appears from this sentence that the story considered the serpent to have been originally different in appearance and mode of progression. Its crawling movement on the ground and the apparent necessity for its swallowing dust are regarded as the results of the curse pronounced in the garden.
Prostrate, no longer erect, and feeding on the dust which man shakes off from his foot, the serpent-race typified the insidious character of the power of evil, to which the upright walk of man was the typical contrast.
all the days of thy life ] Not the individual serpent, but the whole serpent-race. These words, together with the details of the curse, conclusively shew that Jehovah is addressing an animal, and not the spirit of evil.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 3:14
Upon thy belly shalt thou go
The Divine sentence on the serpent
1.
I lay down the position that no punishment in the way of physical degradation was inflicted by God in His sentence upon the serpent tribe. No doubt this idea has been held by most of those in past days who knew very little of natural history or of science; and it is held still by some who have no capacity of understanding scientific evidence. They cherish still, it may be, some strange notion that serpents, once upon a time, walked upright and ate fruits in an innocent and becoming manner. I cannot argue with such. The testimony of science on this subject is so absolutely overwhelming, that one might just as well call in question the revolution of the earth round the sun, or the circulation of the blood. Unless all science is a lie, there were plenty of serpents on the earth ages before man was made, and these serpents precisely like the present ones in their general construction. If our serpents may be said to go on their bellies and eat dust, so might those. From the creation of the world–long ages ago–it has been their nature to. Further, I must maintain that the structure and habits of the serpent tribe bear no trace of any designed degradation. To the eye of one who has studied the ways of God in His fair and marvellous book of nature, who has learnt to recognize on every hand the exquisite adaptation of each tribe to the place of each, the serpent is as beautiful and perfect a piece of workmanship as any other creature. Admitting the fact (which no thoughtful observer could deny) that the animal tribes were made to prey upon one another to a great extent, and so to maintain the balance of life upon the earth.
admitting this palpable fact, it is obvious that the serpent is most wonderfully adapted to play his own part and fulfil his own ends upon the earth. There is no more degradation about his means of progression, surprisingly swift and easy as it is, than about the downward swoop of an eagle, the ponderous rush of a lion, or the noiseless flight of an owl. Nor is his food in reality of a more disgusting nature than theirs; the creatures which he swallows, great or small, are as much his natural food as their prey is to the eagle, the lion, and the owl. He would not condescend to eat carrion like the vulture or the jackal. It may indeed be true, as St. Paul seems to teach us, that the whole creation suffers in some little-understood way from the fall of man; and no doubt the lower animals often suffer severely from the sinful passions of man; but to acknowledge this is a totally different thing from acknowledging that God deliberately and judicially decreed degradation and punishment upon a creature which had not really sinned. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
2. I lay down the position, which I think no one will seriously dispute, that the real tempter was not the serpent at all, but the devil. It is true that there is no hint of this in Genesis, and this is very important to my argument. Had we no other information, we should have to assume that the serpent was in truth an intelligent being, supremely wicked, and capable of pursuing a most crafty policy. But the testimony of other Scriptures is clear and positive that it was the devil who tempted Eve (2Co 11:3; Rev 12:9; Rev 20:2; Joh 8:44). There can be but one way of understanding the inspired testimony: the devil availed himself of the form of the serpent, and of his known character for natural cunning, to speak by his mouth, and so to gain a safer audience. Just as the demoniacs of the New Testament and the evil spirits who possessed them seemed to have a mixed personality which is reflected in the very words of the Evangelists, so the tempter and the serpent remain, as it were, confounded, and the one is called by the name of the other–that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. Nevertheless, the witness is clear that the devil was the real agent in the temptation of our first parents.
3. I conclude from the foregoing positions, and conclude with confidence, that the serpent was not really cursed at all, while the devil was. All I know of God tells me that He would not–all I know of nature tells me that He did not–inflict punishment on the unwitting victim of anothers craft. All I know from reason or from revelation of His ways assures me that He would not and did not leave unpunished the malice which wrecked (for the time) His fairest work.
4. I proceed to argue that while the form of the sentence was accommodated to the outward and visible form of which the tempter made use, the real meaning of the sentence applied to the tempter himself, and to the tempter alone. To the educated eye, as I have said, there is no trace of degradation about the structure or habits of the serpent; he does not in any real sense go upon his belly or eat dust. But to the untutored eye of the unlearned, i.e., to the vast bulk of mankind in all ages, he appears to do both, and he is an object of natural loathing and disgust. As the upright position of man seems to raise him in dignity above the general level of animal life, so the prone and sinuous position of the snake seems to sink him below that level; having nothing degrading about it in reality, it is yet the accepted symbol of contempt. We, who are unacquainted with snakes, speak of a man as a reptile if we wish to express utter contempt and abhorrence of his ways; but a reptile is one that goes upon his belly. Again, every student of nature knows that the serpent does not eat dust, but small animals which he often catches out of the dust and dirt; but, because he has neither hands nor anything in the nature of hands, he appears to swallow with his food a great deal of dust and dirt. The great difficulty we have to encounter in this Divine sentence on the serpent is that it is not really fulfilled in the literal serpent, though it is apparently. This difficulty seems to me to vanish wholly when we perceive that it is really fulfilled in the mystical serpent, the devil.
5. I am greatly confirmed in this understanding of the phrase by what we read in Isa 65:25. In that passage we are told that in the time of the new heavens and new earth dust shall be the serpents meat. It makes no difference to my argument whether we understand the prophecy to refer to the millennium or (as I think) to the future world. No one surely will maintain that serpents are to eat dust in that blessed state. Why should the unfortunate creatures be so ill-fated? Is it not clearly to be spiritually interpreted, that then, as now, only more clearly and absolutely then than now, disgrace, disappointment, and disgust will be the portion of the tempter and accuser? And if this eating dust on the part of the serpent be of spiritual interpretation in Isaiah, why should it not be the same in Genesis? It is admitted by all that the latter part of the sentence must be applied parabolically to the tempter himself–why not the former part also, in which the parable is quite as simple and as easy to read?
6. Two other conclusions seem to be necessary in order to complete the subject, and in order to justify on every side the heavenly Wisdom which pronounced and recorded this ancient doom.
(1) In the first place, we must believe that He who foreknew all things, and ordered all things according to His foreknowledge, did of purpose prepare the serpent to be to a guilty race the natural emblem of their own sin and of their degradation.
(2) In the second place, we must acknowledge that God willed, in merciful consideration for the weakness and cowardice of fallen man, not to allow the existence and malice of his ghostly enemy to become known to him at that time. The disguise, which served the purposes of evil, was overruled to serve the purposes of good; clothed in the same disguise, the sentence upon the evil one became a parable, which only yielded its true meaning by degrees, as redeemed man was able to bear it. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
Observations
I. GOD MANY TIMES WILL NOT SO MUCH AS REASON THE CASE WITH SUCH AS HE DESTINES TO DESTRUCTION.
II. WHOMSOEVER HATH A HAND IN ANY SIN SHALL BE SURE TO HAVE A SHARE IN THE PUNISHMENT.
1. God is able both to convince and punish; and nothing can be hid from His pure eye, or escape His revenging hand.
2. The respect to His own honour necessarily moves Him to declare Himself to be just, in rendering to every man according to his deeds, and according to his works (Psa 62:12).
III. EVERY INSTRUMENT IN THE ACTING OF SIN, AND WHATSOEVER IS DEFILED THEREBY, IS LIABLE TO GODS CURSE.
IV. ONE MANS PUNISHMENT OUGHT TO BE OTHER MENS INSTRUCTION. Whether inflicted by men in a course of justice (Deu 13:14), or laid on by Gods immediate hand (Zep 3:5-6).
V. GOD LAYS HIS JUDGMENT UPON NO CREATURE BUT UPON JUST DESERTS. Reason–
1. His nature; fury is not in Him (Isa 27:4), but long suffering and abundant goodness (Exo 34:6; Psa 103:8; Psa 103:13).
2. Respect to His own honour, infinitely advanced by manifesting His justice, mercy, faithfulness, and truth, which appears when He dispenseth all His administrations according to mens deserts.
3. Neither could He otherwise encourage men to His service, but by accepting and rewarding them in well-doing, and punishing only their errors, and that too with so much moderation that it tends only to their good, and not to their destruction.
VI. GODS CURSE UPON ANY CREATURE IS THE FOUNTAIN OF ALL PLAGUES AND MISERIES.
VII. IT IS USUAL, WITH GOD IN HIS JUDGMENTS SO TO ORDER THEM THAT THEY MAY POINT AT THE SIN FOR WHICH THEY ARE INFLICTED.
1. To justify Himself, that by such lively characters His righteousness in all His ways may be read by him that runs.
2. To farther mens repentance, by pointing out unto them the sin that brings the judgment upon them.
VIII. IT IS ONLY SIN THAT MAKES ONE MORE VILE THAN ANOTHER.
IX. IT IS A SHAMEFUL ABASEMENT TO BE GLUED TO THE EARTH. (J. White, M. A.)
The tempter in the presence of God
The serpent is now, so to speak, summoned into court. It would appear as if the power of fascination supposed to reside in his race had been reversed, and as if he had been compelled to draw near by the mightier fascination of justice, descended in the person of the great I AM. He has left, at least, the lurking place into which he seems to have crept after the eating of the fruit, and appears now a crushed and crest-fallen worm, writhing in the sunlight of the face of his Creator. How singular the meeting in such circumstances of the two grand foes, the archangel of darkness and the God of light! It is their first meeting, probably, since Lucifer was thrust out of heaven. And what a contrast! Then Lucifer was a powerful, magnificent, though lost being; now he is in the form of a snake, in the likeness of one of earths basest reptiles; then he had the trace of the morning on his brow; now his eye and bearing are sunken and sullen: then he was the ruined angel; now he is the mean tempter and base deceiver: then he was striking, or had newly struck, at the throne of God; now he has succeeded in ruining the peace, and injuring the position of a happy human pair; then he was raging in defiance, and lifting up his voice against the Highest; now he is cowering in His presence, and not daring to utter a word in his own defence. It is significant that during this scene the serpent is quite silent; no question is asked of him, no reply is given; he is caught, as it were, in the fact, and there is no need of trial. Judgment is immediately pronounced. And what waves of torment, shame, self-loathing, disappointment, and fear cross his soul, as he listens, helpless, hopeless, speechless, to the words of God. (G. Gilfillan.)
The curse
Though the serpent was but the instrument, yet he is cursed. And the words, above all cattle, imply that the rest of the animal creation were made to share the curse which had come down upon it as Satans special agent in the plot against man. And why this universal curse?
1. To show the spreading and contaminating nature of sin. One sin is enough to spread over a world. There is something in the very nature of sin that infects and defiles. It is not like a stone dropped in a wilderness, upon the sand, there to lie motionless and powerless. It is like that same stone cast into a vast waveless lake, which raises ripple upon ripple, and sends its disturbing influence abroad, in circle after circle, for miles on every side, till the whole lake is in motion.
2. To show how all the manifold parts of creation hang together and depend upon each other. One being displaced, all are ruined. The arch is not more dependent on the keystone than are the different parts of creaturehood dependent on each other for stability and perfection. It is as if the unity of the Godhead had its counterpart in the unity of creation. And, strange to say, it is the Fall that has so fully discovered this oneness, and made us acquainted with its manifold relations.
3. To be a monument of the evil of sin. Sin needs something visible, something palpable, to make known both its existence and its exceeding sinfulness. It must exhibit itself to our senses. It must stand forth to view, branded with the stroke of Gods judgment, as the abominable thing which He hates. Thus He has strewn the memorials of sin all over the earth. He has affixed them to things animate and inanimate, that we may see and hear and feel the vileness and the bitterness of the accursed thing. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent] The tempter is not asked why he deceived the woman; he cannot roll the blame on any other; self-tempted he fell, and it is natural for him, such is his enmity, to deceive and destroy all he can. His fault admits of no excuse, and therefore God begins to pronounce sentence on him first. And here we must consider a twofold sentence, one on Satan and the other on the agent he employed. The nachash, whom I suppose to have been at the head of all the inferior animals, and in a sort of society and intimacy with man, is to be greatly degraded, entirely banished from human society, and deprived of the gift of speech. Cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field – thou shalt be considered the most contemptible of animals; upon thy belly shalt thou go-thou shalt no longer walk erect, but mark the ground equally with thy hands and feet; and dust shalt thou eat-though formerly possessed of the faculty to distinguish, choose, and cleanse thy food, thou shalt feed henceforth like the most stupid and abject quadruped, all the days of thy life-through all the innumerable generations of thy species. God saw meet to manifest his displeasure against the agent employed in this melancholy business; and perhaps this is founded on the part which the intelligent and subtle nachash took in the seduction of our first parents. We see that he was capable of it, and have some reason to believe that he became a willing instrument.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Unto the serpent; or rather, this or
that serpent, which, as was said before on Gen 3:1, was no ordinary serpent, but a serpent acted and assisted by the devil; and therefore this sentence or curse is pronounced against both of them:
1. Against the serpent itself, which though an unreasonable creature, and therefore not subject to a law, and consequently not capable of guilt or sin, Rom 4:15, yet, being the instrument of the devils malice, is rightly punished; as other beasts being abused by mans sin did suffer together with him, Exo 32:20; Lev 20:15-16, not for their crime, but partly for the punishment, and partly for the benefit of man, who is their lord and owner, Psa 8:6; for whose sake seeing they were made, it is not strange if they be punished for his use, that in their punishment man might have a demonstration of Gods anger against sin, and a motive to repentance. See Poole on “Gen 6:1“, and following verses to Gen 6:22. See Poole on “Gen 7:1“, and following verses to Gen 7:24.
2. Against the devil, who is here principally intended, though as he lay hid in the body of the serpent which he possessed and used, so his curse is here mentioned under the cover of the serpents curse, and under the disguise of such terms as properly and literally agree to the serpent, but are also mystically to be understood concerning the devil; with whom the Lord entertaineth no conference, as he did with Adam and Eve, whose sin was less than his, and whom God meant to bring to repentance; but immediately denounceth the curse against him, as one that sinned against much greater knowledge, and from far worse principles, not from mistake or misinformation, but from choice and rebellion, from hatred of God, and from mere envy and implacable malice against men.
Because thou hast done this, deceived the woman, and tempted her to this sin, thou art cursed; or, shalt be from henceforth, both really and in the opinion of all mankind: or, be thou.
Every beast of the field; as in other respects, so particularly in that which here follows;
upon thy belly shalt thou go. If the serpent did so before the fall, what then was natural, is now become painful and shameful to it, as nakedness and some other things were to man. But it seems more probable that this serpent before the fall either had feet, or rather did go with its breast erect, as the basilisk at this day doth; God peradventure so ordering it as a testimony that some other serpents did once go so. And so the sense of the curse being applied to this particular serpent, and to its kind, may be this: Whereas thou hadst a privilege above other kinds of serpents, whereby thou didst go with erected breast, and didst feed upon the fruits of trees and other plants; now thou shalt be brought down to the same mean and vile estate with them,
upon thy belly (or rather, breast, as the word also signifies)
shalt thou go, & c. as they do;
and dust shalt thou eat. Dust is the food, as of earthworms, scorpions, and some other creatures, so also of some serpents, as appears both from Isa 65:25; Mic 7:17, and from the testimony of Nicander, Theriac, ver. 372, and Philo, an Arabic writer. Or, the dust is the serpents sauce rather than his meat; whilst creeping and grovelling upon the earth, and taking his food from thence, he must necessarily take in dust and filth together with it. These two clauses being applied to the devil, signify his fall from his noble state and place to earth and hell; the baseness of his nature and of his food, his delight being in the vilest of men and things, it being now his meat and drink to dishonour God and destroy mankind, and promote the esteem and love of earthly things.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. And the Lord God said unto theserpentThe Judge pronounces a doom: first, on the materialserpent, which is cursed above all creatures. From being a model ofgrace and elegance in form, it has become the type of all that isodious, disgusting, and low [LECLERC, ROSENMULLER];or the curse has converted its natural condition into a punishment;it is now branded with infamy and avoided with horror; next, on thespiritual serpent, the seducer. Already fallen, he was to be stillmore degraded and his power wholly destroyed by the offspring ofthose he had deceived.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord God said unto the serpent,…. And to the devil in it; for what follows may be applied to both; literally to the serpent, and mystically to Satan; both are punished, and that very justly, the serpent in being the instrument Satan made use of, and is cursed for his sake, as the earth for man’s; and the punishing the instrument as well as the principal, the more discovers God’s detestation of the act for which they are punished, as appears in other instances, Ex 21:28. Nor could it have been agreeable to the justice of God, to punish the instrument and let the principal go free; and therefore the following sentence must be considered as respecting them both: and it must be observed, that no pains is taken to convince Satan of his sin, or any time spent in reasoning and debating with him about it, he being an hardened apostate spirit, and doomed to everlasting destruction, and without any hope of mercy and forgiveness; but to show the divine resentment of his crime, the following things are said:
because thou hast done this; beguiled the woman, and drawn her in to eat of the forbidden fruit,
[thou art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; the serpent is the most hateful of all creatures, and especially the most detestable to men, and Satan is accursed of God, banished from the divine presence, is laid up in chains of darkness, and reserved for the judgment of the great day, and consigned to everlasting wrath and ruin, signified by everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
upon thy belly shalt thou go, or “breast”, as Aben Ezra, and others; Jarchi thinks it had feet before, but were cut off on this account, and so became a reptile, as some serpents now have feet like geese, as Pliny x relates; or it might go in a more erect posture on its hinder feet, as the basilisk, which is one kind of serpent, now does; and if it was a flying one, bright and shining in the air, now it should lose all its glory, and grovel in the dust, and with pain, or at least with difficulty, creep along on its breast and belly; and this, as it respects the punishment of the devil, may signify, that he being cast down from the realms of bliss and glory, shall never be able to rise more, and regain his former place and dignity:
And dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life; meaning not that particular serpent, and as long as that should live, but all of the same kind, as long as there were any in the world, even to the end of it: it is probable, that when the serpent moved in a more erect posture, it lived on herbs and plants as other creatures; but when it was obliged to go upon its belly or breast, it licked up the dust of the earth, and which it could not well avoid in eating whatsoever food it did; and some serpents are said to live upon it. This is applicable to Satan, designs the mean and abject condition in which he is, and the sordid food he lives upon; no more on angels’ food and joys of heaven, but on the base, mean, earthly, and impure lusts of men; and this will be his case, condition, and circumstances, for ever.
x Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 47.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The sentence follows the examination, and is pronounced first of all upon the serpent as the tempter: “ Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed before all cattle, and before every beast of the field.” , literally out of the beasts, separate from them (Deu 14:2; Jdg 5:24), is not a comparative signifying more than, nor does it mean by; for the curse did not proceed from the beasts, but from God, and was not pronounced upon all the beasts, but upon the serpent alone. The , it is true, including the whole animal creation, has been “made subject to vanity” and “the bondage of corruption,” in consequence of the sin of man (Rom 8:20-21); yet this subjection is not to be regarded as the effect of the curse, which was pronounced upon the serpent, having fallen upon the whole animal world, but as the consequence of death passing from man into the rest of the creation, and thoroughly pervading the whole. The creation was drawn into the fall of man, and compelled to share its consequences, because the whole of the irrational creation was made for man, and made subject to him as its head; consequently the ground was cursed for man’s sake, but not the animal world for the serpent’s sake, or even along with the serpent. The curse fell upon the serpent for having tempted the woman, according to the same law by which not only a beast which had injured a man was ordered to be put to death (Gen 9:5; Exo 21:28-29), but any beast which had been the instrument of an unnatural crime was to be slain along with the man (Lev 20:15-16); not as though the beast were an accountable creature, but in consequence of its having been made subject to man, not to injure his body or his life, or to be the instrument of his sin, but to subserve the great purpose of his life. “Just as a loving father,” as Chrysostom says, “when punishing the murderer of his son, might snap in two the sword or dagger with which the murder had been committed.” The proof, therefore, that the serpent was merely the instrument of an evil spirit, does not lie in the punishment itself, but in the manner in which the sentence was pronounced. When God addressed the animal, and pronounced a curse upon it, this presupposed that the curse had regard not so much to the irrational beast as to the spiritual tempter, and that the punishment which fell upon the serpent was merely a symbol of his own. The punishment of the serpent corresponded to the crime. It had exalted itself above the man; therefore upon its belly it should go, and dust it should eat all the days of its life. If these words are not to be robbed of their entire meaning, they cannot be understood in any other way than as denoting that the form and movements of the serpent were altered, and that its present repulsive shape is the effect of the curse pronounced upon it, though we cannot form any accurate idea of its original appearance. Going upon the belly (= creeping, Lev 11:42) was a mark of the deepest degradation; also the eating of dust, which is not to be understood as meaning that dust was to be its only food, but that while crawling in the dust it would also swallow dust (cf. Mic 7:17; Isa 49:23). Although this punishment fell literally upon the serpent, it also affected the tempter if a figurative or symbolical sense. He became the object of the utmost contempt and abhorrence; and the serpent still keeps the revolting image of Satan perpetually before the eye. This degradation was to be perpetual. “While all the rest of creation shall be delivered from the fate into which the fall has plunged it, according to Isa 65:25, the instrument of man’s temptation is to remain sentenced to perpetual degradation in fulfilment of the sentence, ‘all the days of thy life.’ and thus to prefigure the fate of the real tempter, for whom there is no deliverance” (Hengstenberg, Christology Gen 1:15). – The presumption of the tempter was punished with the deepest degradation; and in like manner his sympathy with the woman was to be turned into eternal hostility (Gen 3:15). God established perpetual enmity, not only between the serpent and the woman, but also between the serpent’s and the woman’s seed, i.e., between the human and the serpent race. The seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, and the serpent crush the heel of the woman’s seed. The meaning, terere , conterere , is thoroughly established by the Chald., Syr., and Rabb. authorities, and we have therefore retained it, in harmony with the word in Rom 16:20, and because it accords better and more easily with all the other passages in which the word occurs, than the rendering inhiare , to regard with enmity, which is obtained from the combination of with . The verb is construed with a double accusative, the second giving greater precision to the first (vid., Ges. 139, note, and Ewald, 281). The same word is used in connection with both head and heel, to show that on both sides the intention is to destroy the opponent; at the same time, the expressions head and heel denote a majus and minus , or, as Calvin says, superius et inferius . This contrast arises from the nature of the foes. The serpent can only seize the heel of the man, who walks upright; whereas the man can crush the head of the serpent, that crawls in the dust. But this difference is itself the result of the curse pronounced upon the serpent, and its crawling in the dust is a sign that it will be defeated in its conflict with man. However pernicious may be the bite of a serpent in the heel when the poison circulates throughout the body (Gen 49:17), it is not immediately fatal and utterly incurable, like the cursing of a serpent’s head.
But even in this sentence there is an unmistakable allusion to the evil and hostile being concealed behind the serpent. That the human race should triumph over the serpent, was a necessary consequence of the original subjection of the animals to man. When, therefore, God not merely confines the serpent within the limits assigned to the animals, but puts enmity between it and the woman, this in itself points to a higher, spiritual power, which may oppose and attack the human race through the serpent, but will eventually be overcome. Observe, too, that although in the first clause the seed of the serpent is opposed to the seed of the woman, in the second it is not over the seed of the serpent but over the serpent itself that the victory is said to be gained. It, i.e., the seed of the woman will crush thy head, and thou (not thy seed) wilt crush its heel. Thus the seed of the serpent is hidden behind the unity of the serpent, or rather of the foe who, through the serpent, has done such injury to man. This foe is Satan, who incessantly opposes the seed of the woman and bruises its heel, but is eventually to be trodden under its feet. It does not follow from this, however, apart from other considerations, that by the seed of the woman we are to understand one solitary person, one individual only. As the woman is the mother of all living (Gen 3:20), her seed, to which the victory over the serpent and its seed is promised, must be the human race. But if a direct and exclusive reference to Christ appears to be exegetically untenable, the allusion in the word to Christ is by no means precluded in consequence. In itself the idea of , the seed, is an indefinite one, since the posterity of a man may consist of a whole tribe or of one son only (Gen 4:25; Gen 21:12-13), and on the other hand, an entire tribe may be reduced to one single descendant and become extinct in him. The question, therefore, who is to be understood by the “seed” which is to crush the serpent’s head, can only be answered from the history of the human race. But a point of much greater importance comes into consideration here. Against the natural serpent the conflict may be carried on by the whole human race, by all who are born of a woman, but not against Satan. As he is a fore who can only be met with spiritual weapons, none can encounter him successfully but such as possess and make use of spiritual arms. Hence the idea of the “seed” is modified by the nature of the foe. If we look at the natural development of the human race, Eve bore three sons, but only one of them, viz., Seth, was really the seed by whom the human family was preserved through the flood and perpetuated in Noah: so, again, of the three sons of Noah, Shem, the blessed of Jehovah, from whom Abraham descended, was the only one in whose seed all nations were to be blessed, and that not through Ishmael, but through Isaac alone. Through these constantly repeated acts of divine selection, which were not arbitrary exclusions, but were rendered necessary by differences in the spiritual condition of the individuals concerned, the “seed,” to which the victory over Satan was promised, was spiritually or ethically determined, and ceased to be co-extensive with physical descent. This spiritual seed culminated in Christ, in whom the Adamitic family terminated, henceforward to be renewed by Christ as the second Adam, and restored by Him to its original exaltation and likeness to God. In this sense Christ is the seed of the woman, who tramples Satan under His feet, not as an individual, but as the head both of the posterity of the woman which kept the promise and maintained the conflict with the old serpent before His advent, and also of all those who are gathered out of all nations, are united to Him by faith, and formed into one body of which He is the head (Rom 16:20). On the other hand, all who have not regarded and preserved the promise, have fallen into the power of the old serpent, and are to be regarded as the seed of the serpent, whose head will be trodden under foot (Mat 23:33; Joh 8:44; 1Jo 3:8). If then the promise culminates in Christ, the fact that the victory over the serpent is promised to the posterity of the woman, not of the man, acquires this deeper significance, that as it was through the woman that the craft of the devil brought sin and death into the world, so it is also through the woman that the grace of God will give to the fallen human race the conqueror of sin, of death, and of the devil. And even if the words had reference first of all to the fact that the woman had been led astray by the serpent, yet in the fact that the destroyer of the serpent was born of a woman (without a human father) they were fulfilled in a way which showed that the promise must have proceeded from that Being, who secured its fulfilment not only in its essential force, but even in its apparently casual form.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Sentence Passed on the Serpent; Intimation of Messiah. | B. C. 4004. |
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: 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.
The prisoners being found guilty by their own confession, besides the personal and infallible knowledge of the Judge, and nothing material being offered in arrest of judgment, God immediately proceeds to pass sentence; and, in these verses, he begins (where the sin began) with the serpent. God did not examine the serpent, nor ask him what he had done nor why he did it; but immediately sentenced him, 1. Because he was already convicted of rebellion against God, and his malice and wickedness were notorious, not found by secret search, but openly avowed and declared as Sodom’s. 2. Because he was to be for ever excluded from all hope of pardon; and why should any thing be said to convince and humble him who was to find no place for repentance? His wound was not searched, because it was not to be cured. Some think the condition of the fallen angels was not declared desperate and helpless, until now that they had seduced man into the rebellion.
I. The sentence passed upon the tempter may be considered as lighting upon the serpent, the brute-creature which Satan made use of which was, as the rest, made for the service of man, but was now abused to his hurt. Therefore, to testify a displeasure against sin, and a jealousy for the injured honour of Adam and Eve, God fastens a curse and reproach upon the serpent, and makes it to groan, being burdened. See Rom. viii. 20. The devil’s instruments must share in the devil’s punishments. Thus the bodies of the wicked, though only instruments of unrighteousness, shall partake of everlasting torments with the soul, the principal agent. Even the ox that killed a man must be stoned, Exo 21:28; Exo 21:29. See here how God hates sin, and especially how much displeased he is with those who entice others into sin. It is a perpetual brand upon Jeroboam’s name that he made Israel to sin. Now, 1. The serpent is here laid under the curse of God: Thou art cursed above all cattle. Even the creeping things, when God made them, were blessed of him (ch. i. 22), but sin turned the blessing into a curse. The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field (v. 1), and here, cursed above every beast of the field. Unsanctified subtlety often proves a great curse to a man; and the more crafty men are to do evil the more mischief they do, and, consequently, they shall receive the greater damnation. Subtle tempters are the most accursed creatures under the sun. 2. He is here laid under man’s reproach and enmity. (1.) He is to be for ever looked upon as a vile and despicable creature, and a proper object of scorn and contempt: “Upon thy belly thou shalt go, no longer upon feet, or half erect, but thou shalt crawl along, thy belly cleaving to the earth,” an expression of a very abject miserable condition, Ps. xliv. 25; “and thou shalt not avoid eating dust with thy meat.” His crime was that he tempted Eve to eat that which she should not; his punishment was that he was necessitated to eat that which he would not: Dust thou shalt eat. This denotes not only a base and despicable condition, but a mean and pitiful spirit; it is said of those whose courage has departed from them that they lick the dust like a serpent, Mic. vii. 17. How sad it is that the serpent’s curse should be the covetous worldling’s choice, whose character it is that he pants after the dust of the earth! Amos ii. 7. These choose their own delusions, and so shall their doom be. (2.) He is to be for ever looked upon as a venomous noxious creature, and a proper object of hatred and detestation: I will put enmity between thee and the woman. The inferior creatures being made for man, it was a curse upon any of them to be turned against man and man against them; and this is part of the serpent’s curse. The serpent is hurtful to man, and often bruises his heel, because it can reach no higher; nay, notice is taken of his biting the horses’ heels, ch. xlix. 17. But man is victorious over the serpent, and bruises his head, that is, gives him a mortal wound, aiming to destroy the whole generation of vipers. It is the effect of this curse upon the serpent that, though that creature is subtle and very dangerous, yet it prevails not (as it would if God gave it commission) to the destruction of mankind. This sentence pronounced upon the serpent is much fortified by that promise of God to his people, Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder (Ps. xci. 13), and that of Christ to his disciples, They shall take up serpents (Mark xvi. 18), witness Paul, who was unhurt by the viper that fastened upon his hand. Observe here, The serpent and the woman had just now been very familiar and friendly in discourse about the forbidden fruit, and a wonderful agreement there was between them; but here they are irreconcilably set at variance. Note, Sinful friendships justly end in mortal feuds: those that unite in wickedness will not unite long.
II. This sentence may be considered as levelled at the devil, who only made use of the serpent as his vehicle in this appearance, but was himself the principal agent. He that spoke through the serpent’s mouth is here struck at through the serpent’s side, and is principally intended in the sentence, which, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a dark side towards the devil and a bright side towards our first parents and their seed. Great things are contained in these words.
1. A perpetual reproach is here fastened upon that great enemy both to God and man. Under the cover of the serpent, he is here sentenced to be, (1.) Degraded and accursed of God. It is supposed that the sin which turned angels into devils was pride, which is here justly punished by a great variety of mortifications couched under the mean circumstances of a serpent crawling on his belly and licking the dust. How art thou fallen, O Lucifer! He that would be above God, and would head a rebellion against him, is justly exposed here to contempt and lies to be trodden on; a man’s pride will bring him low, and God will humble those that will not humble themselves. (2.) Detested and abhorred of all mankind. Even those that are really seduced into his interest yet profess a hatred and abhorrence of him; and all that are born of God make it their constant care to keep themselves, that this wicked one touch them not, 1 John v. 18. He is here condemned to a state of war and irreconcilable enmity. (3.) Destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head. His subtle politics shall all be baffled, his usurped power shall be entirely crushed, and he shall be for ever a captive to the injured honour of divine sovereignty. By being told of this now he was tormented before the time.
2. A perpetual quarrel is here commenced between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil among men; war is proclaimed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. That war in heaven between Michael and the dragon began now, Rev. xii. 7. It is the fruit of this enmity, (1.) That there is a continual conflict between grace and corruption in the hearts of God’s people. Satan, by their corruptions, assaults them, buffets them, sifts them, and seeks to devour them; they, by the exercise of their graces, resist him, wrestle with him, quench his fiery darts, force him to flee from them. Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a sanctified soul, for these are contrary the one to the other. (2.) That there is likewise a continual struggle between the wicked and the godly in this world. Those that love God account those their enemies that hate him, Psa 139:21; Psa 139:22. And all the rage and malice of persecutors against the people of God are the fruit of this enmity, which will continue while there is a godly man on this side heaven, and a wicked man on this side hell. Marvel not therefore if the world hate you, 1 John iii. 13.
3. A gracious promise is here made of Christ, as the deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Though what was said was addressed to the serpent, yet it was said in the hearing of our first parents, who, doubtless, took the hints of grace here given them, and saw a door of hope opened to them, else the following sentence upon themselves would have overwhelmed them. Here was the dawning of the gospel day. No sooner was the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed. Here, in the head of the book, as the word is (Heb. x. 7), in the beginning of the Bible, it is written of Christ, that he should do the will of God. By faith in this promise, we have reason to think, our first parents, and the patriarchs before the flood, were justified and saved and to this promise, and the benefit of it, instantly serving God day and night, they hoped to come. Notice is here given them of three things concerning Christ:– (1.) His incarnation, that he should be the seed of the woman, the seed of that woman; therefore his genealogy (Luke iii.) goes so high as to show him to be the son of Adam, but God does the woman the honour to call him rather her seed, because she it was whom the devil had beguiled, and on whom Adam had laid the blame; herein God magnifies his grace, in that, though the woman was first in the transgression, yet she shall be saved by child-bearing (as some read it), that is, by the promised seed who shall descend from her, 1 Tim. ii. 15. He was likewise to be the seed of a woman only, of a virgin, that he might not be tainted with the corruption of our nature; he was sent forth, made of a woman (Gal. iv. 4), that this promise might be fulfilled. It is a great encouragement to sinners that their Saviour is the seed of the woman, bone of our bone,Heb 2:11; Heb 2:14. Man is therefore sinful and unclean, because he is born of a woman (Job xxv. 4), and therefore his days are full of trouble, Job xiv. 1. But the seed of the woman was made sin and a curse for us, so saving us from both. (2.) His sufferings and death, pointed at in Satan’s bruising his heel, that is, his human nature. Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, to draw him into sin; and some think it was Satan that terrified Christ in his agony, to drive him to despair. It was the devil that put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ, of Peter to deny him, of the chief priests to prosecute him, of the false witnesses to accuse him, and of Pilate to condemn him, aiming in all this, by destroying the Saviour, to ruin the salvation; but, on the contrary, it was by death that Christ destroyed him that had the power of death, Heb. ii. 14. Christ’s heel was bruised when his feet were pierced and nailed to the cross, and Christ’s sufferings are continued in the sufferings of the saints for his name. The devil tempts them, casts them into prison, persecutes and slays them, and so bruises the heel of Christ, who is afflicted in their afflictions. But, while the heel is bruised on earth, it is well that the head is safe in heaven. (3.) His victory over Satan thereby. Satan had now trampled upon the woman, and insulted over her; but the seed of the woman should be raised up in the fulness of time to avenge her quarrel, and to trample upon him, to spoil him, to lead him captive, and to triumph over him, Col. ii. 15. He shall bruise his head, that is, he shall destroy all his politics and all his powers, and give a total overthrow to his kingdom and interest. Christ baffled Satan’s temptations, rescued souls out of his hands, cast him out of the bodies of people, dispossessed the strong man armed, and divided his spoil: by his death, he gave a fatal and incurable blow to the devil’s kingdom, a wound to the head of this beast, that can never be healed. As his gospel gets ground, Satan falls (Luke x. 18) and is bound, Rev. xx. 2. By his grace, he treads Satan under his people’s feet (Rom. xvi. 20) and will shortly cast him into the lake of fire, Rev. xx. 10. And the devil’s perpetual overthrow will be the complete and everlasting joy and glory of the chosen remnant.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 14, 15:
Jehovah God did not interrogate the serpent. The serpent had no spirit, so there was no sense of sin. And, there could be no confession and repentance and forgiveness on the part of Satan.
In stating the consequences of sin, God started at the source: Satan. It is true that both the man and the woman made their own choice to disobey God. But Satan furnished the opportunity and encouraged them to take it. Thus, he bore the brunt of guilt for the first sin.
“Cursed” does not express a sense of pique or revenge. It is a statement of the consequences of the actions of the serpent. The serpent was from thenceforth destined to crawl upon his belly. This implies that prior to this, the serpent had gone erect. But now by Divine order no serpent from that time forward would ever again so waLu The second aspect of the serpent’s curse was to “eat dust.” This symbolizes the basis of shame and degradation. It may apply to Satan, as being degraded and humiliated before those very heavenly beings with whom he had associated before his fall.
The final aspect of the curse is directed primarily to Satan. It is the first recorded prophecy of Satan’s ultimate destruction. And it is the first prophecy of the Virgin Birth of Jesus, see Isa 7:14; Gal 4:1-4; Mat 1:17-21. This prophetic curse points to Calvary, where Satan bruised the heel of Jesus, the Seed of the Woman. But it was on Calvary that the Seed of the Woman, Jesus, delivered the fatal blow that spells the eternal doom of Satan. There Jesus paid the price for human redemption, See Joh 3:14; 1Pe 2:24; 1Jn 3:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent. He does not interrogate the serpent as he had done the man and the woman; because, in the animal itself there was no sense of sin, and because, to the devil he would hold out no hope of pardon. He might truly, by his own authority, have pronounced sentence against Adam and Eve, though unheard. Why then does he call them to undergo examination, except that he has a care for their salvation? This doctrine is to be applied to our benefit. There would be no need of any trial of the cause, or of any solemn form of judgment, in order to condemn us; wherefore, while God insists upon extorting a confession from us, he acts rather as a physician than as a judge. There is the same reason why the Lords before he imposes punishment on man, begins with the serpent. For corrective punishments (as we shall see) are of a different kind, and are inflicted with the design of leading us to repentance; but in this there is nothing of the sort.
It is, however, doubtful to whom the words refer, whether to the serpent or to the devil. Moses, indeed, says that the serpent was a skillful and cunning animal; yet it is certain, that, when Satan was devising the destruction of man, the serpent was guiltless of his fraud and wickedness. Wherefore, many explain this whole passage allegorically, and plausible are the subtleties which they adduce for this purpose. But when all things are more accurately weighed, readers endued with sound judgment will easily perceive that the language is of a mixed character; for God so addresses the serpent that the last clause belongs to the devil. If it seem to any one absurd, that the punishment of another’s fraud should be exacted from a brute animal, the solution is at hand; that, since it had been created for the benefit of man, there was nothing improper in its being accursed from the moment that it was employed for his destruction. And by this act of vengeance God would prove how highly he estimates the salvation of man; just as if a father should hold the sword in execration by which his son had been slain. And here we must consider, not only the kind of authority which God has over his creatures, but also the end for which he created them, as I have recently said. For the equity of the divine sentence depends on that order of nature which he has sanctioned; it has, therefore, no affinity whatever with blind revenge. In this manner the reprobate will be delivered over into eternal fire with their bodies; which bodies, although they are not self-moved, are yet the instruments of perpetrating evil. So whatever wickedness a man commits is ascribed to his hands, and, therefore, they are deemed polluted; while yet they do not more themselves, except so far as, under the impulse of a depraved affection of the heart, they carry into execution what has been there conceived. According to this method of reasoning, the serpent is said to have done what the devil did by its means. But if God so severely avenged the destruction of man upon a brute animal, much less did he spare Satan, the author of the whole evil, as will appear more clearly in the concluding part of the address.
Thou art cursed above all cattle This curse of God has such force against the serpents as to render it despicable, and scarcely tolerable to heaven and earth, leading a life exposed to, and replete with, constant terrors. Besides, it is not only hateful to us, as the chief enemy of the human race, but, being separated also from other animals, carries on a kind of war with nature; for we see it had before been so gentle that the woman did not flee from its familiar approach. But what follows has greater difficulty because that which God denounces as a punishment seems to be natural; namely, that it should creep upon its belly and eat dust. This objection has induced certain men of learning and ability to say, that the serpent had been accustomed to walk with an erect body before it had been abused by Satan. (191) There will, however, be no absurdity in supposing, that the serpent was again consigned to that former condition, to which he was already naturally subject. For thus he, who had exalted himself against the image of God, was to be thrust back into his proper rank; as if it had been said, ‘Thou, a wretched and filthy animal, hast dared to rise up against man, whom I appointed to the dominion of the whole world; as if, truly, thou, who art fixed to the earth, hadst any right to penetrate into heaven. Therefore, I now throw thee back again to the place whence thou hast attempted to emerge, that thou mayest learn to be contented with thy lot, and no more exalt thyself, to man’s reproach and injury.’ In the meanwhile he is recalled from his insolent motions to his accustomed mode of going, in such a way as to be, at the same time, condemned to perpetual infamy. To eat dust is the sign of a vile and sordid nature. This (in my opinion) is the simple meaning of the passage, which the testimony of Isaiah also confirms, (Isa 65:25😉 for while he promises under the reign of Christ, the complete restoration of a sound and well-constituted nature, he records, among other things, that dust shall be to the serpent for bread. Wherefore, it is not necessary to seek for any fresh change in each particular which Moses here relates.
(191) See Bishop Patrick’s Commentary.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14, 15) Unto the serpent.As the serpent had tempted our first parents purposely and consciously in order to lead them into sin, he stood there without excuse, and received a threefold penalty. The outward form of the condemnation is made suitable to the shape which the tempter had assumed; but the true force and meaning, especially in the last and most intense portion of the sentence, belong, not to the animal, but to Satan himself. The serpent is but the type: diabolic agency the reality. First, therefore, the serpent is condemned to crawl. As he is pronounced to be cursed above (or rather, among) all cattlethat is, the tame animals subjected to mans serviceand also among all beasts of the fieldthat is, the wild animals, but a term not applicable to reptilesit has been supposed that the serpent was originally erect and beautiful, and that Adam had even tamed serpents, and had them in his household. But such a transformation belongs to the region of fable, and the meaning is that henceforward the serpents crawling motion is to be to it a mark of disgrace, and to Satan a sign of meanness and contempt. He won the victory over our guileless first parents, and still he winds in and out among men, ever bringing degradation with him, and ever sinking with his victims into deeper abysses of shame and infamy. Yet, even so, perpetually he suffers defeat, and has, secondly, to lick the dust, because his mean devices lead, as in this place, only to the manifestation of Gods glory. In the Paradise Lost Milton has made Satan a hero, though fallen; really he is a despicable and mean-spirited foe, whose strength lies in mans moral feebleness. Finally, there is perpetual enmity between the serpent and man. The adder in the path bites mans heel, and is crushed beneath his tramp. It has been noticed that in spite of the beauty and gracefulness of many of the species, mans loathing of them is innate; while in hot countries they are his great enemy, the deaths in India, for instance, from snake-bites being many times more than those caused by the carnivora.
Her seed . . . shall bruise thy head.We have here the sum of the whole matter, and the rest of the Bible does but explain the nature of this struggle, the persons who wage it, and the manner and consequences of the victory. Here, too, we learn the end and purpose for which the narrative is cast in its present form. It pictures to us man in a close and loving relation, not to an abstract deity, but to a personal and covenant Jehovah. This Being with tender care plants for him a garden, gathers into it whatever is most rare and beautiful in vegetation, and, having given it to him for his home, even deigns at eventide to walk with him there. In the care of this garden He provides for Adam pleasant employment, and watches the development of his intellect with such interest as a father feels in the mental growth of his child. Day by day He brings new animals within his view; and when, after studying their habits, he gives them names, the Deity shares mans tranquil enjoyment. And when he still feels a void, and needs a companion who can hold with him rational discourse, Jehovah elaborately fashions for him, out of his own self, a second being, whose presence satisfies all his longings. Meanwhile, in accordance with the universal law that hand in hand with free-will goes responsibility, an easy and simple trial is provided for mans obedience. He fails, and henceforward he must wage a sterner conflict, and attain to victory only by effort and suffering. In this struggle man is finally to prevail, but not unscathed. And his triumph is to be gained not by mere human strength, but by the coming of One who is the Womans Seed; and round this promised Deliverer the rest of Scripture groups itself. Leave out these words, and all the inspired teaching which follows would be an ever-widening river without a fountain-head. But necessarily with the fall came the promise of restoration. Grace is no after-thought, but enters the world side by side with sin. Upon this foundation the rest of Holy Scripture is built, till revelation at last reaches its corner-stone in Christ. The outward form of the narrative affords endless subjects for curious discussion; its inner meaning and true object being to lay the broad basis of all future revealed truth.
As regards the reading of the Vulgate and some of the Fathers, ipsa conteret, she shall bruise, not only is the pronoun masculine in the Hebrew, but also the verb. This too is the case in the Syriac, in which language also verbs have genders. Most probably a critical edition of the Vulgate would restore even there ipse conteret, he shall bruise.
Like a large proportion of the words used in Genesis, the verb is rare, being found only twice elsewhere in Scripture. In Job. 9:17 the meaning seems plainly to be to break, but in Psa. 139:11, where, however, J the reading is uncertain, the sense required is to cover or veil, though Dr. Kay translates overwhelm. Some versions in this place translate it observe; and the Vulgate gives two renderings, namely, She shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt lie in ambush for (his or her) heel (gender not markedcalcaneo ejus). The translation of the Authorised Version may be depended upon as correct, in spite of its not being altogether applicable to the attack of a natural serpent upon a wayfarers heel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. The Lord God said Now follows the threefold judgment, pronounced first upon the serpent, next upon the woman, (Gen 3:16,) and finally upon man, (17-19 . ) The malediction against the serpent (Gen 3:14-15) is itself threefold. The prime tempter is not asked, What is this thou hast done? for “the trial had now reached the fountain-head of sin, the purely evil purpose, the demoniacal, having no deeper ground, and requiring no further investigation.” Lange.
Cursed above all cattle Not that other cattle or beasts were in their measure cursed, any more than in Gen 3:1 it is implied that they were subtile. Nor is the meaning cursed by all cattle, (as Gesenius, Lex., under 😉 but, cursed from all; that is, thou only out of all . As the serpent was distinguished from all the beasts on account of his subtilty, (Gen 3:1,) so is he doomed to a like distinction in this condemnation . “The ground was cursed for man’s sake,” says Keil, “but not the animal world for the serpent’s sake, nor even along with the serpent . ”
Upon thy belly shalt thou go Thou shalt ever be thought of as an abominable crawler. Comp. Lev 11:42. This has been supposed by many to imply that the shape and movements of the serpent were miraculously changed by this curse. Thus Delitzsch: “As its speaking was the first demoniacal miracle, so is this transformation the first divine.” Some have supposed that originally the serpent walked erect; others, that it had wings like a cherub, and could fly. All this, however, is in the realm of conjecture, and not necessarily implied in the words. The serpent may have crawled and eaten dust before as well as after the curse, but as all was then very good, no sense of shame, or curse, or humiliation, attached to these conditions. As the nakedness of the man and the woman excited no thoughts of shame or improper exposure, so the creeping things of the earth, and the serpent among them, had no unfavourable associations attached to their bestial shape or habits. But the serpent’s connexion with man’s sin caused him, as apart from all other beasts, to have his natural form and locomotion cursed into that which ever suggests disgust, meanness, and enmity.
Dust shalt thou eat For being a crawler on the ground and eating its food in the dirt, the serpent must needs devour much dust along with his food. Hence to “lick the dust like a serpent” is a proverbial expression. Mic 7:17. “And while all other creatures shall escape from the doom which has come upon them in consequence of the fall of man, (Isa 65:25,) the serpent, the instrument used in the temptation, shall, agreeably to the words in the sentence, all the days of thy life, remain condemned to a perpetual abasement, thus prefiguring the fate of the real tempter, for whom there is no share in the redemption . ” Hengstenberg .
‘And the Lord God said to the snake, “Because you have done this, cursed are you beyond all cattle, and beyond all wild animals. On your belly you will go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” ’
Did the author really think that the snake had once had legs, which were now removed? Of course not. Otherwise what about the harmless worm? That too moves without legs. Rather then he is now turning the snake into a symbol of what would happen to the one who had used the snake as a tool. We notice here that of all the culprits it is only the snake which is cursed. If it had only been a misguided creature, lower than man, this would be inconceivable. It can only be that, at this stage, for reasons we cannot fathom, the master is seen for the present as out of reach. So the curse is pronounced on the tool. (Just as it will be the ground from which man was taken that will be cursed and not the man).
“Beyond all cattle.” ‘Micol – ‘from all’, therefore as distinctive from, compare Gen 3:1 where he was wise beyond all. Because he was wise beyond all he is now cursed beyond all. The wisdom and the curse belong to another.
The majestic movements of the snake are now depicted in terms which demonstrate his master’s fate. ‘On your belly you will go, and dust will you eat’. How different things can look from a different perspective. It is not the snake’s movements that have changed, it is the interpretation of them. The author knows that the snake does not actually eat dust. The ‘eating of dust’ is a symbol of defeat and humiliation (Psa 72:9; Mic 7:17; Isa 47:1; Isa 49:23) and crawling on the belly was widely known as something expected by kings of their humbled foes (see also Psa 44:25 where it symbolises affliction and oppression).
So from now on the snake will be humbled and defeated. Once he was seen as moving gracefully along the ground, but now he is seen as ‘crawling on his belly’, and man will attack the snake wherever he sees it, and the snake will equally retaliate. But it is the man who, though grievously hurt, will finally come out on top. And from now on the ‘unseen enemy’ will also attack man, and with the help of God will be fought against, humiliated and defeated, and be made to crawl and bite the dust.
The symbolism is significant. Every time man sees a snake he will be reminded of the subtlety of sin, and how it creeps up and strikes suddenly. He must take as much care in watching out for sin as he does in watching out for snakes.
‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will snap at your head, and you will bruise his heel.’
Man’s future constant battle with snakes, which is a totally new departure in that almost perfect world, is also seen as a picture of man’s constant battle with evil, the evil that will meet him at every turn and constantly snap at his heels. But it is significant that that battle is seen in terms of final, though hard won, victory for man, for that is surely what the bruising of the head must signify. The head is the major part, the heel the tail end. It will be a hard and difficult time but in the end it is man who will gain the victory. But only God knew Who the Man would be, and what He would have to go through, to achieve that final victory. Note that the battle is between snake and man, and the unseen enemy and man. God is sovereign above it all, until He steps down and becomes man.
The words for ‘snap at’ and ‘bruise’ are only slightly different. The first comes from a root shuph as a variant of sha’aph, ‘to snap at, snatch’. The other from shuph (Akkadian sapu) ‘to trample on, bruise’. Thus there is a deliberate play on words.
Are we to see here a reference to the coming of One Who will defeat the Serpent? The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’. What is declared is that man will finally triumph, and the implication is of triumph over the unseen evil behind the snake. It is only later that it will become apparent that this must be by some Special Man. But it is implicit for otherwise why will it take so long? A special, unique man, the seed of Adam, must be in mind to achieve the final victory. The Serpent will be defeated by the ultimate Man.
The Curse of God
v. 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. v. 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. v. 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. v. 17. And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; v. 18. thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
v. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Gen 3:14. The Lord said unto the serpent, &c. In this and the following verses, we have an account of the sentence which the Lord God passed upon the three delinquents. There is no difficulty in understanding that which was passed on the man and the woman: but various opinions and conjectures have been formed respecting that which was passed upon the serpent. According to our exposition, (see note, Gen 3:1.) the serpent here before the Lord was a real serpent, made the agent or instrument of the spiritual and infernal one. We therefore rationally conclude, that the sentence, like the agent, is two-fold, and regards at once the visible and invisible serpent. It is plain enough that the first part of the sentence refers to the natural and visible serpent, and must be applied metaphorically, if at all, to the invisible deceiver. And it seems equally evident, that the latter part of the sentence, Gen 3:15 though in terms applicable to the visible, yet refers principally to the invisible deceiver, and can be applied only in a low and less important sense to the natural serpent. Upon this principle we ground our interpretation; and it must be acknowledged, that, as the agent was twofold, it was reasonable to expect something of a double nature in the sentence. And it is not at all to be wondered if it be dark and obscure in a measure, considering all the circumstances of the case, how little is known by us of diabolical agency, or what was the consequence to the grand tempter, upon so bold and presumptuous an offence against God: certain however it is, that an intelligent being and free agent is addressed, and therefore more than a mere serpent must be understood.
Thou art cursed above all cattle, &c. Or, thou art cursed above every animal, and above every beast of the field. This plainly refers to the natural serpent, whose poisonous nature renders it the most deadly of all creatures, and, properly speaking, the most accursed. Upon thy belly shalt thou go; whence commentators have generally, and, as it seems, justly inferred, that the serpent, before this curse, went erect, and was as beautiful and pleasing as he is now loathsome and detestable: and indeed, unless this were the case, it is not easy to see the propriety of this denunciation: And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; that is, as I conceive, in consequence of thy groveling form, thy food shall always be defiled and mingled with filth and dust; for I apprehend this to be only a connecting clause with the prime curse, and, as it were, the immediate consequence of it: Thou shalt go upon thy belly, and so, shalt eat dust. Dr. Delaney has taken the pains to inform us, that there are some species of serpents which actually feed upon the dry dusty earth, in the sandy deserts to which God hath condemned them. And accordingly Diodorus observes, that the most sandy and barren deserts abounded most with serpents. Thus we see the curse denounced upon the natural serpent is fulfilled in that poisonous and deadly nature and groveling form which it bears: a curse which refers, in my opinion, to the whole serpentine race, which we find verified in them, hateful and horrid as they are to mankind beyond every creature: a standing proof, no doubt, of the original transaction in Paradise, where we may reasonably conclude, before the fall, the serpentine race was neither poisonous nor groveling. Now, this part of the sentence can be applied to the infernal agent no otherwise than metaphorically: and, if any thing, it must express his peculiar accursedness, the virulence of his nature, the vileness of his pursuits, his fall, and still deeper degradation by this act, and his wretched appetite for destruction and misery, instead of that angel’s food of holiness and happiness upon which he fed in heaven. See Psa 72:9. Mic 7:17. Isa 65:25. But it may be asked, how it comes to pass, that the serpent, which was a mere instrument only, is thus degraded and punished? It was, doubtless, to shew by a lively and lasting emblem God’s indignation against sin, and his value for mankind. And certainly the Deity might, with propriety, degrade a creature so obnoxious, and diminish its original perfections, as well as degrade man himself, for the offence to which the serpent was so instrumental.
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.
Rev 12:7 ; Heb 2:14 ; Isa 53:10 ; Col 2:15 ; Rom 16:20 . How sweet and precious are all these scriptures, in confirmation of this glorious promise!
Gen 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:
Ver. 14. And the Lord said to the serpent. ] The serpent was not examined, because God would show no mercy to him; but presently doomed, because of mere malice he had offended. The heathens a called certain devils, K , quasi ,
Evil befell him that evil bethought him. As Balaam, that advised evil against Israel, was slain by the sword of Israel. The serpent also hath his part in the punishment, because instrumental to the devil. Both authors, actors, and abettors of evil shall rue it together. The serpent here is first cut shorter by the feet, and made to wriggle upon his belly; secondly, confined to the dust for his diet; which is also, saith an ancient, , the devil’s diet: for your adversary the devil – that “ruler of the darkness of this world” Eph 6:6 as he dwells in dark hearts, as so many holes and caverns – so, Behemoth-like, “he eats grass as an ox”; Job 40:10 yea, dust as a serpent, continually “seeking whom he may devour”; 1Pe 5:7 and is therefore cursed above all creatures. He hath swallowed down souls, “and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.” Job 20:15 He sinneth every day the sin against the Holy Ghost, and shall lie lowest in hell. Every soul that he drew thither by his temptation shall be as a millstone hanged about his neck, to hold him down in the bottomless lake.
a Hesiod.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 3:14-19
14The Lord God said to the serpent,
Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.
16To the woman He said,
I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.
17Then to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
18Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
19By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.
Gen 3:14 The LORD God This is the combination of the two major words for God in the OT, YHWH and Elohim. See note at Gen 2:4.
said to the serpent God does not ask questions of the serpent as He did of Adam and Eve. The serpent is judged as being a tool of the evil one.
cursed are you more than all cattle The VERB (BDB 76, KB 91) is a Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE. This does not imply that all of the cattle (wider meaning than cows, possibly land animals) were already cursed. The phrase more can mean out of all the cattle. The rabbis says that this refers to the gestation period of the cattle versus that of the snake, which the Talmud says is seven years.
on your belly will you go Anything that crawled on its belly was considered unclean by the Hebrews (cf. Lev 11:42). The rabbis say that God cut the legs off the serpent in order to make him crawl, but maybe this is similar to the sign of the rainbow of Gen 9:13 which possibly always existed but now takes on added meaning when used by God in a special way.
and dust will you eat This is alluded to in Isa 65:25. There seems to be an aspect of God cursing the literal snake. This phrase may be a metaphor in the Bible to refer to defeat and shame (cf. Psa 79:9; Isa 49:23; Mic 7:17). Both of the IMPERFECTS of this verse are used in a JUSSIVE sense.
Gen 3:15 and I will put enmity Enmity (BDB 33) is a word used between persons. This seems to be the transition where God’s judgment is addressed to Satan, not a literal serpent (cf. Rev 12:9; Rev 20:2). See The Presence of God Qualifying our Notions of Grammatical-historical Interpretation: Gen 3:15 as a Test Case by Vern S. Poythress, JETS, vol. 50.1, pp. 87-103).
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed There has been much discussion among commentators about this verse. In a larger canonical context it seems to refer to the children (i.e. Seed, BDB 282) of the evil one (cf. Mat 13:38; Joh 8:44) and the children of the Messiah (cf. Irenaeus). But because the next verse uses the SINGULAR form he and you it seems to refer to the tension between God and the evil one symbolized in the redemptive work of the coming Messiah (cf. Irenaeus). It is obvious that Adam and Eve did not understand the ramification of this, nor probably did Moses, although Moses recognized in Deu 18:18 that a prophet greater than he was coming. I think that it probably does have an allusion to the virgin birth, though this was surely unknown to the original human author, but known to the divine author (Holy Spirit). As mankind fell through the impulsiveness of the woman, mankind will be redeemed through the obedience of a woman in the supernatural conception of the Messiah by the Holy Spirit (cf. Isa 7:14; Mat 1:18-25; Luk 1:26-38, see A Guide To Biblical Prophecy, pp. 78 and 80). The Vulgate changes the he in the next phrase to she, which is totally inappropriate, but it may catch the gist of the fuller significance.
As this prophecy is not fully understood until its historical fulfillment in the virgin birth of Jesus, the same is to be said about the interpretation of Genesis 1, 2. History reveals the truthfulness of revelation as the continuing scientific study of our earth shows the intricacy and inter-relatedness of God’s creative acts! There is no conflict, just a more complete knowledge on mankind’s part as to God’s activities!
NASBHe shall bruise you on the head
NKJVHe shall bruise your head
NRSVhe will strike your head
TEVHer offspring will crush your head
NJBIt will bruise your head
The term bruise can mean crush, pound, rub off, grind, or strike (BDB 1003, KB 1446, Qal IMPERFECT, used twice, cf. Job 9:17). Notice the SINGULAR PERSONAL PRONOUN (cf. Rom 16:20). The battle will eventually come down to individuals.
NASBAnd you shall bruise him on the heel
NKJVand you shall bruise His heel
NRSVand you will strike his heel
TEVand you will bite her offsprings’ heel
NJBand you will strike its heel
The same VERB (BDB 1003, KB 1446, Qal IMPERFECT) is used for both, but it is obvious that Satan gets the worst end of the deal. This seems to refer to the crucifixion as the means of the substitutionary atonement for all humans when understood from the NT perspective. See SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan .
Gen 3:16 To the woman He said There seem to be four major elements here: (1) multiply pain in childbirth (Hiphil INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a Hiphil IMPERFECT of the same VERB, BDB 915, KB 176); (2) too many children to rear; (3) problems associated with rearing children; and (4) the dominance of the husband. We can see how these are connected with Eve’s rebellion: (a) she wanted to be independent, but now she is totally dependent on her husband (and not God); (b) she sought for joy and happiness in the forbidden fruit, but now she has pain in the normal aspect of her life. It is obvious that the NT understands this as a theological significance of the fallen relationship between men and women (cf. 1Ti 2:9-15). We must strike a balance between who we are in Christ, 1Co 11:11; Gal 3:28, and what we continue to be, in some respects, in Adam, Eph 5:22; Col 3:18; 1Pe 3:1.
There is some confusion in the Hebrew text at this point. The term translated here in childbirth is spelled differently. The Hebrew consonants could mean lying-in-wait-for, referring to evil tempting the children (cf. Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 90-99).
yet your desire will be for your husband The Hebrew word is translated here desire or longing (BDB 1003, KB 1801). Walter Kaiser asserts that it can mean to turn, possibly in the sense of to dominate (cf. Gen 4:7). Eve turned away from YHWH. Her punishment is her continuing turning to her husband, who often takes advantage of the situation (cf. Hard Sayings of the Bible, IVP p. 97-98).
he will rule over you The VERB (BDB 605, KB 647) is a Qal IMPERFECT. This seems to be a result of the fall and, God help us, males’ sinful nature has taken it to the extreme. Jealousy, rape, divorce and godless dominance have characterized mankind’s sexual drive! We have become like the animals but with the problem of ego added to sexual desire!
Gen 3:17 Because you have listened to the voice of your wife Adam should have been following God’s word, but he followed his wife’s word and broke God’s specific command (cf. Gen 2:15-17).
cursed is the ground because of you The VERB (BDB 76, KB 91, Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE) means the opposite of blessed. The ground will no longer produce freely and abundantly. The current earth is not what God intended!
There is a play on the word Adam (Adam, BDB 9) and the word ground (adamah, BDB 9). Both have the same root. We can see the consequences of the fall of mankind and nature in Rom 8:18-23.
It has also been proposed that this reflects the state of nature outside the Garden of Eden. After their rebellion Adam and Eve are sent out of God’s special place into the reality of a hunter/gatherer, tooth-and- claw world.
in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life Adam was given the task of keeping the garden before the Fall (cf. Gen 2:15), which was a sign of his dominion, but now the task would become wearisome, repetitive, mandatory and never ending (i.e. toil BDB 781). And even with mankind’s labor, the ground yields meager produce (cf. Gen 3:18).
Notice the number of times the VERB eat (BDB 37, KB 46) is used in these opening chapters (cf. Gen 2:16-17; Gen 3:1-3; Gen 3:6; Gen 3:11-14; Gen 3:17[twice],18,19,22)! It relates to both abundance and curse.
Gen 3:19 till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken This is a direct connection between Adam’s fall, spiritual death (Genesis 3) and physical death (Genesis 5). God is trustworthy. He said that they would experience death in all of its ramifications and they certainly did!
you are dust (cf. Gen 2:7).
said. God asks the serpent no question. There is no parley. Sentence at once pronounced.
upon thy belly, &c. Figure of speech. See App-19. The words imply the utmost humiliation, as in Psa 44:25.
dust, &c. Figure of speech of utter defeat, as in Psa 72:9. See App-19.
And the Lord God said
The Adamic Covenant conditions the life of fallen man–conditions which must remain till, in the kingdom age, “the creation also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God” Rom 8:21. The elements of the Adamic Covenant are:
(1) The serpent, Satan’s tool, is cursed (Gen 3:14), and becomes God’s illustration in nature of the effects of sin–from the most beautiful and subtle of creatures to a loathsome reptile! The deepest mystery of the atonement is intimated here. Christ, “made sin for us,” in bearing our judgment, is typified by the brazen serpent; Num 21:5-9; Joh 3:14; 2Co 5:21. Brass speaks of judgment–in the brazen altar, of God’s judgment, and in the laver, of self-judgment.
(2) The first promise of a Redeemer (Gen 3:15). Here begins the “Highway of the Seed,” Abel, Seth, Noah Gen 6:8-10, Shem Gen 9:26; Gen 9:27 Abraham Gen 12:1-4, Isaac Gen 17:19-21 Jacob Gen 28:10-14, Judah Gen 49:10, David 2Sa 7:5-17 Immanuel-Christ; Isa 7:9-14; Mat 1:1; Mat 1:20-23; 1Jn 3:8; Joh 12:31.
(3) The changed state of the woman (Gen 3:16). In three particulars:
(a) Multiplied conception; (b) motherhood linked with sorrow; (c) the headship of the man (cf) Gen 1:26; Gen 1:27 The entrance of sin, which is disorder, makes necessary a headship, and it is vested in man; 1Ti 2:11-14; Eph 5:22-25; 1Co 11:7-9.
(4) The earth cursed (Gen 3:17) for man’s sake. It is better for fallen man to battle with a reluctant earth than to live without toil.
(5) The inevitable sorrow of life (Gen 3:17).
(6) The light occupation of Eden Gen 2:15 changed to burdensome labour Gen 3:18; Gen 3:19.
(7) Physical death Gen 3:19; Rom 5:12-21, See “Death (spiritual)” Gen 2:17. (See Scofield “Eph 2:5”).
See for the other covenants:
EDENIC (See Scofield “Gen 1:28”)
NOAHIC (See Scofield “Gen 9:1”)
ABRAHAMIC (See Scofield “Gen 15:18”)
MOSAIC (See Scofield “Exo 19:25”)
PALESTINIAN (See Scofield “Deu 30:3”)
DAVIDIC (See Scofield “2Sa 7:16”)
NEW (See Scofield “Heb 8:8”)
thou art: Gen 3:1, Gen 9:6, Exo 21:28-32, Lev 20:25
dust: Psa 72:9, Isa 29:4, Isa 65:25, Mic 7:17
Reciprocal: Gen 4:11 – General Gen 9:25 – Cursed Lev 11:42 – goeth upon the belly Num 21:6 – General Deu 32:24 – serpents Jos 9:22 – Wherefore
The Curse and the Cure
Gen 3:14-19
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. We have for today a curse without a cure. When God spoke to the serpent He pronounced a curse upon him, which neither in the Garden, nor subsequently throughout the Bible, has any promised cure.
We read of the deliverance of other beasts of the field, and then comes this solemn statement, “And dust shall be the serpent’s meat.” From its proud and lofty height the serpent, the most subtle of all the beasts of the field, was cursed with the words, “Upon thy belly shalt thou go.” There is no pardon in prospect for the serpent.
2. We have a curse followed by a promised cure. The fact of the cure from the curse is plainly stated in the expression, “It shall bruise thy head”-an expression which holds in it all of the agonies of Calvary. The extent of the cure is set forth in many Scriptures which follow throughout the Word of God. The cure is made possible through the seed of the woman.
The seed of the woman is none other than the Son of God. In corroboration of this fact, we have the genealogy of Jesus Christ from Adam to Mary in the Book of Luke. The cure which is promised, with the exception of the serpent and Satan, is just as wide as the curse which was pronounced.
3. We have the beginning of the unfolding of God’s great creative plan. As soon as Adam and Eve had sinned, God steps into the Garden to make the great pronouncement of a secret which had been with God from before the foundation of the world. That secret was, that Jesus Christ, the Creator, should become the Saviour of that which He had created and made.
4. We have the eternal supremacy of Christ over the devil. It was plainly stated that Satan would bruise Christ’s heel, but that He, Christ, would bruise Satan’s head. This conquest raged during the earth life of Christ. Satan sought to slay Christ as the Babe, in the edict of Herod that the male children under two years of age should be slain. He sought to overthrow Christ in the wilderness temptation. He sought to cast Christ down over the brow of the hill at Nazareth. He sought to kill Him while He lay asleep in the boat. He sought to vanquish Him in the Garden, and then upon the Cross; and we believe he sought to hinder the glorious ascension. However, through it all, and over it all, Christ prevailed, and finally He took His seat far above all principalities, and powers, and the world rulers of this darkness.
5. We have the particular revelation of Christ’s Calvary conflict. It was on the Cross that Christ met the combined onslaught of Satan and his forces. Satan-driven men, and Satan-guided principalities and powers, all joined in one supreme conflict around the Cross against the Son of God. It was there that our Lord, single-handed and alone, met these powers and triumphed over them in it. With what triumphant shout, did the Son of God cry, “It is finished”! His death was Satan’s defeat, man’s deliverance, and His own eternal glorification.
I. THE CURSE UPON THE WOMAN (Gen 3:16)
1. Sorrow in motherhood. A woman’s greatest joy is the fruitage of her greatest sorrow. He who desires gold must obtain it through the anguish of toil. God has put man’s blessings low, where he can reach them only by the way of suffering and of sorrow. Every son and every daughter is a child of travail and of heartache. This is part of the curse.
2. Submission to her husband. Our text says that the woman’s desire shall be to her husband, and he shall rule over her. Much of this has been changed so far as its “abusive sense” is concerned, through Christ and Christianity. In heathendom the woman is for the most part the slave of her husband. It is she who does the menial task, and lifts the heavy load. He certainly rules over her.
Under the sway of Christianity, womanhood has been emancipated from the abuse of her husband’s authority. Christ and the New Testament did not remove from the husband the place of headship in the home, but they did put the ban forever upon unseemly lordship. They taught that wives should be subject to their own husbands in everything; but that husbands should love their wives. The relationship between husband and wife should fall in line with that hallowed and holy relationship which exists between Christ and the Church.
The Church is subject to Christ, but His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Womanhood still feels the curse, however, both in her sorrow in motherhood, and in her subjection to man.
In spite of all that has been said, woman still holds a place of supreme joy, and of incalculable worth. “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely, trust in her.” Thank God for grace!
II. THE CURE OF THE CURSE UPON THE WOMAN FOUND IN THE CROSS (Isa 53:4)
1. Jesus Christ was the Man of Sorrows. Not for one moment would we suggest that Jesus Christ carried a sorrowful mien, and that He was continually shadowed and gloomy in His countenance. Not so. Our Lord was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. Christ, in the darkest hour of His night, could bequeath His joy unto His disciples, saying, “These thing’s have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full,” The sorrows which Christ Jesus knew were our sorrows. He carried our pains, He knew our woes.
It is most striking to note that the climax of the sorrows of Christ was upon the Cross. He bore our sorrows as He moved among men, healing the sick and raising the dead. He wept because we weep. However, when He came to the Cross, the sorrows of death laid hold upon Him. His death is called, “The travail of His soul.” If God pronounced upon the woman sorrow in her motherhood, then that woman in her own travail, only anticipated the deeper and greater sorrow which should be Christ’s, when He brought forth spiritual sons.
2. Full deliverance from sorrow yet awaits the saved. When Calvary meets its full fruition in the blessed Over There, there will be no more sorrow, neither crying, nor pain; for the former things will have passed away. If sorrow falls like a pall in the Garden, when the curse is pronounced, it is lifted in the glory, when the work of the Cross is fully realized. No more the curse, will then be the theme of our song.
III. THE CURSE UPON THE GROUND (Gen 3:17-18)
1. Why the curse was given. God said unto Adam, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” There is a deep import to these words. The ground, of course, had done nothing evil. It was not capable of sinning. It was only for man’s sake that the ground had to suffer. There are two things before us.
(1) God’s chastening upon man was for his good and not his harm. Had God left the earth uncursed, and permitted man to have everything that he desired apart from any trouble or inconvenience, it would have only hastened him on in his evil way. The thorns and thistles were sent to arouse man to his own sinful state, and to his need of a Saviour.
The Word says, “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” Chastening may not seem an act of love, and it may not, therefore, seem joyous; however, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
(2) No man sinneth unto himself. Sin touches not alone the one who sins, but everything connected with the sinner. Adam dragged down with him the whole of God’s marvelous creation.
2. The result of the curse upon the ground. We read, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.” As long as the ground grows the thorns and the thistles, the briars and the weeds, we will know that we are still living in a land subjected to the curse. Thorns and thistles are neither good for food, nor for raiment. They are only fit to be cast out and burned.
Originally the ground knew nothing of all of this. Thorns and thistles came because of sin, and they will remain as long as sin dominates the world. The prick of the thorn suggests the prick of sin. There is a verse which reads: “That which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”
IV. THE CURE OF THE PHYSICAL EARTH INCLUDED IN THE CROSS (Isa 55:13)!
1. Did the Cross of Christ effect the physical earth? How often do we hear the question, “Is Divine healing in the Atonement?” There is but one answer to the question and, that is, Was sickness a part of the curse? Everything is in the Atonement which was under the curse, that is, everything that man’s sin wrought, Christ came to undo.
We do not by any means assert that Divine healing and the deliverance of the physical earth from its thorns and thistles, are in the Atonement in the same sense that sin is there. The moment we believe, we are made the righteousness of God in Him. However, the, moment we believe we are not delivered from all of the results of the curse. It is not until we enter the New Jerusalem that we read, “And there shall be no more curse.”
How remarkable is that expression, “When they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head”! God pronounced the curse of the thorns, and the thorns pressed the forehead of Him who was made the curse for us.
2. The answer of the Cross to thorns and thistles. Our text says, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree.” When the Lord Jesus comes to the earth, the creation which has been subjected for man’s sake, and which during the ages has travailed together in pain even until now, shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
V. THE CURSE UPON THE MAN (Gen 3:19)
1. The curse entailed the sweat of Adam’s face. Sweat stands for toil and labor. It also stands for anguish and suffering. Many men are so distressed under the pain of living that they seek to end their life, thinking, perhaps, that thus they may cease from their struggles.
From the day that God pronounced the curse, saying, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” the world has sought to remove this sting of sin. Early in the history of man we read of the harp and the organ. We read, also, of every artificer in brass and iron.
The world today has reached the apex of invention. In spite of all man’s effort, however, he has not overcome the curse. It seems to us that there is more of sweat mixed in with the luxuries and comforts of the twentieth century, than there has ever been. All kinds of amusements have been invented to quiet the race so that it will not feel the curse of its toil.
2. The curse entailed dust unto dust. The Lord said, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Every son of Adam’s line, with the exception of one or two, has fallen under this part of the curse. Death comes alike to all. The somber notes, “Dust unto dust” have been heard so long and so frequently that man has almost become steeled against their wailing woe.
There is, however, a deeper meaning to this death. It looks not only to physical, but it includes that death which means eternal separation from God, and life, and light, forevermore. This is the curse.
VI. THE CURE OF THE CURSE UPON THE MAN FOUND IN THE CROSS (Luk 22:44)
1. Christ sweating as it were great drops of blood. We wonder if there is not a relationship between, “In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread,” and, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
God, in the garden, said, “In the sweat of thy brow.” The echo conies from Calvary down through the centuries, “His sweat was as it were.” The result of all this is seen in that wonderful statement in Revelation: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” In. the Golden City, there will be no weariness, and no toil. His servants will serve Him but they will serve apart from any thought of laboriousness.
2. Christ tasting the cup of death for every man. So far as physical death is concerned, He died. This does not mean that the Christian shall not physically die, for he does die, and he will die until the Lord’s Second Coming takes up those in Christ without dying. There is, however, one thing that Christ has already accomplished for us. He has taken away from us the sting of death, which is sin.
The Christian can now look death in the face, and say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” We thank God who giveth us the victory in Christ Jesus.
There is another thing the death of Christ has done for us. It has altogether taken from us that eternal death which means separation from the Father. We cannot be hurt of that second death. Indeed, we have passed out of death, into life. Physical death may overtake us, but spiritual death can never claim us. He that believeth on the Son has passed out of death and into life.
VII. THE MUCH MORE OF GRACE OVER THE CURSE (Rom 5:15)
“Where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound.” If through the offence of one many be dead, much more the Grace of God, and the gift by Grace, which is by one Man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. If sin reigned unto death, much more will Grace reign unto eternal life. Whatever sin may have wrought, whatever havoc it may have played, Jesus Christ has shown us the way out.
1. Here and now Grace abounds over sin. We cannot but feel that in Christ Jesus we have been lifted above Adam’s first estate. We are sons of. God in a very real, and blessed way. We are already partakers of eternal life. We are the heirs of all things. We have now within us God’s earnest of all the good things which are laid by for us in the ages to come.
We realize that we are still in the flesh, and yet we are not of the flesh. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. To us old things have passed away, and all things are made new.
2. In the ages to come Grace will superabound. When we have been quickened and changed into His image, in the resurrection, when we have entered into the glorious City of the saved, we will realize that what Adam lost in the fall, has been made up for us a thousandfold in the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Eden was a wonderful abode, but Heaven will be far more wonderful. There was much in Eden, but there will be many things in Heaven, which were not in Eden. It is only in the eternal ages that we will begin to enter in to the exceeding riches of His Grace.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Once when I was preaching in St. Paul’s Church, Halifax, the Westminster Abbey of Canada, as it has been called, I told at the close of the sermon the following story:
“Many years ago Doctor Valpy, a well-known English scholar, wrote a verse of four lines as the longing of his heart and the confession of his faith. This was the stanza:
‘In peace let me resign my breath,
And Thy salvation see;
My sins deserve eternal death,
But Jesus died for me.’
Some time afterwards he gave this verse to his friend, Doctor Marsh, a Church of England clergyman and the father of Miss Marsh, the author of the ‘Life of Captain Hedley Vicars,’ and the verse became a great blessing to him. Doctor Marsh gave the lines to his friend, Lord Roden, who was so impressed with them that he got Doctor Marsh to write them out, and then fastened the paper over the mantelpiece in his study; and there, yellow with age, they hung for many years, a memorial of the beloved! hand that traced them.
Some time after this an old friend-General Taylor, one of the heroes of Waterloo-came to visit him at Tollymore Park. Lord Roden noticed that the eyes of the old veteran were always fixed for a few moments on the motto over the mantelpiece. ‘Why, General,’ said Lord Roden, ‘you will soon know the verse by heart.’ ‘I know it now by heart,’ replied the General, with feeling, and the simple words were the means of bringing him to know the way of salvation. Some two years afterward the physician, who had been with the old General while he lay a-dying, wrote to Lord Roden to say that his friend had departed in peace, and that the last words which fell from the old General’s lips were the words he had learned to love in his lifetime.”-Canon Dyson Hague, M. A.
Gen 3:14. God said unto the serpent In passing sentence, God begins where the sin began, with the serpent, which, although only an irrational creature, and therefore not subject to a law, nor capable of sin and guilt, yet, being the instrument of the devils wiles and malice, is punished as other beasts have been when abused by the sin of man, and this partly for the punishment, and partly for the instruction of man, their lord and governor.
Upon thy belly shalt thou go And no longer on thy feet, or half erect, say Mr. Henry and Mr. Wesley, (as it is probable this serpent, and others of the same species, had before done,) but thou shalt crawl along, thy belly cleaving to the earth, the dust of which thou shalt take in with thy food. And thou, and all thy kind, shall be reckoned most despicable and detestable, (Isa 65:25, Mic 7:17,) and be the constant objects of the hatred of mankind. But this sentence, directed against the serpent, chiefly respected the infernal spirit that actuated it, and his curse is intended under that of the serpent, and is expressed in terms which, indeed, properly and literally agreed to the serpent; but were mystically to be understood as fulfilled in the devil; who is cursed above all irrational animals; is left under the power of invincible folly and malice, and, in disgrace, is depressed below the vilest beasts, and appointed to unspeakable misery when they are insensible in death. Brown.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, {m} 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 {n} dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
(m) He asked the reason from Adam and his wife, because he would bring them to repentance, but he does not ask the serpent, because he would show him no mercy.
(n) As a vile and contemptible beast, Isa 65:25.
The judgment of the guilty 3:14-21
As the result of man’s disobedience to God, the creation suffered a curse and began to deteriorate. Evolution teaches that man is improving his condition through self-effort. The Bible teaches that man is destroying his condition through sin. Having been thrice blessed by God (Gen 1:22; Gen 1:28; Gen 2:3) the creation now experienced a triple curse (Gen 3:14; Gen 3:17; Gen 4:11).
"In the Bible, to curse means to invoke God’s judgment on someone, usually for some particular offense." [Note: Wenham, p. 78.]
Nevertheless God also began recreation with the promise of the seed, the land, the dominion, and the rest for trust in His powerful word.
Gen 3:14-19 reveal the terms of the second major biblical covenant, the Adamic Covenant. Here God specified the conditions under which fallen man was to live (until God lifts His curse on creation in the messianic kingdom; Rom 8:21). The elements of this covenant can be summarized as follows. God cursed the serpent (Gen 3:14) but promised a redeemer (Gen 3:15). He changed the status of the woman in three respects: she would experience multiplied conception, sorrow and pain in motherhood, and continuing headship by the man (Gen 3:16). God also changed Adam and Eve’s light workload in Eden to burdensome labor and inevitable sorrow because of His curse on the earth (Gen 3:17-19). Finally, He promised certain physical death for Adam and all his descendents (Gen 3:19).
Effects on the serpent 3:14-15
God’s judgment on each trespasser (the snake, the woman, and the man) involved both a life function and a relationship. [Note: J. T. Walsh, "Genesis 2:4b-3:24: A Synchronic Approach," Journal of Biblical Literature 96 (1977):168.] In each case the punishment corresponded to the nature of the crime.
"Curses are uttered against the serpent and the ground, but not against the man and woman, implying that the blessing has not been utterly lost. It is not until human murder, a transgression against the imago Dei, that a person (Cain) receives the divine curse . . ." [Note: Mathews, p. 243.]
1. The snake had been crafty (Heb. ’arum), but now it was cursed (Heb. ’arur). It had to move on its belly (Gen 3:14). Some commentators take this literally and conclude that the snake had legs before God cursed it. [Note: E.g., Josephus, 1:1:50.] Others take it figuratively as a reference to the resultant despised condition of the snake. [Note: E.g., Leupold, Exposition of Genesis , 1:162; Kidner, p. 70; Mathews, p. 244.]
2. It would eat dust (Gen 3:14). Since snakes do not literally feed on dust, many interpreters take this statement figuratively. Eating dust is an expression used in other ancient Near Eastern writings to describe the lowest of all forms of life. In the Bible it also describes humiliation and total defeat (cf. Psa 44:25; Psa 72:9; Isa 25:12; Isa 49:23; Isa 65:25; Mic 7:17).
God revealed later through Isaiah that serpents will eat dust during the Millennium (Isa 65:25). Presently snakes eat plants and animals. Perhaps God will yet fulfill this part of what He predicted here in Genesis concerning snakes in the millennial kingdom. This is a literal interpretation. If this is correct, then perhaps we should also take the former part of the curse literally, namely, that snakes did not travel on their bellies before the Fall. Alternatively Isaiah may have meant that serpents will be harmless after God lifts the curse on creation in the Millennium.
3. There would be antagonism between the serpent and human beings (Gen 3:15 a). This obviously exists between snakes and people, but God’s intention in this verse seems to include the person behind the snake (Satan) as well as, and even more than, the snake itself.
". . . the seed of the serpent refers to natural humanity whom he has led into rebellion against God. Humanity is now divided into two communities: the elect, who love God, and the reprobate, who love self (Joh 8:31-32; Joh 8:44; 1Jn 3:8). Each of the characters of Genesis will be either of the seed of the woman that reproduces her spiritual propensity, or of the seed of the Serpent that reproduces his unbelief." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, pp. 93-94. Cf. p. 46.]
4. Man would eventually destroy the serpent, though the serpent would wound man (Gen 3:15 b). This is a prophecy of the victory of the ultimate "Seed" of the woman (Messiah) over Satan (cf. Rev 19:1-5; Gal 3:16; Gal 3:19; Heb 2:14; 1Jn 3:8). [Note: See John Sailhamer, "The Messiah and the Hebrew Bible," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44:1 (March 2001):5-23.] Most interpreters have recognized this verse as the first biblical promise of the provision of salvation (the protoevangelium or "first gospel"). [Note: See John C. Jeske, "The Gospel Adam and Eve Heard: Genesis 3:15" Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 81:3 (Summer 1984):182-84; and Walter C. Kaiser Jr., "The Promise Theme and the Theology of Rest," Bibliotheca Sacra 130:518 (April-June 1973):135-50.] The rest of the book, in fact the whole Old Testament, proceeds to point ahead to that seed.
"The snake, for the author, is representative of someone or something else. The snake is represented by his ’seed.’ When that ’seed’ is crushed, the head of the snake is crushed. Consequently more is at stake in this brief passage than the reader is at first aware of. A program is set forth. A plot is established that will take the author far beyond this or that snake and his ’seed.’ It is what the snake and His ’seed’ represent that lies at the center of the author’s focus. With that ’one’ lies the ’enmity’ that must be crushed." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 55. See also Mathews, pp. 246-48.]
"The text in context provides an outline that is correct and clear in pattern but not complete in all details. Numerous questions are left unanswered. When Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, the details of the climax were filled in and specified, but the text does not demand to be reinterpreted. Nor does it demand interpretation in a way not suggested in context." [Note: Elliott E. Johnson, "Premillennialism Introduced: Hermeneutics," in A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus, p. 22. See also Darrell L. Bock, "Interpreting the Bible-How Texts Speak to Us," in Progressive Dispensationalism, p. 81; and Wenham, pp. 80-81.]
God cursed all animals and the whole creation because of the Fall (Rom 8:20), but He made the snake the most despicable of all the animals for its part in the Fall.
"Words possess power. God’s words of blessing and of curse are most powerful. They determine our lives." [Note: Pamela J. Scalise, "The Significance of Curses and Blessings," Biblical Illustrator 13:1 (Fall 1986):59.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)