The Seed of the Woman
God's promise in Genesis 3:15 that a descendant of the woman will crush the serpent's head — the Bible's first hint of a coming deliverer.
Overview
Genesis 3:15, often called the protoevangelium ("first gospel"), announces enmity between the serpent and the woman's "seed," who will crush the serpent's head though his heel is bruised. Read across the canon, this seed narrows from Seth to Abraham to David and finds its fulfillment in Christ, who through his own wounding defeats the serpent (Rom 16:20; Rev 12).
Where it appears
- Genesis 3:15
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
The protoevangelium — the promised deliverer who crushes the serpent.
Resources, by level
Lay
The clearest short intro to Genesis 3:15 and the protoevangelium.