Little Gospel – Genesis 3:15 – Not everyone likes it

Deutsch

Jesus’ work of redemption is announced right at the “start” in the Bible. The victory over the adversary was well known. A circumstance that not every contemporary likes. Some Bible translations of this verse in Genesis are correspondingly strange.

The “Little Gospel”

The plan of salvation for people through self-sacrifice was already established before the fall occurred. Immediately after the Fall, God revealed to His adversary that there would be an ultimate victory for Jesus. As inconspicuous as a single verse sounds, it is fundamentally important. Genesis 3:15 is also called the “Little Gospel.”:
“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.“

In the context, Eve is referred to as the woman. There will be enmity between the descendants of Eve and the descendants of the adversary. It is to be understood spiritually. The separation between the two, good and evil, was already realized with Abel and Cain. Abel offered the burnt offering demanded and required by God with a lamb without blemish. Cain, on the other hand, refrained from doing so and believed that he could achieve righteousness through his own measures. He sacrificed his crops.

These were not at all designed to symbolize the symbolic bloodshed of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ himself. The consequences are well known. God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice and this resulted in Cain’s jealousy towards his brother Abel. After Cain killed his brother, he went into the distance and built the first cities, also against God’s will. Adam and Eve fathered Seth (“replacement”) and his descendants were the corresponding branch that led to Noah. Cain’s seed survived the flood because of the wives of Noah’s sons, who were also safe in the ark.

The “Little Gospel” announced that THE descendant of Eve would crush the serpent’s head, while the serpent would only bruise HIM’s heel. A clear reference to the crucifixion of Jesus from the perspective of that time, almost 4,000 years later.

Jesus’ victory does not please everyone

The victory over Satan does not please everyone. Especially not those who let the adversary wrap them around their fingers and deceive them. In addition to other, sometimes drastic, changes to the Bible, this is also reflected in Genesis 3:15. Many a Bible translation has had a hand at this point.

The above example of this verse comes from the Schlachter 2000 Bible. One of the few Bibles that still has the majority text (“textus receptus”) as its basis. However, the ambition to falsify the Bible’s statements is not new. There were numerous scribes with a strong Hellenistic influence, especially in the Alexandria area. Gnosticism is not a new phenomenon.

Genesis 3:15 in Hebrew

Following Genesis 3:15 in Hebrew and the direct translation:

The Hebrew word “shoof” can mean to break, to crush. In context, however, it is clear that breaking or crushing the head has a completely different quality than the same measure against the heel.

Variants of the Bibles

The majority of Bibles correctly present the text in Genesis 3:15. But there are the “famous exceptions” here too.

King James Version (KJV):
“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.”

American Standard Version (ASV)
“and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

New International Version (NIV)
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. ”

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

New Catholic Bible (NCB)
“I will establish hostility between you and the woman, between your line and her line. Her offspring will crush your head and you will bruise his heel.”

Catholic-Gnostic exceptions

Septuagint (LXX)
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed, he shalt watch against thy head, and thou shalt watch against his heel.”

The “favorite Bible” of the so-called scientific Bible specialists is out of the question at this point. The LXX, written around 250 BC by 72 Hellenistic scribes, a translation from Hebrew into Greek, creates a mutual “surveillance” out of Jesus’ victory over Satan. The Septuagint has even more oddities – here.

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”

People are particularly cheeky here. Jesus simply becomes a “she.” The snake is lying in wait for “her”. Clearly the adaptation of the concept of the “Catholic Mary”. Not really a surprise. This Bible is a translation of the Latin Vulgate. Made by the Catholic English College in Douay, on behalf of the Roman Church. A measure to support the Counter-Reformation. In addition, the Vulgate written by Jerome was based on the Septuagint.

German Bibles are not all flawless either

Of the German-language Bibles, it is the “Good News Bible (GNB)”, which created something stubborn from Genesis 3:15 (translated):
“And there shall be enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. They will crush your heads, and you will bite them in the heel.”

Here suddenly there are several who will crush the heads of an indefinite group and they will bite back. Who should these be? The Good News Bible is one of the “modern” Bible variants that does not use the majority text, but rather the “scientific” text according to Nestle-Aland (Info).

It is a real dilemma that those interested in the gospel must even worry about getting their hands on a clean Bible. But this is just a sign of the times.

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)