Seed of the Woman

A friend, Wes Baker, offers these additional thoughts on Genesis 3:15 as a Messianic prophecy:

“First, it seems clear to me that Rev 12 is a direct reflection on the woman and seed of Isaiah 66, which in turn is a meditation by Isaiah on Gen 3.15. Pointing out the middle step can be helpful to show that Rev is not proposing anything novel. Rather it is simply following a trajectory already present within the OT.

“Also, Gen 5.29 explains Noah’s name with reference to the curse of Gen 3. It specifically mentions that he will give rest from the “hard labor” part of the curse (doesn’t mention the enmity), but as the story develops and the flood is presented as the remedy for the violence that has engulfed the world, then it becomes clear that he is viewed as the promised seed who would deliver the world from the entire curse. Alas, he proves to be another fallen Adam in chapter nine, but the main point is to see that Genesis itself imagines a trajectory that reaches well beyond Abel and Seth. As you have pointed out this is picked up with Abraham, Israel, etc.”