Genesis
Genesis 3:20
"And Adam called his wife's name Eve (Heb 'Chavah'); because
she was the mother of all living." Adam's wife already had a name -- "Isha"
(2:23) -- a name which fitly described her origin, for it signified "out of man
(ish)". But in view of the great redemptive promise just received, Adam
evidently felt she needed a new name -- one in keeping with her destiny. What
more appropriate than "Life"! Through the woman, by a specially prepared birth,
would come a son -- the "seed of the woman". He would (in some way probably only
dimly perceived by Adam at this time) destroy the power of death brought by the
serpent. Whereas the serpent was the "father" of death, this man-child would
become the "father" of life (he is called, prophetically, the "father of
eternity" in Isa 9:6), and his mother therefore would be the "mother of all
life"!
Genesis 4:1
In no way did Eve lag behind her husband in this expectation
of the fulfillment of God's promise of a Redeemer. In fact, so eager was she for
the promised deliverance that she seized upon her firstborn, Cain, as the "seed
of the woman". "I have gotten a man from the LORD" may just possibly be
translated; "I have gotten a Yahweh-man!" By this Eve may have meant that this
child was the special "seed" promised by Yahweh, the representative of Yahweh,
and thus the "Yahweh-man" (we might say "God manifest in the flesh")
commissioned to defeat the serpent and abolish death.
But, alas! Eve's firstborn proved himself to be instead a son
of the serpent, by his enmity against the typical "seed of the woman", Abel --
an enmity which culminated in the death of his righteous brother. Thus Cain,
like his "father" the old serpent, showed himself "a murderer from the
beginning" (John 8:44; 1Jo 3:12).
The "Seed" passages
It is not often recognized that all the "Seed" passages of
Genesis arise out of Gen 3:15. Each fresh reference is an amplification of the
previous promises: The "seed of the woman" will be also the "seed" of Abraham
(Gen 12), who shall inherit the land of promise (Gen 13), while the natural seed
is disinherited (Gen 16). A type of the woman's seed was Isaac, the "seed of
promise" who was miraculously conceived (Gen 21), typically sacrificed (Gen 22),
and then given a special bride selected out of the Gentiles on account of her
faith (Gen 24).
*****
Those who regularly use the RSV, which is In some respects a
fine translation, should take careful note of Gen 13:15:
"For all the land which you (Abraham) see I will give to you and to your
descendants (AV 'seed') for ever."
On this point the RSV is not even internally consistent, since
its translation of Gal 3:16 rightly states that this promise was to Abraham and
his "offspring" -- singular: "referring to one... which is Christ."
Both "seed" and "offspring" appropriately translate the Hebrew
original "zera", which is itself ambiguous as to number. But the RSV's
interpretive translation, "descendants", is in direct violation of Paul's later
exposition, and therefore clearly wrong. Only translators totally ignorant of
the significance of the Abrahamic promises could make such a blunder.
The same erroneous translation occurs in the RSV of Gen
22:17,18:
"And your descendants (AV: 'seed') shall possess the gate of their (AV: 'his')
enemies. And by your descendants (AV: 'seed') shall all the nations of the earth
bless themselves."
This, despite the fact that the New Testament repeatedly
interprets this promise as fulfilled in Christ, who destroys his great enemy
death by gaining possession over its "gate", the grave (1Co 15:26,55,56; Rev
1:18; 20:6)!