bjected, that it does violence to
the language to understand, by the seed of the woman, any single
individual; and the more so, since we are compelled to understand, by
the seed of the serpent, a plurality of individuals, viz., the
spiritual children of Satan, the heads and members of the kingdom of
darkness. _Further_,--As far as the sentence has reference to the
serpent, the human race alone can be understood by the seed of the
woman; and to this, therefore, the victory over the invisible author of
the temptation must also be adjudged. The reference to the human race
is also indicated by the connection between "her seed" in this verse,
and the words, "Thou shalt bring forth sons," in ver. 16.
_Finally_,--As the person of the Messiah does not yet distinctly appear
even in the promises to the Patriarchs, this passage cannot well be
explained of a personal Messiah; inasmuch as, by such an explanation,
the progressive expansion of the Messianic prophecy in Genesis would be
destroyed.

If, however, by the seed of the woman we understand the entire progeny
of the woman, we obtain the following sense: "It is true that thou hast
now inflicted upon the woman a severe wound, and that thou and thine
associates will continue to assail her: but, notwithstanding thine
eager desire to injure, thou shalt be able to inflict on mankind only
such wounds as are curable; while, on the contrary, the posterity of
the woman shall, at some future period, vanquish thee, and make thee
feel all thy weakness."

This interpretation is found as early as in the Targum of Jonathan, and
in that of Jerusalem, where, by the seed of the woman, are understood
the Jews, who, at the time of the Messiah, shall overcome Sammael.
Thus, too, does Paul explain it in Rom. xvi. 20, where the promise is
regarded as referring to Christians as a body. It has found,
subsequently, an able defender [Pg 29] in _Calvin_[3] and, in modern
times, in _Herder_.[4] The treatise of _Storr_, too (in the _Opusc._
ii.), is devoted to its defence.

Even according to this interpretation, the passage justly bears the
name of the _Protevangelium_, which has been given to it by the Church.
It is only in general terms, indeed, that the future victory of the
kingdom of light over that of darkness is foretold, and not the person
of the Redeemer who should lead in the warfare, and bestow the strength
which should be necessary for maintaining it. Anything beyond this we
are not even ent