| The topic. This dissertation seeks to ascertain the meaning and referent of the "seed" and its related pronouns in Gen 3:15.;The purpose. The meaning and referent of "seed" and its related pronouns in Gen 3:15 have been discussed throughout the history of Jewish and Christian interpretation. This dissertation analyzes Gen 3:15 exegetically, intratextually, and intertextually, tracing the meaning of this "seed" in Genesis, the rest of the Old Testament, and the New Testament.;The Introduction briefly surveys the centuries of the Jewish and Christian interpretations of Gen 3:15 classifying them into related categories such as literal, naturalistic, historical, political, allegorical, figurative, eschatological, and Christological interpretations.;Chapter 1 surveys Gen 3:15 and its context. The textual analysis shows that the ancient texts significantly follow a Hebrew text similar to the MT. The literary, structural, thematic, terminological, syntactical, morphological, and semantic analyses of the context of Gen 3:15 demonstrate that this verse is the center of the message of Gen 3.;The narrowing movement in the Hebrew text of Gen 3:15 reveals the Messianic import of this watershed verse. The clash between the serpent and the woman becomes the long-lasting enmity between their respective plural collective seed comprising all human beings. This narrows down into a fatal clash between Satan, the singular serpent, and the Messiah, the singular, individual representative Seed of the woman.;Chapter 2 examines the intratextual use of the seed and its related pronouns of Gen 3:15 within the rest of the book of Genesis beginning from Gen 1:28. The narrowing from the plural collective seed to the singular, individual, representative Seed establishes a pattern for signifying Messianic intention in some of these seed passages, especially Gen 22:17--19 and Gen 24:60. The special Seed is already described as Messianic, royal, and priestly in Genesis.;Chapter 3 shows that the Pentateuch is consistent in its understanding and portrayal of the seed of Gen 3:15. The intertextual study of the seed shows that subsequent authors of the OT and NT recognized and followed the same understanding of the seed.;Chapter 4 examines the similarities and differences between Gen 3:15 and the relevant ancient Near Eastern literature. This illuminates the figurative understanding of some of the expressions in Gen 3:14--15. Chapter 5 enumerates the theological implications of the seed of Gen 3:15 by showing the major themes and minor motifs.;Conclusions. This dissertation concludes that there is a Messianic intention in Gen 3:15 based on the narrowing phenomenon of the seed in the Hebrew text of this verse. The Seed and the serpent have a fatal and deadly clash in which the Messiah is eternally victorious on behalf of all the righteous seed. |
