#4 The Significance of Genealogies in Genesis and the Theme of Eve’s Seed

The first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, is a historical narrative about the origin of the world and the history of ancient Israel leading up to the time of Israel’s slavery in Egypt. Throughout the book, there are a few things that should stand out: the literary structure, the genealogies, and the “seed” theme found in Genesis 3:15. The literary structure of Genesis is built around the idea of genealogies that trace back to the seed of the women. While it is important to realize that genealogies do more than this in scripture—they also kept track of the Levitical priesthood’s tribal lineages—these structured genealogies that point to the offspring of the woman are of most importance.  

The structure of Genesis is built around the genealogies of the patriarchs. The first of these genealogies can be found shortly after the protoevangelion, or the first Gospel and prophecy preached about Christ, when God condemns Satan: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen 3:15.¹ Because of this curse pronounced on the serpent, humans received a tremendous blessing. One day, the work of the devil and the origins of sin would be turned undone and paid for. The seed of the woman would crush Satan and all of the enemies of God and Israel on the head. Therefore, the people of the Old Testament kept genealogies close to their heart and mind, for they knew the Messiah would be in God’s family line. They waited for the messiah ever since the fall because the Gospel was promised to them. 

Throughout the genealogies, several pseudo-saviors emerged. These were the types of Christs who God used to advance the promise to fruition. The first of these pseudo-saviors came ten generations from Adam and his name was Noah. Noah’s father, Lamech, was hoping that Noah would be the offspring of the women, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands” (Gen 5:29). However, Noah was not the promised one, but he did save his family from God’s wrath in the flood and bore three offspring: Shem, Ham, and Japeth, who God used to repopulate the earth after the flood. In chapter 10, God records the genealogies of Noah’s three sons in his word in order to preserve the genealogy of Eve’s seed. This genealogy of the womens seed proceeds through the line of Shem.  

In Genesis 5, the second righteous genealogy is continued. Another ten generations after Noah, Terah had a son named Abram, who later became Abraham. Abraham is important in the genealogy because he receives more promises relating to the seed of the women. God tells Abraham that he will be the father of many nations and that “[his] offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in [his] offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:2, 22:18). This confirmation comes shortly after Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac as a foreshadowing of the atoning work that God will achieve through his own Son, Jesus. Again, it is evident that the theme of Eve’s seed is of the most importance in the book of Genesis. Even Abraham who was born twenty generations after Adam recalled God’s first promise of salvation.

Abraham had a son named Isaac after a long wait, dependence, and obedience on and to God to make him a father. Isaac had a son named Jacob who would later become Israel’s namesake and he had twelve male children who are the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. Of these twelve men, the genealogy of the offspring of the women proceeds through Judah, Jacob's fourth son. Jacob writes about Judah’s descendants in Genesis 49:20 saying, “[t]he scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the rulers staff from between his feet” as a prophecy for the coming king, David, and his descendant who is Israel’s true king and seed of the woman.

From Judah and David, the genealogy continues to Christ. Finally, the offspring of the women came for Israel and indeed the whole world, but they did not recognize him. He was born of a virgin, raised as a Jew in the line of Judah, died while crushing the head of the serpent and sin, raised from the dead, and ascended beside God the Father at his right hand. The promise of God found in Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled and the genealogy was preserved. Christ’s genealogy found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 go back to Abraham and Adam, respectively. The writers of the New Testament were sure to include Christ’s genealogies in the New Testament in order to authenticate that Christ was the offspring of the women that they had been waiting for. In Romans 16:20, Paul references the protoevangelion writing, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” The reality that Christ is the seed of the women is central to the message of Genesis and to the entire Christian Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. 

In conclusion, Genesis is ultimately the first chapter in a narrative about God’s promise to redeem and save his people from sin and Satan. He promises Adam and Eve that there will be a coming Savior. Later, He promises Abraham that he will be a father to many and that his offspring will bless the earth. Furthermore, God as the divine author of Genesis foreshadows this salvation through the use of various pseudo-savers or types of Christs in the genealogies that point to the true seed of the women. God structures His word around His original promise of Genesis 3:15 through the use of genealogies that point back to the protoevangelion and forward to the coming savior that God promised. 

• Footnotes

  1. All scripture references in this paper are from the English Standard Version (ESV) (Wheaton IL: Crossway, 2016).