So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15).
Enmity Definition
Enmity can be essentially described as inherent opposition or strife between two entities. As defined by vocabulary.com,
Enmity means intense hostility and comes from the same Latin root as enemy, and means the state of being an enemy. If you have always hated someone, you have a history of enmity with that person. Enmity is stronger than antagonism or animosity, which implies competitive feeling but doesn't go all the way to enemy status. Hopefully, you are a peacemaker and don't experience too much enmity in your life.
As defined by Dictionary.com:
Enmity is a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism.
According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,
"Enmity" (hate) occurs as the translation of 'ebhah in Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," and in Numbers 35:21,22, where the absence of enmity on the part of the man-slayer modifies the judgment to be passed on him.
Biblical Meaning of Enmity
The Bible talks of enmity in various situations. In the Garden of Eden, as God declares His condemnation upon the serpent, He says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers”. The Bible says that women’s hatred of snakes has a spiritual cause and represents the enmity that endures between Satan and the human population.
The book of James states that “friendship with the world means enmity against God” (also reference 1 John 2:15-16). The corrupt practices of the earth are in defiance of the holiness of God. “Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” A similar warning is presented in Romans 8:7, which states that “the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.”
In the New Testament, "enmity" is the translation of echthra:
Luke 23:12; Romans 8:7, "The mind of the flesh is enmity against God." James 4:4, "The friendship of the world is enmity with God" (because "the world" is preferred to God); in Ephesians 2, Christ is said to have "abolished in his flesh the enmity," by His cross to have "slain the enmity," that is, the opposition between Jew and Gentile, creating in Himself "one new man, (so) making peace."
Easton's Bible Dictionary defines "enmity" as deep-rooted hatred. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed" (Genesis 3:15). The friendship of the world is "enmity with God" (1 John 2:15 1 John 2:16). The "carnal mind" is "enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). By the abrogation of the Mosaic institutes, the "enmity" between Jew and Gentile is removed. They are reconciled and are "made one" (Ephesians 2:15-16).
Significance of Enmity
The unfortunate state of humanity is that we live in a situation of enmity against God. As man adheres to his sin, he goes against his own benefit, denying himself and protesting against the almighty One attempting to save him (2 Timothy 2:25).
By recognizing the natural aversion between the flesh and righteousness of God, we can better avoid the self-deception of rationalizing earthly desires and impulses. Though we may fall into the enmity between sin and God, we are always given a chance of reconciliation through the sacrifice and salvation of His son, Jesus Christ.
"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Colossians 1:21-22).
Enmity Between the Serpent and Eve, Good and Evil
God passes judgment, and He begins where the sin began, with the serpent. The devil's instruments must share in the devil's punishments. Under the cover of the serpent, the devil is sentenced to be degraded and accursed of God, detested and abhorred by all mankind, and also to be destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head.
War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. It is the fruit of this enmity that there is a continual warfare between grace and corruption in the hearts of God's people.
Satan, by their corruptions, buffets them, sifts them, and seeks to devour them. Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a sanctified soul. Also, there is a continual struggle between the wicked and the godly in this world. A gracious promise is here made of Christ as the Deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan.
This gracious revelation of a Saviour came unasked and unlooked for. Without a revelation of mercy, giving some hope of forgiveness, the convicted sinner would sink into despair and be hardened. By faith in this promise, our first parents and the patriarchs before the flood were justified and saved.
Notice is given concerning Christ:
1. His incarnation, or coming in the flesh. It speaks great encouragement to sinners that their Saviour is the Seed of the woman, bone of our bone, Hebrews 2:11-14.
2. His sufferings and death are pointed at in Satan's bruising His heel, that is, his human nature. And Christ's sufferings are continued in the sufferings of the saints for his name. The devil tempts them, persecutes and slays them, and so bruises the heel of Christ, who is afflicted in their afflictions. But while the heel is bruised on earth, the Head is in heaven.
3. His victory over Satan thereby. Christ baffled Satan's temptations and rescued souls out of his hands. By His death, he gave a fatal blow to the devil's kingdom, a wound to the head of this serpent that cannot be healed. As the gospel gains ground, Satan falls.
(Excerpt from Matthew Henry Commentary on Genesis 3:14-15)
Bible Verses about Enmity
Genesis 3:14-15 - So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel"
James 4:4 - You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God
1 John 2:15-16 - Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world
Numbers 35:20-23 - If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally so that they die or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death; that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when they meet. “ ‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended
Ephesians 2:14-16 - For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
