lectionary.com

Advent Season · The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary · Year A

Genesis 3:9-15, 20

Enmity Between Serpent and Woman

December 8, 2025

The Rebuke of Adam and Eve, Charles Joseph Natoire
The Rebuke of Adam and Eve, Charles Joseph Natoire, 1740The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
God carried in on a cloud with his arm out and the accusation already made; Eve on the ground pointing away from herself, Adam standing with his hand at his mouth, and the serpent gone.The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you? I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.Charles Joseph NatoireNatoire, who painted it small and on copper, so the whole quarrel sits in a space you could hold.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Roman Lectionary
GospelLuke 1:26-38Lk 1:26-38
Second ReadingEph. 1:3-6, 11-12Eph 1:3-6, 11-12
First ReadingGen. 3:9-15, 20Gn 3:9-15, 20
Responsorial PsalmPs. 98:1, 2-3a, 3b-4 (1a)Ps 98:1, 2-3a, 3b-4 (1a)

Overview & Insights

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.” (Genesis 3:15)

The reading opens with the first question God asks in scripture, “Where are you?”, and with an answer that explains everything except the disobedience. What follows is a chain of evasion, the man deflecting to the woman, the woman to the serpent, and the serpent given no chance to speak before sentence is passed. Verse 15 has been read since Irenaeus as a first announcement of the gospel, and the history of that reading turns on a pronoun: the Hebrew makes the woman’s offspring the one who strikes, while the Latin of the Vulgate made it the woman herself, a rendering that shaped centuries of Marian art in which she treads on the serpent’s head. The Hebrew uses one verb for both strikes, so the wounding is mutual. The lectionary then skips to v. 20, where the man names his wife the mother of all the living, a title given immediately after a sentence of death has been pronounced.

From Sermons.com: Join Today to access the most scholarly & well written preaching resources anywhere.

Take it further: Genesis 3:9-15, 20

Commentary

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre

Dr. Brant Pitre reads Genesis 3:15 as the protoevangelium pointing toward Mary as the New Eve.

Commentary on Genesis 3:8-15Commentary on Gn 3:8-15 Working Preacher

Luther Seminary reading of the garden judgment and the promise about the woman's offspring (the RCL covers these verses on a different Sunday).

Genesis 3 Commentary: Man's Temptation and FallGn 3 Commentary: Man's Temptation and Fall Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's evangelical verse by verse notes on the fall and the first gospel promise.

Genesis 3 CommentaryGn 3 Commentary Precept Austin

Verse by verse study library with Hebrew word notes on the fall of humanity.

Genesis 3:9 CommentariesGn 3:9 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentators compiled on God's questioning of Adam and the protoevangelium.

Background & Word Study

Genesis 3:9 InterlinearGn 3:9 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew text of the garden scene word by word with parsing and Strong's numbers.

Genesis 3 | Sefaria LibraryGn 3 | Sefaria Library Sefaria

Hebrew and English text of Genesis 3 with classical Jewish commentaries such as Rashi.

The Church Fathers

Genesis 3 - Catena Bible & CommentariesGn 3 - Catena Bible & Commentaries Catena

Patristic comments on the fall, read by the Fathers as pointing forward to Christ and Mary.

Prep at sermons.com

Ready to write?

  • Full sermons on Luke 1:26-38
  • Illustrations cleared for use in worship
  • Commentary, quotes, and Bible dictionary
Open it at sermons.com →

Trusted by pastors since 1995.

Free every Tuesday

Illustrations & Sermon Prep in your inbox

The coming Sunday’s readings, a cleared-for-use illustration, and a sermon-prep head start. One email, free.