Interpreting Interpreter: Serpentine (and Womanly) Seeds

This post is a summary of the article “The Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman in the Standard Works” by Noel Hudson in Volume 63 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway

Hudson outlines the biblical leitmotif of the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman—an archetype for the battle between good and evil—and provides examples of how that leitmotif is used elsewhere in the Bible (the stories of Cain and Abimelech, among others) and the Book of Mormon (the account of the Amlicites, the story of Zerahemnah, the narrative of Nephi and Laban, and the descriptions of Christ used by Abinadi), as well as alluded to in the New Testament and the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 10:20-28).

The Summary

In this article, Noel Hudson details an important biblical literary form—the leitmotif, a common set of words, phrases, images, and situations that ties together various narratives—and explores one specific example–the contrast between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman in Genesis 3. Representing the battle between good and evil as it spans across the arc of history, with the seed of the woman and serpent respectively representing the divinely sanctioned protagonists and antagonists of that battle. Marked by a set of lead-words, such as seed, bruise,

command, and curse, Hudson tracks the use of this leitmotif in a variety of scriptural contexts, including:

- The Old Testament:

- The Garden of Eden. Establishing the leitmotif through the narrative of Eve and the serpent, Hudson outlines the various interpretations surrounding the relevant passage, including the apparent tension between Satan’s claim of dominion over the earth, in contrast to Adam and Eve being granted that dominion via divine decree.

- The story of Cain. Cain is not only connected thematically to the seed of the serpent—his story aids in interpretation of the leitmotif by confirming that the enmity identified applies not just to literal seeds but to people. The imagery includes the tendency for the serpent’s seed:

- to reject the counsel of the Lord, as Cain rejected the Lord’s counsel to do well after his sacrifice was rejected.

- to strike unexpectedly in serpentine fashion, as Cain does for Abel and as sin itself is framed as doing when it’s described as “lying at the door”.

- to focus on this life only, in which Cain appears to temporarily succeed in his quest for gain at the expense of Abel, whereas the ultimate fulfillment of the leitmotif requires a broader (or even eternal) perspective.

- to bring others into bondage, which is incorporated into later expansions of the leitmotif in Genesis and Exodus.

- to kill to get gain, with Cain’s name potentially meaning “get” or “acquire” (per Matthew Bowen), and

- to be marked with a curse, as applied to Cain’s ability to extract yields from the ground, and a mark to protect him from retribution.

- The story of Abimelech. As recorded in Judges 9, Abimelech the son of Gideon, who is assisted in usurping the rightful dominion of the heir of Gideon by the men of Shechem, who together murder his relatives by lying] in wait. Abimelech is cursed by God in response, and his skull is crushed when a woman casts a piece of millstone at his head.

- The New Testament. Hudson points to references in Matthew and Luke, where Christ identifies a generation of vipers who persecuted the prophets (the seed of the woman), and were cursed by that righteous blood as a result.

- The Pearl of Great Price. Hudson argues that the Pearl of Great Price fills apparent gaps in the leitmotif, based on details that are included in the story of Cain but not in the Garden account and vis versa. These include the idea of a conflict between close relations (which is made explicit in the version of the Garden account included in our modern Endowment), the concepts of a damaged head (with the Book of Moses outlining the murderous oaths of Cain applied “by their heads”) and lying in wait (also applied to Cain via the secret combinations of Moses 5), an explicit connection to Satan (provided by Moses 7:37, the threat of bondage, and the dominion-related lead-word of “command”, which becomes important for Book of Mormon examples of the leitmotif.

- The Book of Mormon:

- The Amlicites. Hudson notes a number of potential parallels to Genesis 3 and 4 in the narrative of the Amlicite civil war, such as Alma noting Amlici’s cunning (a serpentine lead-word), Amlici’s commanding of others to help him obtain dominion, the mark and curse applied to the foreheads of the Amlicites, and ample discussions of the Amlicites’ “seed”.

- The story of Zerahemnah. With a name potentially meaning “seed of the chosen one”, Zerahemnah seeks dominion over the Nephites (using the lead-word “command”), is struck by a blow to the head, and seeks to spill the blood of his ostensible brethren.

- Nephi and Laban. Nephi responds to the command to obtain the brass plates, but Laban’s attempt to murder Nephi and his brothers and attempt to obtain their property begins to frame him as the serpent’s seed. This is supported by Nephi’s allusion to Old Testament instances of the leitmotif (i.e., Moses and Pharaoh, David and Goliath).

- Abinadi’s prophecies of Christ. Abinadi explicitly references key lead words related to bruising and seed in his descriptions of Christ, and it identifies Christ’s seed as those who hear the words of the prophets, look forward to a remission of their sins, and who publish peace and salvation. In contrast, those under the power of the serpent are cast out for refusing to hearken to the voice of the Lord and choosing the devil to rule over them.

- Additional potential allusions. Other potential instances of the motif mentioned (but not explored) by Hudson include additional narratives between Nephi and his brothers and the stories of Korihor, Samuel the Lamanite, Nephi son of Helaman, and Jared and Akish.

- The Doctrine and Covenants. Though lacking explicit instances of the leitmotif, Hudson points to D&C 10:20-28 that describes Satan and his tactics in ways that recall serpentine characteristics.

Hudson concludes by identifying the potential purposes and implications of this leitmotif:

“A reason that familiarity with this pattern is meaningful is because it reveals something about how the Lord operates… The Book of Mormon authors seem to frequently employ the seed leitmotif to clarify what is at stake when difficult and potentially controversial decisions are under consideration… [Also,] the seed motif in the Book of Mormon emphasizes that anyone can choose to become either the seed of the serpent or the seed of the woman, i.e., followers of Jesus Christ. They can “reap their rewards according to their works”… The Book of Mormon leverages the seed motif to help build faith in God through the recognition that he guides and protects those who choose to follow him, and he curses those who come out in rebellion against him…We can leverage the knowledge gained through identifying these patterns into a greater understanding about the methods and purposes of God and choose to repent and incorporate the word of God into our lives (in our efforts to become the seed of the woman)…”

The Reflection

I appreciate Hudson’s review of this specific leitmotif—a powerful image that always sticks with me whenever I encounter it in scripture or in the temple, and one that carries with it the hope of ultimate victory over evil and sin. My favorite part is his identification of potential gaps in the motif filled by the Pearl of Great Price. In my view, one of the best ways to tell whether a series of parallels is meaningful is whether they solve problems with the text that would be otherwise intractable. This is the case for the viewing the Book of Mormon through the lens of Mesoamerican culture, as described by Brant Gardner, or for questions that have plagued scholars of Uto-Aztecan, many of which, for Brian Stubbs, are resolved by potential connections to Hebrew and Egyptian. To the extent that it applies to the seed motif and the Pearl of Great Price, it has implications beyond the leitmotif itself, and lends further strength to the idea of the Book of Moses (and the endowment!) as an authentic, revealed text, one given to us by Christ to help us better understand the great and ongoing battle between good and evil.

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