that which exists between the noble and less noble parts,--those parts of which the injury is commonly curable or incurable. The objection: "The serpent creeps, man walks upright; if then an enmity exists between them, how can it be otherwise than that man wounds its head, and that it wounds his heel?" entirely overlooks the consideration, that, according to ver. 14, it is in consequence of the divine curse that the serpent creeps in the dust. In this degraded condition--a condition which is not natural, but inflicted as a punishment--it is implied that the serpent can attack man at his heel only. This plain connection between ver. 15 and 14 is evidently overlooked by those who hold the opinion, that this mutual enmity is pernicious equally to man and serpent. The very circumstance that the serpent is condemned to go on its belly, and to eat dust, whilst man retains that erect walk in which the image of God is reflected, paves the way for the announcement of the victory in ver. 16. Experience bears ample witness to the truth of the divine sentence, that there shall, in future, be enmity between the seed of the serpent and mankind, in so far as this sentence refers to the instrument of the temptation; for abhorrence of the serpent is natural to man. Thus _Calvin_ remarks: "It is in consequence of a secret natural instinct that man abhors them; and as often as the sight of a serpent fills us with horror, the recollection of our apostasy is renewed." But, in the fate of the serpent which is here announced, there is an indication of the doom of the spiritual author of the temptation. It has been objected that any reference to Satan is inadmissible, because the "seed of the serpent" here spoken of cannot designate wicked men, who are "children of the devil;" for these, too, belong to the seed of the woman, and cannot, therefore, be put in opposition to it. But against this objection _Storr_, in his treatise, _de Protevangelio_, remarks: "We easily see that many of the seed of the woman likewise belong to the seed of the serpent; but they have become unworthy of that name, since they apostatized to the common enemy of their race." It is quite true that, by the seed of the woman, her whole progeny is designated; but they who enter into communion [Pg 28] with the hereditary enemy of the human race are viewed as having excommunicated themselves. Compare Gen. xxi. 12, where Isaac alone is declared to be the true descendant of Abraham, and his other sons are, as false descendants, excluded. Moreover, not only wicked men, but also the angels of Satan (Matt. xxv. 41; Rev. xii. 7-9), belong to the seed of the serpent.