The Lord said unto the serpent, &c.— In this and the following verses, we have an account of the sentence which the Lord God passed upon the three delinquents. There is no difficulty in understanding that which was passed on the man and the woman: but various opinions and conjectures have been formed respecting that which was passed upon the serpent. According to our exposition, (see note, Genesis 3:1.) the serpent here before the Lord was a real serpent, made the agent or instrument of the spiritual and infernal one. We therefore rationally conclude, that the sentence, like the agent, is two-fold, and regards at once the visible and invisible serpent. It is plain enough that the first part of the sentence refers to the natural and visible serpent, and must be applied metaphorically, if at all, to the invisible deceiver. And it seems equally evident, that the latter part of the sentence, Genesis 3:15 though in terms applicable to the visible, yet refers principally to the invisible deceiver, and can be applied only in a low and less important sense to the natural serpent. Upon this principle we ground our interpretation; and it must be acknowledged, that, as the agent was twofold, it was reasonable to expect something of a double nature in the sentence. And it is not at all to be wondered if it be dark and obscure in a measure, considering all the circumstances of the case, how little is known by us of diabolical agency, or what was the consequence to the grand tempter, upon so bold and presumptuous an offence against God: certain however it is, that an intelligent being and free agent is addressed, and therefore more than a mere serpent must be understood.
Thou art cursed above all cattle, &c.— Or, thou art cursed above every animal, and above every beast of the field. This plainly refers to the natural serpent, whose poisonous nature renders it the most deadly of all creatures, and, properly speaking, the most accursed. Upon thy belly shalt thou go; whence commentators have generally, and, as it seems, justly inferred, that the serpent, before this curse, went erect, and was as beautiful and pleasing as he is now loathsome and detestable: and indeed, unless this were the case, it is not easy to see the propriety of this denunciation: And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; that is, as I conceive, in consequence of thy groveling form, thy food shall always be defiled and mingled with filth and dust; for I apprehend this to be only a connecting clause with the prime curse, and, as it were, the immediate consequence of it: Thou shalt go upon thy belly, and so, shalt eat dust. Dr. Delaney has taken the pains to inform us, that there are some species of serpents which actually feed upon the dry dusty earth, in the sandy deserts to which God hath condemned them. And accordingly Diodorus observes, that the most sandy and barren deserts abounded most with serpents. Thus we see the curse denounced upon the natural serpent is fulfilled in that poisonous and deadly nature and groveling form which it bears: a curse which refers, in my opinion, to the whole serpentine race, which we find verified in them, hateful and horrid as they are to mankind beyond every creature: a standing proof, no doubt, of the original transaction in Paradise, where we may reasonably conclude, before the fall, the serpentine race was neither poisonous nor groveling. Now, this part of the sentence can be applied to the infernal agent no otherwise than metaphorically: and, if any thing, it must express his peculiar accursedness, the virulence of his nature, the vileness of his pursuits, his fall, and still deeper degradation by this act, and his wretched appetite for destruction and misery, instead of that angel's food of holiness and happiness upon which he fed in heaven. See Psalms 72:9. Micah 7:17. Isaiah 65:25. But it may be asked, how it comes to pass, that the serpent, which was a mere instrument only, is thus degraded and punished? It was, doubtless, to shew by a lively and lasting emblem God's indignation against sin, and his value for mankind. And certainly the Deity might, with propriety, degrade a creature so obnoxious, and diminish its original perfections, as well as degrade man himself, for the offence to which the serpent was so instrumental.