John Calvin Commentary Genesis 3:14

"And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" — Genesis 3:14 (ASV)

And the Lord God said unto the serpent. He does not interrogate the serpent as he had done with the man and the woman, because in the animal itself there was no sense of sin, and because to the devil he would hold out no hope of pardon. He might truly, by his own authority, have pronounced sentence against Adam and Eve, though unheard.

Why then does he call them to undergo examination, except that he has a care for their salvation? This doctrine is to be applied to our benefit. There would be no need of any trial of the cause, or of any solemn form of judgment, to condemn us; therefore, while God insists upon extorting a confession from us, he acts more as a physician than as a judge.

There is the same reason why the Lord, before he imposes punishment on man, begins with the serpent. For corrective punishments (as we shall see) are of a different kind and are inflicted with the intention of leading us to repentance; but in this case, there is nothing of the sort.

It is, however, doubtful to whom the words refer, whether to the serpent or to the devil. Moses, indeed, says that the serpent was a skillful and cunning animal; yet it is certain that, when Satan was devising the destruction of man, the serpent was guiltless of his fraud and wickedness.

Therefore, many explain this whole passage allegorically, and plausible are the subtleties which they present for this purpose. But when all things are more accurately weighed, readers endowed with sound judgment will easily perceive that the language is of a mixed character; for God so addresses the serpent that the last clause belongs to the devil.

If it seems to anyone absurd that the punishment of another’s fraud should be exacted from a brute animal, the solution is at hand: since it had been created for the benefit of man, there was nothing improper in its being accursed from the moment that it was employed for his destruction.

And by this act of vengeance, God demonstrated how highly he values the salvation of man, just as if a father should detest the sword by which his son had been killed. And here we must consider not only the kind of authority which God has over his creatures but also the purpose for which he created them, as I have recently said.

For the justice of the divine sentence depends on that order of nature which he has established; it has, therefore, no connection whatever with blind revenge.

In this manner, the reprobate will be delivered over to eternal fire with their bodies, which bodies, although they are not self-moved, are yet the instruments for perpetrating evil.

So, whatever wickedness a man commits is ascribed to his hands, and therefore they are considered polluted, even though they do not move themselves, except insofar as, under the impulse of a corrupt inclination of the heart, they carry out what has been conceived there.

According to this method of reasoning, the serpent is said to have done what the devil did by its means. But if God so severely avenged the destruction of man upon a brute animal, much less did he spare Satan, the author of the whole evil, as will appear more clearly in the conclusion of the address.

Thou art cursed above all cattle. This curse of God has such force against the serpent as to render it despicable and scarcely tolerable to heaven and earth, leading a life exposed to, and replete with, constant terrors. Besides, it is not only hateful to us as the chief enemy of the human race, but, being separated also from other animals, it carries on a kind of war with nature; for we see it had before been so gentle that the woman did not flee its familiar approach.

But what follows presents greater difficulty because that which God proclaims as a punishment seems to be natural; namely, that it should creep upon its belly and eat dust. This objection has led certain men of learning and ability to say that the serpent had been accustomed to walk with an erect body before it had been misused by Satan. There will, however, be no absurdity in supposing that the serpent was again consigned to that former condition to which he was already naturally subject.

For thus he, who had exalted himself against the image of God, was to be thrust back into his proper rank; as if it had been said, ‘You, a wretched and filthy animal, have dared to rise up against man, whom I appointed to the dominion of the whole world; as if, truly, you, who are fixed to the earth, had any right to penetrate into heaven. Therefore, I now throw you back again to the place from where you have attempted to emerge, that you may learn to be contented with your lot, and no more exalt yourself, to man’s reproach and injury.’

Meanwhile, he is recalled from his insolent motions to his usual way of moving, in such a way as to be, at the same time, condemned to perpetual infamy.

To eat dust is the sign of a vile and sordid nature. This (in my opinion) is the simple meaning of the passage, which the testimony of Isaiah also confirms (Isaiah 65:25); for while he promises under the reign of Christ the complete restoration of a sound and well-constituted nature, he records, among other things, that dust shall be to the serpent for bread.

Therefore, it is not necessary to seek for any new change in each detail which Moses here relates.