Does this passage support the Roman Catholic view of Mary as co-redemptrix with Christ? Old Testament — Genesis 3:15

Claim:

The Douah-Rheims Bible (the standard Roman Catholic English Bible until the middle of the twentieth century) reads: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and they seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen. 3:15). Here, the descendant of Eve is a woman, who will crush the work of Satan (“She shall crush they head…”). Does this picture Mary—Jesus’ mother—as co-redemptrix?

Response:

This is a poor translation of the original Hebrew language. The Douay-Rheims translation takes this pronoun (“she”) from the Latin Vulgate. The original Hebrew uses a masculine pronoun here—not a feminine. Thus this passage doesn’t support this doctrine regarding Mary.

About The Author
James Rochford

James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.