Who is the woman in Genesis 3:15 — Eve or Mary?
The short answer
The popes teach that the verse prophetically points to Mary. Pius IX wrote that the Church's writers saw in God's promise of enmity between the serpent and the woman a prophecy of the Virgin Mary and her Son's victory. John Paul II linked Paul's calling Mary "woman" in Galatians 4:4 to the woman of Genesis 3:15.
Pius IX
In Ineffabilis Deus, Pius IX taught that Church writers, quoting God's promise — "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers" (Genesis 3:15) — saw the Blessed Virgin prophetically indicated, along with the enmity of Mary and her Son against the evil one.
John Paul II
In Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul II noted that Paul calls Christ's mother "woman" rather than "Mary" (Galatians 4:4), matching the words of Genesis 3:15. She is that "woman" present at the central saving event of the "fullness of time," which is realized in her and through her.
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