Genesis 3:15
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
KJV
Read in Genesis 3Meaning
The serpent's apparent success does not end the story. Its judgment contains a future conflict in which the woman's offspring and the serpent's offspring remain opposed.
Read carefully
Calling this verse the protoevangelium reflects a major Christian canonical interpretation. Genesis 3:15 itself does not yet name Jesus, so immediate and later canonical readings should be distinguished rather than collapsed.
Reflection
Judgment contains an unfinished future: evil is opposed rather than simply accepted as permanent. Christian readers see in that unresolved conflict a trajectory that Scripture later develops more fully.