We read, according to the American Standard Version of the Bible:

²² “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:

Gen. 3:14, 15.

23. (a) Who are the symbolic serpent and the symbolic woman mentioned in Genesis 3:14, 15? (b) What would the bruising of the serpent’s head eventually mean for mankind?

²³ That cursing of the serpent was really God’s cursing of the Devil, the operator of the serpent. The serpent became a symbol of the Devil. (Rev. 12:9; 20:2) If the symbol, the literal serpent, was degraded, the Devil too must be degraded. God’s calling the Devil “the original serpent” indicated that degradation.