זֶרַע

“Seed” in Hebrew is Zera (זֶרַע), pronounced “ZEH-rah.” Zera comes from the root ז-ר-ע (zayin-resh-ayin), meaning 'to sow, scatter seed.' The agricultural act of sowing seed becomes a metaphor for God planting His promises in history — each generation carrying the seed toward its ultimate fulfillment.

Zera (זֶרַע) means “Seed, offspring, descendant” in Biblical Hebrew. Zera appears over 220 times in the Hebrew Bible. It describes agricultural seed (Genesis 1:11), human offspring (Genesis 3:15, 12:7), the Davidic line, and the messianic promise. Jesus' Parable of the Sower draws on centuries of Hebrew seed imagery.

Zera is pronounced “ZEH-rah.” The word comes from the Hebrew root ז-ר-ע.

Genesis 3:15 promises that the woman's zera will crush the serpent's head — the first messianic prophecy. It's unusual because lineage in the ancient world was traced through the father, yet this seed comes through the woman. Christians see this fulfilled in the virgin birth of Jesus — the seed of Mary who defeated the serpent (Satan) at the cross.

Paul argues that God's promise to Abraham's 'zera' (singular) points to one specific descendant: Christ. While 'zera' can be collective, Paul emphasizes the singular to show that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant — the one seed through whom all nations are blessed.

Jesus' Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) draws on deep Hebrew associations: zera as God's word (Isaiah 55:10-11), zera as the messianic promise, and the agricultural reality that not every seed bears fruit. The parable teaches that God's Word is powerful seed, but the soil of the human heart determines the harvest.