The verbal root shoof is used for both actions in the judicial sentence and decree of Gen. 3.15. The text indicates a courtroom scene since the guilty parties were summoned to stand before the Lord (Yahweh Elohim). This was the Eternal Son, the image of the invisible God, the King through Whom all things were created (1 Cor. 8.6, Col. 1.15-16). In Gen. 3.15, Yesupenka denotes the crushed head of the serpent, while tesupenu denotes a strike to the heel. Both the head crush and the snake bite refer to fatal events. The snakes in the Middle Eastern context consisted of venomous varieties, not constrictors, while a crushed head causes death.

Here is graphic evidence of one manner of Roman crucifixion. Though the article states that ropes were sometimes used to secure the victims to the cross, the method of death was asphyxiation. Wounded heels would greatly aid the Roman’s method since the severe pain would hinder the subject from straightening up and catching another breath.

Archeological Evidence for Roman Crucifixion Found Patterns of Evidence