“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring.or, seed He doesn’t say, “To descendantsor, seeds”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspringor, seed”,Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 24:7 which is Christ.”
— WEB
Galatians 3:16
Cited in 4 topics on this site.
Translations sourced from the public-domain WEB, KJV, and ASV. See all sources.
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
— KJV
“Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
— ASV
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Commentary
This verse is parenthetical. The covenant of promise was not "spoken" (so Greek for "made") to Abraham alone, but "to Abraham and his seed"; to the latter especially; and this means Christ (and that which is inseparable from Him, the literal Israel, and the spiritual, His body, the Church). Christ not having come when the law was given, the covenant could not have been then fulfilled, but awaited the coming of Him, the Seed, to whom it was spoken. promises--plural, because the same promise was often repeated (Gen 12:3, Gen 12:7; Gen 15:5, Gen 15:18; Gen 17:7; Gen 22:18), and because it involved many things; earthly blessings to the literal children of Abraham in Canaan, and spiritual and heavenly blessings to his spiritual children; but both promised to Christ, "the Seed" and representative Head of the literal and spiritual Israel alike. In the spiritual seed there is no distinction of Jew or Greek; but to the literal seed, the promises still in part remain to be fulfilled (Rom 11:26).
— Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (public domain)
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