SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:16
A Abraham fueron hechas las promesas, y a su simiente. No dice: Y a las simientes, como de muchos; sino como de uno: Y a tu simiente, la cual es el Cristo.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Galatians 3:16
Verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed] The promise of salvation by faith was made to Abraham and his posterity. He saith not, And to seeds] It was one particular kind of posterity which was intended: but as of one-which is Christ; i.e. to the spiritual head, and all believers in him, who are children of Abraham, because they are believers, ver. 7. But why does the apostle say, not of seeds, as of many? To this it is answered, that Abraham possessed in his family two seeds, one natural, viz. the members of his own household; and the other spiritual, those who were like himself because of their faith. The promises were not of a temporal nature; had they been so, they would have belonged to his natural seed; but they did not, therefore they must have belonged to the spiritual posterity. And as we know that promises of justification, &c., could not properly be made to Christ in himself, hence we must conclude his members to be here intended, and the word Christ is put here for Christians. It is from Christ that the grace flows which constitutes Christians. Christians are those who believe after the example of Abraham; they therefore are the spiritual seed. Christ, working in and by these, makes them the light and salt of the world; and through them, under and by Christ, are all the nations of the earth blessed. This appears to be the most consistent interpretation, though every thing must be understood of Christ in the first instance, and then of Christians only through him.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made , etc..] The promises design the promises of the covenant of grace mentioned in the next verse, which are exceeding great and precious, better than those of any other covenant; and which are all yea and amen in Christ, and are chiefly of a spiritual nature; though all the temporal blessings of God's people come to them in a covenant way, and by virtue of the promise; for godliness has the promise of this life, that God will verily feed them, withhold no good thing from them proper for them, sanctify all their afflictions, support under them, and never leave nor forsake them: but the promises here intended principally are such as these, that God will be their God, and they shall be his people, the promise of Christ as a Saviour and Redeemer of them; of the Spirit as their sanctifier, and the applier of all grace unto them; of justification by Christ's righteousness, and pardon by his blood; of adoption through free rich grace; of perseverance in grace, and of the eternal inheritance: now these promises were made, errhyhsan , were said unto, or spoken of, to Abraham and his seed; that is, they were discovered, made manifest, and applied to Abraham, the father of many nations; and were declared to belong to him and his spiritual seed, even all that believe, whether Jews or Gentiles; for the apostle is not speaking of the original make and constitution of the covenant of grace and its promises, which were made from all eternity; the grand promise of life was made before the world began, and Christ was set up as Mediator from everlasting, before ever the earth was, which suppose a covenant in which this promise was granted, and of which Christ was the Mediator as early; it was made long before Abraham, or any of his spiritual seed, were in being; nor was it made with any single person, any mere creature, Abraham, or any other, but with Christ, as the head and representative of the whole election of grace: but what is here treated of is, the declaration and manifestation of the covenant, and its promises to Abraham; which was frequently done, as upon the call of him out of the land of Chaldea, upon his parting with Lot, when he was grown old, and when Eliezer his servant was like to be his heir, and just before the giving of him the covenant of circumcision, and again upon the offering up of his son Isaac: he saith not unto seeds , as of many; in the plural number, as if Jews and Gentiles were in a different manner his spiritual seed: but as of one ; using the singular number: and to thy seed, which is Christ ; meaning not Christ personal, though he was of the seed of Abraham, a son of his, as was promised; but the covenant and the promises were not now made with, and to Christ, as personally considered, this was done in eternity; but Christ mystical, the church, which is the body of Christ, of which he is the head, and is called by his name, ( 1 Corinthians 12:12) and designs all Abraham's spiritual seed, both Jews and Gentiles; who are all one in Christ, and so Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise; hence there is no room for the objection of the Jew to the apostle's application of this passage to Christ f51 , that the Scripture speaks not of any particular person, but of seed in a general and collective sense, of a large and numerous offspring; since the apostle designs such a seed by Christ, as numerous as the stars of the sky, and the sand on the sea shore, even all believers in all nations, Abraham is the father of; though did the apostle mean Christ particularly, and personally considered, there are instances to be given, where the word seed is used, not in a collective sense, but of a single person, as in ( Genesis 4:25 15:3 21:13). Nor has the Jew any reason to charge him with a mistake, in observing that the word is not in the plural, but in the singular number, when it is the manner of the Hebrew language to speak of seed only in the singular number; but this is false, the word is used in the plural number, and so might have been here, had it been necessary, as in ( 1 Samuel 8:15) concerning seed sown in the earth, from whence the metaphor is here taken. The first tract in the Jews' Misna, or oral law, is called, y[rz , seeds; and the word, even as spoken of the posterity of men, is used in the plural number in their Talmud f53 ; where they say, pecuniary judgments are not as capital ones; in pecuniary judgments, a man gives his money, and it atones for him; in capital judgments, his blood, and the blood wytw[rz , of his seeds, or posterity, hang on him to the end of the world; for we so find in Cain, who slew his brother; as it is said, the bloods of thy brother crieth; it is not said, the blood of thy brother, but the bloods of thy brother, his blood, and the blood wytw[rz , of his seeds.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 15-18 - The covenant God made with Abraham, was not done away by the giving the law to Moses. The covenant was made with Abraham and his Seed. It is still in force; Christ abideth for ever in his person, and his spiritual seed, who are his by faith. By this we learn the differenc between the promises of the law and those of the gospel. The promise of the law are made to the person of every man; the promises of the gospel are first made to Christ, then by him to those who are by fait ingrafted into Christ. Rightly to divide the word of truth, a grea difference must be put between the promise and the law, as to the inward affections, and the whole practice of life. When the promise i mingled with the law, it is made nothing but the law. Let Christ be always before our eyes, as a sure argument for the defence of faith against dependence on human righteousness.
Greek Textus Receptus
τω 3588 δε 1161 αβρααμ 11 ερρηθησαν 4483 5681 αι 3588 επαγγελιαι 1860 και 2532 τω 3588 σπερματι 4690 αυτου 846 ου 3756 λεγει 3004 5719 και 2532 τοις 3588 σπερμασιν 4690 ως 5613 επι 1909 πολλων 4183 αλλ 235 ως 5613 εφ 1909 ενος 1520 και 2532 τω 3588 σπερματι 4690 σου 4675 ος 3739 εστιν 2076 5748 χριστος 5547
Vincent's NT Word Studies
16. The course of thought is as follows. The main point is that the promises to Abraham continue to hold for Christian believers (verse 17). It might be objected that the law made these promises void. After stating that a human covenant is not invalidated or added to by any one, he would argue from this analogy that a covenant of God is not annulled by the law which came afterwards. But before reaching this point, he must call attention to the fact that the promises were given, not to Abraham only, but to his descendants. Hence it follows that the covenant was not a mere temporary contract, made to last only up to the time of the law. Even a man's covenant remains uncancelled and without additions. Similarly, God's covenant-promises to Abraham remain valid; and this is made certain by the fact that the promises were given not only to Abraham but to his seed; and since the singular, seed, is used, and not seeds, it is evident that Christ is meant.
The promises (ai epaggeliai). Comp. Rom. ix. 4. The promise was given on several occasions. 61 Were made (erreqhsan). Rend. were spoken.
To his seed (tw spermati autou). Emphatic, as making for his conclusion in verse 17. There can be no disannulling by the law of a promise made not only to Abraham, but to his seed.
Not - to seeds (ou - toiv spermasin). He means that there is significance in the singular form of expression, as pointing to the fact that one descendant (seed) is intended - Christ. With regard to this line of argument it is to be said,
1. The original promise referred to the posterity of Abraham generally, and therefore applies to Christ individually only as representing these: as gathering up into one all who should be incorporated with him.
2. The original word for seed in the O.T., wherever it means progeny, is used in the singular, whether the progeny consists of one or many. In the plural it means grains of seed, as 1 Sam. viii. 15. It is evident that Paul's argument at this point betrays traces of his rabbinical education (see Schoettgen, Horae Hebraicae, Volume 1, page 736), and can have no logical force for nineteenth century readers. Even Luther says: "Zum stiche zu schwach." 62 Of many (epi pollwn). Apparently a unique instance of the use of ejpi with the genitive after a verb of speaking. The sense appears in the familiar phrase "to speak upon a subject," many being conceived as the basis on which the speaking rests. Similarly ejf' eJnov of one.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
3:16 {But as of one} (all' hws ef' henos). But as in the case of one. {Which is Christ} (hos estin cristos). Masculine relative agreeing with cristos though sperma is neuter. But the promise to Abraham uses sperma as a collective substantive and applies to all believers (both Jews and Gentiles) as Paul has shown in verses #7-14, and as of course he knew full well Here Paul uses a rabbinical refinement which is yet intelligible. The people of Israel were a type of the Messiah and he gathers up the promise in its special application to Christ. He does not say that Christ is specifically referred to in #Ge 13:15 or #17:7f.
