SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:8
Y viendo antes la Escritura que Dios por la fe había de justificar a los gentiles, evangeliz antes a Abraham, diciendo : Que todos los gentiles de la tierra sern benditos en ti.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Galatians 3:8
Verse 8. The Scripture, foreseeing] See the notes on Rom. iv. 3-16. As God intended to justify the heathen through faith, he preached the Gospel that contains the grand display of the doctrine of salvation by faith, before, to Abraham, while he was in his heathen state; and thus he is called the father of believers: therefore it must refer to them who shall believe the same Gospel among the Gentiles; and, as the door of faith was open to all the Gentiles, consequently the promise was fulfilled: In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 8. And the Scripture foreseeing , etc..] This seems to agree with the Jewish forms or citing passages of Scripture, bwtkh har hm , what does the Scripture foresee? and hrwt htar hm , what does the law foresee? The Scripture here, by a prosopopeia, is represented as foreseeing an event that would come to pass, and accordingly spoke of it before hand, and designs God the author of the Scripture; and so the Syriac version renders it, for seeing ahla [dy dqd , that God foreknew, etc.. and means either the Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, is privy to all his counsels and decrees, and to this of the justification of the Gentiles; or God the Father, who justifies the uncircumcision through faith, according to his own provision and predetermination of it, before the world was; for he was in Christ, reconciling the world, his elect among the Gentiles, from all eternity; when he resolved not to impute their sins to them, but to his Son, who engaged to be their surety: or rather the Son of God, since he was the preacher of this to Abraham; who lay in the bosom of the Father, and was not only acquainted with all his purposes and determinations, but entered into a covenant with him, for, and on the behalf of the people, the chosen ones, among the Gentiles as well as Jews; and undertook to bring in a righteousness for them, by which, being received by faith, they should evidentially, manifestly, in the court of their own consciences, be justified: wherefore the wisdom of God, the eternal Logos, having such a certain foresight, both as God and as Mediator, concerned in the covenant of grace for his people, that God would justify the Heathen through faith : that is, that whereas a righteousness would be wrought out, and brought in, for the justification of all God's elect, and the doctrine of it be preached among the Gentiles, to whom faith would be given to lay hold on, and receive this righteousness, God would hereby, and hereupon pronounce the sentence of justification in the court of conscience; from whence follow peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; the Scripture, the author, and substance of it, God the Word, preached before, the Gospel unto Abraham ; for not to the Father or the Spirit, as to the Son, can preaching be so well ascribed: Christ was the first preacher of the Gospel that ever was; he first preached it to Adam and Eve in the garden, and afterwards to Abraham: it was Gospel, it was good news to him, that the Messiah should spring from him, and all nations be blessed in him; he rejoiced at it, and by faith saw Christ's day and was glad and particularly that part of the Gospel, and which is a principal part of it, justification by faith; and that, as it concerned the Gentiles, was preached unto him; and before his circumcision, of which that was a sign and seal, namely, that the righteousness of faith should be upon the uncircumcised Gentiles; and before the law of works was given on Mount Sinai, and long before the doctrine of justification by faith was preached unto the Gentiles, and they enjoyed the comfort of it; which shows this to be the Gospel, and to be no new doctrine, nor different from what was so early taught; the sum and substance of which lies in these words, in thee shall all nations be blessed; the passage referred to, is in ( Genesis 12:3) and is repeated ( Genesis 18:18) and in Genesis 22:18 is thus expressed, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; which shows, that this is not to be understood of Abraham personally, but of his seed; and which cannot intend Isaac, the immediate seed of Abraham, in whom it was never verified; and besides, is carried down to his seed, ( Genesis 26:4) as not terminating in him; and for the same reason it cannot design Jacob, the immediate seed of Isaac; (see Genesis 28:14) nor the whole body of the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, in whom it never had its completion; for when and how have the nations of the earth been blessed in them? either whilst in their own land, when they would have no conversation with them, neither on a civil or sacred account, unless they conformed to their rites; or since their dispersion, so far from it, that their name is used by way of reproach, and as a proverb, a taunt, and a curse everywhere; but it is to be understood of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the son of Abraham, took upon him the seed of Abraham, and to whom it is applied, ( Galatians 3:16) as by the Apostle Peter, ( Acts 3:25,26). The phrase being blessed in him, does not signify a blessing of themselves or others, or a proverbial expression that should be used among the Gentiles, God bless thee as Abraham, or the God of Abraham bless thee, or God bless you as he did the Israelites, or seed of Abraham; for no one instance can be produced of the nations of the world ever using such a form of blessing; no history, sacred or profane, makes mention that these, or any other Jewish forms of blessing, were ever used among the Gentiles: but here it designs blessings in Christ, and not temporal, but spiritual ones, even all spiritual blessings; as redemption, reconciliation, peace, pardon, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life, and particularly justification; this is the blessedness more especially intended, which comes not upon the circumcision only, but the uncircumcision also; and they that partake of this are blessed indeed; for they are justified from all sin, are free from condemnation, secure from the wrath of God, have a title to eternal life, and shall certainly be glorified: and when it is said that all nations shall be thus blessed, the meaning is, not that every individual of all nations shall enjoy this happiness, for all are not in Christ, nor have his righteousness imputed to them, nor have faith in him, there are many that will be condemned with the world; but some of all nations, that God will have saved, and Christ has redeemed by his blood; and these are the many he justifies, even all the elect of God, in the various nations of the world.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 6-14 - The apostle proves the doctrine he had blamed the Galatians for rejecting; namely, that of justification by faith without the works of the law. This he does from the example of Abraham, whose faith fastene upon the word and promise of God, and upon his believing he was owne and accepted of God as a righteous man. The Scripture is said to foresee, because the Holy Spirit that indited the Scripture di foresee. Through faith in the promise of God he was blessed; and it is only in the same way that others obtain this privilege. Let us the study the object, nature, and effects of Abraham's faith; for who can in any other way escape the curse of the holy law? The curse is agains all sinners, therefore against all men; for all have sinned, and ar become guilty before God: and if, as transgressors of the law, we ar under its curse, it must be vain to look for justification by it. Thos only are just or righteous who are freed from death and wrath, an restored into a state of life in the favour of God; and it is onl through faith that persons become righteous. Thus we see tha justification by faith is no new doctrine, but was taught in the churc of God, long before the times of the gospel. It is, in truth, the onl way wherein any sinners ever were, or can be justified. Thoug deliverance is not to be expected from the law, there is a way open to escape the curse, and regain the favour of God, namely, through fait in Christ. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law; being mad sin, or a sin-offering, for us, he was made a curse for us; no separated from God, but laid for a time under the Divine punishment The heavy sufferings of the Son of God, more loudly warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come, than all the curses of the law; for ho can God spare any man who remains under sin, seeing that he spared no his own Son, when our sins were charged upon him? Yet at the same time Christ, as from the cross, freely invites sinners to take refuge in him.
Greek Textus Receptus
προιδουσα 4275 5631 δε 1161 η 3588 γραφη 1124 οτι 3754 εκ 1537 πιστεως 4102 δικαιοι 1344 5719 τα 3588 εθνη 1484 ο 3588 θεος 2316 προευηγγελισατο 4283 5662 τω 3588 αβρααμ 11 οτι 3754 {1: ενευλογηθησονται 1757 5701 } {2: ευλογηθησονται 2127 5701 } εν 1722 σοι 4671 παντα 3956 τα 3588 εθνη 1484
Vincent's NT Word Studies
8. The scripture (h grafh). See on 1 Tim. v. 18. The particular passage cited below. See on Mark xii. 10; John ii. 22 v. 47 footnote. Foreseeing (proidousa). The passage of Scripture is personified. Comp. hath concluded, verse 22. The Jews had a formula of reference, "What did the Scripture see?" Would justify (dikaioi). Better justifieth. The present tense. The time foreseen was the Christian present. Comp. 1 Cor. iii. 13; Matthew xxvi. 2.
Preached before the gospel (proeuhggelisato). N.T.o . An awkward translation. Better, preached the gospel before-hand.
All nations (panta ta eqnh). From Gen. xviii. 18; comp. Gen. xxii. 18, LXX. Gen. xii. 3 reads pasai aiJ fulai all the tribes. Ta eqnh was the collective term by which all non-Jews were denoted, and is more suitable to Paul's Gentile audience.
Shall be blessed (eneuloghqhsontai). In N.T. only here. LXX, Genesis xii. 3; xviii. 18; xxii. 18; xxvi. 4; Sir. lxiv. 21. The blessing is the messianic blessing of which the Gentiles are to partake - the imparting of the Spirit as the new life principle and the pledge of future blessedness in Christ. This blessing Abraham shared on the ground of his faith, and believers shall share it as the true spiritual children of Abraham.
In thee (en soi). Not, through thy posterity, Christ, but in the fact that thou art blessed is involved the blessedness of the Gentiles through faith, in so far as they shall be justified by faith, and through justification receive the Holy Spirit.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
3:8 {Foreseeing} (proidousa). Second aorist active participle of prooraw. The Scripture is here personified. Alone in this sense of "sight," but common with legei or eipen (says, said) and really in verse #22 "hath shut up" (sunekleisen). {Would justify} (dikaioi). Present active indicative, "does justify." {Preached the gospel beforehand} (proeueggelisato). First aorist middle indicative of proeuaggelizomai with augment on a though both pro and eu before it in composition. Only instance in N.T. It occurs in Philo. and Schol. Soph. this Scripture announced beforehand the gospel on this point of justification by faith. He quotes the promise to Abraham in #Ge 12:3; 18:18, putting panta ta eqne (all the nations) in #18:18 for pasai hai fulai (all the tribes) of the earth. It is a crucial passage for Paul's point, showing that the promise to Abraham included all the nations of the earth. The verb eneulogew (future passive here) occurs in the LXX and here only in N.T. (not #Ac 3:25 in correct text). {In thee} (en soi). "As their spiritual progenitor" (Lightfoot).
