Galatians 3:15-29
This gets confusing. Paul bases his argument in today’s reading on his translation of the word “offspring” (or “seed” as in many translations): Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. (v. 16)
But here is the quotation from Genesis that Paul is citing, with God speaking to Abraham: I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And…in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:17-18) I fully understand that Paul has a better understanding of the Old Testament books than I, but as I read it, in God speaking to Abraham, it seems to me that His first use of the word “offspring” is plural, effectively translating “offspring” as “descendants”. So I find myself at odds with Paul’s argument of the singular versus the plural.
HOWEVER, Paul’s argument of singular versus plural does not nullify his main point of salvation through Jesus, where he says, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. (v. 16b), in that Jesus is one of those offspring (descendants) from Abraham. That is, Abraham’s offspring (descendants) include Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, and Jesus – and countless millions more! So the translation of offspring as singular versus plural seems to me not to be an issue.
The main point of Paul’s full argument in today’s text is that our salvation is through faith in Jesus, not through the Law of Moses. In the previous chapter we have Paul making it explicit: …if righteousness were through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:21b) I think a better translation is that “Christ died needlessly”. That is, Jesus’ death on the cross would have been a waste of time. What a horrible thought!
See also: March 7 / Gal 3:15-29