To Abraham were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, And to his seeds, as of many: but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

“If, then, God promised him the inheritance of the land, yet he did not receive it during all the time of his sojourn there, it must be, that together with his seed, that is, those who fear God and believe in Him, he shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For his seed is the Church, which receives the adoption to God through the Lord, as John the Baptist said: "For God is able from the stones to raise up children to Abraham." Thus also the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians: "But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise." And again, in the same Epistle, he plainly declares that they who have believed in Christ do receive Christ, the promise to Abraham thus saying, "The promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his seed. Now He does not say, And of seeds, as if [He spake] of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." And again, confirming his former words, he says, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith are the children of Abraham. But the Scripture, fore-seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, declared to Abraham beforehand, That in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham." Thus, then, they who are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham, and these are the children of Abraham. Now God made promise of the earth to Abraham and his seed; yet neither Abraham nor his seed, that is, those who are justified by faith, do now receive any inheritance in it; but they shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For God is true and faithful; and on this account He said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."”

“For this fact-that Gentiles are admissible to God's Law-is enough to prevent Israel from priding himself on the notion that "the Gentiles are accounted as a little drop of a bucket," or else as "dust out of a threshing-floor: " although we have God Himself as an adequate engager and faithful promiser, in that He promised to Abraham that "in his seed should be blest all nations of the earth; " and that out of the womb of Rebecca "two peoples and two nations were about to proceed," -of course those of the Jews, that is, of Israel; and of the Gentiles, that is ours.”

“Thus God made a covenant with Abraham, promising that in his seed the blessing should come upon the heathen; and this blessing the Law cannot turn aside. As this example was not in all respects appropriate to the matter in hand, he introduces it thus, "I speak after the manner of men," that nothing might be deduced from it derogatory to the majesty of God. But let us go to the bottom of this illustration. It was promised Abraham that by his seed the heathen should be blessed; and his seed according to the flesh is Christ; four hundred and thirty years after came the Law; now, if the Law bestows the blessings even life and righteousness, that promise is annulled. And so while no one annuls a man's covenant, the covenant of God after four hundred and thirty years is annulled; for if not that covenant but another instead of it bestows what is promised, then is it set aside, which is most unreasonable.”

“After the Apostle proved by authorities that the law does not justify, nor is necessary for justification, which is through faith, here he consequently shows the same thing by human reasons. And concerning this he does four things. First, he sets down a human custom; second, he takes up the divine promise, at the words "The promises were made to Abraham," etc.; third, he draws the conclusion, at "Now this I say," etc.; fourth, he shows that the conclusion follows from the premises, at "For if of the law," etc. He says therefore: I indeed spoke openly before according to the authority of Scripture, which was brought forth not by human will, but by the Holy Spirit, as it is said in 2 Peter 1:21; but now I speak according to man, and according to what human reason and custom hold. From this, indeed, we have an argument that for discoursing about the things of faith, we may use any truth of any science whatsoever. Deuteronomy 21:11: "If thou seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou lovest her, and wilt have her to wife, thou shalt bring her into thy house" — that is, if secular wisdom and knowledge should please you, you shall bring it within your borders — "who shall shave her hair," etc., that is, it will cut away all erroneous senses. And hence it is that the Apostle in many places in his epistles uses the authorities of the gentiles, as that in 1 Corinthians 15:33: "Evil communications corrupt good manners," etc., and that in Titus 1:11: "The Cretans, evil beasts," etc. Or, although reasons of this kind are empty and weak — because, as it is said in Psalm 93:11, "The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain" — nevertheless no one despises or overrides a man's confirmed testament, because nothing human has such firmness as a man's last will; but someone would despise it, if he said that a man's testament, confirmed by the death of the testator and by witnesses, were not valid. If, then, no one despises a testament of this kind, saying that it need not be kept, or despises it by altering something in it, much more should no one despise or override the testament of God, by infringing it, or by adding to it or taking away from it. Apocalypse, last chapter: "If any man shall add to these things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part," etc. Deuteronomy 4:2: "You shall not add to the word which I speak to you, nor shall you take away from it," etc. Consequently, when he says "The promises were made to Abraham," etc., he takes up the divine promise made to Abraham, which is as it were a certain testament of God. And first he expounds this promise or testament; second, he discloses the truth of the testament, at "He does not say: And to seeds," etc. He says therefore first, "The promises were made to Abraham," as if to say: just as a man's testament is firm, so the divine promises are firm. But did God make any promises before the law? Certainly, because to Abraham, who was before the law — namely, that God would not deceive — the promises were spoken, that is, made, both to him and to his seed, by God. But they were made to Abraham, as to the one to whom they were to be fulfilled; and to his seed, as that through which they were to be fulfilled. Now he says "promises" in the plural, because the promise concerning the blessing of the seed contained many things. Or because the same thing — that is, eternal blessedness — was frequently promised to him, as in Genesis 12:3, "In thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed"; likewise 15:5, "Look up to heaven, and number the stars," etc.; likewise in the same place: "To thy seed I will give this land," etc.; likewise 22:18: "I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven." These promises, therefore, are as it were the testament of God, because there is a certain ordinance concerning the inheritance to be given to Abraham and to his seed. But he discloses the truth of the testament when he says: "He does not say: And to seeds," etc. And indeed he discloses it by the same spirit by which the testament was drawn up. And this is clear from the words of the testament. "He does not say," he says, "and to seeds," as if referring to many — that is, as he would speak if it held true of many — "but as of one, who is Christ," because he alone is the one through whom and in whom all can be blessed. For he alone and singularly is the one who is not subject to the curse of guilt, even though he deigned to become a curse for us. Hence it is said in Psalm 140:10: "I am alone," etc. Likewise: "There is none that doth good," etc. Ecclesiastes 7:29: "One man among a thousand I have found" — namely, Christ, who would be without all sin — "but a woman among them all I have not found" — who would be wholly free of sin, at least original, or venial. He draws the conclusion, then, consequently, when he says "Now this I say: the testament," etc., where let us see in order what it is that he says. He says therefore that this is what God promised to Abraham, but this is the testament, namely, this promise concerning obtaining the inheritance. Jeremiah 31:31: "I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant," etc. "Confirmed" — this he puts down so that it might agree with what was said before. For above he had said, "a man's testament, confirmed," etc. "By God" — namely, who promised. And I say it was confirmed by an oath. Genesis 22:16: "By my own self have I sworn," etc.; Hebrews 6:18: "That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie," etc. This testament, I say, the law does not make void — the law which indeed was made, and given by God through Moses. John 1:17: "The law was given by Moses," etc. "After four hundred and thirty," etc. And, as if expounding what he had said, he adds, "does not make void, so as to make the promise of no effect." For thus would the aforesaid testament become void, if the promise made to Abraham were made of no effect, that is, made in vain, as though the seed promised to Abraham were not sufficient for the blessing of the gentiles. But through Christ the promises made to the fathers were not made void, but confirmed. Romans 15:8: "I say that Jesus Christ was minister of the circumcision, to confirm the promises made to the fathers." And 2 Corinthians 1:20: "For all the promises of God are in him," etc. Now, what is said, "after four hundred and thirty years," agrees with what is found in Exodus 12:40: "The abode of the children of Israel, during which they remained in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." And Acts 7:6: "The Lord spoke" — namely, to Abraham — "that his seed would be a sojourner in a foreign land, and they would subject them to servitude for four hundred and thirty years." But against this is what is said in Genesis 15:13: "Know for certain that thy seed shall be a stranger, and they will subject them to servitude, and afflict them, for four hundred years." I respond. It must be said that if the computation of years is made from the first promise made to Abraham, which is read in Genesis 12, up to the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, when the law was given, then there are four hundred and thirty years, as is written here, and in Exodus 12, and Acts 7. But if the computation begins from the birth of Isaac, of which we read in Genesis 21, then there are only four hundred and five years. For twenty-five years passed from the promise made to Abraham until the birth of Isaac. For Abraham was seventy-five years old when he went out from his land, and the first promise was made to him, as is found in Genesis 12. But he was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, as is found in the same place, chapter 21. That there were, from the birth of Isaac until the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, four hundred and five years, is proved by this: that Isaac was sixty years old when he begot Jacob, as is found in Genesis 25; and Jacob was a hundred and thirty years old when he entered Egypt, as is found in Genesis 27. And thus, from the birth of Isaac until Jacob's entry into Egypt, there were a hundred and ninety years. But Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, as is found in Genesis 41. And afterward there passed seven years of fruitfulness and two of barrenness, until Jacob's entry into Egypt, as is found in chapter 45. Now Joseph lived a hundred and ten years, as is found in the last chapter of Genesis. From which, if thirty-nine years are subtracted, seventy-one years remain. There were, therefore, from the birth of Isaac until the death of Joseph, two hundred and sixty-one years. Now the children of Israel were in Egypt after the death of Joseph for a hundred and forty-four years, as Rabanus says in the Gloss. There were, therefore, from the birth of Isaac until the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt and the giving of the law, four hundred and five years; but Scripture did not concern itself with the minute details. Or it can be said that in the fifth year of Isaac, Ishmael was expelled, and Isaac alone remained as Abraham's heir, and from that time there were four hundred years. Then, when he says "For if of the law," etc., he shows how it follows from the premises that the law would make the promises void, if the law were necessary for justification, or for the blessing of the gentiles. He says therefore: truly the promise would be made void if the law were necessary. For if the inheritance — namely, of Abraham's blessing — were from the law, it would then no longer be from the promise, that is, from the seed promised to Abraham. For if the promised seed were sufficient for obtaining the inheritance of the blessing, justification would not come about through the law. But he destroys the consequent, when he says, "But God gave to Abraham," etc., that is, he promised that he would give — which was as certain as if he were giving it at once — through the promise, that is, through the promised seed. The inheritance, therefore — that is, the blessing — is not from the law; concerning which it is said in 1 Peter 3:9: "Unto this you are called, that you may inherit a blessing."”

“To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. This refers to Gen. xxil 16. From this we conclude that by his readiness to obey God in sacrificing his son he merited that from his own seed should Christ be bom as a blessing to the Gentiles, and to fulfil the 272 THE EPISTLE TO THE promises. The Apostle, therefore, rightly lays it down that these promises were made to Abraham and his seed, t.e. 9 to Christ, who should spring from his loins ; although the word of Genesis speaks of these promises being made to Abraham in his seed only, and not to his seed. Yet the very fact that they were to be fulfilled in his seed shows that they were made rather to his seed than to Abraham. Just as if a king should promise one of his nobles to exalt his family in his son, by making him a duke or a prince, and thereby makes a promise to the son rather than to the father, so did God to Abraham. It was in Christ, as the seed of Abraham, that the promise, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed f has been fulfilled, and justification assured to all who believe in Christ. To thy seed which is Christ This may be said to meet a possible objection that seed is equivalent to posterity or descendants , and is therefore a noun of multitude, and that S. Paul here denies this interpretation. But seed is sometimes used as a collective term, as for example, in the promise, “ Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven and sometimes as a particular term ; e.g., in Gen. xxi. 13 : “ Of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation^ because he is thy seed! S. Paul, in interpreting the word here in the latter sense, might have appealed to the practice of the Rabbinical expositors, who all understood it of Christ Moreover, if it were to be taken in the former sense, the prophecy would have failed of fulfilment, for all the nations of the earth have not been blessed in Abraham's posterity, if by them we are to understand the Jewish people; on the contrary, the Jews are for a reproach, and a curse among the Gentiles”

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made,.... 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, "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, Co1 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 (c), 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 Gen 4:25. Nor has the Jew (d) 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 Sa1 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, "seeds"; and the word, even as spoken of the posterity of men, is used in the plural number in their Talmud (e); 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 "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 "of his seeds".'' (c) Chizzuk Emuna, par. 1. c. 13. p. 134. (d) Ib. par. 2. c. 90. p. 468. (e) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 37. 1.”

“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, Gal 3:7. 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, etc., 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.”

“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). The covenant was not made with "many" seeds (which if there had been, a pretext might exist for supposing there was one seed before the law, another under the law; and that those sprung from one seed, say the Jewish, are admitted on different terms, and with a higher degree of acceptability, than those sprung from the Gentile seed), but with the one seed; therefore, the promise that in Him "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 12:3), joins in this one Seed, Christ, Jew and Gentile, as fellow heirs on the same terms of acceptability, namely, by grace through faith (Rom 4:13); not to some by promise, to others by the law, but to all alike, circumcised and uncircumcised, constituting but one seed in Christ (Rom 4:16). The law, on the other hand, contemplates the Jews and Gentiles as distinct seeds. God makes a covenant, but it is one of promise; whereas the law is a covenant of works. Whereas the law brings in a mediator, a third party (Gal 3:19-20), God makes His covenant of promise with the one seed, Christ (Gen 17:7), and embraces others only as they are identified with, and represented by, Christ. one . . . Christ--not in the exclusive sense, the man Christ Jesus, but "Christ" (Jesus is not added, which would limit the meaning), including His people who are part of Himself, the Second Adam, and Head of redeemed humanity. Gal 3:28-29 prove this, "Ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus" (Jesus is added here as the person is indicated). "And if ye be Christ's, ye are Abraham's SEED, heirs according to the promise."”