לתשובת המינים

Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 24:7

Who is the "Seed" of Abraham?

Galatians 3:16

"To your seed" 12:7, "In your seed" 22:18.

In the third chapter of his letter to Galatian's the Apostle Paul analyzes the relationship between faith and observance of the Mosaic law with a particular emphasis on the patriarch Abraham's relationship to God and the promises which God gave to Abraham. Commenting on these verses Paul says, "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The scripture does not say and to seeds, meaning many people, but and to your seed, meaning one person, who is Christ" (Gal. 3:16 NIV). According to Christian belief Paul was schooled under Gamliel, loosely a "Rabbi" (though the term is never applied to him despite the popularity to do so in Messianic circles). Here he is teaching us the "correct" understanding of the Hebrew word זַרְעֲךָ, ‘your seed’. It is obviously in the singular so therefore is must refer to a single individual, correct? Paul is not alone in such an approach but is echoed by later Christian commentators, "Matthew Henry says about Genesis 22:18, 'In thy Seed, one particular person that shall descend from thee (for he speaks not of many, but of one, as the apostle observes, Gal. 3:16), shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, or shall bless themselves, as the phrase is, Isa. 65:16." (Evidence that Demands a Verdict, page 146-147). While Paul's context isn't to identify these verses as evidence for the Nazarene being the Messiah, it assumes it to be the case and those engaged in "Jewish evangelism" follow the lead. David Stern, in the introduction to his "Jewish New Testament" lists Galatians 3:16 as the "FULFILLMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT" for the "PROPHECY: THE MESSIAH MUST...be the 'seed of Abraham'" based off of Gen. 12:3 (see page xxvi). Similarly "Jews for Jesus" founder Moishe Rosen includes Genesis 12:3 and 18:18 as "some of the Old Testament texts which can be used prove" the "New Testament truth" that the Messiah would be "of the seed of Abraham". (Share the New Life with a Jew, page 57,58).

One must wonder how Paul (and those who followed) could interpret Genesis 13:16 consistently, since it uses the same Hebrew word as the texts above twice, "And I will make your seed (זַרְעֲךָ) as the dust of the earth so if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall your seed (זַרְעֲךָ) also be numbered." If this term implies singularity it must be pretty easy to count the dust of the land and God’s promise to Abraham looses significance, or alternatively Paul’s grammatical inference is unsupported. I choose the latter

Insofar as this argument is blatantly incorrect, Christian thinkers and apologist have proposed that was suggesting a secondary or typological interpretation:

However, even in English seed (or offspring, RSV) can have a collective sense in the singular. Paul is saying that although the promises were given to Abraham and to his offspring, their ultimate fulfillment is found only in Christ."(Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation, page 51.)
David Daube, for example, has proposed that Paul's treatment of "seed" and "seeds" in Gal 3:16, not only is the apostle using a midrashic mode of interpretation but also responding to a judaizing conception of what it means to be Abraham's "seed"--and that, in addressing his converts who were troubled by the exegesis of Judaizers, "he deliberately furnishes them with a deeper application. (Studies in Hermeneutics, Christology, and Discipleship, page 68.)

Such a suggestion is very difficult. Paul does not merely suggest this can be understood in the singular, or that is should be understood in the singular. Nor does he suggest that Israel is a "type" of the Messiah. He denies that there are multiple referents, "The scripture does not say and to seeds, meaning many people". Paul does not supply and additional meaning, he negates the primary one. We have already noted Matthew Henry's opinion above. Luther writes, "The promises were made in view of Christ, in one seed, not in many seeds. The Jew will not accept this interpretation. They insist that the singular 'seed' is put for the plural 'seeds.' We prefer the interpretation of Paul, who makes a fine case for Christ and for us out of the singular 'seed,' and is after all inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit." (Martin Luther, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, translated by Theodore Graebner, page 99). It is forced exegesis to understand Paul as not denying the possibility of a plural meaning.

Contextually the "seed of Abraham" are the Jewish people, Israel. Even ignoring Paul's apparent rejection of the plain meaning we are not provided with additional independent evidence for the Nazarene being the Messiah.