Galatians 3:16

Galatians 3:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
• New International Version (NIV)The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

Context of Galatians 3:16

14Christ died in that way so that God would bless the Gentiles in the way that he blessed Abraham. Also, if we believe in Christ, we can then receive God's Spirit that he promised. 15My Christian friends, I will use an example from our lives. Two people may make an agreement together and they both agree to it properly. If they do that, nobody else can change that agreement. They cannot take away its authority. In the same way, God promised to bless Abraham and Abraham's descendant. The Bible does not say ‘descendants’. It does not speak about ‘many people’. No, God promised to bless Abraham's descendant. He speaks about one person, and that person is Christ. 17What I mean is this: God made an agreement with Abraham. He promised to bless him. Then, 430 years later, God gave his Law to Moses for the Jewish people. But that Law could not take away the authority of God's agreement with Abraham. It could not stop what God had already promised. 18God has promised to give good things to his children. But that does not happen as a result of God's Law. If that were true, then we would not receive God's good things as a result of his promise. But God gave those good things to Abraham as a gift, because he had promised to bless Abraham.

Galatians 3:16 word by word

τῷ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ ἐρρέθησαν αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ. οὐ λέγει· καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐφ᾽ ἑνός· καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Nowδέde · thenG1161
• to AbrahamἈβραάμAbraam · AbrahamG11
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• seedὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• seedσπέρμαsperma · seed: offspringG4690
• wereἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
• the promisesἐπαγγελίαepaggelia · promiseG1860
• He saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• notοὐou · noG3756
• asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• ofἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• oneεἷςheis · oneG1520
• toσπέρμαsperma · seed: offspringG4690
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547

Cross-references for Galatians 3:16

• Galatians 3:8The Bible already said what would happen at a future time. It said that God would make the Gentiles right with himself, if they believed in him. God showed this good news to Abraham a long time before it happened. He said to Abraham, ‘I will bless people from all countries because of you.’
• Genesis 12:3I will bless those people who bless you. But I will curse anyone who insults you. Through you, I will bless all the families of people on the earth.’
• Genesis 13:15I will give you all the land that you can see. I will give it to you and your descendants. It will belong to them for ever.
• Genesis 15:5The Lord took Abram outside. He said to Abram, ‘Look up at the sky. Count the stars. They are too many for you to count!’ Then God said, ‘That is how many descendants you will have.’
• Genesis 17:7My covenant with you is very strong. I am making it with you and with your descendants. It will continue for generation after generation of your descendants, for all time. I will be your God. I will also be the God of all your descendants.
• Genesis 21:12God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be upset about Ishmael or about Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you. Your family's descendants will come through Isaac, not Ishmael.
• Genesis 22:17Because you have done this, I will bless you. I will make your descendants become so many that people cannot count them. They will be as many as the stars that are in the sky. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore by the sea. Your descendants will win against their enemies and their enemies' cities.
• Genesis 26:3Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give these lands to you and your descendants. I made a strong promise to your father Abraham. I will make that promise become true.
• Genesis 28:13The Lord stood at the top of the steps. He said, ‘I am the Lord. I am the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of Isaac, your father. I will give the land that you are lying on to you and to your descendants.
• Genesis 28:14Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will go to the west and to the east. They will go to the north and to the south. Through you and your descendants I will bless all the families of people on the earth.
• Genesis 49:10Judah's descendants will always rule as king. They will continue to hold the stick and the sceptre that show the king's authority. They will do that until the man comes who truly has that authority. People from all nations will obey that king.
• Galatians 3:27They baptized you as believers in Christ. That means that you have put on Christ, like someone who puts on new clothes.
• Romans 12:5In the same way, we are many people, but we all belong to Christ, like one body. We also belong to each other, like the different parts of one body belong to each other.
• 1 Corinthians 12:12Each person has only one body, but that body has many parts. All those different parts make only one body. It is like that with Christ too.
• Ephesians 4:15Instead, we will love each other and we will speak God's true message. As a result, we will become more and more like Christ in every way. He is the head of his body, which is the church.
• Ephesians 5:29There is nobody who hates his own body. Everyone feeds his body and he takes care of it. In the same way, the church is like Christ's body that he takes care of.

Commentaries on Galatians 3:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Now 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, Galatians 3:7. But why does the apostle say, not of seeds, as of many? To this it is answered, that Abraham possessed in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Now to Abraham and his seed - To him and his posterity. Were the promises made - The promise here referred to was that which is recorded in Genesis 22:17-18. “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one … - He does not use the plural term…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-18Verses 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 difference between the promises of the law and those of the gospel. The promises of the law are made to the person of every man; the promises of the gospel are first made to Christ…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The promises to Abraham were mainly received by him and his child (literally his seed). This "seed" was the promised Messiah (God's chosen one), who is Abraham's ultimate descendant. The word "seed" can mean one descendant or many (see Genesis 12:7; 13:15). Although the promise can refer to many descendants (see Galatians 3:29; Genesis 13:15–16; 15:5–6; 17:7–8), it specifically points to one descendant, Christ, who fully fulfilled the promise. The heirs…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 3:16

• Abraham
• Faith
• Quotations and Allusions
• Salvation
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Abraham
• Christ
• Abraham, Abram
• Christ, Messiah
• Conclude
• Curse
• Eye
• Flesh
• Foolish
• Redeem

Commentaries on Galatians 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings