English: Map of the Letters of Galatia (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
In
the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians, I
discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the
Galatians, the situation when Paul wrote to them, when the letter might have
been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote, based on the common
Greco-Roman letters of his day. In
the second post, I considered the basic content and breakdown of a Pauline
letter. I noted the major sections of the formal letter structure and, in the
context of each section, outlined the theological and ethical (as well as
other) concerns of Paul, including some Greek words which will be examined more
fully as we continue with the commentary. In
the third entry, I looked at the salutation, which is long for Paul’s
corpus (only Romans 1:1-7 is longer) and briefly commented on the lack of a
Thanksgiving, the only letter of Paul’s which does not have one. The
fourth entry discussed the opening of the body of the letter, a significant
part of the letter especially in light of the absence of a Thanksgiving. In
the fifth entry, I examined the beginning of the opening of the body of the
letter, in which Paul describes his background in Judaism and I placed this in the
context of Judaism in the Hellenistic period. In the
sixth post in the online commentary, I continued to look at Paul’s
biographical sketch of his life, this concerning his earliest life as a
Christian. In
the seventh post, I examined what Paul says about his subsequent visit to
Jerusalem to see the apostles and the Church in Jerusalem.
In the eighth entry, Paul confronts Cephas about his hypocrisy in
Antioch.
The
ninth blog post started to examine the theological argument in one of
Paul’s most important and complex theological letters. In
the tenth entry, Paul makes an emotional appeal to the Galatians based on
their past religious experiences and their relationship with Paul. In
the eleventh chapter in the series, Paul began to examine Abraham in light
of his faith. The
twelfth blog post continued Paul’s examination of Abraham, but also claims
that Christ “redeemed” his followers from the “curse” of the Law. In this, the thirteenth study in the Galatians
online commentary, we look at Paul’s claim that God’s promises were to Abraham
and his “offspring,” with a twist on the meaning of “offspring.”
4. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians
d) Body of the Letter (1:13-6:10):
iv) Theological Teaching (2:15-5:12): Abraham
was justified by faith (3:15-18) part 3.
15 Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person's will has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, "And to offsprings," as of many; but it says, "And to your offspring," that is, to one person, who is Christ. 17 My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise. (NRSV)
In this section, Paul continues to interpret the Scriptures
regarding Abraham, especially Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 17:7, and 24:7, extending
his argument that even though the covenant seemed to be based upon the terms of
the Law of Moses, in fact the terms were written years before the giving of the
law on Mt. Sinai when God made his promises to Abraham and his “seed”
(translated as “offspring”). These covenantal promises, the earliest terms of
the covenant, Paul states, are non-negotiable and what came before the Law of
Moses retains its legal validity. The
key interpretive move, here we might utilize the language of Midrash
again, is the interpretation of “seed.”
Paul begins by giving an example from “daily life” (the Greek is kata anthrôpon, or an example according
to human practice): “once a person's will has been ratified, no one adds to it
or annuls it” (Galatians 3:15). This is an example that indeed most people
would have been aware of in Paul’s day as today. Important to note, though, is
that the word being translated as “will” here is the same word for “covenant”
in Greek, diathêkê. Paul is drawing a
connection between his example of the “will” or “testament” of Abraham and God’s
“covenant” with Israel which began with Abraham. While we are used to seeing
the covenant primarily in terms of the Law of Moses, Paul wants to bring us to
this earlier historical point.
Paul states that the
Genesis promises, see above for the verses, “were made to Abraham and to his
offspring; it does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ as of many; but it says, ‘And
to your offspring,’ that is, to one person, who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). The
promises, says Paul, were made to Abraham and his “offspring” (Greek, sperma, or “seed”), which refers to one
person, not all of Abraham’s descendants. Even though “seed” in the Genesis
passages clearly functions as a collective noun, and refers to the physical
descendants of Abraham, Paul says in fact it refers to “Christ,” the Messiah
who was to come. The chances are good that such a Messianic midrashic reading
was based upon 2 Samuel 7:12, in which God promises David that after he dies, “I will raise up your
offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish
his kingdom.” The use of “offspring” in 2 Samuel 7:12 for the one who would
establish David’s kingdom “forever” (2 Samuel 7:13) makes such a connection to the
Genesis passages likely. As such, the promises to Abraham, which include Jesus,
are prior to the terms of the Mosaic Law dictating circumcision and the other
laws. If Abraham had meant the people of Israel, Paul states, he would have
said “seeds,” plural. Reading Genesis at a literal level, this does not make
sense of the clear meaning of the collective noun “offspring,” though the connection to the use of “offspring”
in 2 Samuel 7:12, which was probably not original with Paul, does link the
Genesis promises to the Messianic promise.
We can speak of this
as a Jewish “midrashic” interpretation, parsing, as it were, the meaning of a
collective noun to a singular meaning, and linking it to a verse found in
another book, and this is correct, but it might also be seen as a Christian “spiritual”
or “allegorical” reading, particularly known as “typological,” since it locates
a (hidden) reference to Jesus Christ. This was the common practice of the
earliest Christian readers and it has been bequeathed to Christians today, by
the New Testament and among the Church fathers. What can it mean to Christian
readers today?
Without question the
literal reading of Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 17:7 and 24:7 refers to the physical
people of Israel, and this reading must be maintained as a primary reading of
these covenantal passages. But starting with Jesus’ own interpretation of the
Scriptures, continuing with Paul, and throughout the Christian centuries,
Christians have read the Old Testament in light of Christ. Such typological
readings will be, naturally, rejected by those who do not believe Jesus is the
Messiah, but such spiritual readings of the text were not unknown to Jewish
interpreters of Paul’s day, for whom every verse, every letter, even a missing
letter had significance. Rabbinic and
other readers (with a prominent example being Philo of Alexandria) also read
the each verse of the Scriptures in light of the other Scriptures, since it was
all God’s word, and Paul’s readings fit in with such Jewish interpretive
practices. As part of the New Testament, they also have a revelatory claim on
Christians, but it is important that they are not seen to nullify the literal promises
to the Jews.
Paul himself will
use the language of “nullify” in Galatians 3:17, stating that “my point is
this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a
covenant {Greek diathêkê, in 3:15
translated as “will”} previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.”
Paul’s point is clear: the covenant/will which contained the promise of Jesus
came 430 years before the Law, a traditional form of dating for when the law
was given based on Exodus 12:40-41. The later covenant/will cannot nullify the
earlier will/covenant.
In Galatians 3:18,
Paul brings his argument to conclusion, stating that “if the inheritance comes
from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to
Abraham through the promise.” There is not much more Paul does here than
restate his original premise: since the promise was first, prior to the Law of
Moses, the promise must stand. But Paul does, however, introduce the language
of “inheritance” (Greek klêronomia)
to his argument, which is the language of family. Paul wants to focus on Jesus
as the “seed,” not the collective people of Israel, yet the language of
inheritance reminds us that Paul still has in mind the family of God which “inherits”
from the “will” of Abraham through the ancestor or descendant Jesus. Inheritance
language is weighty, for inheritance is almost always discussed in the context
of family. If the inheritance is through Jesus, it means that the notion of who
comprises the covenantal family has been (or will be) rewritten. If the promise
is to Abraham and his “seed” Jesus, who actually belongs to Abraham’s family in
order to inherit?
Next entry, Why then the Law?
John W. Martens
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This entry is cross-posted at America Magazine The Good Word
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