Galatians 3:16

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.

Parenthetical.

Now, [ de (G1161)]. 'This, however, is not a case merely of a covenant, but of a promise; yea, of promises: nor was it made merely to a man (Galatians 3:15), Abraham, but to Christ' (Ellicott). The covenant of promise was not 'spoken' [so errethesan, "made"] to Abraham alone, but "to Abraham and his seed;" to the latter especially-namely, 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 was spoken.

Promises - plural, because the same promise was often repeated (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 15:5; Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:7; Genesis 22:18), and because it involved both earthly blessings to Abraham's literal children in Canaan, and spiritual and heavenly blessings to his spiritual children; both promised in Christ, 'the Seed' and representative Head of both Israels. [Zerang sperma is collective: Abraham's seed is 'his posterity (literal and spiritual) viewed as one organically connected whole' (Ellicott), of whom Christ is the representative Head (cf. Hosea 11:1 with Matthew 2:15).] In the spiritual seed there is no distinction of Jew or Greek; but to the literal seed the promises still remain to be fulfilled (Romans 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 another under the law, and that those sprung from one seed, say the Jewish, are admitted on different terms, 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 families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3) joins in this one Seed, Christ, Jew and Gentile, as fellow-heirs on the same terms-namely, by grace through faith; not to some by promise, to others by the law, but to all alike, circumcised and uncircumcised, constituting but one seed in Christ (Romans 4:13; Romans 4:16). But the law contemplates the Jews and Gentiles as distinct seeds. God makes a covenant, but one of promise; whereas the law is a covenant of works. The law brings in a mediator, a third party (Galatians 3:19); God makes His covenant of promise with the one Seed, Christ (Genesis 17:7), and embraces others only as identified with, and represented by, Christ. The Hebrew noun is collective, and not used in the plural. However many be Abraham's literal and spiritual descendants, they are all included and gathered in the one Christ.

As of ... as of - as speaking of. As of ... as of - as speaking of.

One ... Christ - not merely the individual man Christ Jesus, but "Christ" (without 'Jesus'), including His people, who are part of Himself, the second Adam, and Head of redeemed humanity. Galatians 3:28 prove this, "Ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus (Jesus is added where the person is indicated). And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's SEED, and heirs according to the promise."