OET interlinear GAL 3:16

3:16a

Before Paul continued in 3:17 with the spiritual application of his example, he first explained in this verse, as background information, that Christ was the focus of the promise to Abraham. Paul introduced this background information with a Greek conjunction that most English versions translate as “now.” In this context, “now” is not a time word.

The BSB has not translated this conjunction, and some other versions, such as the NIV and NLT, also do not translate it. In some languages, it will not be necessary to translate this conjunction either. Connect 3:16a to 3:15b in a way that is natural in your language.

The promises were spoken to Abraham: Here Paul compared a “covenant” that men make (in 3:15b) to the promises that God made to Abraham. Paul had referred to that promise in 3:8d when he quoted Genesis 12:3.

The Greek verb that the BSB translates as were spoken is passive. Some ways to translate this clause are:

• Use a passive clause. For example:

  the promises were made to Abraham (RSV)

• Use an active clause. For example:

  God made his promises to Abraham (GNT)

and to his seed: The word that the BSB translates as seed means “descendant” in this context. This word is singular. Paul used the singular of seed because he was referring to Jesus Christ. You must use a singular form for this word in your language. For example:

and to his descendant (GNT)

3:16b

The Scripture does not say: In some languages, it may not be natural to speak of the Scripture as saying something. If that is the case in your language, you can say:

The scripture does not use the plural (GNT)

God did not say (NCV)

“and to seeds,” meaning many: In this clause, Paul explained the last phrase of the Scripture quotation that he referred to in 3:16a. He said that Scripture did not use the plural seeds. It did not refer to many people. You must use a plural form for seeds here.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

“to his descendants,” as if it meant many of them

“and to your descendants.” That would mean many people. (NCV)

3:16c

but: There is a contrast between 3:16b and 3:16c. The contrast is between what Scripture did not say (“seeds”) and what it did say (seed). Languages have different ways to indicate this negative-positive order of contrast.As in 3:12b, one of the functions of the Greek conjunction ἀλλά is to signal this negative-positive type of contrast. Some of the ways are:

• With the conjunction “but.”

• With a conjunction other than “but.” For example:

  Rather (NLT)

  Instead

• With no conjunction. For example:

  ^bThe Scripture did not say “and to descendants.” ^cIt said “and to your descendant.”

“and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ: In this clause Paul stated that Scripture used the singular word seed. This refers to one person. He explicitly said who is the one descendant of Abraham through whom the promise comes. That descendant is Jesus Christ.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

it says “to his descendant.” It is one person. That person is Christ.

God said, “and to your descendant.” That means only one person; that person is Christ. (NCV)

your seed: The BSB literally translates the Greek pronoun your here. However, in some languages, it may be more natural to use the pronoun “his” here. This will correspond better with the quote “his seed” in 3:16a. An example is given in the first Meaning Line of the Display.