Mark (satz) asked me to comment on the matter above concerning the NKJV’s rendering of Genesis 22:17, which was severely denounced by the website calling the NKJV “a fraud”.
I think Richard and Bruce are essentially correct in what they said. In the remarks by commentators I have given below, it is brought out that the Hebrew word for seed is a collective noun, and can be used in either the singular or the plural, and actually
is so used in various of the Genesis verses that have the word.
Vaughan brought out how the ESV used the word “offspring” (I don’t think “offsprings” is a legitimate word), which may also be used either singular or plural: “this girl here is my offspring” and “these boys are my offspring”.
I do not think –
as regards this verse (Gen 22:17) – the NKJV is too bad in its rendering. In the beginning of the verse the plural is appropriate: “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore” as this clearly indicates the plurality of descendants. It is the second part of the verse that, in using the words “descendants” and “their” that the translators made the progeny plural, referring either to natural Jews or, primarily, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, instead of
the spiritual Descendant, Christ. However, a) as Richard and Bruce brought out, it was most likely other verses than this Paul was referring to in Galatians (which the NKJV translates as referring to Seed singular), and b) there is a legitimate usage (i.e., a double usage) of descendants plural in this latter clause, which both Calvin and Gill (see below) note in their respective commentaries.
When the singular seed is used, it is understood that we are in Him, and when the plural seed is used it is understood that we are a people in Him. For example, in Psalm 89, the psalmist is recounting God’s utterance of the Davidic covenant to David; in v. 29 He speaks of the seed (Christ) and His throne enduring forever, then in v. 30 He says, “If His children forsake My law…” Yet in the original of this utterance in 2 Samuel 7:13, God is saying He will establish the throne of the seed [singular] forever, then in verses 14 and 15 we have the puzzling “I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.” One can see how the verses 30-33 in Psalm 89 parallel this perfectly. It appears it is we who are included in the Seed are those who “commit iniquity” and yet receive mercy, for it is not the Seed Himself! Yet we are counted in Him, identified with Him, “for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph 5:30 AV). (This verse in 2 Samuel one could also use to counter those who say Solomon lost his salvation!)
To sum: The use of “descendants” in the NJKV in Gen 22:17 I do not think constitutes it being a “false version”, though I much prefer the rendering of the AV. But even “descendants” and “their” are warranted in the meaning, according to Calvin and Gill.
I realize, with respect to the other verses the website offered as bad translations, that there are a few serious flaws in the NKJV;
yet, I consider it next in line, along with (or perhaps a wee bit after) the Modern King James Version, as alternatives to the AV. As I have written in another thread here, the planting church of the new plant I am working in at first was going to give us ESV pew Bibles, but I fought that and accepted NKJV’s instead, as a compromise, knowing I would not get AVs. MKJVs are pretty expensive, although I like them.
Bottom line: I can work with the NKJV. And gently correct its few errors.
I will be going to Africa next month to fill in 2 or 3 weeks in a gap between two teachers who are, respectively, taking the 5-month training of Sudanese and other African pastors, elders, teachers, evangelists, etc (the class is often 40+), and I understand they have been given ESV Bibles along with their native versions (perhaps 3 or 4 language groups will be represented). So I am seeking to scratch up 10 or so AV NTs with Psalms & Proverbs to at least give to the pastors, so they will have a standard for discerning the text of the NT.
Here are the comments by Hendriksen (who is my favorite NT commentator, despite his embracing the CT!), Calvin, and Gill:
William Hendriksen:
Galatians 3:16. Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He
does not say, “And to the seeds,” as (referring) to many, but as (referring) to one,
“And to your seed,” which is Christ. Is this argument a bit of rabbinical casuistry,
ingenious perhaps but unconvincing? Does not Paul know that even in Hebrew the
word
seed is a collective noun, so that no plural is needed to indicate more than one?
See Gen. 15:5; 16:10; 22:17; 46:6; II Kings 11:1; II Chron. 20:7; Mal. 2:15; etc.
*
And as to the Greek word for
seed, namely,
sperma, does the apostle not realize that
this word also is a collective noun (Matt. 22:24; Rom. 4:18; Acts 7:6; II Cor. 11:22),
so that
spermata (seeds) would have been unnecessary in any case? Shall we say then
that in arguing against rabbinical adversaries Paul was using rabbinical methods that
belonged to the exegesis of that happily bygone day and age? How can Paul say that
the singular
seed indicates one person, namely, Christ, when in Gal. 3:29 he himself
uses that very word
in the singular as a collective noun which refers to all believers?
Besides, did he not realize that the seed promised to Abraham would be “as the stars
in multitude” (Gen. 15:5; 22:17)?
As I see it, the answer is as follows:
(1) It is not true that the Hebrew word for
seed always refers to more than one
person. In Gen. 4:25 it refers to Seth, to him
alone; in 21:13 to Ishmael; in I Sam.
1:11 to Samuel; in II Sam. 7:12 to Solomon as a type of Christ; so also in I Chron.
17:11. And obviously—see the context in each case—the Greek equivalent
sperma
has a singular reference not only here in Gal. 3:16 but also in 3:19; Acts 3:25; Rom.
9:7, 8; and Heb. 11:18.
(2) It should be readily admitted that Paul knew that both the Hebrew and the
Greek word for
seed (singular) often refer to more than one person. He knew that
Abraham’s seed would be as the stars in multitude. However, in keeping with the
point which he is driving home, namely, that God promised salvation not to
Abraham’s physical descendants but to true believers, to them
all (whether Jew or
Gentile) and to them
alone, he is saying that this great blessing is concentrated in one
person, namely, Christ. It is in him, in him
alone, that all these multitudes of believing
Jews and Gentiles are blessed. It is in this sense that
seed is singular, definitely not
plural. It is true that the physical descendants of Abraham inherited the physical land
of Canaan, according to God’s promise (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; 24:7), but
even Abraham already knew that there was more to this promise than appeared on the
surface. The promised country on earth was the type of “the better country,” the
heavenly, reserved for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, for them
all and for them
alone, as is beautifully stated in Heb. 11:8–16. Now the one and only heir of that
“country” is Christ, for he is the Son by nature. It is by his grace that believers, as
children by adoption, are joint-heirs with him (Rom. 8:17). And as for the basic
promise, expressed from the beginning in spiritual terms, the promise according to
which God assures Abraham that he will be his God and that in Abraham’s seed all
the nations of the earth will be blessed (17:7; 22:18), is it not very obvious that this
promise also, in its fulfilment, was centered exclusively in
one person, namely,
Christ? The many are blessed in the One!
(3) In promising these rich spiritual blessings God had from the very beginning
turned Abraham’s attention away from the plural to the singular, from
seeds to seed:
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you … but I will establish my covenant with Isaac.… In
Isaac shall your seed be called” (Gen. 17:20, 21; 21:12; cf. Rom. 9:7). Similarly, at a
later time God made it very clear to Isaac and Rebekah that not in the line of Esau but
in that of Jacob the promise would be continued (Gen. 25:23; cf. 27:27–29).
Accordingly, Paul’s distinction here in Gal. 3:16 between
seeds and
seed is based on
the words which God himself addressed to the patriarchs.
(4) It appears to be clearly implied in such passages as John 8:56; Heb. 11:13, 17–
19 that Abraham understood that Isaac would not himself be the Hope of mankind. He
knew that Isaac’s birth would pave the way for the coming of the real Messiah, the
genuine
seed, the
One through whom God would bless all the nations. He was aware
of the fact that the promised blessings would be concentrated in this one great person.
At the time of Christ’s birth even the highest court in Israel, the Sanhedrin, interpreted
the prophecy of Micah 5:2
personally, that is, as referring to the birth of one definite
person, Christ (Matt. 2:4–6). Is not the personal interpretation of Isa. 53—“Surely he
has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.… He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,” etc.—better by far than the
exclusively
nationalistic? Were not Isaiah and Micah contemporaries? And can we
not go back beyond these two prophets, and their Messianic utterances, to II Sam.
7:12, 13? Does a reference to Solomon
exhaust the meaning of the words, “I will
establish the throne of his kingdom forever”? Does not also that promise refer to one
exalted person, one greater by far than Solomon? Does not the same thing apply to
Gen. 49:10? And does not this series of promises, everyone of which refers ultimately
to one definite person, a person who had not yet arrived but was eagerly awaited,
finally point back to Gen. 3:15, which concerns
the seed of the woman, the very
culmination of God’s promise not only to Adam but also to Abraham?
The words which, according to Gen. 3:15, God addressed to the serpent—that is,
to Satan—were as follows: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel.” Is it not probable that Abraham knew this prophecy? It refers to the woman’s
seed, and here, too, the primary reference would appear to be to
one person, though a
further collective reference is not thereby ruled out. Dr. G. Ch. Aalders makes the
following comment (my translation from the Dutch): “There is more here than merely
this, that man will gain the victory over the serpent.… In that serpent a definite
personality is being addressed.… And if the enemy whose discomfiture is here
announced must be a definite personality, then would it even be possible that the One
who conquers him could be other than also a definite personality? Even the contrast
head and
heel suggests that the struggle will finally be fought between two
contestants. Also the Hebrew demonstrative pronoun [
that one or
he] strongly
suggests that the conqueror is to be regarded as one person.” Having pointed out that
this protevangelium does not exclude the reference to a collective interpretation of the
concepts “your seed” and “her seed,” Aalders continues: “But in the end the figure of
the Mediator stands in the foreground, and this so much so that in the words in which
the final struggle is described there is definite mention of only one person, who is
indicated by this seed of the woman. The real struggle is won by no one else than by
our Lord Jesus Christ” (
Korte Verklaring, Genesis, Vol. I, pp. 136–138).
As mentioned earlier, Abraham probably knew this prophecy. But more important
is the fact that the Holy Spirit, who inspired Galatians as well as Genesis, knew what
content he was pouring into Gen. 3:15; 13:15; 17:7, 8; 22:18; 24:7, as well as into
Gal. 3:16. And is it not significant that in the echo of Gen. 3:15 which we have in
Rev. 12:1–6 the struggle is again
primarily between the two personal antagonists:
Christ and Satan? To be sure, from this struggle “the woman” is not excluded (verses
6. 13) yet the central figure, the One who really conquers, is
Christ.
Accordingly, Paul’s intention in writing, “He does not say. ‘And to the seeds,’ as
(referring) to many, but as (referring) to one, ‘And to your seed,’ which is Christ,” is
to show
a. that God’s promise to Abraham, in its richest, spiritual meaning, was to be
fulfilled in connection with one—and not more than one—definite person, Christ, the
true seed;
b. that all those—and only those—who are “in him” are saved;
c. that had
the case been otherwise, that is, had the promised blessings been dispersed
indiscriminately among an indefinite aggregate of individuals, such plurality would
have been definitely indicated; and
d. that being thus concentrated unchangeably in
the one seed, Christ, nothing, not even the law, is able to nullify this promise…
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Footnote:
* Biblical Hebrew does not use the plural of
zera‘ (see I Sam. 8:15) in referring to
one’s
descendants; and even the Greek
????µ??? though occurring in classical literature, is elsewhere not plentiful (LXX Dan. 11:31; IV Macc. 18:1).
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And here is Calvin on Genesis 22:17
http://www.ccel.org/c/calvin/comment3/comm_vol01/htm/xxviii.htm:
17. Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. He means that the offspring of Abraham should be victorious over their enemies; for in the gates were their bulwarks, and in them they administered judgment. Now, although God often suffered the enemies of the Jews tyrannically to rule over them; yet he so moderated their revenge, that this promise always prevailed in the end. Moreover, we must remember what has before been stated from Paul, concerning the unity of the seed; for we hence infer, that the victory is promised, not to the sons of Abraham promiscuously, but to Christ, and to his members, so far as they adhere together under one Head. For unless we retain some mark which may distinguish between the legitimate and the degenerate sons of Abraham, this promise will indiscriminately comprehend, as well the Ishmaelites and Idumeans, as the people of Israel: but the unity of a people depends on its head. Therefore the prophets, whenever they wish to confirm this promise of God, assume the principle, that they who have hitherto been divided, shall be united, under David, in one body. What further pertains to this subject may be found in the twelfth chapter Genesis 12:1.
And Gill on the same verse
http://www.freegrace.net/gill/:
Ver. 17. That in blessing I will bless thee,.... With temporal and spiritual blessings; with the Spirit and all his graces; with Christ and redemption, justification, and salvation by him; and with eternal life, as the gift of God, through him:
and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore: both his natural seed, descending from him in the line of Isaac, and his spiritual seed, both among Jews and Gentiles, that tread in his steps; [see Gen 13:15]:
and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: "gate" for "gates", where courts of judicature were held, and which are the security of cities and put for them, and which also include the whole country round about: so that this phrase is expressive of an entire jurisdiction and dominion over them; and was literally fulfilled in the times of Joshua, David, and Solomon; and spiritually in Christ, Abraham's principal seed, when he destroyed Satan and his principalities and powers; overcame the world; made an end of sin and abolished death; and delivered his people out the hands of all their enemies; and in all Abraham's spiritual seed, who are made more than conquerors over them, through Christ that has loved them.
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Steve
