For I tell you, Paul continued writing to believers in Rome, that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy.^[1]  These are two seemingly independent clauses joined by the conjunction δὲ, “but, moreover, and.”  Any of these would be easier to understand than and thus, indicating that the second clause is logically dependent upon the first.  But rather than reject it I’m inclined to slow down and consider it very carefully.

The translators acknowledge the difficulty in a footnote (6): “There are two major syntactical alternatives which are both awkward: (1) One could make ‘glorify’ dependent on ‘Christ has become a minister’ and coordinate with ‘to confirm’ and the result would be rendered ‘Christ has become a minister of circumcision to confirm the promises…and so that the Gentiles might glorify God.’ (2) One could make ‘glorify’ dependent on ‘I tell you’ and coordinate with ‘Christ has become a minister’ and the result would be rendered ‘I tell you that Christ has become a minister of circumcision…and that the Gentiles glorify God.’ The second rendering is preferred.”

I began with a survey of the promises made to the fathers (πατέρων, a form of πατήρ):

Some of the promises were personal and came to pass in the father’s own lifetime.  But look, the word of the Lord came to [Abram]: “[Eliezer of Damascus] will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.”^[3]   Is anything impossible for the Lord? He said to Abraham.  I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.^[4]  The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives.  I will be with you.”^[5]  The promises made to all three concerned the land, their descendants and a singular descendant.

The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants (zeraʽ, זרעך; Septuagint: σπέρμα, singular) so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants (zeraʽ, זרעך; Septuagint: σπέρμα, singular) will take possession (yârash, וירש; Septuagint: κληρονομήσει, a form of κληρονομέω, 3^rd person singular) of the strongholds of their enemies.  Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants (zeraʽ, בזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular).’”^[6]

“This word,” [zeraʽ, זרעך] C. John Collins wrote, “in the singular can refer to offspring, either in a collective sense or as a specific descendant (much as the English word ‘offspring’).”^[7]  I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore, is an example of the singular in a “collective sense.”  [Desmond] “Alexander argues,” Mr Collins continued, “that the second and third instances of ‘offspring’ are used for a specific offspring.”^[8]  Given that, and without any academic credentials to defend, I wonder about some of the other promises.  The Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) appeared to Isaac and said (Genesis 26:2-5 NET):

“Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you.  Stay in this land.  Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants (zeraʽ, ולזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular), and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.  I will multiply your descendants (zeraʽ, זרעך; Septuagint: σπέρμα, singular) so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them (zeraʽ, לזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular) all these lands.  All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants (zeraʽ, בזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular).  All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Did y^ehôvâh promise that, All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of [Isaac, Esau and Jacob]…because Abraham obeyed Him?  The Tanakh is considerably more circumspect in translation: and by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves; because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.  To Jacob y^ehôvâh said (Genesis 28:13-15 NET):

“I am the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.  I will give you and your descendants (zeraʽ, ולזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular) the ground you are lying on.  Your descendants (zeraʽ, זרעך; Septuagint: σπέρμα, singular) will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south.  All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants (zeraʽ, ובזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular).  I am with you!  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

Did y^ehôvâh promise that, All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name Israel?  Again, the Tanakh is more circumspect in translation: And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  Why would Gentiles translate the Scripture this way?  Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant, Paul wrote believers in Galatia.  Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.^[9]

Why would contemporary Gentiles, the primary beneficiaries of these particular promises, change y^ehôvâh’s promises? and [Jesus Christ] shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in [Jesus Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because [Abraham] hast hearkened to [His] voice.^[10]  And, by [Jesus Christ] shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves; because that Abraham hearkened to [His] voice, and kept [His] charge, [His] commandments, [His] statutes, and [His] laws.^[11]  And in [Israel] and in [Jesus Christ] shall all the families of the earth be blessed.^[12]

And since I’ve gone down this rabbit hole I might as well complete the set: all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name^[13]  [i.e., Abram], where the Tanakh reads: in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  It seems absurd to continue to defend one word thus.  But I didn’t start down this path trusting the translators of the NET.  What I called an inclination is a leading I have learned to trust following Jesus through the Scripture.  Still, I doubt this is what Paul had in mind. 

“Look, your house is left to you desolate!” Jesus had said to the circumcised. “For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”^[14]  “Look, your house is forsaken!  And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”^[15]  It would be difficult for one who did not believe that Jesus is y^ehôvâh to understand how He has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to Abram/Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel.

The Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants (zeraʽ, לזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular) I will give this land.”^[16]  Isolated as this promise is I’m inclined to hear לזרעך as both, “in a collective sense” and “as a specific descendant.”  The idea that y^ehôvâh promised to give this land to y^ehôvâh come to earth in human flesh as Jesus the Messiah is admittedly unintelligible.  But the idea that y^ehôvâh promised Abram that one of his descendents, to whom the land was given, is y^ehôvâh come to earth in human flesh as Jesus the Messiah is powerful indeed.  Jesus is ever worthy, ever producing the fruit of the kingdom of God.  At a moment when the rest of the descendants of Israel were about to lose the vineyard as they would lose the kingdom of God Jesus has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to Abram/Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel.

After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west [Table].  I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants (zeraʽ, ולזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular) forever [Table].  And I will make your descendants (zeraʽ, זרעך; Septuagint: σπέρμα, singular) like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants (zeraʽ, זרעך; Septuagint: σπέρμα, singular) also can be counted [Table].  Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you” [Table].^[17]  That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants (zeraʽ, לזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular) I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River [Table]– the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, [Table] Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,[Table] Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites [Table].”^[18]  And finally (Genesis 17:8 NET):

I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants (zeraʽ, ולזרעך; Septuagint: σπέρματί, singular) after you as a permanent possession.  I will be their (Septuagint: αὐτοῖς, plural) God.”

“So how did it come about,” Manfred Davidmann asked rhetorically, “that the Jewish people were expelled twice from the country God promised them with their grip on the country weakening at the present time?  Without a shadow of a doubt the Jewish people lost the country in the past because they did not fulfil their part of the bargain, because they broke the terms of the Covenant…In the language of religion, the land of Israel does not belong to anyone other than God.  Those who live in it may use and benefit from the land but only as long as they follow God’s laws.”^[19]

Mr. Davidmann might have taught my Sunday school class.  The “Torah states a scientific law, the Social Cause-and-effect Relationship {1}, which is that the consequences of keeping or not keeping the Torah laws are inescapable, that what happens to one is in the end the inevitable result of one’s own behaviour…this is a scientific law which was defined and stated using the language of religion to get the message across to listeners in such a way that they could understand at least the effects of this ’cause-and-effect relationship’.”  He may have raised a few eyebrows with the adjective scientific but all in all I think my elders would have gone along with him.  I have a few comments about Mr. Davidmann’s abbreviated version of the law:

The essential social provisions of Torah law are clear and to the point.  This is what the Torah lays down as a matter of law {1}:

1. The community has to provide (‘lend’) money to those who need it, free of interest.
2. All such loans, if outstanding, are to be cancelled every seventh year.
3. The country’s wealth, and this applies particularly to productive capital such as land, belongs equally to all and needs to be shared out.
4. Inhabitants are also entitled to have a sabbatical year every seventh year. During this sabbatical year they are entitled to be freed from work at the expense of the community.

Every person is entitled as a matter of right to social security.  This means that people are entitled to be supported by the community not only when they fall on hard times but also to maintain their independence as independent breadwinners for their families.  For example, the community has to provide backup funds to those who need them and they have to be provided as and when required.

To prevent people being exploited through their need these funds have to be provided without charging interest and such ‘loans’ are cancelled every seventh year if the borrower has been unable to repay them.

It is the inhabitants who keep the social laws, who keep Torah law, who are entitled to these rights.

As for item #4 there is a qualitative and substantive difference between farmers trusting y^ehôvâh enough to let their lands go fallow one year in seven and an angry mob demanding their “rights” to a year’s vacation at “community” expense.  Aside from that federal, state and municipal governments in the United States of America provide most of these welfare benefits in spirit if not to the letter of the law.  But none of this is sufficient to fulfill the law.  It was the so-called moral law ignored by Mr. Davidmann that prescribed the death penalty for so many offenses, for the letter kills quite literally.

So here I am, one of the believing Gentiles [who] glorify God for his mercy (ἐλέους, a form of ἔλεος).  And this, because the righteousness of God which fulfills the law does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy (ἐλεῶντος, a form of ἐλεέω).^[20]  No one can come to me, Jesus said, unless the Father who sent me draws him.^[21]  So then, God has mercy (ἐλεεῖ, another form of ἐλεέω) on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.^[22]  And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy (ἐλέους, a form of ἔλεος) that he has prepared beforehand for glory – even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^[23]

By that mercy I have been called to faith in Jesus Christ, forgiven of my sins, born from above, filled continuously with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control of his Holy Spirit.  This only I want to learn from you, Paul wrote teetering believers in Galatia: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?  Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?^[24]  It would be treasonous for me to turn back now and pretend that I might fulfill the law by obeying it, whether in part or in total.

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.^[25]  Through the law comes the knowledge of sin.  But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.^[26]  I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!^[27]

I’ll return to this in another essay.