Messianic reference in Psalm 105 ?

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darinhouston
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Messianic reference in Psalm 105 ?

Post by darinhouston » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:49 am



I often see this translated "offspring" instead of "seed," and it brings Galatians to mind (not seeds as of many, but seed as of one) as a reference to Christ -- all notes I've seen consider this a doublet or something and equate the seed with the children of Jacob immediately following, but that seems to ignore the singular seed and singular servant as compared with "children" and "chosen ones." Of course, the singular servant may be a reference to Abraham and seed may indeed be intended to be plural, but from my rudimentary understanding of hebrew, the word used here doesn't suggest plurality.

Thoughts?

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kaufmannphillips
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Re: Messianic reference in Psalm 105 ?

Post by kaufmannphillips » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:50 pm

"Seed" in Hebrew is like "seed" in English - in a singular form it can carry a plural connotation (q.v., Genesis 13:16, 15:5 & 13, 17:7).

Did Paul know this when he made his argument in Galatians 3? One would imagine so! If one were to assume the best, then Paul's argument would be based not upon grammatical necessity, but upon grammatical potential.

As for "servant" in the singular - yes, this could refer to Abraham. And as you may be aware, the doublet-form that your notes referred to is very common in Hebrew poetry.
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