Charles Ellicott Commentary Galatians 3:8

"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, [saying,] In thee shall all the nations be blessed." — Galatians 3:8 (ASV)

The universalism of the promise is accounted for by the fact that it is rested upon faith and not on works—thus showing a distinct foresight of a time when the whole world would be invited to claim a share in it by the exercise of faith.

The scripture.—Here, with a more decided personification than usual, the Scripture is said to foresee what God, by whom Scripture is inspired, foresaw.

Foreseeing.—It appears to have been a rather common formula among the Jews to say, “What saw the Scripture?” (that is, What did the Scripture have in sight, or in view?) for “What did it mean?” Here the metaphor falls in naturally with the personification.

Would justify.—Literally, justifies. The use of the present tense implies that the justification of the Gentiles is regarded as forming part of the eternal purpose of God, to whom the future and the present are one.

The heathen.—It should be noted that the same word is translated interchangeably as “heathen” (as here, and also in 2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 1:16; Galatians 2:9), “nations” (as in the second clause of this verse, and frequently elsewhere), and “Gentiles” (as in Galatians 2:2, Galatians 2:8, Galatians 2:12, Galatians 2:14–15, and Galatians 3:14 of this Epistle, and most commonly in other places where it occurs).

Preached before the gospel.—For this translation we might substitute, announced the glad tidings beforehand. The Authorized Version, however, hardly involves an anachronism, as the promise is regarded as anticipating the gospel, inasmuch as it already contained the doctrine of justification by faith, in which the essence of the gospel consisted.

In thee.—The righteousness which was imputed to Abraham his spiritual descendants also could claim by virtue of their descent from him. What applied to him applied (potentially and prophetically) to them. In like manner it is said, in Hebrews 7:9, that Levi paid tithes in Abraham.

The quotation is a combination of Genesis 12:3 (In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed) and Genesis 18:18 (All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.)

Be blessed.—With the bliss of the Messianic kingdom.