Conflict with Genesis 22 and Galatians 3

Dr. Couch, what is going on in Genesis 22:17 in connection with Galatians 3:16? There seems to be a conflict. Can you explain. ANSWER:  Here is a case that shows why I spent three years studying graduate Hebrew and took about thirty hours in graduate Greek courses. If one does not know the original languages one cannot be an engineer of the Scriptures, and that is the calling of those of us who wish to be exegetes. In the KJV and in the Hebrew-English version of the OT, Genesis 22:17 is translated correctly. The pronoun "his" is correct. It is masculine possessive singular. "Your seed shall posses the gate of HIS enemies. But in the NAS, and some other translations, the pronoun is incorrectly translated "THEIR enemies." In actuality, the word is a masculine possessive singular, but some translators wrongly thought that the force of the context should call for it to be translated as a plural and not a singular. They must have translated the verse in the Hebrew at 3 am and were too sleepy to notice that when Paul refers to Genesis 22:17 in Galatians 3:16 he rightly translates it as a singular.    Here is what is happening in the passage: It should read "Your seed (singular) shall possess the gate of HIS enemies." This is a way of saying that the SEED here is the Messiah and should be translated as a singular possessive. The expression about possessing the gate of His enemies is a way of saying that He would be victorious!    Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul saw what was going on. In Galatians 3:16 he points out that Seed should be singular, thus God did not say "And to seeds" as referring to many seeds (plural), but rather to one (with the singular possessive pronoun). "And to your seed" that is, to Christ. Christ is the One who secures the promises made to Abraham by His obedience unto death. So to speak, He is the victorious General who takes possession of the gate of His enemies! He conquers death and evil!    If we do not have men who know the original languages we will have more and more translation problems that will finally destroy doctrinal sharpness! For example, I cannot prove the doctrine of the Trinity without knowing the original biblical languages! In more and more schools the languages are being set aside. Men are learning less and less in seminaries. I have a friend who is a graduate of one of the big schools who has admitted "I really can't do quality language exegesis! I did not get enough biblical language in my masters and doctoral program!" This was not the case with me. I was blessed with a bunch of language courses. I took extra exegetical classes in order to be able to translate properly!    I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch