Covenant Promise)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
──────────────────     ────────────────────     ──────────────────
זֶרַע (zeraʻ)      →   σπέρμα (spérma)      →   σπέρμα (spérma)
H2233, 205x in OT       LXX co-occ: 170x         41x in NT
"seed, offspring"        PMI score: 33.85          "seed, offspring"

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H2233	זֶרַע (zeraʻ)	205	seed; figuratively: fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity
H2232	זָרַע (zâraʻ)	verbal	to sow; disseminate, conceive

Key OT passages: - Gen 1:11 — "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed" (first occurrence; botanical) - Gen 3:15 — "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" (proto-evangelion; first messianic seed promise) - Gen 12:7 — "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (Abrahamic covenant; zeraʻ as covenant heir) - Gen 22:18 — "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (the specific promise Paul quotes in Gal 3:16)

[See: H2233-zera.md]

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	LXX Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
zeraʻ (H2233)	σπέρμα (G4690)	170x	33.85	Near-exclusive primary equivalent
zeraʻ (H2233)	σπείρω (G4687)	17x	15.01	Verbal form; "to sow seed" contexts
zeraʻ (H2233)	σπόρος (G4703)	6x	11.86	Rare; sowing contexts
zeraʻ (H2233)	γένος (G1085)	9x	9.54	"Kind/race" when lineage is dominant sense
zeraʻ (H2233)	γενεά (G1074)	12x	8.41	"Generation" in genealogical contexts

Semantic continuity: The LXX translation is remarkably consistent — σπέρμα captures both the agricultural and the genealogical/covenantal senses of זֶרַע without splitting them across different Greek words. This allows NT authors to appeal directly to the Hebrew promise without translation ambiguity.

No semantic shift: Paul's argument in Gal 3:16 that "seed" (σπέρμα) is singular and refers to Christ only works because the LXX preserved the singular form matching the Hebrew. The Greek σπέρμα is grammatically singular even when referring to a collective group (just as זֶרַע can be collective), enabling Paul's exegesis.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G4690	σπέρμα (spérma)	41	seed; offspring; covenant descendants; the singular Seed = Christ

Key NT passages: - Gal 3:16 — "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ" (explicit appeal to LXX/Hebrew singular) - Rom 9:7 — "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (quoting Gen 21:12 via LXX — σπέρμα for זֶרַע) - Rom 4:13 — "the promise...was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith" - Rev 12:17 — "the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed" (echoes Gen 3:15 enmity)

[See: G4690-sperma.md]

Direct OT→NT Quotations¶

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Gal 3:16	Gen 12:7; 17:8; 22:18	zeraʻ → σπέρμα	Paul's entire Christological argument rests on this single-word LXX continuity
Rom 9:7	Gen 21:12	zeraʻ → σπέρμα	"In Isaac shall thy seed be called" — used to distinguish spiritual from ethnic Israel
Heb 11:18	Gen 21:12	zeraʻ → σπέρμα	Same quotation in Hebrews, faith-hall context
Acts 3:25	Gen 22:18	zeraʻ → σπέρμα	Peter quotes the Abrahamic blessing; "in thy seed shall all kindreds be blessed"
Rom 9:29	Isa 1:9	zeraʻ → σπέρμα	"Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed (remnant)"

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - The word σπέρμα faithfully preserves all three registers of זֶרַע: botanical (agricultural parables), biological (offspring, levirate law), and covenantal (the Abrahamic promise chain) - The singular/collective ambiguity of זֶרַע carries into σπέρμα, enabling NT theological use - The seed-of-David royal trajectory (2 Sam 7:12) flows directly into the NT's Christological claims (John 7:42; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8)

What shifts: - The NT narrows the ultimate referent: where OT זֶרַע could mean ethnic Israel collectively, the NT focuses the promise on Christ singularly (Gal 3:16) and then extends it to all in Christ (Gal 3:29) - The "seed of the woman" promise (Gen 3:15) remains latent in OT but surfaces explicitly in Rev 12:17 as an end-time conflict between the dragon and the covenant community - The biological/seminal sense (H7902 שְׁכָבָה connection) largely fades in NT; σπέρμα in NT is almost entirely covenantal, messianic, or parabolic

Generated from: gather_trace_data.py (H2233 → G4690) Last updated: 2026-04-02