Seed, dust, and forever

Zera' in 13:15–16 may be collective offspring, a singular seed, or both in their contexts. That question is already treated at Genesis 12 and is not ruled again here. BSB has offspring. The Targum has “and to thy sons, for ever” The Greek has sand where the Hebrew has dust; see the Greek note. Augustine writes that the people “might by hyperbole be compared to the dust for multitude”, and that, when the land is inhabited by Christians, “they also are the very seed of Abraham” Calvin takes the comparison “because of its immense multitude” Driver notes that Paul, at Gal 3:16, refers to this passage as showing that the promises given to Abram “were fulfilled in Christ”; no new ruling is given. On ad-olam (until forever), Calvin reads “that period which was brought to a close by the advent of Christ”, and holds that the possession was promised “until the future renovation” Keil writes, “The promise of God is unchangeable”, applies it to “the true spiritual seed, which embraced the promise in faith”, and says the promise has been “exalted from its temporal form to its true essence” Augustine weighs the saying against a reading to eternity, and holds that “only that land is meant which is called Canaan” Skinner doubts that forever is “a new element of the promise as compared with” 12:7. Those views are attributed; no verdict is given. See Gen 13:15 → Gen 28:13, Gen 13:16 → Num 23:10, and Gen 13:16 → Gen 22:17.