of establishing a relationship between Gentiles and Abraham that the †Judaizers’ position presupposed, Paul presents a positive perspective. He is able to do this easily because the first statement in the Bible about the relationship between “the †nations” and Abraham is positive. At the very beginning of Genesis’s account of the story of Abraham, the Bible records God’s promise: “All the families of the earth will find blessing in you” (Gen 12:3). This promise is repeated several times, with the