Text -- Galatians 3:1-16 (NET)

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified! 3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? 3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing?– if indeed it was for nothing. 3:5 Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? 3:6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, 3:7 so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 3:9 So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 3:10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” 3:11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. 3:12 But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them. 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) 3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law

3:15 Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gal 3:1

¹ tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.

² tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainw) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).

³ tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).

NET Notes: Gal 3:2

¹ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

² tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”

NET Notes: Gal 3:3

¹ tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.

² tn Or “by the Spirit.”

³ tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.

⁴ tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”

NET Notes: Gal 3:5

¹ tn Or “provide.”

² tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

³ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

NET Notes: Gal 3:6

¹ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

NET Notes: Gal 3:7

¹ tn Grk “know.”

² tn The phrase “sons of Abraham” is used here in a figurative sense to describe people who are connected to a personality, Abraham, by close nonmaterial ties. It is this personality that has defined the relationship and its characteristics (BDAG 1024-25 s.v. υἱός 2.c.α).

NET Notes: Gal 3:8

¹ tn For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι (proeuangelizomai) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.

² tn The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη (ta eqnh), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”

³ sn A quotation from Gen 12:3; 18:18.

NET Notes: Gal 3:9

¹ tn Grk “those who are by faith,” with the Greek expression “by faith” (ἐκ πίστεως, ek pistew") the same as the expression in v. 8.

NET Notes: Gal 3:10

¹ tn Grk “For as many as.”

² tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

sn A quotation from Deut 27:26.

NET Notes: Gal 3:11

¹ tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).

NET Notes: Gal 3:12

¹ tn Grk “is not from faith.”

² tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn A quotation from Lev 18:5. The phrase the works of the law is an editorial expansion on the Greek text (see previous note); it has been left as normal typeface to indicate it is not part of the OT text.

NET Notes: Gal 3:13

¹ tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.

² sn A quotation from Deut 21:23. By figurative extension the Greek word translated tree (ζύλον, zulon) can also be used to refer to a cross (L&N 6.28), the Roman instrument of execution.

NET Notes: Gal 3:14

¹ tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”

NET Notes: Gal 3:15

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

² tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.

³ tn The same Greek word, διαθήκη (diaqhkh), can mean either “covenant” or “will,” but in this context the former is preferred here because Paul is discussing in vv. 16-18 the Abrahamic covenant.

⁴ tn Or “has been put into effect.”

NET Notes: Gal 3:16

¹ tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).

² tn Grk “It”; the referent (the scripture) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The understood subject of the verb λέγει (legei) could also be “He” (referring to God) as the one who spoke the promise to Abraham.

³ tn Grk “to seeds.” See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse. Here the term is plural; the use of the singular in the OT text cited later in this verse is crucial to Paul’s argument.

⁴ tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.

sn A quotation from Gen 12:7; 13:15; 17:7; 24:7.