6:1 Brothers and sisters, 1 if a person 2 is discovered in some sin, 3 you who are spiritual 4 restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. 5 Pay close attention 6 to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.
3:15 Brothers and sisters, 20 I offer an example from everyday life: 21 When a covenant 22 has been ratified, 23 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. 24 Scripture 25 does not say, “and to the descendants,” 26 referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” 27 referring to one, who is Christ. 3:17 What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, 28 so as to invalidate the promise. 3:18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave 29 it to Abraham through the promise.
3:23 Now before faith 30 came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners 31 until the coming faith would be revealed.
1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
2 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
3 tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).
4 sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.
5 tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”
6 tn Grk “taking careful notice.”
7 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
8 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
9 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
10 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
11 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
12 tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.
13 sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.
14 tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.
15 tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”
16 tn Grk “so,” with the ἵνα (Jina) indicating the result of the “pillars” extending the “right hand of fellowship,” but the translation “they gave…the right hand of fellowship so that we would go” could be misunderstood as purpose here. The implication of the scene is that an agreement, outlined at the end of v. 10, was reached between Paul and Barnabas on the one hand and the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church on the other.
17 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
18 tn Grk “only that we remember the poor”; the words “They requested” have been supplied from the context to make a complete English sentence.
19 tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”
20 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
21 tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.
22 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.
23 tn Or “has been put into effect.”
24 tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).
25 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.
26 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.
27 tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.
28 tc Most
29 tn On the translation “graciously gave” for χαρίζομαι (carizomai) see L&N 57.102.
30 tn Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”
31 tc Instead of the present participle συγκλειόμενοι (sunkleiomenoi; found in Ì46 א A B D* F G P Ψ 33 1739 al), C D1 0176 0278 Ï have the perfect συγκεκλεισμένοι (sunkekleismenoi). The syntactical implication of the perfect is that the cause or the means of being held in custody was confinement (“we were held in custody [by/because of] being confined”). The present participle of course allows for such options, but also allows for contemporaneous time (“while being confined”) and result (“with the result that we were confined”). Externally, the perfect participle has little to commend it, being restricted for the most part to later and Byzantine witnesses.
32 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.
33 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”