3:1 You 1 foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell 2 on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed 3 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 4 or by believing what you heard? 5 3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began 6 with 7 the Spirit, are you now trying to finish 8 by human effort? 9 3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing. 3:5 Does God then give 10 you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law 11 or by your believing what you heard? 12
3:6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, 13 3:7 so then, understand 14 that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. 15 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, 16 saying, “All the nations 17 will be blessed in you.” 18 3:9 So then those who believe 19 are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 3:10 For all who 20 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.” 21 3:11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. 22 3:12 But the law is not based on faith, 23 but the one who does the works of the law 24 will live by them. 25 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming 26 a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) 27 3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, 28 so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
3:15 Brothers and sisters, 29 I offer an example from everyday life: 30 When a covenant 31 has been ratified, 32 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. 33 Scripture 34 does not say, “and to the descendants,” 35 referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” 36 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, 37 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 38 it to Abraham through the promise.
3:19 Why then was the law given? 39 It was added 40 because of transgressions, 41 until the arrival of the descendant 42 to whom the promise had been made. It was administered 43 through angels by an intermediary. 44 3:20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. 45
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).
4 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.
5 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”
6 tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.
7 tn Or “by the Spirit.”
8 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.
9 tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”
10 tn Or “provide.”
11 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
12 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
13 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
14 tn Grk “know.”
15 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).
16 tn For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι (proeuangelizomai) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.
17 tn The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη (ta eqnh), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”
18 sn A quotation from Gen 12:3; 18:18.
19 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.
20 tn Grk “For as many as.”
21 tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”
22 tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).
23 tn Grk “is not from faith.”
24 tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 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.
26 tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.
27 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.
28 tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”
29 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
30 tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.
31 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.
32 tn Or “has been put into effect.”
33 tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).
34 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.
35 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.
36 tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.
37 tc Most
38 tn On the translation “graciously gave” for χαρίζομαι (carizomai) see L&N 57.102.
39 tn Grk “Why then the law?”
40 tc For προσετέθη (proseteqh) several Western
41 tc παραδόσεων (paradosewn; “traditions, commandments”) is read by D*, while the vast majority of witnesses read παραβάσεων (parabasewn, “transgressions”). D’s reading makes little sense in this context. πράξεων (praxewn, “of deeds”) replaces παραβάσεων in Ì46 F G it Irlat Ambst Spec. The wording is best taken as going with νόμος (nomo"; “Why then the law of deeds?”), as is evident by the consistent punctuation in the later witnesses. But such an expression is unpauline and superfluous; it was almost certainly added by some early scribe(s) to soften the blow of Paul’s statement.
42 tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.
43 tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.
44 tn Many modern translations (NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this word (μεσίτης, mesith"; here and in v. 20) as “mediator,” but this conveys a wrong impression in contemporary English. If this is referring to Moses, he certainly did not “mediate” between God and Israel but was an intermediary on God’s behalf. Moses was not a mediator, for example, who worked for compromise between opposing parties. He instead was God’s representative to his people who enabled them to have a relationship, but entirely on God’s terms.
45 tn The meaning of this verse is disputed. According to BDAG 634 s.v. μεσίτης, “It prob. means that the activity of an intermediary implies the existence of more than one party, and hence may be unsatisfactory because it must result in a compromise. The presence of an intermediary would prevent attainment, without any impediment, of the purpose of the εἶς θεός in giving the law.” See also A. Oepke, TDNT 4:598-624, esp. 618-19.