2:1 My brothers and sisters, 14 do not show prejudice 15 if you possess faith 16 in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 17
3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature 18 is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. 19
1 tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.
2 tn Or “who have the Spirit as firstfruits.” The genitive πνεύματος (pneumatos) can be understood here as possessive (“the firstfruits belonging to the Spirit”) although it is much more likely that this is a genitive of apposition (“the firstfruits, namely, the Spirit”); cf. TEV, NLT.
3 tn See the note on “adoption” in v. 15.
4 tn Grk “body.”
5 tn Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.
6 tn Grk “and if a son, then also an heir.” The words “you are” have been supplied twice to clarify the statement.
7 tc The unusual expression διὰ θεοῦ (dia qeou, “through God”) certainly prompted scribes to alter it to more customary or theologically acceptable ones such as διὰ θεόν (dia qeon, “because of God”; F G 1881 pc), διὰ Χριστοῦ (dia Cristou, “through Christ”; 81 630 pc sa), διὰ ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (dia Ihsou Cristou, “through Jesus Christ”; 1739c), θεοῦ διὰ Χριστοῦ (“[an heir] of God through Christ”; א2 C3 D [P] 0278 [6 326 1505] Ï ar sy), or κληρονόμος μὲν θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμος δὲ Χριστοῦ (klhronomo" men qeou, sugklhronomo" de Cristou, “an heir of God, and fellow-heir with Christ”; Ψ pc [cf. Rom 8:17]). Although it is unusual for Paul to speak of God as an intermediate agent, it is not unprecedented (cf. Gal 1:1; 1 Cor 1:9). Nevertheless, Gal 4:7 is the most direct statement to this effect. Further testimony on behalf of διὰ θεοῦ is to be found in external evidence: The witnesses with this phrase are among the most important in the NT (Ì46 א* A B C* 33 1739*vid lat bo Cl).
8 tn Grk “in which.”
9 tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”
10 tn Cf. BDAG 407 s.v. εὐλαβέομαι 2, “out of reverent regard (for God’s command).”
11 tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”
12 tn Or “heirs with him.”
13 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
14 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
15 tn Or “partiality.”
16 tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.
17 tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
18 tn Grk (plurals), “every kind of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures.”
19 tn Grk “the human species.”