Galatians 2:21

2:21 I do not set aside ¹  God’s grace, because if righteousness ²  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ³ 

Galatians 3:19

3:19 Why then was the law given? ⁴  It was added ⁵  because of transgressions, ⁶  until the arrival of the descendant ⁷  to whom the promise had been made. It was administered ⁸  through angels by an intermediary. ⁹ 

Galatians 2:9

2:9 and when James, Cephas, ¹⁰  and John, who had a reputation as ¹¹  pillars, ¹²  recognized ¹³  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ¹⁴  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ¹⁵  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁶ 

[2:21]  ¹ tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”

[2:21]  ² tn Or “justification.”

[2:21]  ³ tn Or “without cause,” “for no purpose.”

[3:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “Why then the law?”

[3:19]  ⁵ tc For προσετέθη (proseteqh) several Western mss have ἐτέθη (eteqh, “it was established”; so D* F G it Ir^lat Ambst Spec). The net effect of this reading, in conjunction with the largely Western reading of πράξεων (praxewn) for παραβάσεων (parabasewn), seems to be a very positive assessment of the law. But there are compelling reasons for rejecting this reading: (1) externally, it is provincial and relatively late; (2) internally: (a) transcriptionally, there seems to be a much higher transcriptional probability that a scribe would try to smooth over Paul’s harsh saying here about the law than vice versa; (b) intrinsically: [1] Paul has already argued that the law came after the promise (vv. 15-18), indicating, more than likely, its temporary nature; [2] the verb “was added” in v. 19 (προσετέθη) is different from the verb in v. 15 (ἐπιδιατάσσεται, epidiatassetai); virtually all exegetes recognize this as an intentional linguistic shift on Paul’s part in order not to contradict his statement in v. 15; [3] the temper of 3:1–4:7 is decidedly against a positive statement about the Torah’s role in Heilsgeschichte.

[3:19]  ⁶ 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 Ir^lat 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.

[3:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.

[3:19]  ⁸ tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.

[3:19]  ⁹ 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.

[2:9]  ⁷ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.

[2:9]  ⁹ sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”

[2:9]  ¹² 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.

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.