Galatians 3:15-21

Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law

3:15 Brothers and sisters, ¹  I offer an example from everyday life: ²  When a covenant ³  has been ratified, ⁴  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. ⁵  Scripture ⁶  does not say, “and to the descendants,” ⁷  referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” ⁸  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, ⁹  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 ¹⁰  it to Abraham through the promise.

3:19 Why then was the law given? ¹¹  It was added ¹²  because of transgressions, ¹³  until the arrival of the descendant ¹⁴  to whom the promise had been made. It was administered ¹⁵  through angels by an intermediary. ¹⁶  3:20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. ¹⁷  3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? ¹⁸  Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ¹⁹ 

Hebrews 7:22

7:22 accordingly Jesus has become the guarantee ²⁰  of a better covenant.

Hebrews 8:6-13

8:6 But ²¹  now Jesus ²²  has obtained a superior ministry, since ²³  the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted ²⁴  on better promises. ²⁵ 

8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. ²⁶  8:8 But ²⁷  showing its fault, ²⁸  God ²⁹  says to them, ³⁰ 

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

8:9 “It will not be like the covenant ³¹  that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ³²  my laws in their minds ³³  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ³⁴ 

8:11 “And there will be no need at all ³⁵  for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. ³⁶ 

8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.” ³⁷ 

8:13 When he speaks of a new covenant, ³⁸  he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear. ³⁹ 

Hebrews 9:15-24

9:15 And so he is the mediator ⁴⁰  of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, ⁴¹  since he died ⁴²  to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 9:16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven. ⁴³  9:17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 9:18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. ⁴⁴  9:19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 9:20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.” ⁴⁵  9:21 And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 9:22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches ⁴⁶  of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, ⁴⁷  but the heavenly things themselves required ⁴⁸  better sacrifices than these. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation ⁴⁹  of the true sanctuary ⁵⁰  – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.

Hebrews 10:15-18

10:15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying, ⁵¹  10:16 “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put ⁵²  my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,” ⁵³  10:17 then he says, ⁵⁴  “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.” ⁵⁵  10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Hebrews 12:24

12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator ⁵⁶  of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. ⁵⁷ 

Hebrews 13:20

Benediction and Conclusion

13:20 Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ,

[3:15]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[3:15]  ² tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.

[3:15]  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.

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Or “has been put into effect.”

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).

[3:16]  ⁶ 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.

[3:16]  ⁷ 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.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.

[3:17]  ⁹ tc Most mss (D F G I 0176 0278 Ï it sy) read “ratified by God in Christ” whereas the omission of “in Christ” is the reading in Ì⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ 6 33 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 pc co. The shorter reading is strongly supported by the ms evidence, and it is probable that a copyist inserted the words as an interpretive gloss. However, this form of the “in Christ” expression is somewhat atypical in the corpus Paulinum (εἰς Χριστόν [ei" Criston] rather than ἐν Χριστῷ [en Cristw]), a fact which tempers one’s certainty about the shorter reading. Nevertheless, the expression is used more in Galatians than in any other of Paul’s letters (Gal 2:16; 3:24, 27), and may have been suggested by such texts to early copyists.

[3:18]  ¹⁰ tn On the translation “graciously gave” for χαρίζομαι (carizomai) see L&N 57.102.

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Why then the law?”

[3:19]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.

[3:19]  ¹⁵ tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.

[3:19]  ¹⁶ 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.

[3:20]  ¹⁷ 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.

[3:21]  ¹⁸ tc The reading τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “of God”) is well attested in א A C D (F G read θεοῦ without the article) Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co. However, Ì⁴⁶ B d Ambst lack the words. Ì⁴⁶ and B perhaps should not to be given as much weight as they normally are, since the combination of these two witnesses often produces a secondary shorter reading against all others. In addition, one might expect that if the shorter reading were original other variants would have crept into the textual tradition early on. But 104 (a.d. 1087) virtually stands alone with the variant τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou, “of Christ”). Nevertheless, if τοῦ θεοῦ were not part of the original text, it is the kind of variant that would be expected to show up early and often, especially in light of Paul’s usage elsewhere (Rom 4:20; 2 Cor 1:20). A slight preference should be given to the τοῦ θεοῦ over the omission. NA²⁷ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “have been based on the law.”

[7:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “surety.”

[8:6]  ²¹ sn The Greek text indicates a contrast between vv. 4-5 and v. 6 that is difficult to render in English: Jesus’ status in the old order of priests (vv. 4-5) versus his superior ministry (v. 6).

[8:6]  ²² tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.

[8:6]  ²³ tn Grk “to the degree that.”

[8:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “which is enacted.”

[8:6]  ²⁵ sn This linkage of the change in priesthood with a change in the law or the covenant goes back to Heb 7:12, 22 and is picked up again in Heb 9:6-15 and 10:1-18.

[8:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”

[8:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

[8:8]  ²⁸ sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.

[8:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ³⁰ tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memfomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autoi"), supported by Ì⁴⁶ א² B D² 0278 1739 1881 Ï, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memfomeno", here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.

[8:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.

[8:10]  ³² tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ³³ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.

[8:11]  ³⁵ tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”

[8:11]  ³⁶ tn Grk “from the small to the great.”

[8:12]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.

[8:13]  ³⁸ tn Grk “when he says, ‘new,’” (referring to the covenant).

[8:13]  ³⁹ tn Grk “near to disappearing.”

[9:15]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[9:15]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

[9:15]  ⁴² tn Grk “a death having occurred.”

[9:16]  ⁴³ tn Grk “there is a necessity for the death of the one who made it to be proven.”

[9:18]  ⁴⁴ sn The Greek text reinforces this by negating the opposite (“not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood”), but this double negation is not used in contemporary English.

[9:20]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “which God commanded for you (or in your case).”

[9:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.

[9:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.

[9:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

[9:24]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “prefiguration.”

[9:24]  ⁵⁰ tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

[10:15]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “after having said,” emphasizing the present impact of this utterance.

[10:16]  ⁵² tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[10:16]  ⁵³ sn A quotation from Jer 31:33.

[10:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “and.”

[10:17]  ⁵⁵ sn A quotation from Jer 31:34.

[12:24]  ⁵⁶ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[12:24]  ⁵⁷ sn Abel’s shed blood cried out to the Lord for justice and judgment, but Jesus’ blood speaks of redemption and forgiveness, something better than Abel’s does (Gen 4:10; Heb 9:11-14; 11:4).