Galatians 3:23

Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise

3:23 Now before faith ¹  came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners ²  until the coming faith would be revealed.

Galatians 2:12

2:12 Until ³  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ⁴  and separated himself ⁵  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ⁶ 

[3:23]  ¹ tn Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”

[3:23]  ² 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.

[2:12]  ³ tn The conjunction γάρ has not been translated here.

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “he drew back.” If ἑαυτόν (Jeauton) goes with both ὑπέστελλεν (Jupestellen) and ἀφώριζεν (afwrizen) rather than only the latter, the meaning would be “he drew himself back” (see BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 1.a).

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Or “and held himself aloof.”

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “the [ones] of the circumcision,” that is, the group of Jewish Christians who insisted on circumcision of Gentiles before they could become Christians.