Galatians 3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Galatians 3:1 tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.
2. Galatians 3:1 tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainō) 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. Galatians 3:1 tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).
4. Galatians 3:2 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.
5. Galatians 3:2 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.” Because the genitive noun πίστεως (pisteōs, “of faith”) is impersonal here, an objective genitive was preferred rather than a subjective genitive. See also v. 5.
6. Galatians 3:3 tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.
7. Galatians 3:3 tn Or “by the Spirit.”
8. Galatians 3:3 tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisthe) 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. Galatians 3:3 tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”
10. Galatians 3:5 tn Or “provide.”
11. Galatians 3:5 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
12. Galatians 3:5 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
13. Galatians 3:6 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
14. Galatians 3:7 tn Grk “know.”
15. Galatians 3:7 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. Galatians 3:8 tn For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι (proeuangelizomai) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.
17. Galatians 3:8 tn The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη (ta ethnē), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”
18. Galatians 3:8 sn A quotation from Gen 12:3; 18:18.
19. Galatians 3:9 tn Grk “those who are by faith,” with the Greek expression “by faith” (ἐκ πίστεως, ek pisteōs) the same as the expression in v. 8.
20. Galatians 3:10 tn Grk “For as many as.”
21. Galatians 3:10 tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”sn A quotation from Deut 27:26.
22. Galatians 3:11 tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).
23. Galatians 3:12 tn Grk “is not from faith.”
24. Galatians 3:12 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. Galatians 3:12 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. Galatians 3:13 tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.
27. Galatians 3:13 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. Galatians 3:14 tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”
29. Galatians 3:15 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
30. Galatians 3:15 tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.
31. Galatians 3:15 tn The same Greek word, διαθήκη (diathēkē), 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. Galatians 3:15 tn Or “has been put into effect.”
33. Galatians 3:16 tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).
34. Galatians 3:16 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. Galatians 3:16 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. Galatians 3:16 tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.sn A quotation from Gen 12:7; 13:15; 17:7; 24:7.
37. Galatians 3:17 tc Most mss (D F G I 0176 0278 1505 M it sy) read “ratified by God in Christ” whereas the omission of “in Christ” is the reading in P⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ 6 33 81 1175 1241 1739 1881 2464 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 [eis Christon] rather than ἐν Χριστῷ [en Christō]), 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.
38. Galatians 3:18 tn On the translation “graciously gave” for χαρίζομαι (charizomai) see L&N 57.102.
39. Galatians 3:19 tn Grk “Why then the law?”
40. Galatians 3:19 tc For προσετέθη (prosetethē) several Western witnesses have ἐτέθη (etethē, “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 (praxeōn) for παραβάσεων (parabaseōn), 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.
41. Galatians 3:19 tc παραδόσεων (paradoseōn; “traditions, commandments”) is read by D*, while the vast majority of witnesses read παραβάσεων (parabaseōn, “transgressions”). D’s reading makes little sense in this context. πράξεων (praxeōn, “of deeds”) replaces παραβάσεων in P⁴⁶ F G it Ir^lat Ambst Spec. The wording is best taken as going with νόμος (nomos; “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. Galatians 3:19 tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.
43. Galatians 3:19 tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.
44. Galatians 3:19 tn Many modern translations (NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this word (μεσίτης, mesitēs; 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. Galatians 3:20 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.
46. Galatians 3:21 tc The reading τοῦ θεοῦ (tou theou, “of God”) is well attested in א A C D (F G read θεοῦ without the article) Ψ 0278 33 1175 1241 1505 1739 1881 2464 M lat sy co. However, P⁴⁶ B d Ambst lack the words. P⁴⁶ 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 Christou, “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. NA²⁸ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.
47. Galatians 3:21 tn Or “have been based on the law.”
48. Galatians 3:22 tn Or “locked up.”
49. Galatians 3:22 tn Or “so that the promise could be given by faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pistis Christou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view. sn On the phrase because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, ExSyn 116, which notes that the grammar is not decisive, nevertheless suggests that “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept (for the idea is expressed in many of the same contexts, only with the verb πιστεύω rather than the noun), but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful.” Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.
50. Galatians 3:23 tn Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”
51. Galatians 3:23 tc Instead of the present participle συγκλειόμενοι (sunkleiomenoi; found in P⁴⁶ א A B D* F G P Ψ 33 1739 2464 al), C D¹ 0176 0278 1175 1505 M 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.tn Grk “being confined.”
52. Galatians 3:24 tn Or “disciplinarian,” “custodian,” or “guide.” According to BDAG 748 s.v. παιδαγωγός, “the man, usu. a slave…whose duty it was to conduct a boy or youth…to and from school and to superintend his conduct gener.; he was not a ‘teacher’ (despite the present mng. of the derivative ‘pedagogue’…When the young man became of age, the π. was no longer needed.” L&N 36.5 gives “guardian, leader, guide” here.
53. Galatians 3:24 tn Or “be justified.”
54. Galatians 3:25 tn See the note on the word “guardian” in v. 24. The punctuation of vv. 25, 26, and 27 is difficult to represent because of the causal connections between each verse. English style would normally require a comma either at the end of v. 25 or v. 26, but in so doing the translation would then link v. 26 almost exclusively with either v. 25 or v. 27; this would be problematic as scholars debate which two verses are to be linked. Because of this, the translation instead places a period at the end of each verse. This preserves some of the ambiguity inherent in the Greek and does not exclude any particular causal connection.
55. Galatians 3:26 tn Or “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
56. Galatians 3:27 tn Grk “For as many of you as.”
57. Galatians 3:28 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10.
58. Galatians 3:28 tn Grk “male and female.”
59. Galatians 3:29 tn Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.