Galatia 3:15

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.

Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ⁵  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ⁶  of slavery.

[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.”

[5:1]  ⁵ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ⁶ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.