Galatia 4:21

An Appeal from Allegory

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? ¹ 

Galatia 3:12

3:12 But the law is not based on faith, ²  but the one who does the works of the law ³  will live by them. ⁴ 

Galatia 5:18

5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatia 2:19

2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.

Galatia 3:19

3:19 Why then was the law given? ⁵  It was added ⁶  because of transgressions, ⁷  until the arrival of the descendant ⁸  to whom the promise had been made. It was administered ⁹  through angels by an intermediary. ¹⁰ 

Galatia 3:21

3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? ¹¹  Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ¹² 

Galatia 4:5

4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. ¹³ 

Galatia 5:14

5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ¹⁴  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ 

Galatia 5:3

5:3 And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey ¹⁶  the whole law.

Galatia 3:10

3:10 For all who ¹⁷  rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” ¹⁸ 

Galatia 3:5

3:5 Does God then give ¹⁹  you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law ²⁰  or by your believing what you heard? ²¹ 

Galatia 2:16

2:16 yet we know ²²  that no one ²³  is justified by the works of the law ²⁴  but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. ²⁵  And ²⁶  we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ ²⁷  and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one ²⁸  will be justified.

Galatia 3:17

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, ²⁹  so as to invalidate the promise.

Galatia 3:2

3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law ³⁰  or by believing what you heard? ³¹ 

Galatia 2:21

2:21 I do not set aside ³²  God’s grace, because if righteousness ³³  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ³⁴ 

Galatia 3:18

3:18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave ³⁵  it to Abraham through the promise.

Galatia 5:23

5:23 gentleness, and ³⁶  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatia 3:11

3:11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. ³⁷ 

Galatia 3:24

3:24 Thus the law had become our guardian ³⁸  until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous ³⁹  by faith.

Galatia 3:23

Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise

3:23 Now before faith ⁴⁰  came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners ⁴¹  until the coming faith would be revealed.

Galatia 6:13

6:13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. ⁴² 

Galatia 2:18

2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, ⁴³  I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. ⁴⁴ 

Galatia 4:4

4:4 But when the appropriate time ⁴⁵  had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Galatia 5:4

5:4 You who are trying to be declared righteous ⁴⁶  by the law have been alienated ⁴⁷  from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Galatia 3:13

3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming ⁴⁸  a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) ⁴⁹ 

Galatia 3:25

3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. ⁵⁰ 

Galatia 4:25

4:25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

Galatia 4:24

4:24 These things may be treated as an allegory, ⁵¹  for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.

Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ⁵²  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ⁵³  of slavery.

Galatia 3:3

3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began ⁵⁴  with ⁵⁵  the Spirit, are you now trying to finish ⁵⁶  by human effort? ⁵⁷ 

[4:21]  ¹ tn Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw) means “hear, listen to,” but by figurative extension it can also mean “obey.” It can also refer to the process of comprehension that follows hearing, and that sense fits the context well here.

[3:12]  ² tn Grk “is not from faith.”

[3:12]  ³ tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:12]  ⁴ 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.

[3:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “Why then the law?”

[3:19]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.

[3:19]  ¹⁰ 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.

[3:21]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “have been based on the law.”

[4:5]  ¹³ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

[5:14]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[5:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “keep”; or “carry out”; Grk “do.”

[3:10]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “For as many as.”

[3:10]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

[3:10]  sn A quotation from Deut 27:26.

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “provide.”

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[2:16]  ²² tn Grk “yet knowing”; the participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[2:16]  ²³ tn Grk “no man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[2:16]  ²⁴ sn The law is a reference to the law of Moses.

[2:16]  ²⁵ tn Or “faith in Jesus Christ.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pisti" Cristou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in v. 20; Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 3:22; 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.

[2:16]  sn On the phrase translated the faithfulness of 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.

[2:16]  ²⁶ tn In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “by faith in Christ.” See comment above on “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”

[2:16]  ²⁸ tn Or “no human being”; Grk “flesh.”

[3:17]  ²⁹ 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.

[3:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

[3:2]  ³¹ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”

[2:21]  ³² tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”

[2:21]  ³³ tn Or “justification.”

[2:21]  ³⁴ tn Or “without cause,” “for no purpose.”

[3:18]  ³⁵ tn On the translation “graciously gave” for χαρίζομαι (carizomai) see L&N 57.102.

[5:23]  ³⁶ tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

[3:11]  ³⁷ tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).

[3:24]  ³⁸ 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.

[3:24]  ³⁹ tn Or “be justified.”

[3:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”

[3:23]  ⁴¹ 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.

[3:23]  tn Grk “being confined.”

[6:13]  ⁴² tn Or “boast about you in external matters,” “in the outward rite” (cf. v. 12).

[2:18]  ⁴³ tn Or “once tore down.”

[2:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Traditionally, “that I am a transgressor.”

[4:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “the fullness of time” (an idiom for the totality of a period of time, with the implication of proper completion; see L&N 67.69).

[5:4]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “trying to be justified.” The verb δικαιοῦσθε (dikaiousqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).

[5:4]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “estranged”; BDAG 526 s.v. καταργέω 4 states, “Of those who aspire to righteousness through the law κ. ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ be estranged from Christ Gal 5:4.”

[3:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.

[3:13]  ⁴⁹ 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.

[3:25]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[4:24]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an allegory based on the OT account.

[5:1]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[3:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.

[3:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “by the Spirit.”

[3:3]  ⁵⁶ tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.

[3:3]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”