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Galatians 3

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1 Ὦ ἀνόητοι Γαλάται, τίς ὑμᾶς ἐβάσκανεν, οἷς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς προεγράφη ἐσταυρωμένος; 2 τοῦτο μόνον θέλω μαθεῖν ἀφ' ὑμῶν, ἐξ ἔργων νόμου τὸ πνεῦμα ἐλάβετε ἢ ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως; 3 οὕτως ἀνόητοί ἐστε; ἐναρξάμενοι πνεύματι νῦν σαρκὶ ἐπιτελεῖσθε; 4 τοσαῦτα ἐπάθετε εἰκῇ; εἴ γε καὶ εἰκῇ. 5 ὁ οὖν ἐπιχορηγῶν ὑμῖν τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἐνεργῶν δυνάμεις ἐν ὑμῖν ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἢ ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως; 6 καθὼς Ἀβραὰμ ἐπίστευσεν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην. 7 γινώσκετε ἄρα ὅτι οἱ ἐκ πίστεως, οὗτοι υἱοί εἰσιν Ἀβραάμ. 8 προϊδοῦσα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ ὅτι ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοῖ τὰ ἔθνη ὁ θεὸς προευηγγελίσατο τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ὅτι ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. 9 ὥστε οἱ ἐκ πίστεως εὐλογοῦνται σὺν τῷ πιστῷ Ἀβραάμ. 10 ὅσοι γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου εἰσὶν ὑπὸ κατάραν εἰσίν: γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτά. 11 ὅτι δὲ ἐν νόμῳ οὐδεὶς δικαιοῦται παρὰ τῷ θεῷ δῆλον, ὅτι ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται: 12 ὁ δὲ νόμος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ πίστεως, ἀλλ' ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς. 13 Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα, ὅτι γέγραπται, ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου, 14 ἵνα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη ἡ εὐλογία τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ γένηται ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἵνα τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πνεύματος λάβωμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως.

1 Senseless Galatians, who is it that has cast a spell on you, that you should refuse your loyalty to the truth, you, before whom Jesus Christ has been exposed to view on his cross? 2 Let me be content with asking you one question, Was it from observance of the law that the Spirit came to you, or from obeying the call of faith? 3 Are you so far out of your right senses? You dedicated your first beginnings to the spirit; and can you now find your completion in outward things? 4 Was it to no purpose that you went through so much? Since it seems it was to no purpose. 5 When God lavishes his Spirit on you and enables you to perform miracles, what is the reason for it? Your observance of the law, or your obedience to the call of faith? 6 Remember how Abraham put his faith in God, and it was reckoned virtue in him.[1] 7 You must recognize, then, that Abraham’s real children are the children of his faith. 8 There is a passage in scripture which, long beforehand, brings to Abraham the good news, Through thee all the nations shall be blessed; and that passage looks forward to God’s justification of the Gentiles by faith.[2] 9 It is those, then, who take their stand on faith that share the blessing Abraham’s faithfulness won. 10 Those who take their stand on observance of the law are all under a curse; Cursed be everyone (we read) who does not persist in carrying out all that this book of the law prescribes.[3] 11 And indeed, that the law cannot make a man acceptable to God is clear enough; It is faith, we are told, that brings life to the just man; 12 whereas the law does not depend on faith; no, we are told it is the man who carries out the commandments that will find life in them.[4] 13 From this curse invoked by the law Christ has ransomed us, by himself becoming, for our sakes, an accursed thing; we read that, There is a curse on the man who hangs on a gibbet.[5] 14 Thus, in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham was to be imparted to the Gentiles, so that we, through faith, might receive the promised gift of the Spirit.

1 O insensati Galatæ, quis vos fascinavit non obedire veritati, ante quorum oculos Jesus Christus præscriptus est, in vobis crucifixus? 2 Hoc solum a vobis volo discere: ex operibus legis Spiritum accepistis, an ex auditu fidei? 3 sic stulti estis, ut cum Spiritu cœperitis, nunc carne consummemini? 4 tanta passi estis sine causa? si tamen sine causa. 5 Qui ergo tribuit vobis Spiritum, et operatur virtutes in vobis: ex operibus legis, an ex auditu fidei? 6 Sicut scriptum est: Abraham credidit Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam: 7 cognoscite ergo quia qui ex fide sunt, ii sunt filii Abrahæ. 8 Providens autem Scriptura quia ex fide justificat gentes Deus, prænuntiavit Abrahæ: Quia benedicentur in te omnes gentes. 9 Igitur qui ex fide sunt, benedicentur cum fideli Abraham. 10 Quicumque enim ex operibus legis sunt, sub maledicto sunt. Scriptum est enim: Maledictus omnis qui non permanserit in omnibus quæ scripta sunt in libro legis ut faciat ea. 11 Quoniam autem in lege nemo justificatur apud Deum, manifestum est: quia justus ex fide vivit. 12 Lex autem non est ex fide, sed: Qui fecerit ea, vivet in illis. 13 Christus nos redemit de maledicto legis, factus pro nobis maledictum: quia scriptum est: Maledictus omnis qui pendet in ligno: 14 ut in gentibus benedictio Abrahæ fieret in Christo Jesu, ut pollicitationem Spiritus accipiamus per fidem.

15 ἀδελφοί, κατὰ ἄνθρωπον λέγω: ὅμως ἀνθρώπου κεκυρωμένην διαθήκην οὐδεὶς ἀθετεῖ ἢ ἐπιδιατάσσεται. 16 τῷ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ ἐρρέθησαν αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ. οὐ λέγει, καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν, ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐφ' ἑνός, καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου, ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός. 17 τοῦτο δὲ λέγω: διαθήκην προκεκυρωμένην ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ μετὰ τετρακόσια καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτη γεγονὼς νόμος οὐκ ἀκυροῖ, εἰς τὸ καταργῆσαι τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν. 18 εἰ γὰρ ἐκ νόμου ἡ κληρονομία, οὐκέτι ἐξ ἐπαγγελίας: τῷ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ δι' ἐπαγγελίας κεχάρισται ὁ θεός.

15 Brethren, let me take an argument from common life. A valid legal disposition made by an ordinary human being cannot afterwards be set aside; no one can make fresh provisions in it.[6] 16 The promises you know of were made to Abraham and his offspring; (it does not, by the way, say, To thy descendants, as if it meant a number of people; it says, To thy offspring, in the singular, meaning Christ).[7] 17 And this is my contention; the law, coming into being four hundred and thirty years afterwards, cannot unmake the disposition which God made so long ago, and cancel the promise. 18 If our inheritance depends on observing the law, then it is not the inheritance secured to us by promise; that was promised to Abraham as a free gift.

15 Fratres (secundum hominem dico) tamen hominis confirmatum testamentum nemo spernit, aut superordinat. 16 Abrahæ dictæ sunt promissiones, et semini ejus. Non dicit: Et seminibus, quasi in multis: sed quasi in uno: Et semini tuo, qui est Christus. 17 Hoc autem dico, testamentum confirmatum a Deo: quæ post quadringentos et triginta annos facta est lex, non irritum facit ad evacuandam promissionem. 18 Nam si ex lege hæreditas, jam non ex promissione. Abrahæ autem per repromissionem donavit Deus.

19 τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου. 20 ὁ δὲ μεσίτης ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἷς ἐστιν. 21 ὁ οὖν νόμος κατὰ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ; μὴ γένοιτο: εἰ γὰρ ἐδόθη νόμος ὁ δυνάμενος ζῳοποιῆσαι, ὄντως ἐκ νόμου ἂν ἦν ἡ δικαιοσύνη: 22 ἀλλὰ συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν ἵνα ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δοθῇ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. 23 πρὸ τοῦ δὲ ἐλθεῖν τὴν πίστιν ὑπὸ νόμον ἐφρουρούμεθα συγκλειόμενοι εἰς τὴν μέλλουσαν πίστιν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι. 24 ὥστε ὁ νόμος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν γέγονεν εἰς Χριστόν, ἵνα ἐκ πίστεως δικαιωθῶμεν: 25 ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς πίστεως οὐκέτι ὑπὸ παιδαγωγόν ἐσμεν. 26 πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστε διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. 27 ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε, Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε. 28 οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἔνι δοῦλος οὐδὲ ἐλεύθερος, οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ: πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς εἷς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. 29 εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς Χριστοῦ, ἄρα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ σπέρμα ἐστέ, κατ' ἐπαγγελίαν κληρονόμοι.

19 What, then, is the purpose of the law? It was brought in to make room for transgression, while we waited for the coming of that posterity, to whom the promise had been made. Its terms were dictated by angels, acting through a spokesman;[8] 20 (a spokesman represents more than one, and there is only one God). 21 Is the law an infringement, then, of God’s promises? That is not to be thought of. Doubtless, if a law had been given that was capable of imparting life to us, it would have been for the law to bring us justification. 22 But in fact scripture represents us as all under the bondage of sin; it was faith in Jesus Christ that was to impart the promised blessing to all those who believe in him.[9] 23 Until faith came, we were all being kept in bondage to the law, waiting for the faith that was one day to be revealed. 24 So that the law was our tutor, bringing us to Christ, to find in faith our justification.[10] 25 When faith comes, then we are no longer under the rule of a tutor; 26 through faith in Christ Jesus you are all now God’s sons. 27 All you who have been baptized in Christ’s name have put on the person of Christ;[11] 28 no more Jew or Gentile, no more slave and freeman, no more male and female; you are all one person in Jesus Christ. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are indeed Abraham’s children; the promised inheritance is yours.

19 Quid igitur lex? Propter transgressiones posita est donec veniret semen, cui promiserat, ordinata per angelos in manu mediatoris. 20 Mediator autem unius non est: Deus autem unus est. 21 Lex ergo adversus promissa Dei? Absit. Si enim data esset lex, quæ posset vivificare, vere ex lege esset justitia. 22 Sed conclusit Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus. 23 Prius autem quam veniret fides, sub lege custodiebamur conclusi in eam fidem quæ revelanda erat. 24 Itaque lex pædagogus noster fuit in Christo, ut ex fide justificemur. 25 At ubi venit fides, jam non sumus sub pædagogo. 26 Omnes enim filii Dei estis per fidem, quæ est in Christo Jesu. 27 Quicumque enim in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis. 28 Non est Judæus, neque Græcus: non est servus, neque liber: non est masculus, neque femina. Omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Jesu. 29 Si autem vos Christi, ergo semen Abrahæ estis, secundum promissionem hæredes.

[1] Gen. 15.6.

[2] Gen. 12.3; 18.18.

[3] Deut. 27.26.

[4] Hab. 2.4; Lev. 18.5.

[5] Deut. 21.23.

[6] ‘Legal disposition’; the Greek word here used has often the sense of a last will and testament, rarely the sense of a compact between two persons, in the heathen writers. In the Bible it has often the sense of a compact or covenant, rarely the sense of a will (Heb. 9.16). Here, though St Paul is referring to the covenant God made with Abraham, he seems to be thinking, not of contracts, but of binding legal documents in general. ‘No one’; that is, no one else; the Law is treated, in pursuance of the metaphor, as if it had been given to Moses by the angels rather than by God himself.

[7] Gen. 22.18.

[8] ‘To make room for transgression’; that is, either to discourage transgression, or (more probably) to turn our sins into transgressions, make us conscious of them as the breach of a divine law, and therefore of our need for redemption. It was a Jewish tradition that angels gave the law to Moses on Sinai (Ac. 7.53, Heb. 2.2). ‘A spokesman’; literally a mediator or go-between, probably referring to Moses. The mediator who negotiates between two sides in a dispute is so often, at the same time, the spokesman or representative of a body of persons, that the two meanings ‘mediator’ and ‘representative’ shade off into one another; (cf. I Kg. 17.4, where the Hebrew and some of the Greek versions use the word ‘mediator’ of Goliath, as being the representative or champion of the Philistines). In this passage, it is difficult to find any meaning for verse 20 unless we suppose that the Apostle refers to Moses as the spokesman of the angels; God, being a single Agent, would have no need of a spokesman to represent him, and did not employ any spokesman when he made the promises to Abraham. Thus the promises have a higher dignity than the law, as communicated to us directly from God. ‘Its terms were dictated’; the same Greek word is used as in verse 15 above.

[9] Probably an allusion to Ps. 142.2, as quoted in 2.16 above.

[10] ‘Our tutor’; the Greek word means a slave who took his master’s children to school.

[11] ‘Have put on the person of Christ’; literally, ‘have put on Christ’, as in Rom. 13.14; here, St Paul refers to that obliteration of distinctions between man and man which results from our incorporation into Christ.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd