Galatians 3:23-29
New Living Translation
God’s Children through Faith
23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
26 For you are all children[a] of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.[b] 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile,[c] slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children[d] of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Read full chapter
Galatians 3:23-29
New English Translation
Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise
23 Now before faith[a] came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners[b] until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 Thus the law had become our guardian[c] until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous[d] by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.[e] 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.[f] 27 For all of you who[g] were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[h] nor free, there is neither male nor female[i]—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants,[j] heirs according to the promise.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Galatians 3:23 tn Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”
- 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.”
- 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.
- Galatians 3:24 tn Or “be justified.”
- 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.
- Galatians 3:26 tn Or “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
- Galatians 3:27 tn Grk “For as many of you as.”
- Galatians 3:28 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10.
- Galatians 3:28 tn Grk “male and female.”
- Galatians 3:29 tn Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.