Note: This passage occurs in year C of the lectionary, during the season after Pentecost, most recently June 22, 2025
Summary: It would be tough to preach a sermon on this, at least for me, because so much of what is happening here is theological argumentation. It could be a fun challenge though! Normally I focus on key words and concepts, but this passage kind of demands a more granular analysis:
The actually lectionary lesson begins at verse 23, but let's pick up Paul's argument at verse 19.
3.19: Paul literally writes: "Why then the law ?" Perhaps the great question is: What does Paul mean by "nomos" or "law" here? Well...let's see!
3.19: Paul here writes that the law was added ἄχρις (until) the σπέρμα (seed/offspring) came. The world until is fascinating in this whole passage; more to come. The word seed or offspring is a word closely associated with Abraham and the promises made to him.
3:19: The NIV and NRSV/NET differ in how the translate a little relative pronoun "whom" (literally ᾧ or 'who'). I read what I wrote here years ago and decided it was too complicated. In a nutshell, the NIV translation wants to emphasize Jesus as the promised seed; the NRSV/NET want to include the people to whom the promise was given, something the NIV leaves out. The NRSV/NET seem more grammatically correct here.
3:19: Point about how Greek works: Paul switches back to talking about the law in the latter half the sentence. How do you know? Because the aorist particle beginning this part of the sentence is in conjugated as a masculine nominative and thus refers back to the law (νόμος is a mas. nom). If it referred to the seed it would be neuter; if it referred to the promise it would be feminine. Participles are conjugated based on what they relate to in the main sentence; relative pronouns are conjugated based on what they relate to in the relative clause.
3:20: I actually think Paul is saying something monumental here in verse 20 when he says that God is one. This suggests that the whole work of Moses was an act of God. More bluntly, God did not leave the law to humans and then walk away, but the law is living through the work of the Spirit! This is why Paul can write in vs 22 that Scripture trapped us -- because it is a living thing.
3:21: Great example of an εἰ ἂν clause. If both are in the indicative, this means that both points are wrong: If the law could give life (but it doesn't); then you could have righteousness (but it doesn't).
3.19: Paul literally writes: "Why then the law ?" Perhaps the great question is: What does Paul mean by "nomos" or "law" here? Well...let's see!
3.19: Paul here writes that the law was added ἄχρις (until) the σπέρμα (seed/offspring) came. The world until is fascinating in this whole passage; more to come. The word seed or offspring is a word closely associated with Abraham and the promises made to him.
3:19: The NIV and NRSV/NET differ in how the translate a little relative pronoun "whom" (literally ᾧ or 'who'). I read what I wrote here years ago and decided it was too complicated. In a nutshell, the NIV translation wants to emphasize Jesus as the promised seed; the NRSV/NET want to include the people to whom the promise was given, something the NIV leaves out. The NRSV/NET seem more grammatically correct here.
3:19: Point about how Greek works: Paul switches back to talking about the law in the latter half the sentence. How do you know? Because the aorist particle beginning this part of the sentence is in conjugated as a masculine nominative and thus refers back to the law (νόμος is a mas. nom). If it referred to the seed it would be neuter; if it referred to the promise it would be feminine. Participles are conjugated based on what they relate to in the main sentence; relative pronouns are conjugated based on what they relate to in the relative clause.
3:20: I actually think Paul is saying something monumental here in verse 20 when he says that God is one. This suggests that the whole work of Moses was an act of God. More bluntly, God did not leave the law to humans and then walk away, but the law is living through the work of the Spirit! This is why Paul can write in vs 22 that Scripture trapped us -- because it is a living thing.
3:21: Great example of an εἰ ἂν clause. If both are in the indicative, this means that both points are wrong: If the law could give life (but it doesn't); then you could have righteousness (but it doesn't).
3:22 Scripture, has like a net entangling fish (συνέκλεισεν), caught us up under sin. That's the image. Now you can figure out what that means.
3:22 This is the classic "Faith of Christ", where we are not sure if Paul means the faith in Christ or the faith that Christ has. My sense is that in this case, it is referring to the faith of Christ. Another interesting note is that the faith (noun) of Jesus makes possible the believing (verb; action) by us.
3:23 Here comes another translation issue on a preposition: εἰς. This little bad boy can mean until or toward or to. So, the question for interpreters of Gal 3 is: Does the law lead us until Christ or up to Christ or toward Christ?
3:24 The great word here is "παιδαγωγὸς" (paidagogos, literally foot-leader). As Liddell-Scott puts it: a boy-ward; at Athens, the slave who went with a boy from home to school and back again, a kind of tutor, Hdt., Eur., etc.:-hence Phoenix is called the paidagogos of Achilles. The law is a slave in itself finally...
3:25 The participle here is a genitive absolute (they stick everything in genitive to start out the sentence that has nothing to do with the second half). So you have to treat the genitive word and the genitive participle as all in the nominative and then put a coma: "Faith came," Or to make it connect: After faith came...
Note: I had offered a number of earlier NIV translation, which clearly reflected the pre-2011 translation update!
3:22 This is the classic "Faith of Christ", where we are not sure if Paul means the faith in Christ or the faith that Christ has. My sense is that in this case, it is referring to the faith of Christ. Another interesting note is that the faith (noun) of Jesus makes possible the believing (verb; action) by us.
3:23 Here comes another translation issue on a preposition: εἰς. This little bad boy can mean until or toward or to. So, the question for interpreters of Gal 3 is: Does the law lead us until Christ or up to Christ or toward Christ?
3:24 The great word here is "παιδαγωγὸς" (paidagogos, literally foot-leader). As Liddell-Scott puts it: a boy-ward; at Athens, the slave who went with a boy from home to school and back again, a kind of tutor, Hdt., Eur., etc.:-hence Phoenix is called the paidagogos of Achilles. The law is a slave in itself finally...
3:25 The participle here is a genitive absolute (they stick everything in genitive to start out the sentence that has nothing to do with the second half). So you have to treat the genitive word and the genitive participle as all in the nominative and then put a coma: "Faith came," Or to make it connect: After faith came...
Note: I had offered a number of earlier NIV translation, which clearly reflected the pre-2011 translation update!
3:27 Compare this verse with Col 3:12. Can you see the difference in Greek?
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