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Galatians 3:23–29

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Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise

3:23Now before faith51 came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners52 until the coming faith would be revealed. 3:24Thus the law had become our guardian53 until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous54 by faith. 3:25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.553:26For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.563:27For all of you who57 were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave58 nor free, there is neither male nor female59—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 3:29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants,60 heirs according to the promise.

Read in Logos
Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Footnotes

  1. 51 Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”
  2. 52 Instead of the present participle συγκλειόμενοι (sunkleiomenoi; found in 𝔓46 א A B D* F G P Ψ 33 1739 ), C D1 0176 0278 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. Grk “being confined.”
  3. 53 Or “disciplinarian,” “custodian,” or “guide.” According to 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.
  4. 54 Or “be justified.”
  5. 55 See the note on the word “guardian” in v. . 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.
  6. 56 Or “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
  7. 57 Grk “For as many of you as.”
  8. 58 See the note on the word “slave” in .
  9. 59 Grk “male and female.”
  10. 60 Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in .

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.

For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

NLTNew Living Translation

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.

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. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

But before faith came, we were detained under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. So then, the law became our guardian until Christ, in order that we could be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

KJV 1900King James Version

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.