translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GAL

label: NET translator note

text: Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.


text: Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω ( baskainw ) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).


text: Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).


text: Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.


text: Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”


text: Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι ( enarxamenoi ) has been translated concessively.


text: Or “by the Spirit.”


text: 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.


text: Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”


text: Or “provide.”


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


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


text: Grk “know.”


text: The phrase “sons of Abraham” is used here in a figurative sense to describe people who are connected to a personality, Abraham, by close nonmaterial ties. It is this personality that has defined the relationship and its characteristics (BDAG 1024-25 s.v. υἱός 2.c. α ).


text: For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι ( proeuangelizomai ) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.


text: The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη ( ta eqnh ), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”


text: Grk “those who are by faith,” with the Greek expression “by faith” ( ἐκ πίστεως , ek pistew" ) the same as the expression in v. 8 .


text: Grk “For as many as.”


text: Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.” sn A quotation from Deut 27:26 .


text: Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4 ).


text: Grk “is not from faith.”


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


text: Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος ( genomenos ) has been taken instrumentally.


text: Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”


text: Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11 .


text: Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.


text: The same Greek word, διαθήκη ( diaqhkh ), can mean either “covenant” or “will,” but in this context the former is preferred here because Paul is discussing in vv. 16-18 the Abrahamic covenant.


text: Or “has been put into effect.”


text: Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα ( sperma ) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).


text: Grk “It”; the referent (the scripture) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The understood subject of the verb λέγει ( legei ) could also be “He” (referring to God) as the one who spoke the promise to Abraham.


text: Grk “to seeds.” See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse. Here the term is plural; the use of the singular in the OT text cited later in this verse is crucial to Paul’s argument.


text: See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse. sn A quotation from Gen 12:7; 13:15; 17:7; 24:7 .


text: 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.


text: On the translation “graciously gave” for χαρίζομαι ( carizomai ) see L&N 57.102.


text: Grk “Why then the law?”


text: 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 .


text: 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.


text: Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16 .


text: Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.


text: 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.


text: The meaning of this verse is disputed. According to BDAG 634 s.v. μεσίτης , “It prob. means that the activity of an intermediary implies the existence of more than one party, and hence may be unsatisfactory because it must result in a compromise. The presence of an intermediary would prevent attainment, without any impediment, of the purpose of the εἶς θεός in giving the law.” See also A. Oepke, TDNT 4:598-624, esp. 618-19.


text: rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.


text: Or “have been based on the law.”


text: Or “locked up.”


text: Grk “imprisoned all things” but τὰ πάντα ( ta panta ) includes people as part of the created order. Because people are the emphasis of Paul’s argument ( “given to those who believe” at the end of this verse.), “everything and everyone” was used here.


text: Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”


text: 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. Grk “being confined.”


text: 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.


text: Or “be justified.”


text: 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.


text: Or “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”


text: Grk “For as many of you as.”


text: See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10 .


text: Grk “male and female.”


text: Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16 .