Passage

Galatians 2.16

"nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified." (Galatians 2:16, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Cephas before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest as do the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, how compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 15. We being Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,"

"16. yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

"17. But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God forbid. 18. For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor." (Galatians 2:14-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"14. But when I saw that they didn’t walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do? 15. “We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners,"

"16. yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law."

"17. But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18. For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker." (Galatians 2:14-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 15. We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,"

"16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

"17. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." (Galatians 2:14-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"14. But when I saw that they are not walking uprightly to the truth of the good news, I said to Peter before all, 'If thou, being a Jew, in the manner of the nations dost live, and not in the manner of the Jews, how the nations dost thou compel to Judaize? 15. we by nature Jews, and not sinners of the nations,"

"16. having known also that a man is not declared righteous by works of law, if not through the faith of Jesus Christ, also we in Christ Jesus did believe, that we might be declared righteous by the faith of Christ, and not by works of law, wherefore declared righteous by works of law shall be no flesh.'"

"17. And if, seeking to be declared righteous in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, [is] then Christ a ministrant of sin? let it not be! 18. for if the things I threw down, these again I build up, a transgressor I set myself forth;" (Galatians 2:14-18, YLT)

Synthesis

Galatians 2:16 is the verse that most concentrates the apostolic doctrine of justification by faith: in a single sentence, the negation "not justified by the works of the Law" is paired three times with the positive "through faith in Christ Jesus." Paul the Apostle writes this not as abstract theology but as the rationale he gave Peter the Apostle face-to-face at Antioch when Peter withdrew from Gentile believers under pressure from the circumcision party. The doctrine of Sola Fide is born of a real ecclesial crisis: if Gentiles must add Torah-works to faith to be reckoned righteous, then Christ's death is rendered superfluous (Gal 2:21). Paul will not let the apostolic gospel be compromised at any social cost.

Setting

Speaker: Paul, narrating his Antioch rebuke of Peter to the Galatian churches
Audience: the churches of Galatia (Gentile converts being pressured by Judaizers to add circumcision and Torah-observance)
Location: the letter is written from Antioch or Ephesus; the rebuke it recounts occurred in Antioch
Time period: c. AD 48-55 (Paul's early apostolic ministry; one of the earliest NT letters)

Theological reading

The Reformation read this verse as the charter of justification by faith alone, and it is hard to read it otherwise without doing violence to its grammar. Paul piles three near-identical clauses on top of each other (not by works / through faith; we believed that we might be justified by faith / not by works; by works no flesh will be justified) to leave no room for the synergism the Judaizers were teaching. The Greek phrase ergon nomou ("works of the Law") covers the whole Torah-observance system, not just ceremonial markers like circumcision; Paul's "no flesh will be justified" is universalizing.

The New Perspective on Paul (E. P. Sanders, James Dunn, N. T. Wright) has argued that Paul's target was specifically Jewish identity-markers used to exclude Gentiles, not works-righteousness in the medieval Catholic sense. The exegetical detail matters, but the apologetic and pastoral upshot is the same: human striving cannot bridge the gap to God; faith in the crucified and risen Christ does. See Justification by Faith and Sola Fide for the doctrinal layout, and Grace vs Law for the broader contrast Paul develops across Galatians and Romans.

The verse pairs with Habakkuk 2.4 ("the righteous shall live by his faith") and Romans 1.17 (Paul's programmatic citation of Habakkuk), and with Galatians 3.11, to form the Pauline four-text foundation of the Reformation doctrine.

Key words

G1344 - dikaioo, dikaioō, to declare righteous, justify; the forensic-courtroom term Paul uses three times in this single verse.
G3551 - nomos, nomos, law, specifically Torah; "works of the Law" is the negated alternative to faith.
G4102 - pistis, pistis, faith, trust, faithfulness; the means of justification.

Theological themes

Sola Fide. Justification is by faith in Christ apart from Torah-works; this is the verse most directly invoked by the Reformation.
The unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ. Peter's table-fellowship withdrawal violated the gospel because it implied Gentiles must Judaize to be fully Christian.
Christ's death as necessary. Paul's argument throughout Galatians 2 reaches its peak in 2:21: if righteousness comes through the Law, Christ died for nothing. The cross is the proof that works could not save.
Forensic justification. Dikaioō is courtroom language: God declares the believing sinner righteous on the basis of Christ's atoning work, received by faith.

Cross-references

Romans 1.17, Paul's programmatic statement; the just shall live by faith.
Habakkuk 2.4, the OT root of Paul's faith-righteousness doctrine.
Galatians 3.11, Paul cites Habakkuk again to drive the same point in chapter 3.
Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council, which adjudicated this same crisis.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.