ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Galatians 3.23-25

Book: Galatians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could make alive, verily righteousness would have been of the law. 22. But the scriptures shut up all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

23. But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24. So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor.

  1. For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. (Galatians 3:21-27, ASV)
WEB

21. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. 22. But the Scriptures imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24. So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

  1. For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:21-27, WEB)
KJV

21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

23. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

  1. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:21-27, KJV)
YLT

21. the law, then, [is] against the promises of God?, let it not be! for if a law was given that was able to make alive, truly by law there would have been the righteousness, 22. but the Writing did shut up the whole under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ may be given to those believing.

23. And before the coming of the faith, under law we were being kept, shut up to the faith about to be revealed, 24. so that the law became our child-conductor, to Christ, that by faith we may be declared righteous, 25. and the faith having come, no more under a child-conductor are we,

  1. for ye are all sons of God through the faith in Christ Jesus, 27. for as many as to Christ were baptized did put on Christ; (Galatians 3:21-27, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul
  • Audience: the churches of Galatia
  • Location: written from an uncertain location
  • Time period: c. AD 48-55 depending on the destination theory

Theological reading

The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. The English word schoolmaster has misled generations of readers, and correcting it changes the argument.

The Greek is paidagogos, and a paidagogos was not a teacher. He was a household slave who escorted a freeborn boy to and from his lessons, supervised his conduct, and disciplined him until he came of age. He did not instruct; he restrained and delivered. The role was temporary by definition and ended at the boy's majority, and the figure was frequently regarded as strict and unwelcome. Modern translations render it tutor, guardian, or custodian for this reason.

That corrects the two commonest misreadings in opposite directions. The law is not being described as a teacher that instructs people toward Christ by improving them, which the schoolmaster rendering suggests; nor is it being described as something bad, since a paidagogos was a normal and protective feature of a well-run household. What Paul says is that it had custody until an appointed term, which is why the surrounding verses use the imagery of being kept under guard and shut up, and why his conclusion is that after faith is come we are no longer under it.

The custodial reading also fits the argument Paul is actually running. His concern in Galatians is not that the law was wicked but that it was provisional, and the Galatian error is a return to a guardianship whose term has expired. The chapter's next move, that they are all sons through faith and no longer under a guardian, depends on the metaphor being about coming of age.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

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.