RSV ~ Galatians 3 Notes

Gal 3:1 | ISB Notes

O foolish Galatians: Paul is irked and dismayed that his readers have succumbed to the pressure of the Judaizers (1:6).

portrayed as crucified: The Galatians did not witness the Crucifixion of Jesus in person but embraced the message of the Cross that Paul so vividly proclaimed (1 Cor 1:18, 23).

Gal 3:2 | ISB Notes

hearing with faith?: The Galatian controversy turns on the question of when they received the Holy Spirit. Since this happened when they believed the gospel and were baptized (Acts 2:38), Paul deems it foolish to accept circumcision and other works of the Mosaic Law as additional requirements needed to complete their Christian initiation. This is the very logic set forth by Peter at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:811).

Gal 3:4 | ISB Notes

experience: This could also be translated “suffer” and may indicate that some, like the Judaizers themselves, were tempted to accept circumcision because of Jewish persecution (6:12).

Gal 3:6 | ISB Notes

Abraham: The great-grandfather of Israel by race and the father of all believers by grace. Paul sees the gospel of justification proclaimed in the life of Abraham, who was righteous by faith completely apart from his circumcision (Rom 4:9-12).

believed God: A citation from Gen 15:6.

• This was a time of testing for Abraham, when God was stretching his faith in a moment of discouragement (1 Mac 2:52). Though faced with formidable obstacles, such as his age and the barrenness of his wife, he trusted that God could do the impossible by giving him a son. The promise was later fulfilled in the birth of Isaac (Gen 21:1-3). It is clear from the context of Genesis, as well as Heb 11:8-12, that this is not the moment of Abraham’s conversion, for it is not the first time he puts his faith in the Lord. For details, See note on Gen 15:6.

Gal 3:8 | ISB Notes

all the nations be blessed: The citation combines the Greek version of Gen 12:3 and Gen 18:18.

• God promised blessings for Abraham that extended well beyond both his tribal family and his lifetime. It was a promise of worldwide salvation to come (CCC 59-61).

Gal 3:10 | ISB Notes

Cursed be every one: A citation from Deut 27:26.

• This is the final and climactic curse that Israel invoked upon itself in the oath ceremony that ratified the Deuteronomic covenant. In the subsequent context, Moses predicted the rebellion and cursing of Israel (Deut 28:47-68) as well as the eventual restoration and blessing of Israel (Deut 30:1-10). It is possible this passage was used by the Judaizers to insist on the necessity of circumcision, lest nonobservance of the Law result in a curse. Paul, however, uses it against them, charging that everyone who embraces the Law embraces the curse, for not even the Judaizers follow all of its demands to perfection (Gal 6:13).

book of the law: A technical term for the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut 29:21; 30:10), which was written on a scroll and placed beside the Ark of the Covenant (Deut 31:26). Some read it with reference to the Mosaic Law more generally.

Gal 3:11 | ISB Notes

He who through faith: A citation from Hab 2:4.

• Habakkuk is assured that, despite the coming invasion of Judea by the Babylonians, the one who clings to the Lord in faith will be given the grace of protection and will survive the catastrophe. From this text Paul hails faith, not observance of the Law, as the foundation of justification (3:21-22; Rom 1:17).

Gal 3:12 | ISB Notes

He who does them: A citation from Lev 18:5.

• Leviticus promises life to Israel for observing the Torah and shunning the sins of the Gentiles. Yet, as the recurring transgressions of Israel show (Neh 9:29), the Mosaic Law did not come with the grace needed to keep it (Rom 8:4). Paul may be interpreting this passage through the lens of Ezek 20:11, 13, 21, where the Prophet contrasts the Levitical promise of life given at Sinai with the Deuteronomic promises of curse and death issued on the plains of Moab (Ezek 20:25-26).

Gal 3:13 | ISB Notes

Cursed be every one: A citation from Deut 21:23.

• This refers to the practice of hanging executed criminals on trees to avert the wrath of God (Num 25:4; 2 Sam 21:9). For Paul, Jesus bore the curses pressing down upon Israel when he mounted the Cross (Gal 3:10). This act enabled the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, held back for centuries because of the curse, to pour forth upon Israel and the world as a result (3:14; CCC 580). The Dead Sea Scrolls likewise associate crucifixion with the curse of Deut 21:22-23.

Gal 3:14 | ISB Notes

the blessing of Abraham: i.e., the Spirit, which is the messianic blessing revealed by the Prophets (Is 44:3; Ezek 36:26-27; Joel 2:28).

• The exact expression is from Gen 28:4, where Isaac confers the blessing of Abraham upon his son Jacob. This shows that Isaac alone was the bearer of the Abrahamic blessing, not Ishmael or any other of Abraham’s sons (Rom 9:7-9). Paul will capitalize on the significance of this in Gal 3:16 and 4:28.

Gal 3:15-18 | ISB Notes

The major premise of Paul’s covenant theology in Galatians, namely, that Israel’s failure to keep the Mosaic covenant did not relieve God of his prior obligation to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant ratified centuries earlier. Since even human covenants are inviolable once they are ratified by oath, the covenant oath that God swore to Abraham is even more so (Gen 22:16-18; Heb 6:13-18). Not even the ratification of subsequent covenants under Moses could alter or annul God’s unconditional pledge to bless the world through Abraham’s offspring. In effect, then, the Abrahamic covenant both precedes and supercedes the Mosaic covenant that came after it.

Gal 3:15 | ISB Notes

will: The term means “testament” or “will” in secular Greek usage but “covenant” in biblical Greek usage. Despite the RSV translation, the biblical sense of “covenant” is probably intended here, since (1)Paul uses the term this way in his other writings (Rom 9:4; 11:27; 2 Cor 3:6, 14; Eph 2:12), (2) he uses it this way elsewhere in Galatians (3:17; 4:24), and (3) it is a known fact that a will in Greco-Roman antiquity could be altered or even annulled after the death of the testator who drafted it, which is the very point Paul denies in this verse. For a similar translation issue in Hebrews, see essay: Will or Covenant? at Heb 9.

Gal 3:16 | ISB Notes

and to his offspring: A reference to Gen 22:18. I

• Paul is alluding to the covenant oath that God swore to Abraham to bless all nations through Isaac and his descendants (Sir 44:21; CCC 706). It is significant for Paul that Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, was disinherited in the preceding chapter of Genesis and thus excluded from this covenant (Gen 21:1012). Thus, when Paul stresses that the word “offspring” is singular rather than plural, he is (1) alluding to the divine election of Isaac over Ishmael in the Genesis narrative (Gal 4:28-31; Rom 9:7-8) and (2) implying that Isaac is a type of Christ, so that the act that elicits the promised blessing (the sacrifice of Isaac) prefigures the act that fulfills it (the sacrifice of Jesus). See note on Rom 8:32.

Gal 3:17 | ISB Notes

four hundred and thirty years: The duration of Israel’s stay in Egypt before the Exodus (Ex 12:40-41). Thus, the Abrahamic covenant, last confirmed with Jacob (Gen 28:14), preceded the ratification of the Mosaic covenant by more than four centuries (Ex 19-24).

Gal 3:19 | ISB Notes

It was added: The Torah was inserted into history between the Abrahamic covenant and the New Covenant.

because of: The Greek can indicate either the goal (“for the sake of”) or the cause (“by reason of”) for adding the Law.

Paul may have both ideas in mind: the goal of the Law was to expose transgressions and heighten Israel’s awareness of sin (Rom 3:20; 5:20; 7:7); the cause for adding the Law, at least the bulk of its sacrificial and ceremonial rites, was the rebellion of Israel during the Exodus period, particularly the golden calf transgression (see, e.g., Christian theologians St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 18-22; St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4, 15; St. Aphrahat, Demonstrations 15, 8; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-II, 102, 3).

ordained by angels: Jewish tradition based on the Greek version of Deut 33:2 held that Moses received the Torah from the hands of the angels (Acts 7:53; Heb 2:2; Josephus, Antiquities 15, 136).

Gal 3:20 | ISB Notes

an intermediary: Moses, who delivered the Torah to Israel (Ex 20:18-22; Deut 5:4-5). That the Mosaic covenant involved a mediator implied that more than one party was responsible for fulfilling the terms of the covenant—God and Israel. The Abrahamic covenant, by contrast, was a unilateral arrangement, i.e., God alone swore an oath and assumed the responsibility of blessing the world through Abraham’s offspring (Gen 22:16-18).

God is one: The monotheistic creed of ancient Israel (Deut 6:4).

Gal 3:22 | ISB Notes

consigned all things to sin: Scripture declares all peoples, Jews and Gentiles alike, prisoners of sin. Paul spells this out in Rom 3:9-19 and Rom 11:32.

Gal 3:23 | ISB Notes

kept under restraint: The mass of ethical, juridical, and ceremonial laws codified in the Torah was designed to keep Israel in temporary protective custody, lest it imitate the depravity of the Gentiles (CCC 1963-64).

Gal 3:27 | ISB Notes

baptized into Christ: Baptism is the sacrament of faith (3:26) and the rite of Christian initiation that replaces circumcision (Col 2:11-12). It cleanses us of sin, joins us with Christ, and makes us righteous children of God (Acts 22:16; Tit 3:5; 1 Pet 3:21; CCC 1226-27). Paul’s description of this mystery reflects early liturgical practice where the newly baptized put on a white garment to symbolize their purity in Christ (cf. Rom 13:14; Eph 4:24; CCC 1243, 2348).

Gal 3:28 | ISB Notes

you are all one: All peoples, irrespective of ethnic, gender, and social distinctions, are equal candidates for salvation and sonship in Christ (Col 3:11; CCC 791).