Berean Standard Bible
Galatians 3:20
20A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.
Galatians 3:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
- New International Version (NIV)A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
Context of Galatians 3:20
18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise. 19Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator. A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one. 21Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law. 22But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
Read all of Galatians 3Galatians 3:20 word by word
ὁ δὲ μεσίτης ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἷς ἐστιν.¶Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Galatians 3:20
- Job 9:33Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
- Acts 12:20Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.
- 1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Galatians 3:17What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.
- Genesis 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Deuteronomy 6:4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
- Romans 3:29Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
Commentaries on Galatians 3:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20A mediator is not a mediator of one - As a mediator, , signifies a middle person, there must necessarily be two parties, between whom he stands, and acts in reference to both, as he is supposed to have the interests of both equally at heart. This verse is allowed to be both obscure and difficult; and it is certain that there is little consent among learned men and critics in their opinions concerning it. Rosenmuller thinks that the opinion of Nosselt is…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Now a mediator is not a mediator of one - This verse has given great perplexity to commentators. “There is, unquestionably,” says Bloomfield, “no passage in the New Testament that has so much, and to so little purpose, exercised the learning and ingenuity of commentators as the present, which seems to defy all attempts to elicit any satisfactory sense, except by methods so violent as to be almost the same thing as writing the passage afresh.” In regard…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-22Verses 19-22 If that promise was enough for salvation, wherefore then serveth the law? The Israelites, though chosen to be God's peculiar people, were sinners as well as others. The law was not intended to discover a way of justification, different from that made known by the promise, but to lead men to see their need of the promise, by showing the sinfulness of sin, and to point to Christ, through whom alone they could be pardoned and justified. The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20The law of Moses was given through angels and a mediator (Moses). The law required agreement between God and the people. The law was conditional, with blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. In contrast, God gave his promise directly to Abraham without a mediator. It was God's promise alone, and God did not require anything in return. but God is one: Paul used the basic Jewish creed (see Deuteronomy 6:4) to persuade non-Jewish Christians not…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. "Now a mediator cannot be of one (but must be of two parties whom he mediates between); but God is one" (not two: owing to His essential unity not admitting of an intervening party between Him and those to be blessed; but as the One Sovereign, His own representative, giving the blessing directly by promise to Abraham, and, in its fulfilment, to Christ, "the Seed," without new condition, and without a mediator such as the law had). The conclusion…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 3:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Galatians 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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