Christian Standard Bible
Galatians 3:20
20Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, 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 is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise. 19Why, then, was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one. 21Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ 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
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 3:20
- Job 9:33There is no mediator between us, to lay his hand on both of us.
- Acts 12:20Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.
- 1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
- Galatians 3:17My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise.
- Genesis 15:18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River:
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.
- Deuteronomy 6:4“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
- Romans 3:29Or is 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
Christian Standard Bible — © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Commentaries