Galatians 3:19

Galatians 3:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
• New International Version (NIV)Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
• New King James Version (NKJV)What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

Context of Galatians 3:19

17What I mean is this: God made an agreement with Abraham. He promised to bless him. Then, 430 years later, God gave his Law to Moses for the Jewish people. But that Law could not take away the authority of God's agreement with Abraham. It could not stop what God had already promised. 18God has promised to give good things to his children. But that does not happen as a result of God's Law. If that were true, then we would not receive God's good things as a result of his promise. But God gave those good things to Abraham as a gift, because he had promised to bless Abraham. So we could ask: Why did God give his Law to his people after his promise to Abraham? He gave his Law to show them which things are wrong. It would have authority until Abraham's special descendant would come. That was the descendant that God had promised to bless. God used angels to give his Law to his people. It was Moses who received the Law from God, and Moses then took it to God's people. 20But God himself gave his promise to Abraham. It was not necessary to have somebody in between, like Moses. 21So should we say that God's Law works against God's promises? No, certainly that is not true! It is not possible for the rules of any law to give us life with God. If that could happen, then God would have accepted us as right if we obeyed those rules.

Galatians 3:19 word by word

Τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι᾽ ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whereforeτίςtis · which?G5101
• thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• the lawὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• It was addedπροστίθημιprostithēmi · to add (to)G4369
• becauseχάρινcharin · because ofG5484
• of transgressionsπαράβασιςparabasis · transgressionG3847
• tillἄχριachri achris · untilG891
• ·ὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• the seedσπέρμαsperma · seed: offspringG4690
• should comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• the promise was madeἐπαγγέλλωepaggellō · to professG1861
• ordainedδιατάσσωdiatassō · to directG1299
• byδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• angelsἄγγελοςaggelos · angelG32
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the handχείρcheir · handG5495
• of a mediatorμεσίτηςmesitēs · mediatorG3316

Cross-references for Galatians 3:19

• Romans 3:1So someone may ask, ‘Does it help a person if they are a Jew, rather than a Gentile? Does it help a person if someone has circumcised them?’
• Romans 7:7So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command, I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things.
• Galatians 3:21So should we say that God's Law works against God's promises? No, certainly that is not true! It is not possible for the rules of any law to give us life with God. If that could happen, then God would have accepted us as right if we obeyed those rules.
• Deuteronomy 4:8And no other great nation has rules and laws that are as fair as ours. That is God's Law that I am giving to you today.
• Psalms 147:19He sends his message to Jacob's descendants. He gives his rules and laws to Israel's people.
• Luke 16:31But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’
• John 5:45But I will not have to tell the Father that you are guilty. No, it is Moses who will do that. You think that Moses is the one who will show that you are right. But he is the one who will show that you are guilty.
• John 15:22I have come and I have spoken my message to them. If I had not done that, they would not have been guilty of their sin. But now they cannot say, “We have not done anything wrong.”
• Romans 2:13Who does God accept as right with himself? It is those people who obey his Law. It is not the people who only know his Law but do not obey them.
• Romans 3:19So, we know that God's Law belongs to the Jews. God told them to obey everything that his Law teaches. As a result, nobody can say: ‘God should not punish me.’ Everybody in the world must stand in front of God and he will judge them.
• Romans 4:15The rules in Moses' Law say that God will punish people who do not obey those rules. But without any rules, there is nothing for people to obey.
• Romans 5:20God gave his Law to Moses to show more clearly that people were doing wrong things. But when people did more and more wrong things, God continued to be kind in more and more ways.
• 1 Timothy 1:8We know that God's laws are good, if people use them properly.
• Galatians 3:16In the same way, God promised to bless Abraham and Abraham's descendant. The Bible does not say ‘descendants’. It does not speak about ‘many people’. No, God promised to bless Abraham's descendant. He speaks about one person, and that person is Christ.
• Galatians 4:1I will say it like this. Think about a son who will one day receive what belongs to his father. While he is still a child, he is like a slave in the family. That is true, even though all his father's things really belong to him.
• Deuteronomy 33:2He said this: ‘The Lord came from Sinai. He appeared to his people like the sun that rises over the hills of Edom. He shone on his people from Mount Paran. Thousands of angels came with him. In his right hand, he held his Law that burned with fire.

Commentaries on Galatians 3:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19Wherefore then serveth the law? - If the law does not annul the Abrahamic covenant, and cannot confer salvation on its votaries, why did God give it? This was a very natural objection, and must arise in the mind of any Jew who had paid attention to the apostle's reasoning. It was added because of transgressions - It was given that we might know our sinfulness, and the need we stood in of the mercy of God. The law is the right line, the straight edge, that…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19Wherefore then serveth the law? - This is obviously an objection which might be urged to the reasoning which the apostle had pursued. It was very obvious to ask, if the principles which he had laid down were correct, of what use was the Law? Why was it given at all? Why were there so many wonderful exhibitions of the divine power at its promulgation? Why were there so many commendations of it in the Scriptures? And why were there so many injunctions to…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. 19If people do not receive God's inheritance through the law, why was the law given to Moses? It was to show people their sins and make it clear that sinful actions are wrongs done against God. People cannot rely on their own goodness to save them. Instead, they must trust in God (see Romans 3:19–20; 4:15; 5:20; 7:7–13). until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred: See Galatians 3:16. While the promise is permanent, the law of Moses was…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. "Wherefore then serveth the law?" as it is of no avail for justification, is it either useless, or contrary to the covenant of God? [Calvin]. added--to the original covenant of promise. This is not inconsistent with Ga 3:15, "No man addeth thereto"; for there the kind of addition meant, and therefore denied, is one that would add new conditions, inconsistent with the grace of the covenant of promise. The law, though misunderstood by the Judaizers as…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 3:19

• Angel (a Spirit)
• Faith
• Jesus, the Christ
• Law
• Prophets
• Salvation
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Conclude
• Curse
• Eye
• Flesh
• Foolish
• Mediator
• Redeem
• Schoolmaster
• Shut
• Accommodation

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