God’s Word Translation
Galatians 3:20
20A mediator is not used when there is only one person involved, and God has acted on his own.
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
18If we have to gain the inheritance by following those laws, then it no longer comes to us because of the promise. However, God freely gave the inheritance to Abraham through a promise. 19What, then, is the purpose of the laws given to Moses? They were added to identify what wrongdoing is. Moses’ laws did this until the descendant to whom the promise was given came. It was put into effect through angels, using a mediator. A mediator is not used when there is only one person involved, and God has acted on his own. 21Does this mean, then, that the laws given to Moses contradict God’s promises? That’s unthinkable! If those laws could give us life, then certainly we would receive God’s approval because we obeyed them. 22But Scripture states that the whole world is controlled by the power of sin. Therefore, a promise based on faith in Jesus Christ could 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
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 3:20
- Job 9:33There is no mediator between us to put his hand on both of us.
- Acts 12:20Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They were going to meet with Herod. They had agreed on what they wanted to do: They enlisted the help of Blastus to ask Herod for terms of peace. This was because their cities depended on Herod for their food supply. (Blastus was in charge of the king’s living quarters.)
- 1 Timothy 2:5There is one God. There is also one mediator between God and humans—a human, Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 3:17This is what I mean: The laws ⌞given to Moses⌟ 430 years after God had already put his promise ⌞to Abraham⌟ into effect didn’t cancel the promise ⌞to Abraham⌟.
- Genesis 15:18At that time the Lord made a promise to Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity.
- Deuteronomy 6:4Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God.
- Romans 3:29Is God only the God of the Jews? Isn’t he also the God of people who are not Jewish? Certainly, he is,
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries