Galatians 3:21

Galatians 3:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
• New International Version (NIV)Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

Context of Galatians 3:21

19Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. 20Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham. Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. 23Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

Galatians 3:21 word by word

Ὁ οὖν νόμος κατὰ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ; μὴ γένοιτο. εἰ γὰρ ἐδόθη νόμος ὁ δυνάμενος ζῳοποιῆσαι, ὄντως ἐκ νόμου ἂν ἦν ἡ δικαιοσύνη·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• againstκατάkata · according toG2596
• the promisesὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the promisesἐπαγγελίαepaggelia · promiseG1860
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• God forbidμήmē · notG3361
• God forbidγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• there had beenδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
• could haveδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• given lifeζωοποιέωzōopoieō · to make aliveG2227
• verilyὄντωςontōs · reallyG3689
• ·ἄνan · ifG302
• righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• should have beenεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• byἐκek ex · out fromG1537

Cross-references for Galatians 3:21

• Matthew 5:17“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.
• Romans 3:31Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
• Romans 7:7Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”
• Galatians 2:17But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!
• Romans 3:4Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”
• Galatians 2:19For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.
• Romans 3:20For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
• Romans 3:21But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
• Romans 9:31But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.
• Romans 10:3For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
• Philippians 3:6I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
• Hebrews 11:7It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

Commentaries on Galatians 3:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Is the law then against the promises of God? - Is it possible that the intervention of the law, in reference to one part of the Abrahamic seed, should annul the promise made to the other? It is impossible. For if there had been a law, etc. - If any law or rule of life could have been found out that would have given life - saved sinners from death, and made them truly happy, then righteousness- justification, should have been by that law.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Is the law then against the promises of God? - Is the Law of Moses to be regarded as opposed to the promises made to Abraham? Does this follow from any view which can be taken of the subject? The object of the apostle in asking this question is, evidently, to take an opportunity to deny in the most positive manner that there can be any such clashing or contradiction. He shows, therefore, what was the design of the Law, and declares that the object was 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. 21There is no conflict of purpose between law and promise or between law and faith. The law works with the promise to help people believe in Jesus. The purpose of the law is to show that people are trapped by their sins (3:19, 22). It is also meant to help people not sin (3:23–25). In Galatia, the Judaizers tried to convince non-Jewish Christians that the law could do something it was never meant to do. The law was never meant to give new life and make…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. "Is the law (which involves a mediator) against the promises of God (which are without a mediator, and rest on God alone and immediately)? God forbid." life--The law, as an externally prescribed rule, can never internally impart spiritual life to men naturally dead in sin, and change the disposition. If the law had been a law capable of giving life, "verily (in very reality, and not in the mere fancy of legalists) righteousness would have been by the…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 3:21

• Faith
• Justification
• Salvation
• Works

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Conclude
• Curse
• Eye
• Flesh
• Foolish
• Redeem
• Schoolmaster
• Shut

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