Galatians 3:23-29
You can sponsor this page of The Text This Week

• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Comparative texts about Baptism: Water & Spirit from DSS, Josephus, Babylonian Talmud. At (Rutgers University Dept of Religion) Mahlon H. Smith's Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus companion to the historical study of Christian texts.
  • "Two as One," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
  • Chapter IV, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110). (Longer Version only - 4th cent interpolation)
  • IV.II.7, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
  • Chapter XII, On Baptism,  Tertullian (c. 198)
  • Chapter XI, Exhortation to the Greeks, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • I.6, I.11, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • I.5, I.26, II.7, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • "Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?" (sermon on Mark 10:17-31), Clement of Alexandria (c. 200)
  • III.12, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 209)
  • V.3, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 212)
  • Chapter VII, Chapter XVII, On Monogamy, Tertullian (c. 215)
  • Chapter VI, On Modesty, Tertullian (c. 217)
  • V.II, The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
  • Epistle LIX -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 253)
  • Epistle LXXIII -- Epistle LXXIV -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 256)
  • Part 25, On the Incarnation of the Word, Athanasius of Alexandria, c. 318.
  • Commentary by St. John Chrysostom.
  • Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 3:20-29) by Martin Luther.
    • "The Law enforces good behavior, at least outwardly. We obey the Law because if we don't we will be punished. Our obedience is inspired by fear. We obey under duress and we do it resentfully. Now what kind of righteousness is this when we refrain from evil out of fear of punishment? Hence, the righteousness of the Law is at bottom nothing but love of sin and hatred of righteousness."
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "The Church must put on Christ, as it were a garment, and be covered with him, that it may be thoroughly holy, and without blame."
  • Christ is All in All, Jeremiah Burroughs (Puritan, c. 1650)
    • "It is absolutely necessary for you to know if you would have eternal life. It is possible to be ignorant of many other truths and still be saved, but there must be something of this or there can be no salvation."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "Being baptized into Christ, we are baptized into his death, that as he died and rose again, so we should die unto sin, and walk in newness and holiness of life. The putting on of Christ according to the gospel, consists not in outward imitation, but in a new birth, an entire change."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "There is no distinction into male and female. Difference of sex makes no difference in Christian privileges. But under the law the male sex had great privileges. Males alone had in their body circumcision, the sign of the covenant (contrast baptism applied to male and female alike); they alone were capable of being kings and priests, whereas all of either sex are now "kings and priests unto God" (Re 1:6); they had prior right to inheritances. In the resurrection the relation of the sexes shall cease (Lu 20:35)."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • "In Roman families a trusted slave, a pedagogue, had charge of children, preserved them from harm, and took them to school. The law is such a tutor; not a schoolmaster, but a guide to lead us to the school of Christ."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Galatians 3:23-39, Jane Lancaster Patterson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2019.
    • "When I was beginning graduate biblical studies in the early nineties, this passage from Galatians was a lynchpin in my growing respect for the theology of Paul."
  • A Provocation, Richard Swanson, Provoking the Gospel, 2019.
    • "...Paul’s metaphors point to protecting and shaping, not imprisoning and punishing."
  • Commentary, Galatians 3:23-39 (Pentecost 5C), Alicia Vargas, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.
    • "In our text for this week, Paul seeks among other things to situate the Jewish law in God's plan, God's timeline, vis-à-vis God's promise to Abraham and God's giving the gift ..."
  • The Center for Excellence in Preaching, resources from Calvin Theological Seminary: Comments & Observations, Textual Points, Illustration Ideas, 2016.
  • Pulpit Fiction, with podcast. Reflections of lectionary text, pop culture, current events, etc. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2016.
  • Commentary, Galatians 3:23-39 (Pentecost 5C), Sarah Henrich, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.
    • "Perhaps the preacher will find a way to imagine hugely and begin with small steps, holding both before the congregation that continues to believe that faith has indeed come and God's Holy Spirit is not yet finished with us."
  • "Female," "Racism," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.
  • Who Are Abraham's Heirs? Steve Godfrey, Church in the World, 2013.
  • Radical Gratitude, lectionary-based stewardship, Northwest United Methodist Foundation. (.pdf)
  • "The End of the Cosmos!" Andrew Prior, 2013.
    • "Based on the vocabulary, scholars think the words 'There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus…' are an early Christian liturgy which Paul is reminding Galatia about, and reinterpreting."
  • "All Children of God," Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer, 2013.
    • "The God who created all things and all people, the God who called Abraham and Sarah for the benefit of all people, and the God who in Jesus Christ came to redeem all people, is the God who has chosen to love the whole human family."
  • Commentary, Galatians 3:23-39 (Pentecost 4C), Elisabeth Johnson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
    • "In Galatians 3, Paul makes an intricate exegetical argument about the priority of God's promise to Abraham and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, and about the provisional function of the law in relation to God's promise."
  • "First Thoughts on Year C Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 5, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Paul was declaring that you could leave large parts of the Bible aside and that you should see it as having its main meaning in what Jesus brought to us."
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • Commentary, Matthew 2:1-12; Galatians 3:23-38, Regina Langley, The African American Lectionary, 2009.
    • "The epiphany of Christ and our baptism in him is the death-nail on the head of a death-dealing kingdom and the ushering in of a new kingdom."
  • Galatians 3:23-29, Opportunity to Do Good: The Letter to the Galatians, Craig Koester, Word & World Texts in Context, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1989.
  • "From Curse to Blessing," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources.
    • "Expand the notion that justification and the 'promise of the Spirit' equally reveal the substance of the blessing."
  • "Belonging to Christ," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • "The Broken Walls of Galatians 3:28," E. Louise Williams, Word & World, 2000.
  • "Galatians 3:19-25 as an Argument for God's Faithfulness: Reading Paul's Rhetoric in Light of His Strategy," L. Ann Jervis, Word & World, 2000.
  • "The Contribution of the Mosaic Covenant (Galatians 3:19-29)," by Robert L. Deffinbaugh at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "The Gentile Galatians had been persuaded by the Judaizers that to be truly spiritual they must place themselves under the Law. Paul counters this by showing that if living under the Law is no longer necessary for the Jews, surely it is not required of the Gentiles either."
  • Environmental & earth-centered reflections from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota Environmental Stewardship Commission.
    • "In the wake of Christmas, then, the household of faith is freed from its self-preoccupations as it is sent forth into the world to participate in that grand process by which God works throughout Creation toward the energetic 'fullness of time.'"
• Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
  • Belleville, Linda L., "'Under Law': Structural Analysis and the Pauline Concept of Law in Galatians 3:21-4:11," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1986.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Borchert, Gerald L., "A Key to Pauline Thinking - Galatians 3:23-29: Faith and the New Humanity," Review & Expositor, 1994.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Boucher, Madeleine, "Some Unexplored Parallels to 1 Cor 11:11-12 and Gal 3:28: The NT on the Role of Women," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1969.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Cousar, Charles B., "Paul and the Death of Jesus," Interpretation, 1998.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Eisenbaum, Pamela, "Is Paul the Father of Misogyny and Antisemitism?" Cross Currents, 2000/01.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Gaventa, Beverly Roberts, "Is Galatians Just a 'Guy Thing'? A Theological Reflection," Interpretation, 2000.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Hanson, A.T., "The Origin of Paul's Use of PAIDAGOGOS for the Law," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1988.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Harrill, J. Albert, "Coming of Age and Putting on Christ: The toga virilis Ceremony, Its Paraenesis, and Paul's Interpretation of Baptism in Galatians," Novum Testamentum, 2002.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Harrisville, Roy A., III, "Before PISTIS CHRISTOU: The Objective Genitive as Good Greek," Novum Testamentum, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Heidebrecht, Doug, "Distinction and Function in the Church: Reading Galatians 3:28 in Context," Direction, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Hopko, Thomas "Galatians 3:28: An Orthodox Interpretation," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 1991.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • House, H. Wayne, "A Biblical View of Women in the Ministry: 'Neither ... Male nor Female ... in Christ Jesus,'" Bibliotheca Sacra, 1988.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Jervis, L. Ann, "Galatians 3:19-25 as an Argument for God's Faithfulness: Reading Paul's Rhetoric in Light of His Strategy," Word & World, 2000.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Jones, L. Gregory, "Unity and Diversity in Christ," The Christian Century, 1992.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Jones, Peter Rhea, "Exegesis of Galatians 3 and 4," Review and Expositor, 1972.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Kahl, Brigitte, "No Longer Male: Masculinity Struggles behind Galatians 3.28?" Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2000.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Koester, Craig, "Opportunity to Do Good: The Letter to the Galatians," Word & World, 1989.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Lienemann-Perrin, Christine, "The Biblical Foundations for a Feminist and Participatory Theology of Mission," International Review of Mission, 2004.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Lowe, Stephen D., "Rethinking the Female Status/Function Question: The Jew/Gentile Relationship as Paradigm," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1991.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Lull, David J., "'The Law Was Our Pedagogue': A Study in Galatians 3:19-25," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1986.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Marcus, Joel, "'Under the Law': The Background of a Pauline Expression," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2001.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Martin, Troy W., "The Covenant of Circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) and the Situational Antithesis in Galatians 3:28," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2003.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Neyrey, Jerome H., S.J., "God, Benefactor and Patron: The Major Cultural Model for Interpreting the Deity in Greco-Roman Antiquity," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Pentecost, J. Dwight, "The Purpose of the Law," Bibliotheca Sacra, 1971.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Sadler, Rodney S., "Unqualified Christians," The Christian Century, 2007.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Sanneh, Lamin, "Pluralism and Christian Commitment," Theology Today, 1988.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Smith, Michael J., "The Role of the Pedagogue in Galatians," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Stanley, Christopher D., "'Neither Jew nor Greek': Ethnic Conflict in Graeco-Roman Society," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Williams, E. Louise, "The Broken Walls of Galatians 3:28," Word & World, 2000.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Sermons:
  • "I Believe, I Believe," from a series of sermons on the book of Galatians by Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church in Des Moines, Washington.
  • "Baptized in the Storm," Terry Echelbarger, Pacific School of Religion, 2000.
  • "What Is Discipline?" the Very Rev. Samuel G. Candler, Day 1, 1998.
• With Children:
  • Worshiping with Children, Proper 7, Including children in the congregation's worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2016.
  • Storypath, Connecting Children's Literature with our Faith Story, Union Presbyterian Seminary, 2016.
  • "Jesus by the Well," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
• Drama:
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
• Hymns and Music:
  • No Longer, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, LEONI (6.6.8.4) (?The God of Abraham Praise?)
  • Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Galatians 3:26, 28. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • Hymnal Scripture References, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Galatians

• INDEX BY SCRIPTURE
• PODCASTS
• NARRATIVE LECTIONARY RESOURCES
• DAILY LECTIONARY RESOURCES
• FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS (includes Creation)
• FOR USE IN TIMES OF VIOLENCE
• PEACE RESOURCES
• FOR USE IN TIMES OF NATURAL DISASTER

• Year C
• Maundy Thurs Apr 14
• Good Friday Apr 15
• Easter Day Apr 17
• Easter 2 Apr 24
• Easter 3 May 1
• Easter 4 May 8
• Easter 5 May 15
• Easter 6 May 22
• Ascension May 26
• Easter 7 May 29
• Pentecost June 5
  

• Calendars
• YEAR A
• YEAR B
• YEAR C