Galatians 3:20 BSB — MannaFest

Galatians 3:20

A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Now a mediator is not a mediator of one; but God is one.

KJV

Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

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Commentary

2 voices

Ambrosiaster

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.20.1-2 (384)

Without doubt, a mediator, that is, arbiter, is not of one but two. For when two peoples were contending against one another, always at odds and enemies because of the disparity in their doctrines, the Savior came as their Mediator, taking from each people the …

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Jerome

Commentary on Galatians (420)

(Verse 19, 20.) What then? The law was added because of transgressions until the seed should come to whom the promise was made; ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 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. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Now the mediator is not a mediator of one - There must be two parties, or there can be no mediator between them; but God who made the free promise to Abraham is only one of the parties. The other, Abraham, was not present at the time of Moses.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2180: “A Mediator” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1890)

THE text does not strike you as difficult, but it is exceedingly perplexing to the interpreter. I was looking at one very old commentator who is a great favorite of mine and I noticed that he said that there were 250 different meanings given by expositors to this verse. John Prime, in 1587, called it, "an endless labyrinth." "Oh," I thought, "here is a nice wood to lose oneself in! Two hundred and fifty meanings!" Turning to a more modern author—a great reader, however—he said he believed that more than 400 different interpretations had been put upon the passage.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
δὲ	de	However	G1161 →
μεσίτης	mesitēs	a mediator	G3316 →
ἑνὸς	henos	of one [person]	G1520 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἔστιν,	estin	is,	G1510 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
δὲ	de	but	G1161 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
εἷς	heis	one	G1520 →
ἐστιν.¶	estin	is.	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

G1520henosof one [person]343×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
leads to
- Mark 12:29–32
  Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
- Isaiah 44:6
  Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- 1 Timothy 2:5
  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Through
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
leads to
- Hebrews 12:24
  to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
  yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Hebrews 9:15
  Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under…
Through
Hebrews 9:15
Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under…
leads to
- Romans 3:24–26
  and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 8:30
  And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.

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The Law as Tutor, MannaFest

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Christ's own chosen picture of his death. A four-moment story across 1,400 years: sin and plague, command and cure, idolatry and smashing, crucifixion and fulfillment.

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The Covenant Lawsuit: When God Sues His People

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The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22–23 names a singular fruit (karpos, not fruits) with nine visible facets. Gifts are distributed; fruit is unified. Every believer bears the whole fruit. The grammar is the theology.

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About Galatians

The Crucifixion — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Galatians: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

Continue: Galatians 3 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Galatians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Galatians