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Galatians 3:28

in Galatians 3

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.

KJV

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

This verse in Galatians 3

Commentary

18 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.3.27-28 · Written before 420.

When one has once put on Christ and, having been sent into the flame, glows with the ardor of the Holy Spirit, it is not apparent whether he is of gold or silver. As long as the heat takes over the mass in this way there is one fiery color, and all diversity of race, condition and body is taken away by such a garment.

This site's exposition

neither Jew nor Greek

The three pairs, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, name the deepest divisions of the ancient world. In Christ Jesus none of them grades a believer's standing, and the verse levels access to sonship and inheritance.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 420.

(Verse 27, 28.) For whoever has been baptized in Christ has clothed themselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And how we are born as children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, he demonstrates by saying: For whoever has been baptized in Christ has clothed themselves with Christ. And that Christ is our clothing is proven not only in this passage, but also in another by the urging of Paul himself: Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. XIII, 14).

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 550.

proposed

"for you are all one in Christ Jesus." To be clothed with the one form and one likeness of Christ, and to have him as one head, and to bring all together into one body. He says, "in Christ Jesus." For through him we have …

A commentator

Hippolytus of Rome

Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book V · Written before 235.

proposed

For (the Naassene) says, there is the hermaphrodite man. According to this account of theirs, the intercourse of woman with man is demonstrated, in conformity with such teaching, to be an exceedingly wicked and filthy (practice). For, says (the Naassene), Attis has been emasculated, that is, he has passed over from the earthly parts of the nether world to the everlasting substance above, where, he says, there is neither female or male, but a new creature, a new man, which is hermaphrodite.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 28 [1B.3.28-29] · Written before 430.

proposed

Difference of race or condition or sex is indeed taken away by the unity of faith, but it remains embedded in our mortal interactions, and in the journey of this life the apostles themselves teach that it is to be respected.… For we observe in the unity of faith that there are no such distinctions. Yet within the orders of this life they persist. So we walk this path in a way that the name and doctrine of God will not be blasphemed. It is not out of fear or anger that we wish to avoid offense to others but also on account of conscience, so that we may do these things not in mere profession, as if for the eyes of men, but with a pure love toward God.

A commentator

Tertullian

On the Apparel of Women Book I · Written before 220.

proposed

With what consistency do we mount that (future) judgment-seat to pronounce sentence against those whose gifts we (now) seek after? For you too, (women as you are, ) have the self-same angelic nature promised as your reward, the self-same sex as men: the self-same advancement to the dignity of judging, does (the Lord) promise you.
11 more voices on this verse

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Clement of Alexandria

The Instructor Book 1 · Written before 215.

proposed

Then he subjoined the utterance, clear of all partiality: "For ye are all the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." There are not, then, in the same Word some "illuminated (gnostics); and some animal (or natural) men; "but all who have abandoned the desires of the flesh are equal and spiritual before the Lord.

A commentator

Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians · Written before 108.

proposed

Masters, be gentle towards your servants, as holy Job has taught you; for there is one nature, and one family of mankind. For "in Christ there is neither bond nor free."

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Galatians 3 · Written before 407.

proposed

See what an insatiable soul! for having said, "We are all made children of God through Faith," he does not stop there, but tries to find something more exact, which may serve to convey a still closer oneness with Christ. Having said, "ye have put on Christ," even this does not suffice Him, but by way of penetrating more deeply into this union, he comments on it thus: "Ye are all One in Christ Jesus," that is, ye have all one form and one mould, even Christ's. What can be more awful than these words! He that was a Greek, or Jew, or bondman yesterday, carries about with him the form, not of an Angel or Archangel, but of the Lord of all, yea displays in his own person the Christ.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 1107.

proposed

Each of the baptized, he says, has cast off his natural distinctions; all have received one type and one image, not of an Angel, but of the Lord Himself, manifesting Christ in themselves. So that we are all one in Christ Jesus, precisely insofar as …

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 1274.

proposed

He elucidates this teaching when he says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female." As if to say: Truly have I said, that "as many of you as have been baptized in Christ Jesus …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

There is neither Jew nor Greek - That is, there is no difference between them; they are equally accepted through faith. There is neither male nor female - Circumcision being laid aside, which was peculiar to males, and was designed to put a difference, during that dispensation, between Jews and gentiles.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,....

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

There is neither Jew nor Greek - Ἑλλην, Greek, is put here for εθνικος, heathen. Under the Gospel all distinctions are done away, as either helping or hindering; all are equally welcome to Christ, and all have an equal need of him; all persons of all sects, and conditions, and sexes, who believe in him, become one family through him; they are one body, of which he is the head. Neither male nor female - With great reason the apostle introduces this. Between the privileges of men and women there was a great disparity among the Jews.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Col 3:11). bond nor free--Christ alike belongs to both by faith; whence he puts "bond" before "free." Compare Note, see on 1Co 7:21, 22; Eph 6:8. neither male nor female--rather, as Greek, "there is not male and female." There is no distinction into male and female. Difference of sex makes no difference in Christian privileges.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

There is neither Jew nor Greek - All are on a level; all are saved in the same way; all are entitled to the same privileges. There is no favoritism on account of birth, beauty, or blood. All confess that they are sinners; all are saved by the merits of the same Saviour; all are admitted to the same privileges as children of God. The word “Greek” here is used to denote the Gentiles generally; since the whole world was divided by the Jews into “Jews and Greeks” - the Greeks being the foreign nation best known to them. The Syriac renders it here “Aramean,” using the word to denote the Gentiles generally. The meaning is, that whatever was the birth, or rank, or nation, or color, or complexion, all under the gospel were on a level. They were admitted to the same privileges, and endowed with the same hopes of eternal life. This does not mean that all the civil distinctions among people are to be disregarded. It does not mean that no respect is to be shown to those in office, or to people in elevated rank. It does not mean that all are on a level in regard to talents, comforts, or wealth; but it means only that all people are on a level “in regard to religion.” This is the sole point under discussion; and the interpretation should be limited to this. It is not a fact that people are on a level in all things, nor is it a fact that the gospel designs to break down all the distinctions of society. Paul means to teach that no man has any preference or advantage in the kingdom of God because he is a rich man, or because he is of elevated rank; no one is under any disadvantage because he is poor, or because he is ignorant, or a slave. […]

Modern Voices1 voice

A commentator

GK Chesterton

The Everlasting Man, Chapter III: The Antiquity of Civilisation (1925) (1925)

proposed

But in one sense there is a significance in the old slavery. It stands for one fundamental fact about all antiquity before Christ; something to be assumed from first to last. It is the insignificance of the individual before the State. It was as true …

The words behind it

23 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Colossians 3:11

    Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 3:28–29

      There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

    • 1 Corinthians 12:13

      For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

    • Romans 10:12

      For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,

    • Ephesians 3:6

      This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

    • Ephesians 1:23

      which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

  • Through

    Galatians 5:6

    For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 6:15

      For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

    • 1 Corinthians 7:19

      Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

    • James 2:14–26

      What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Where this verse is studied

About Galatians

Conversion on the Way to Damascus, Caravaggio, about 1600 to 1601. Public domain.
Conversion on the Way to Damascus, Caravaggio, about 1600 to 1601. Public domain.
This page draws on 18 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 28 [1B.3.28-29]; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 1; GK Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, Chapter III: The Antiquity of Civilisation (1925); Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book V; Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.3.27-28; Jerome, Commentary on Galatians; John Chrysostom, Homily on Galatians 3; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians; Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Book I; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Galatians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians.