Galatians 3:7
in Galatians 3Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham.
KJV
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
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This verse in Galatians 3
Commentary
15 notes on this verse(V.7) So you know, those who are of faith, these are the children of Abraham. He discusses more fully in the letter to the Romans that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness, not in circumcision but in uncircumcision (Rom. 4). And carefully observing, he teaches that those who believed with this mindset are the children of Abraham, just as Abraham believed when he was uncircumcised, who rejoiced to see the day of the Lord, and saw it and was glad (John 8).
This site's exposition
Abraham believed God
on Galatians 3:6-9
Paul reaches back past Sinai to Genesis 15:6, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, with no law yet given. So those who have faith, Jew or Gentile, are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
This site's exposition
those who have faith are sons of Abraham
Sons of Abraham means those who share his character. The teachers made circumcision the mark of his family. Paul makes faith the mark, since Abraham was counted righteous by believing before he was circumcised.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Every mystery which is enacted by our Lord Jesus Christ asks only for faith. The mystery was enacted at that time for our sake and aimed at our resurrection and liberation, should we have faith in the mystery of Christ and in Christ. For the …
For ye are all the children of faith," it becomes dear that what the heretic's industry erased was the mention of Abraham's name; for by faith the apostle declares us to be "children of Abraham," and after mentioning him he expressly called us "children of faith" also. But how are we children of faith? and of whose faith, if not Abraham's? For since "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness; " since, also, he deserved for that reason to be called "the father of many nations," whilst we, who are even more like him in believing in God, are thereby justified as Abraham was, and thereby also obtain life-since the just lives by his faith,-it therefore happens that, as he in the previous passage called us "sons of Abraham," since he is in faith our (common) father, so here also he named us "children of faith," for it was owing to his faith that it was promised that Abraham should be the father of (many) nations.
For if "faith" is the source whence we are reckoned to Abraham as his "sons" (as the apostle teaches, saying to the Galatians, "You know, consequently, that (they) who are of faith, these are sons of Abraham"), when did Abraham "believe God and it was accounted to him for righteousness?" I suppose when still in monogamy, since (he was) not yet in circumcision. But if afterwards he changed to either (opposite)—to digamy through cohabitation with his handmaid, and to circumcision through the seal of the testament—you cannot acknowledge him as your father except at that time when he "believed God," if it is true that it is according to faith that you are his son, not according to flesh. ... In like manner, too, if you have involved yourself in digamy, you are not the son of that Abraham whose "faith" preceded in monogamy. For albeit it is subsequently that he is called "a father of many nations," still it is of those (nations) who, as the fruit of the "faith" which precedes digamy, had to be accounted "sons of Abraham."
Which he proves by ancient testimony thus:
Since they were afraid to abandon the law, for fear that they fall away from the kinship of Abraham, he turns the argument the other way. The "then," [ἄρα] is "so therefore" [τοιγαροῦν]. "that those who are of faith." Therefore these were especially opposed to …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
From this authority he draws the minor proposition, saying "Know ye therefore, that they who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." As if to say: Someone is called the son of another because he imitates his works; therefore, "if you be …
So since they were afraid that by departing from the law they would lose their kinship with the patriarch (for they took great pride in it), he, on the contrary, shows that faith most of all makes sons of Abraham of those who possess it.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Know then that they who are partakers of his faith, these, and these only, are the sons of Abraham, and therefore heirs of the promises made to him.
), not according to the flesh, but according to the promise; and, consequently, that they are justified in the same way that he was. Abraham was justified by faith, and so are they.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Know ye therefore,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Know ye therefore ... - Learn from this case. It is an inference which follows, that all they who believe are the children of Abraham. They which are of faith - Who believe, and who are justified in this manner. Are the children of Abraham - Abraham was the “father of the faithful.” The most remarkable trait in his character was his unwavering confidence in God. They who evinced the same trait, therefore were worthy to be called his children. They would be justified in the same way, and in the same manner meet the approbation of God.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
they which are of faith--as the source and starting-point of their spiritual life. The same phrase is in the Greek of Ro 3:26. the same--these, and these alone, to the exclusion of all the other descendants of Abraham. children--Greek, "sons" (Ga 3:29).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| γινώσκετε | ginoskete | do know | G1097 → | 221 times |
| ἄρα | ara | then | G686 → | 49 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| οἱ | hoi | those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐκ | ek | of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| πίστεως | pisteos | faith | G4102 → | 242 times |
| οὗτοι | houtoi | these | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| υἱοί | huioi | sons | G5207 → | 377 times |
| εἰσιν | eisin | are | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| Ἀβραάμ. | abraam | of Abraham. | G11 → | 73 times |
γινώσκετεdo know
ginosketeG1097 →221 times
ἄραthen
araG686 →49 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
οἱthose
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ἐκof
ekG1537 →911 times
πίστεωςfaith
pisteosG4102 →242 times
οὗτοιthese
houtoiG3778 →1381 times
υἱοίsons
huioiG5207 →377 times
εἰσινare
eisinG1510 →2333 times
Ἀβραάμ.of Abraham.
abraamG11 →73 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 100:3Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
it leads to
- Psalms 95:6–7
O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
- Psalms 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
- Psalms 119:73
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
- John 17:3
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Psalms 95:6–7
Through
Galatians 3:9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
it leads to
- Romans 4:16
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who…
- Galatians 3:29
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
- Galatians 4:28
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
- Romans 4:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies39
On this verse
On this chapter
- Abraham
- The Abrahamic Covenant
- The Bronze Serpent
- The Covenant Lawsuit: When God Sues His People
- Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism
- The Covenants
Show the next 6 titles
- The Fruit of the Spirit
- Generational Curses
- Gerizim and Ebal: the blessing and the curse
- God and the Nations, from Abraham to the New Jerusalem
- Hanged on a tree
- Haran
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
About Galatians
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gaius Marius Victorinus, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.3.7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Galatians; John Calvin, 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, Against Marcion Book V; Tertullian, On Monogamy; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Galatians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians.