Galatians 3:24

Amplified Bible

with the result that the Law has become our tutor and our disciplinarian to guide us to Christ, so that we may be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] by faith.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.

King James Version (1611)
Wherefore the Law was our Schoolemaster to bring vs vnto Christ, that we might be iustified by Faith.

King James Version
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

English Standard Version
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

New Century Version
In other words, the law was our guardian leading us to Christ so that we could be made right with God through faith.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore the Law has become our tutor unto Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Berean Standard Bible
So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Contemporary English Version
In fact, the Law was our teacher. It was supposed to teach us until we had faith and were acceptable to God.

Complete Jewish Bible
Accordingly, the Torah functioned as a custodian until the Messiah came, so that we might be declared righteous on the ground of trusting and being faithful.

Darby Translation
So that the law has been our tutor up to Christ, that we might be justified on the principle of faith.

Easy-to-Read Version
I mean the law was the guardian in charge of us until Christ came. After he came, we could be made right with God through faith.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherefore the Lawe was our scholemaster to bring vs to Christ, that we might be made righteous by faith.

George Lamsa Translation
The law then was our pathfinder to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

Good News Translation
And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith.

Lexham English Bible
So then, the law became our guardian until Christ, in order that we could be justified by faith.

Literal Translation
So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

American Standard Version
So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Bible in Basic English
So the law has been a servant to take us to Christ, so that we might have righteousness by faith.

Hebrew Names Version
So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Messiah, that we might be justified by faith.

International Standard Version
And so the law was our guardian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.Matthew 5:17; Acts 13:39; Romans 10:4; Galatians 2:16; Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 9:9-10;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
The law therefore was our conductor [fn] to the Meshiha, that we might be justified by faith.

Murdock Translation
The law, therefore, was a monitor for us unto the Messiah, that we might become just by faith.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Wherfore, the lawe was our scholemaister vnto Christe, that we shoulde be iustified by fayth.

English Revised Version
So that the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

World English Bible
So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Wherefore the law was our school-master unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Weymouth's New Testament
So that the Law has acted the part of a tutor-slave to lead us to Christ, in order that through faith we may be declared to be free from guilt.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And so the lawe was oure vndirsmaister in Crist, that we ben iustified of bileue.

Update Bible Version
So that the law has become our tutor [to bring us] to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore the law was our school-master [to bring us] to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

New English Translation
Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.

New King James Version
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

New Living Translation
Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

New Life Bible
The Law was used to lead us to Christ. It was our teacher, and so we were made right with God by putting our trust in Christ.

New Revised Standard
Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So that, the law, hath proved, our tutor, training us, for Christ, in order that, by faith, we might be declared righteous;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Wherefore the law was our pedagogue in Christ: that we might be justified by faith.

Revised Standard Version
So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Wherfore the lawe was oure scolemaster vnto the tyme of Christ yt we might be made rightewes by fayth.

Young's Literal Translation
so that the law became our child-conductor -- to Christ, that by faith we may be declared righteous,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thus ye lawe was or scolemaster vnto Christ, that we might be made righteous by faith.

Mace New Testament (1729)
so that the law was our school-master to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Here's another way of looking at it. The Law was like a prison guard until Jesus came. It kept us safe, but locked away until Jesus could make us right with God and set us free.

Contextual Overview

¹⁹Why, then, the Law [what was its purpose]? It was added [after the promise to Abraham, to reveal to people their guilt] because of transgressions [that is, to make people conscious of the sinfulness of sin], and [the Law] was ordained through angels and delivered to Israel by the hand of a mediator [Moses, the mediator between God and Israel, to be in effect] until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one party; whereas God is only one [and was the only One giving the promise to Abraham, but the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity depended on both]. ²¹Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a system of law had been given which could impart life, then righteousness (right standing with God) would actually have been based on law. ²²But the Scripture has imprisoned everyone [everything—the entire world] under sin, so that [the inheritance, the blessing of salvation] which was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe [in Him and acknowledge Him as God's precious Son]. ²³Now before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, [perpetually] imprisoned [in preparation] for the faith that was destined to be revealed, ²⁴with the result that the Law has become our tutor and our disciplinarian to guide us to Christ, so that we may be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] by faith.²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under [the control and authority of] a tutor and disciplinarian. ²⁶For you [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified and] are all children of God [set apart for His purpose with full rights and privileges] through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷For all of you who were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union with the Christ, the Anointed] have clothed yourselves with Christ [that is, you have taken on His characteristics and values]. ²⁸There is [now no distinction in regard to salvation] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you [who believe] are all one in Christ Jesus [no one can claim a spiritual superiority].

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the law: Galatians 3:25, Galatians 2:19, Galatians 4:2, Galatians 4:3, Matthew 5:17, Matthew 5:18, Acts 13:38, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:20-22, Romans 7:7-9, Romans 7:24, Romans 7:25, Romans 10:4, Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 7:18, Hebrews 7:19, Hebrews 9:8-16, Hebrews 10:1-14

justified: Galatians 2:16, Acts 13:39

Reciprocal: Matthew 19:20 - All John 5:46 - had John 8:17 - also Romans 3:28 - General 1 Corinthians 6:11 - but ye are justified 2 Corinthians 3:13 - to the Galatians 3:23 - faith came Galatians 4:21 - ye that

Cross-References

Genesis 3:2
And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,

Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:9
But the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, "Where are you?"

Genesis 3:16
To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth; In pain you will give birth to children; Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband, And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you."

Genesis 3:17
Then to Adam the LORD God said, "Because you have listened [attentively] to the voice of your wife, and have eaten [fruit] from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it'; The ground is [now] under a curse because of you; In sorrow and toil you shall eat [the fruit] of it All the days of your life.

Genesis 3:18
"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field.

Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever"—

Exodus 25:2
"Tell the children of Israel to take an offering for Me. From every man whose heart moves him [to give willingly] you shall take My offering.

Numbers 22:23
When the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way and His drawn sword in His hand, the donkey turned off the path and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back toward the path.

Joshua 5:13
Now when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his drawn sword in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ,.... So the words should be read, as they are by the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; for the words "to bring us" are a supplement of our translators, and have nothing to answer to them in the original; and the sense of the passage is, that the law performed this office of a schoolmaster until the coming of Christ; which shows that till that time the church was in its minority, that the Jews were but children in knowledge and understanding, and therefore stood in need, and were under the care of a schoolmaster, the law, by which the whole Mosaic administration is designed. They were taught by the moral law, the letter, the writing on the two tables, with other statutes and judgments, their duty to God and men, what is to be done and to be avoided, what is righteousness and what is not, the nature of sin, its demerit and consequences; but these gave them no instructions about a Saviour, and life and righteousness by him. The ceremonial law gave them some hints of the Gospel scheme, and the way of salvation by Christ, but in a manner suited to their estate of childhood; by sights and shows, by types and figures, by rites and ceremonies, by shadows and sacrifices; it taught them by divers washings the pollution of their nature, their need of the blood of Christ to cleanse from all sin; by circumcision, the necessity of regeneration, and the internal circumcision of the heart; by the passover, the daily sacrifice and other offerings, the doctrines of redemption, satisfaction, and atonement; and by the brazen serpent, the necessity of looking to Christ for life and salvation, and by various other things in that branch of the legal economy: but besides the instruction the law gave, it made use of discipline as a schoolmaster does; it kept a strict eye and hand over them, and them close to the performance of their duty; and restrained them from many things their inclinations led them to, threatening them with death in case of disobedience, and inflicting its penalties on delinquents; hence they that were under its discipline, were through fear of death it threatened them with, all their time subject to bondage: even the ceremonial law had something awful and tremendous in it; every beast that was slain in sacrifice was not only an instruction to them that they deserved to die as that creature did; but carried in it a tacit acknowledgment and confession of their own guilt; and the whole was an handwriting of ordinances against them. Moreover, the law being called a schoolmaster, shows that the use of it was but temporary, and its duration but for a time; children are not always to be under, nor designed to be always under a schoolmaster, no longer than till they are come to a proper age for greater business and higher exercises of life; so the law was to continue, and did continue, to be of this use and service to the Jewish church during its minority, until Christ came, the substance of all it taught and directed to: both the Jerusalem Targum and that of Jonathan ben Uzziel, on Numbers 11:12 use the very Greek word the apostle does here, concerning Moses, rendering the words, as a "pedagogue" or "schoolmaster" bears a sucking child into the land, c.

That we might be justified by faith by Christ the object of faith, by his righteousness, which faith looks unto and receives, and not by the law and the works of it; the people of the Jews were in such a state under the law, and the law of that use unto them before the coming of Christ, as above represented, that it might be made manifest, be a clear point, and out of all dispute, that there is no such thing as justification by the law; for how could ever such a blessing be expected from it, when men were kept under it as under a military guard; when they were shut up in it as in a prison, and were treated by it as malefactors, convicted and condemned; and when they were under the discipline of it, as a rigid and severe schoolmaster? this being their case till Christ came, when it ceased to be all this to them, he being the end of it for righteousness, it became a thing self-evident, that justification is only by him and his righteousness, and so the end here mentioned was answered.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster - The word rendered schoolmaster (παιδαγωγὸς paidagōgos, whence the word “pedagogue”), referred originally to a slave or freedman, to whose care boys were committed, and who accompanied them to the public schools. The idea here is not that of instructor, but there is reference to the office and duty of the “paedagogus” among the ancients. The office was usually intrusted to slaves or freedmen. It is true, that when the “paedagogus” was properly qualified, he assisted the children committed to his care in preparing their lessons. But still his main duty was not instruction, but it was to watch over the boys; to restrain them from evil and temptation; and to conduct them to the schools, where they might receive instruction. See, for illustrations of this, Wetstein, Bloomfield, etc. In the passage before us, the proper notion of pedagogue is retained. In our sense of the word schoolmaster, Christ is the schoolmaster, and not the Law. The Law performs the office of the ancient pedagogue, to lead us to the teacher or the instructor. That teacher or instructor is Christ. The ways in which the Law does this may be the following:

(1) It restrains us and rebukes us, and keeps us as the ancient pedagogue did his boys.

(2) The whole law was designed to be introductory to Christ. The sacrifices and offerings were designed to shadow forth the Messiah, and to introduce him to the world.

(3) The moral law - the Law of God - shows people their sin and danger, and thus leads them to the Saviour. It condemns them, and thus prepares them to welcome the offer of pardon through a Redeemer.

(4) It still does this. The whole economy of the Jews was designed to do this and under the preaching of the gospel it is still done. People see that they are condemned; they are convinced by the Law that they cannot save themselves, and thus they are led to the Redeemer. The effect of the preached gospel is to show people their sins, and thus to be preparatory to the embracing of the offer of pardon. Hence, the importance of preaching the Law still; and hence, it is needful that people should be made to feel that they are sinners, in order that they may be prepared to embrace the offers of mercy; compare the note at Romans 10:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 24. The law was our schoolmaster — Ὁ νομος παιδαγωγος ἡμων γεγονεν εις Χριστον· The law was our pedagogue unto Christ. The παιδαγωγος, pedagogue, is not the schoolmaster, but the servant who had the care of the children to lead them to and bring them back from school, and had the care of them out of school hours. Thus the law did not teach us the living, saving knowledge; but, by its rites and ceremonies, and especially by its sacrifices, it directed us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. This is a beautiful metaphor, and highly illustrative of the apostle's doctrine. Romans 10:4, where this figure is farther explained.