Galatians 3:12

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

New American Standard Bible (1995)
However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."

Legacy Standard Bible
However, the Law is not of faith; rather, "He who does them shall live by them."

Simplified Cowboy Version
This is a lot different than when the Code says, "It is only by following the Code that one will find life."

Bible in Basic English
And the law is not of faith; but, He who does them will have life by them.

Darby Translation
but the law is not on the principle of faith; but, He that shall have done these things shall live by them.

Christian Standard Bible®
But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.

World English Bible
The law is not of faith, but, "The man who does them will live by them."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Now the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them, shall live by them.

Weymouth's New Testament
and the Law has nothing to do with faith. It teaches that "he who does these things shall live by doing them."

King James Version (1611)
And the Law is not of faith: but the man that doeth them, shall liue in them.

Literal Translation
But the Law is not of faith, but, "The man doing these things shall live in them." Lev. 18:5

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The lawe is not of faith, but the ma that doth ye same, shal lyue therin.

Mace New Testament (1729)
now the law does not justify by FAITH, but says, "he that DOES these things shall live by them."

Amplified Bible
But the Law does not rest on or require faith [it has nothing to do with faith], but [instead, the Law] says, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM [the things prescribed by the Law] SHALL LIVE BY THEM [instead of faith]."

American Standard Version
and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them.

Revised Standard Version
but the law does not rest on faith, for "He who does them shall live by them."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
The lawe is not of fayth: but the man that fulfilleth the thinges contayned in the lawe (shall live in the.)

Update Bible Version
and the law is not of faith; but, He that does them shall live in them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live by them.

Young's Literal Translation
and the law is not by faith, but -- `The man who did them shall live in them.'

New Century Version
The law is not based on faith. It says, "A person who obeys these things will live because of them."

New English Translation
But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them .

Berean Standard Bible
The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."

Contemporary English Version
The Law isn't based on faith. It promises life only to people who obey its commands.

Complete Jewish Bible
Furthermore, legalism is not based on trusting and being faithful, but on [a misuse of] the text that says, "Anyone who does these things will attain life through them."

English Standard Version
But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lawe is not of faith: but the man that shall doe those things, shall liue in them.

George Lamsa Translation
Thus the law is not made by faith, but, Whosoever shall do the things which are written in it shall live in it.

Hebrew Names Version
The law is not of faith, but, "The man who does them will live by them."

International Standard Version
But the law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, "The person who keeps the commandmentswho does them">[fn] will have life in them."Leviticus 18:5">[fn]Leviticus 18:5; Nehemiah 9:29; Ezekiel 20:11; Romans 4:4-5; 10:5-6; 11:6;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
But the law is not of faith: but he who doeth those things that are written in it shall live by them.

Murdock Translation
Now the law is not of faith; but, whoever shall do the things written in it, shall live by them.

New King James Version
Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them." Leviticus 18:5">[fn]

New Living Translation
This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, "It is through obeying the law that a person has life."

New Life Bible
The Law does not use faith. It says, "You must obey all the Law or you will die."

English Revised Version
and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them.

New Revised Standard
But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, "Whoever does the works of the law will live by them."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, the law, is not of faith, but - he that hath done them, shall live in them,

Douay-Rheims Bible
But the law is not of faith: but he that doth those things shall live in them.

King James Version
And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Lexham English Bible
But the law is not from faith, but "the one who does these things will live by them."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the lawe is not of fayth: but the man that doth them, shall lyue in them.

Easy-to-Read Version
The law does not depend on faith. No, it says that the only way a person will find life by the law is to obey its commands.

New American Standard Bible
However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "THE PERSON WHO PERFORMS THEM WILL LIVE BY THEM."

Good News Translation
But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, as the scripture says, "Whoever does everything the Law requires will live."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But the lawe is not of bileue, but he that doith tho thingis of the lawe, schal lyue in hem.

Contextual Overview

⁷Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed in you." ⁹So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law." ¹¹The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: "The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them." ¹³Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it. ¹⁵Friends, let me give you an example from everyday affairs of the free life I am talking about. Once a person's will has been ratified, no one else can annul it or add to it. Now, the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. You will observe that Scripture, in the careful language of a legal document, does not say "to descendants," referring to everybody in general, but "to your descendant" (the noun, note, is singular), referring to Christ. This is the way I interpret this: A will, earlier ratified by God, is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 years later, thereby negating the promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions and regulations, has nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will. What is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a thoughtful addition to the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It was arranged by angelic messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is a middleman as there was at Sinai, then the people are not dealing directly with God, are they? But the original promise is the direct blessing of God, received by faith. If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God's will for us? Not at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time. Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for. But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise. In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous "descendant," heirs according to the covenant promises.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the law: Romans 4:4, Romans 4:5, Romans 4:14, Romans 4:16, Romans 9:30-32, Romans 10:5, Romans 10:6, Romans 11:6

The man: Leviticus 18:5, Nehemiah 9:29, Ezekiel 20:11, Ezekiel 20:13, Matthew 19:17, Luke 10:25-28, Romans 10:5, Romans 10:6

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 6:25 - General Joshua 6:17 - accursed Habakkuk 2:4 - but Luke 10:26 - General Luke 10:28 - this Romans 2:13 - but the Galatians 3:18 - if

Cross-References

Genesis 2:18
God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.

Genesis 3:13
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."

Genesis 3:20
The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

Genesis 3:21
God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them.

Proverbs 19:3
People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed?

Proverbs 28:13
You can't whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

Luke 10:29
Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define ‘neighbor'?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the law is not of faith,.... The Arabic version adds, "but of man"; which as it is an addition to the text, so it contains false doctrine; for though the law is not of faith, yet not of man, but of God; the law does not consist of faith in Christ, nor does it require it, and that a man should live by it upon his righteousness; it is the Gospel that reveals the righteousness of Christ, and directs and encourages men to believe in him and be saved; nor does the law take any notice of a man's faith; nor has it anything to do with a man as a believer, but as a doer, in the point of justification:

but the man that doth them shall live in them; the passage referred to, is in Leviticus 18:5, the word "them", relates to the statutes and judgments, not of the ceremonial, but of the moral law, which are equally obligatory on Gentiles as on Jews. The Jewish doctors x observe on those words, that

"it is not said, priests, Levites, and Israelites, but

האדם, "the man"; lo, you learn from hence, that even a Gentile that studies in the law, is as an high priest:''

so that whatever man does the things contained in the law, that is, internally as well as externally, for the law is spiritual, reaches the inward part of man, and requires truth there, a conformity of heart and thought unto it, and that does them perfectly and constantly, without the least failure in matter or manner of obedience, such shall live in them and by them; the language of the law is, do this and live; so life, and the continuation of that happy natural life which Adam had in innocence, was promised to him, in case of his persisting in his obedience to the law; and so a long and prosperous life was promised to the Israelites in the land of Canaan, provided they observed the laws and statutes which were commanded them: but since eternal life is a promise made before the world began, is provided for in an everlasting covenant, is revealed in the Gospel, and is the pure gift of God's grace through Christ, it seems that it never was the will of God that it should be obtained by the works of the law; and which is a further proof that there can be no justification in the sight of God by them, see Galatians 3:21.

x T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 3. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the law is not of faith - The Law is not a matter of faith; it does not relate to faith; it does not require faith; it deals in other matters, and it pertains to another system than to faith.

But, The man ... - This is the language of the Law, and this is what the Law teaches. It does not make provision for faith, but it requires unwavering and perpetual obedience, if man would obtain life by it; see this passage explained in the notes at Romans 10:5.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 12. And the law is not of faith — It promises no forgiveness to believing, but requires obedience. It is not, What do you believe? but, What have you done? The man that doeth them perfectly, at all times, and in all places, he shall live in them; but if in any case he fails, he forfeits his life. Romans 1:17; Romans 1:17, &c.