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Sunday, October 6th, 2024
the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Read the Bible

Revised Standard Version

Galatians 3:24

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

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Children;   Faith;   Instruction;   Justification;   Salvation;   School;   Works;   Scofield Reference Index - Believers;   Covenant;   Flesh;   Holy Spirit;   Law;   Law of Moses;   Summary;   Thompson Chain Reference - Faith;   Justification;   Law;   Purpose;   Righteousness;   The Topic Concordance - Faith/faithfulness;   Law;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Law of God, the;   Law of Moses, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - John;   Promise;   Schoolmaster;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Adoption;   Education;   Law;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Freedom;   Law;   Paul the Apostle;   Sanctification;   Slave, Slavery;   Worship;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Man;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Schoolmaster;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Children;   Christianity;   Elements;   Hebrews, the Epistle to the;   Law;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Cross, Crucifixion;   Custodian;   Faith;   Galatians, Letter to the;   Guardian;   Law, Ten Commandments, Torah;   Mediator;   Schoolmaster;   Torah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Christianity;   Forgiveness;   James, Epistle of;   Law;   School, Schoolmaster;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Barnabas, Epistle of;   Education;   Ephesians Epistle to the;   Example;   Faith;   Family;   Freedom of the Will;   Justification (2);   Law;   Liberty (2);   Mediation Mediator;   Old Testament;   Organization (2);   Promise;   Revelation (2);   Righteousness;   Schoolmaster;   Tutor;   Type;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Schoolmaster,;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Abram;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - School;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Law of Moses;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Schoolmaster;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Elements;   Law;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - John, the Baptize;   Law of Moses, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Adoption;   Divorce in New Testament;   Ethics;   Galatians, Epistle to the;   Justification;   Law in the New Testament;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   Pauline Theology;   Schoolmaster;   Tutor;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for November 8;  

Parallel Translations

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.
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.
Bible in Basic English
So the law has been a servant to take us to Christ, so that we might have righteousness by faith.
Darby Translation
So that the law has been our tutor up to Christ, that we might be justified on the principle of faith.
Christian Standard Bible®
The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could 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.
King James Version (1611)
Wherefore the Law was our Schoolemaster to bring vs vnto Christ, that we might be iustified by Faith.
Literal Translation
So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
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.
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.
American Standard Version
So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, 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.
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.
Young's Literal Translation
so that the law became our child-conductor -- to Christ, that by faith we may be declared righteous,
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 English Translation
Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous 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.
English Standard Version
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by 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.
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.
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.
English Revised Version
So that the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
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.
King James Version
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Lexham English Bible
So then, the law became our guardian until Christ, in order that we could be justified by faith.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Wherfore, the lawe was our scholemaister vnto Christe, that we shoulde be iustified by fayth.
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.
New American Standard Bible
Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may 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.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And so the lawe was oure vndirsmaister in Crist, that we ben iustified of bileue.

Contextual Overview

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not; for if a law had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. 24 So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

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 of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:9
But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
Genesis 3:16
To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
Genesis 3:18
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Genesis 3:22
Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" --
Exodus 25:2
"Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me an offering; from every man whose heart makes him willing you shall receive the offering for me.
Numbers 22:23
And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into the road.
Joshua 5:13
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood before 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.


 
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