Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Galatians · About this commentary
Neither Jew Nor Greek
Galatians 3:26-29
26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. · WEB
Three divisions are named and abolished in one clause, and the chapter ends by giving the Galatians the descent their opponents were selling.
You are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. The pronoun is emphatic and second person — Paul turns from the we of the custody paragraphs to the gentile readers directly. The sonship they were being told to acquire is stated as already theirs.
Verse 27 gives the ground in a clothing image: those baptized into Christ have put on Christ, the verb used of dressing. What is worn is a person.
Then verse 28, and the three pairs cover the divisions that organized the ancient world. Jew and Greek — the line the whole letter is about. Slave and free — the letter's master metaphor for bondage and liberty. Male and female — the line nobody then thought negotiable.
The claim is neither… nor, and its scope is set by the closing clause: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. What is denied is that these categories determine standing before God or membership in Abraham's family — not that every difference is abolished, since the letter goes on giving instructions to particular people.
Verse 29 lands the chapter exactly where the opponents wanted to stand: if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, and heirs according to promise. The singular offspring of verse 16 is now a body, included by belonging to the one. The descent being marketed by circumcision is handed over free.
settled What this mark means