Galatians 3:19

WEB

¹⁹Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.

KJV

¹⁹Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

BSB

¹⁹Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.

FBV

¹⁹What was the point of the law, then? It was added to show what wrongdoing really is, until the son came to whom the promise had been made. The law was put in place by angels through the hand of a mediator.

Related Resources

The Law Imprisoned People Under Sin: Galatians 3:19–22, Part 1 - Desiring God
The Law Came Through Angels: Galatians 3:19–22, Part 2 - Desiring God
10 Questions with Mike Winger (Episode 19) - Mike Winger
Understanding The Old Testament Law - part 2 of 2 - Mike Winger
The Law of Moses, the Gentiles and Jesus: Hebrew Roots part 2 - Mike Winger
The Law Is Not of Faith? Galatians 3:10–14, Part 2 - Desiring God
Christ Fulfills the Law - Grace to You
Through Christ, Life - Grace to You
Proof of Christ’s Preeminence - Grace to You

Extra References

Acts 7:53

⁵³You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”

Hebrews 2:2

²For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,

Romans 7:7-13

⁷What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”⁸But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. ⁹I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰The commandment which was for life, this I found to be for death; ¹¹for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. ¹²Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous, and good.

¹³Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.

Galatians 3:16

¹⁶Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring.^[+] He doesn’t say, “To descendants^[+] as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”,which is Christ.

1 Timothy 1:8-9

⁸But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully, ⁹as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Romans 5:20-21

²⁰The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly, ²¹that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 4:15

¹⁵For the law produces wrath; for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.

Romans 3:19-20

¹⁹Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. ²⁰Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:1-2

¹Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? ²Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.

Acts 7:38

³⁸^[+] This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us,