Galatians 3:12
New International Version
The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”

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.”

English Standard Version
But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall 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.”

Berean Literal Bible
But the Law is not of faith. Rather, "The one having done these things will live by them."

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

New King James Version
Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

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

NASB 1995
However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.”

NASB 1977
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.”

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].”

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

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

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

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But The Written Law was not from faith, but, “Whoever shall do those things that are written in it shall live in them.”

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

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

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

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Laws have nothing to do with faith, but, "Whoever obeys laws will live because of the laws he obeys."

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."

International Standard Version
But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, "The person who keeps the commandments will have life in them."

Literal Standard Version
and the Law is not by faith, rather, “The man who did them will live in them.”

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

New American Bible
But the law does not depend on faith; rather, “the one who does these things will live by them.”

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

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

New Heart English Bible
The law is not of faith, but, "The one who does them will live by them."

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

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

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

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

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Christ Redeemed Us
11Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”…

Cross References
Leviticus 18:5
Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.

Romans 7:10
So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.

Romans 10:5
For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: "The man who does these things will live by them."


Treasury of Scripture

And the law is not of faith: but, The man that does them shall live in them.

the law.

Romans 4:4,5,14,16
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt…

Romans 9:30-32
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith…

Romans 10:5,6
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them…

The man.

Leviticus 18:5
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

Nehemiah 9:29
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

Ezekiel 20:11,13
And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them…

Jump to Previous
Based Contrary Faith However Law Practices Principle Rest Teaches
Jump to Next
Based Contrary Faith However Law Practices Principle Rest Teaches
Galatians 3
1. He asks what moved them to leave the faith, and hold onto the law.
6. Those who believe are justified,
9. and blessed with Abraham.
10. And this he shows by many reasons.
15. The purpose of the Law
26. You are sons of God














(12) The law is not of faith.--The ruling principle of the Law is not faith, but something else--works.

The man that doeth them.--By "them" is meant the "statutes" and "judgments" mentioned immediately before in the verse (Leviticus 18:5) from which the quotation is taken. Just as the stress was upon "faith" in the last verse, so here it falls on the word "doeth:" it is a matter of works.

Shall live.--The idea of life receives an enlargement, corresponding to the fuller revelation of immortality in the New Testament as compared with the Old. In the Old Testament, "life is an existence upon earth, shortened by no judgment, reposing upon God, and delighting itself in God." On the other hand, "death is the sudden and dreadful end, the destruction of this existence through a judgment of some special kind" (Schultz, Theology of the Old Testament, 2:163). Such a judgment would be the Chaldean invasion; and when the prophet Habakkuk says that the "just shall live," he means that he should be saved from this calamity, and still continue to enjoy the divine favour and protection. The promise in Leviticus declares that he who keeps the Law shall be preserved from all judgments of this kind. With St. Paul, as in the Old Testament, the root idea is that of drawing support and sustenance from God; but with him this is not confined to the present life, or extended beyond the grave only in some dim and shadowy way: it begins in time and stretches on into eternity.

In them.--His life shall spring out of them and be nourished by them, just as a tree strikes its roots into the earth.

Verse 12. - And the Law is not of faith ( δὲ νόμος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ πίστεως); but the Law is not "by faith." This is closely connected with the latter part of the preceding verse, as forming another portion of the proof which is there introduced by "for." Ver. 11 should end with a semicolon, not with a full stop. The δὲ at the beginning of this verse is slightly adversative, setting "the Law" in contrast with the notion of "living by or from faith." These words, "by or from faith" (ἐκ πίστεως), are borrowed from the preceding citation. We may paraphrase thus: The Law does not put forward as its characteristic principle, "by faith;" the characteristic principle of the Law is rather that which we read in the third book of Moses (Leviticus 18:5)," The man who hath actually done them shall live by them." But, The man that doeth them shall live in them (ἀλλ Ὁ ποιήσασ αὐτὰ [ἄνθρωπος] ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς: (the word ἄνθρωπος is omitted by the recent editors, as having crept into the text from the Septuagint); but, He that doeth them shall live in them. The whole verse (Leviticus 18:5) in the Authorized Version, following the Hebrew, stands thus: "And ye shall keep my statutes and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord." The Septuagint runs thus: "And ye shall keep [or, 'and keep ye'] all my statutes and all my judgments, and ye shall do them [or, 'and do ye them']: the man that doeth them shall live in them (ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς) I am the Lord your God." It thus appears that the pronoun "them" recites "my statutes and my judgments." But this the apostle is not at present particularly concerned to specify; his main point here is that the Law requires such and such things to be actually done, before it holds out the prospect of life to be gained thereby. Those under the Law were bound to render strict obedience to all its requirements, whether moral or ceremonial; and whosoever set aside any of whichever class was constituted by the Law a "transgressor" and a man "accursed." As it stands in the passage of Leviticus referred to, the clause which is cited bears not so much the aspect of a promise as of a restrictive statement implying a threatening or warning, and is therefore its harmony with the commination quoted in ver. 10. The "doing" here spoken of differs essentially from evangelical obedience. Comprising as it did its very large proportion the observance of the ceremonial prescriptions (προστάγματα) of the Law, it points to a course of conduct in which a man, striving to earn pardon and acceptance by a meritorious life, had continually to be turning his eye, slavishly and under fear of the "curse" in case of failure, towards an external Law, whose detail of positive enactments, in addition to the regulation of his moral conduct and inward spirit, he was bound with scrupulous exactness to copy in his life. The spiritual obedience of "faith," on the other hand, evolves itself (in the apostle's view) freely and spontaneously from the inward teaching and prompting of God's Spirit, of which it is the natural product or "fruit" (ch. Galatians 5:22). Such are these two forms of religious life when viewed each in its idea. When, however, we compare the spiritual state of many even sincere believers in Christ, so far as we can estimate it, with the spiritual state of (say) the marvellous author of Psalm 119. or of David and other pious Israelites, as disclosed in the exercises of pious feeling garnered in that same devotional book, we cannot fail to perceive that an Israelite under the Law might yet be not "of the works of the Law," but in no small degree qualified to teach the Christian believer himself, even in the life which is "of faith." "Shall live in them;" that is, shall find in them a fountain, as it were, of life. The Targums, Bishop Lightfoot observes, define the meaning of "living" by "life eternal."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
The
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Law,
νόμος (nomos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3551: From a primary nemo; law, genitive case, specially, (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively.

however,
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

is
ἔστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

not
οὐκ (ouk)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

based
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

on faith;
πίστεως (pisteōs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4102: Faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.

on the contrary,
ἀλλ’ (all’)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

“The [man who]
(Ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

does
ποιήσας (poiēsas)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

these things
αὐτὰ (auta)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

will live
ζήσεται (zēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2198: To live, be alive. A primary verb; to live.

by
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

them.”
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Neuter 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


Links
Galatians 3:12 NIV
Galatians 3:12 NLT
Galatians 3:12 ESV
Galatians 3:12 NASB
Galatians 3:12 KJV

Galatians 3:12 BibleApps.com
Galatians 3:12 Biblia Paralela
Galatians 3:12 Chinese Bible
Galatians 3:12 French Bible
Galatians 3:12 Catholic Bible

NT Letters: Galatians 3:12 The law is not of faith (Gal. Ga)
Galatians 3:11
Top of Page
Top of Page