OET interlinear GAL 5:5

5:5

In this verse, Paul wrote about the people who had not separated themselves from Christ. They continued to believe in Christ for justification. They had rejected circumcision as a means of justification. They would attain righteousness by means of faith in Christ.

But: Verse 5:5 begins with a conjunction that is normally translated as “for.” Understood that way, it would introduce the reason why people who try to be justified by the law have fallen away from grace (5:4b). Some English versions translate it that way. For example:

For (ESV)

However, this conjunction can also be understood as introducing a contrast between “you” (who obey the law to be made right with God) and “we” (who believe in Christ to be made right with God). The BSB and some other English versions translate this conjunction as But in order to focus on the contrast.

Some other ways to begin 5:5 are:

But we

However, as for us

As for us (GNT)

by faith: There are three ways to interpret what the phrase by faith is connected to:

1. It is connected to righteousness:. According to this interpretation, “righteousness by faith” is in contrast with “justified by the law” in 5:4a. For example:

   But we…eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. (NLT96) (NLT96, CEV)

2. It is connected with eagerly wait for. For example:

   faith causes us to wait eagerly (GW) (BSB, NLT, GW)

3. It is connected with the Spirit. For example:

   The power of God’s Spirit working through our faith (GNT) (GNT)

Most English versions translate by faith literally and it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).One scholar who follows this interpretation is Fung, who says, “The whole weight of the verse is on the two phrases ‘through the Spirit, by faith,’ (RSV) which are brought forward for emphasis since they stand for the two aspects that distinguish the Christian hope from the Jewish. There is in ‘through the Spirit’ an implied contrast with ‘the flesh’ which is the active principle of legal righteousness (cf. 3:3), while ‘by faith’ stands in explicit and decisive contrast with ‘by way of law’ (v. 4). The two phrases are not, strictly speaking, predicated of ‘righteousness’: it is not explicitly stated here that it is ‘through the Spirit’ and ‘by faith’ that believers are justified, but only that it is ‘through the Spirit, by faith’ that ‘we wait for the hope of righteousness.’ But since the expectation of this ‘hope’ to which believers are pointed forward by their justification is grounded in their present experience of the Spirit and in faith it is plainly not, and cannot be, based on works of the law, because justification, which gives rise to the hope in question, cannot itself be achieved by works of the law, but is attained only ‘by faith.’ The clear contrast between faith and law in the immediate context (as well as in the epistle as a whole) shows beyond doubt that in Paul’s thinking there can be no such thing as a hope which is being awaited on the basis of faith while the ground of that hope (namely, justification) is itself based on works of the law.We may therefore conclude that v. 5 unmistakably implies that justification is ‘by faith’ and not ‘by way of law,’ even though the full expression ‘justified by faith,’ which might have been expected, is lacking” (Fung, p. 227).

The final goal of a believer’s life is righteousness. It is by means of faith in Christ that believers attain this righteousness.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

we are made right with God by our faith

we are righteous because we believe/trust

faith: See faith, Meaning 1 in the Glossary.

we: The pronoun we refers to Paul and the other people who were not following the law in order to be made righteous. These are the people who had not fallen away from grace. You may need to make this explicit. For example:

we who have not fallen away from grace , we

we who reject circumcision for justification , we

The we is neither completely inclusive nor completely exclusive. It includes the majority of the Galatians, but it excludes those who have fallen from grace. If a choice has to be made, it is best to use the inclusive form, because Paul still considered the Galatians to be his brothers in Christ.

eagerly await: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as eagerly await refers to waiting for and looking forward to the end of the age when Christ will return.

Some other ways to translate this verb are:

eagerly wait for the final day

wait for that day with our whole heart

through the Spirit: There are at least two ways to interpret what the phrase through the Spirit is connected to:

1. It is connected to the verb eagerly await. According to this interpretation, the Holy Spirit helps us and encourages us to eagerly wait for the final day when we will be made completely righteous. For example:

   this is what we wait for by the power of God’s Spirit (GNT) (BSB, GNT, NCV)

2. It is connected to the word hope. According to this interpretation, the Holy Spirit causes us to hope or be sure that God will make us righteous. For example:

   the Spirit makes us sure (CEV) (CEV)

Most English versions are literal and it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

In 3:3, Paul said that believers begin their lives with the Spirit. They must continue to live their lives and wait for the day when the Lord returns. They can do this through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

we, by the help of the Spirit, are eagerly waiting (TCNT)

through the power of the Holy Spirit

by the Spirit we wait eagerly for this hope (NCV)

the Holy Spirit helps/encourages us to wait for

the hope of righteousness: The Greek phrase that the BSB literally translates as the hope of righteousness refers to the righteousness that believers hope to receive on judgment day. The word righteousness refers to being “upright,” “blameless” or “just” before God.

The word hope refers to something good that a person expects to happen. He is sure/certain that it will happen. In this context, believers expect to be declared righteous because God promised it. It is different from the modern use of the word “hope” in English.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

the righteousness for which we hope

the righteousness that we expect

the righteousness God has promised to us (NLT)

we are eagerly waiting for God to declare us blameless. This is what we hope for/expect.