A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.
- KJV Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
- NKJV Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
- NASB Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one.
- NLT Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A mediator implies more than one party, yet God is one. The promise rests on the one God's direct commitment.
Overview
This compact verse contrasts the law, given through a mediator (Moses), with the promise God made directly to Abraham. Interpreters differ on its precise sense, but Paul's drift is that the promise depends on the one faithful God, not a mediated, conditional arrangement. The point underscores the superiority and reliability of the promise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Tim 2:5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Deut 6:4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
- Job 9:33Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
- Heb 8:6Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.
- Heb 9:15Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
- Heb 12:24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
- Rom 3:29–30Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
- Gen 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Gal 3:17What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.
- Acts 12:20Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.
- Gen 17:1–2When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 3:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.