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.
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.
- BSB A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; 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.
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 one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Deut 6:4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
- Job 9:33There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.
- Heb 8:6But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law.
- Heb 9:15For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
- Heb 12:24to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.
- Rom 3:29–30Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
- Gen 15:18In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
- Gal 3:17Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect.
- Acts 12:20Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus, the king’s personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.
- Gen 17:1–2When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.
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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.