Galatians 3:28 - Exposition

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female ( οὐκ ἔνι ἰουδαῖος οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ); there is no dew here nor Gentile (literally, Greek ), there is no bond man here nor freeman , there is not here male and female. The word ἔνι , occurring also in i Corinthians Galatians 6:5 (according to the now accepted reading); James 1:17 ; Ec 37:2; and very noticeably in Colossians 3:11 , is probably (see Winer's 'Gram. N. T.,'§ 14, 2, 'Anm.') an adverbialized form of the preposition ἐν , of the same description as the thus accented πάρα and ἔπι . The prepositional element implies a somewhat indefinite indication of a sphere in which the statement of the clause holds good. The Revised Version renders, "there can be," and Bishop Lightfoot, "there is no room for;" but Ecclus. 37:2 and 1 Corinthians 6:5 do not much favour this particular modification. In Colossians 3:11 we have a very similar passage; there, after describing Christians as "having put on ( ἐνδυσάμενοι ) the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him," the apostle adds, "Where there is not Gentile [Greek, 'Greek'] and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all [literally, 'all things'] and in all." We may group with them also 1 Corinthians 12:12 , 1 Corinthians 12:13 , "So also is Christ; for in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews, whether Gentiles [literally, 'Greeks'], whether bondmen, whether freemen." In all three of these passages we see the reference both to "Jew and Gentile'' and to "bondman and freeman." The particular mention of these two forms of outward classification was suggested by the circumstances of the Christian Church generally at that time. Wherever the apostles went, they were sure to be confronted by questions and difficulties arising both from the one and from the other. In the kingdom of God were Jew and Gentile, were circumcised and uncircumcised, to stand on the same footing? Should believers as such be concerned to vary their treatment of one another or to modify their own condition from regard to these circumstances? Questionings of this description were being agitated everywhere, and most especially just now in the Galatian Churches. And, on the other point, the universal existence of slavery more or less throughout the civilized world would necessarily give occasion to a variety of questions relative to the position which bondmen should hold in the Christian community; how a bondman on becoming a Christian should stand, or what he should do, in respect to obedience to his owner or to seeking a change in his condition. St. Paul, in his Epistles, has briefly discussed some of these points, as in 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 ; Ephesians 6:5-9 . So often had the apostle occasion to affirm the perfect identity of Christian privilege possessed by all believers in Christ, that the statement would naturally mould itself into a sort of formula. In Colossians he varies the form by inserting "barbarian, Scythian;" degrees of national civilization made no difference. In place of this, he here adds the particular, that diversity of sex made no difference. We cannot tell what especial reason he had for introducing these modifications in writing to the Colossians and the Galatians respectively. Possibly he had none beyond the pleasure which he felt in dilating on the large catholicity of the Divine grace. In the clause, οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ , "there is here no male and female," the neuter is used (remarks Alford) as being the only gender which will express both. The change of form, "male and female," from " no Jew nor Gentile ," " no bondman nor freeman," was perhaps suggested by the passage in Genesis 1:27 ( ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ), " male and female created he them," which is quoted in Matthew 19:4 ; Mark 10:6 . If so, the clause may be regarded (as Bishop Lightfoot says) as forming a climax: " even the primeval distinction of male and female." But perhaps the change is simply made for the sake of variety; as in the way in which several of the classes are introduced in the Colossians. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus ( πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς εἷς ἐστὲ ἐν χριστῷ ἰησοῦ ); for all ye are one and the same man in Christ Jesus. The pronoun ὑμεῖς , ye, is inserted to recite emphatically the qualification already expressed; as if it were, "ye being what ye are, believers baptized into Christ." The apostle's object here is not, as in 1 Corinthians 12:13 ; Colossians 3:11-15 , to exhort to the performance of certain mutual duties on the ground of the unity which in Christ is established among all believers, but to enforce the view that each individual's title to the inheritance is altogether irrespective of external distinctions, and is based entirely, in one case as well as in another, upon his being clothed with Christ. The word εἷς is "one and the same," as in τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες , " of one mind" ( Philippians 2:2 ); and in εἷς θεός , εἷς μεσίτης , " One and the same God, one and the same Mediator" ( 1 Timothy 2:5 ). So Chrysostom: " That is, we have all one form and one mould, even Christ's. What," he adds, "can be more awful than these words? He that was a Greek, or Jew, or bondman yesterday, carries about with him the form, not of an angel or archangel, but of the Lord of all, yea, displays in his own person the Christ." The distribution of the universal quality to each individual, so far as the grammar of the sentence is concerned, is imperfectly expressed. But the grammatical inadequacy of the verbal exposition is not greater than in 1 Corinthians 6:5 , "Decide ( ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ ) between his brethren," literally, " between his brother;" and in 1 Corinthians 6:19 , 1 Corinthians 6:20 of the same chapter, σῶμα ὑμῶν , " your body;" not "thy body," nor "your bodies." The apostle has in view the subjective application only of the principle here stated; each was to feel that, having the qualification which he has explained, he himself is a son of God and full inheritor, without casting about for any further qualification, as, for example, from ceremonial Judaism. The principle plainly is pregnant with an objective application also; namely, as to the manner in which they were to estimate and treat each other and every baptized believer, notwithstanding any circumstances of extrinsic diversity whatever.