Galatians3:22

Translation

But Scripture

has
imprisoned

all things under sin so that the promise, which is based on the faithfulness

of JESUS CHRIST, might be given to those of us who believe.

Paraphrase

But the holy writings of the past (the Old Testament) have declared and taught us that everyone is imprisoned under the authority of sin. This was done so that the promise of salvation, which is based on the trustworthiness of THE SAVIOR AND ANOINTED MESSIAH, could be given to those who believe.

Footnotes

1

“imprisoned” comes from two words, “together” and “shut.” It means “things or persons shut up together under the power of an authority figure.” The grammar of this sentence makes it sound like the Scriptures were doing the imprisoning, but our understanding of biblical history tells us that the Scriptures were simply teaching, describing or explaining a reality which was brought about by other means – i.e. the sin of Adam and Eve.

2

The phrase I have rendered as “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ” can mean “faith in Jesus Christ,” or “faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” While it has traditionally been translated more often as ‘faith in Jesus Christ,” some versions prefer “faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” A few considerations favor the latter option. 1) No preposition is used, it is simply the genitive case of the nouns; the genitive usually shows possession and in English we would use the preposition “of” (“faithfulness of Jesus Christ”). The genitive phrase can also

mean “faith from Jesus Christ” and is expressed in English as “faith in Jesus Christ.” 2) In the New Testament, the idea of “faith in Jesus Christ” is often expressed using a verb or participle, and the preposition meaning “into;” the genitive case can accomplish the same thing, but it is not as powerful, it is a little bit awkward and not as common as using the preposition “into” which is the more natural way to say it. 3) This verse already expresses the necessity of our faith so translating it as “faith in Jesus Christ” is a redundancy.

If the intended meaning is indeed “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,” the reason for stating it that way would be to highlight that the object of our faith is worthy of our faith. He has proved Himself trustworthy, therefore, placing our faith in Him is a wise choice.