complete verse (Galatians 3:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 3:10:

  • Uma: “In the Holy Book long ago it is written like this: "Whoever does not keep following every kind of order that is written in the Law of Musa, they will certainly be cursed by God." So, whoever wants to make himself straight in God’s sight by following the Law of Musa, they will be cursed by God, because no-one is able follow it all.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But all who say that they are considered straight by God because of their following/obeying the law, they are under God’s wrath. (pagmulka’an) For it is written in the holy-book it says, ‘Whoever cannot follow all the commands written in the law will really be under/hit-by the wrath of God.’ (pagmulka’an)” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, anybody who trusts the observance of the Law which Moses left behind, he is sentenced to punishment by God for there is a written word of God which says, ‘Anybody who does not thoroughly carry out every single command written in the Law, God has already sentenced him to punishment.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But all who trust in their obeying the law, they will be punished forever, because there is that which God caused-to-be-written which says, ‘Whoever doesn’t continually obey all commands written in the law of God will be punished forever.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “However all those who are striving in their obedience to the laws in the religion of the Jews in order to be saved, they are being-held-subject to punishment by God. Because it’s contained in the writing which says, ‘God will certainly punish the one not obeying completely all the laws contained here in this writing.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Whoever says that he will be saved because he does all that is written in the law will go to punishment. Because it is written ‘Whoever doesn’t always do all that is written in the law, that one will go to punishment.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Galatians 3:10

Those who depend on obeying the Law is literally “as many as are out of works of law” (Revised Standard Version “who rely on works of the law”). Although law can mean any law, since the Greek speaks of “law” and not of “the Law,” most translators and commentators take “law” here to refer to the Jewish Law, since it was the Jewish Law whose role as an instrument in putting man in a right relationship with God is now in question. It is this same Jewish Law that the Galatians are being urged by the false teachers to accept.

“Works of law” means here, as it does in 3.2, “doing what the law requires.” The whole expression, then, “as many as are out of works of law” means those who depend on obeying the Law as the means by which they may be put in right relationship with God, or those who seek to please God by following specific regulations in the Law.

The expression those who depend on obeying the Law involves considerable semantic ellipsis, since the purpose of the dependence has been omitted; in other words, these are people who depend on obeying the Law in order to be put right with God. Furthermore, in a number of languages it makes very little sense to say depend on obeying the Law unless one indicates the purpose for such an action. Therefore, it may be necessary to translate this initial clause as “those who think they will be received by God because they obey what the laws say,” or “those who think they will get right with God because they obey what the laws say they must do.”

Curse is in this verse contrasted with “blessing” in verses 8 and 9. A curse is a wish or a prayer for evil to befall someone. In treaties and contracts, the curse was directed at any party who in the future might dare to violate the provisions agreed upon. In verse 10, the curse is defined more fully in the quotation which follows. Therefore, while it is possible to say “under a curse from God” or “under the curse of God,” it is better in the present case to retain the original form “under a curse,” so that it can clearly be seen as a reference to the quotation which follows.

The phrase live under a curse may be extremely difficult to render in such a way as really to communicate the meaning of the Greek text. In many languages a literal translation of this expression would mean “to continue living after someone has already cursed you.” This, of course, is not the meaning. It is rather the threat of condemnation which continues for any person who thinks that he can become right with God by obeying the Law. Therefore, one may translate live under a curse as “continue under threat of being condemned,” or “live all the time knowing that God will condemn them.”

In some languages it may be perfectly appropriate to use a technical term for curse, but in other languages this would not be advisable since a “curse” is regarded only as an instrument of evil, and anyone putting a curse on another would be doing something entirely wrong. Such an interpretation would, of course, not be satisfactory for the scripture quotation which speaks of God’s curse.

The quotation “whoever does not…” is from Deuteronomy 27.26 and follows the Septuagint, with some variations.

The implied premise of the whole verse is twofold: (1) that in order for one to gain God’s approval through the Law, he must obey everything that is provided therein; and (2) that no one can follow everything that is written in the book of the Law. Since, therefore, anyone who does not follow everything in the Law is under God’s curse, and no one is able to follow everything in the Law, then everyone who depends on obeying the Law lives under a curse.

The phrase for the scripture says must sometimes be rendered “as one may read in the Scriptures,” or “according to the words of the Scriptures.”

The indefinite relative clause “whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law” must be reinterpreted in some languages as a condition, for example, “if someone does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law.” In place of the passive expression everything that is written in the book of the Law, it is possible in some cases to use “all the words of the book of the laws.”

Since in this context the term book refers simply to the listing, it may be preferable not to employ a term which would imply that all the laws were contained within a single book. It may be better to say “obey all the regulations of the laws,” or “obey all the regulations listed in the laws.”

Under God’s curse is literally “cursed,” with the implied agent being God, hence “cursed by God.” Accordingly, is under God’s curse, may be rendered as “is exposed to God’s condemnation.” On the other hand, the entire sentence may be restructured to read as “God condemns anyone who does not always obey all that is written in the book of the Law.” It may be necessary to indicate here that the Law refers to “the laws coming through Moses,” or “… given by means of Moses.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 3:10

Paragraph 3:10–14

In this paragraph, Paul stated that people who want to be justified through obedience to the law are under a curse. But Christ freed us from the curse of the law by his death on the cross. People who have faith in Christ receive a blessing instead of a curse. It was God’s purpose that by faith the Gentiles would share in the blessing of Abraham and receive the Spirit.

3:10a

In 3:8–9, Paul said that God will bless people who have faith. In 3:10, he gave the reason why it is necessary to rely on faith: a person who tries to rely on the law must keep the entire law or else be cursed. To show that he was giving a reason, Paul introduced this verse with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “for.” Most English versions translate it that way.

However, it is also possible to focus on the contrast between 3:8–9 and 3:10. There is a contrast between a blessing and a curse. There is also a contrast between people who have faith and people who follow the law.

Some ways to introduce the contrast are:

But (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
However
-or-
On the other hand

The Berean Standard Bible has not translated this conjunction, and some other versions, such as the Contemporary English Version and Good News Translation, also do not translate it. In some languages, it will not be necessary to translate this conjunction either. Connect 3:10a to 3:9b in a way that is natural in your language.

All who rely on works of the law: The phrase works of the law refers to obeying the law (to be justified). (This same phrase occurs in 2:16a.) People who rely on works of the law are those who rely/depend on their obedience to the law for their justification. In other words, they think that when they obey the law, they will be put right with God.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

those who depend on following the law to make them right (New Century Version)
-or-
Anyone who tries to please God by obeying the Law (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Everyone who thinks that God will consider him right because he obeys the law ?of Moses?

are under a curse: This phrase means “are condemned,” “will be judged,” or “will be punished.” God is the one who will judge and punish. A curse is the opposite of the blessing that God gives to the people who have faith.

In this context, a curse may be different than a curse in animistic societies. In many societies, a person puts a curse on someone when he does sorcery or witchcraft against another person. Often this is done even when the person has not done anything wrong. Here, it is God, not witchcraft or sorcery, who will judge and punish a person for the wrong that he actually has done.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

are condemned
-or-
are under ?God’s? anger
-or-
will be punished ?by God?
-or-

?God? will judge ?that person?

3:10b

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces Paul’s basis/support for saying that the people in 3:10a are under a curse. They are under a curse (3:10a) because the Bible says that they are under a curse (3:10b).

Some other ways to introduce the reason are:

?They are under a curse? because
-or-

?We know this? because

In some languages, it will be more natural to put the reason first. For example:

10b It is written, 10c “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 10a ?So? all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

it is written: This phrase introduces a quotation from the Old Testament. The quotation is from Deuteronomy 27:26.

Some other ways to introduce this quotation are:

here is what the Scripture says
-or-
in God’s Holy Book it is written
-or-
we read in the Scriptures that

Paul quoted this verse in order to prove that God will judge everyone who tries to be justified by keeping the law. God, through Moses, had warned his people that the result of not completely obeying the law is condemnation.

3:10c

Cursed is: This phrase is the verb form of the noun “curse” in 3:10a. It has the same meaning of “judge” or “punish.” It is God who will judge and punish.

In some languages, it is natural to put this phrase at the end of the sentence. For example:

Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God’s curse! (Good News Translation)

everything written in the Book of the Law: The phrase the Law refers to the laws/commandments that God gave to Moses. Moses wrote these laws in the first five books of the Old Testament.

Some other ways to translate these phrases are:

all the laws in the books that Moses wrote
-or-
all the commands written in the law ?of God?

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