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Gal_3:12. Minor proposition; δέ the syllogistic atqui. See on Gal_3:11.
οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ πίστεως , is not of faith, is not an institution which has faith as the principle of its nature and action. Comp. Gal_3:10.
ἀλλʼ ὁ ποιήσας κ . τ . λ .] but he who shall have done them (namely, the προστάγματα and κρίματα of God, Lev_18:5) shall live (shall have life in the Messiah’s kingdom) through them, so that they form, in this way of doing, the channel of obtaining life. Thus in the express words of the law (Lev_18:5), likewise presumed to be familiar to his readers, Paul introduces the nature of the law as contrasted with ἐκ πίστεως . Comp. Rom_10:5. After ἀλλʼ , γέγραπται is not (with Schott) to be supplied (comp. also Matthias, who understands even οὐκ ἔστιν as runs not); but, as the form with the apostrophe indicates, Paul has connected ἀλλʼ immediately with ὁ ποιήσας αὐτά , leaving it to the reader not only to explain for himself αὐτά and ἐν αὐτοῖς from his acquaintance with the O.T. context of the saying referred to, but also to complete for himself the connection from the first half of the verse: “The law, however, has not faith as its principle; but the doer of the commandments—this is the axiom of the law—shall live by them.” Comp. on Rom_15:3; 1Co_1:31.