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Gal_3:22. But the case supposed ( ἐδόθη νόμος ὁ δυνάμ . ζωοποιῆσαι ) does not exist: for, on the contrary, according to the Scriptures all men have been subjected to the dominion of sin, and the purpose of God therein was, that the promised salvation should not come from the law, but should be bestowed on believers on account of faith in Christ. What sort of position is assigned under these circumstances to the law, is then stated in Gal_3:23.
συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ κ . τ . λ .] Scripture is personified, as in Gal_3:8. That which God has done, because it is divinely revealed and attested in Scripture (see Rom_3:9-19) and thereby appears an infallible certainty, is represented as the act of Scripture, which the latter, as in its utterances the professed self-revelation of God, has accomplished. The Scripture—that is, when regarded apart from the personification, God, according to the divine testimony of the Scripture—has brought all into ward under sin, that is, has put the whole of mankind without exception into the relation of bondage, in which sin (comp. Rom_3:9) has them, as it were, under lock and key, so that they cannot escape from this control and attain to moral freedom. On the figurative expression, and on the conception of the matter as a divine measure (not a mere declaration), compare on Rom_11:32. Following Chrysostom ( ἠλέγξεν ) and others, Hermann finds the sense: “per legem demum cognitum esse peccatum” (Rom_7:7 f., Gal_3:19 ff.), which, however, does not correspond with the significance of the carefully-chosen συνέκλεισεν , and is also at variance with ἡ γραφή , which is by no means—as, following the Fathers (but not Theodoret), Beza, Calvin, Baumgarten-Crusius and others think—equivalent to νόμος , but denotes the O.T., whilst ὁ νόμος in the whole connection is the institute of the law. The bond of guilt which is implied in the dominion of sin is obvious of itself, without any need for explaining ἁμαρτίαν as the guilt of sin.
Moreover, the emphasis is on the prefixed συνέκλεισεν : included, so that freedom, that is, the attainment of δικαιοσύνη , is not to be thought of. Συγκλείειν , however, does not denote: to include together, with one another, as Bengel, Usteri, and others hold (not even in Rom_11:32), which is clearly proved by the fact that the word is very often used of the shutting up of one, unaccompanied by others (1Sa_24:19; Psa_31:9; Polyb. xi. 2. 10; 1Ma_11:66; 1Ma_12:7); but συν corresponds to the idea of complete custody, so that the enclosed are entirely and absolutely held in by the barriers in question. Comp. Herod, vii. 129: λίμνη συγκληϊσμένη πάντοθεν , Eur. Hec. 487; Polyb. i. 17. 8, i. 51. 10, iii. 117. 11; also Plat. Tim. p. 71 C, where it is used with ἐμφράττειν ; 1Ma_4:31; 1Ma_5:5. Una includere would be συγκατακλείειν , Herod. i. 182; Lucian, Vit. auct. 9, D. mort. xiv. 4.
τὰ πάντα ] the collective whole, not: all which man ought to do (Ewald), but like τοὺς πάντας , Rom_11:32. The neuter used of persons, who are thus brought under the point of view of the general category: the totality. See on 1Co_1:27; Arrian. v. 22. 1. According to Calvin, Beza, Wolf, Bengel, and others (comp. also Hofmann), τὰ πάντα is supposed to refer not merely to men, but also to everything which they are, have, or do. But the figurative συνέκλεισεν , and also the context by τοῖς πιστεύουσι and the personal indications contained in Gal_3:23 ff., give the preference to our interpretation. Besides, τὰ πάντα , taken of things, would mean all things (Xen. Mem. i. 11; Rom_11:36, et al.), which is here unsuitable. Comp. on the matter itself, Rom_3:9; Rom_3:19
ἵνα ἡ ἐπαγγελία κ . τ . λ .] the purpose of God, because that which was previously represented as the action of Scripture was in reality the action of God. Therefore we must not (with Semler, Koppe, Rosenmüller, Flatt, Winer, Matthias, and others) explain logice: quo appareat dari, etc.
ἡ ἐπαγγελία ] that which was promised, a sense which the abstract receives through δοθῇ . Comp. Gal_3:14. That which is meant is the promised gift, already well known from the context, namely, the κληρονομία , Gal_3:16; Gal_3:18.
ἐκ πίστεως ] not from obedience to the law, which with that subjection under the control of sin was impossible, but so that the divine bestowal proceeds, as regards its subjective cause, from faith in Jesus Christ; comp. Gal_3:8. The emphasis is on this ἐκ πίστ . Ἰ . Χ ., and not on ἐπαγγελία (Hofmann); see Gal_3:23 ff.
τοῖς πιστεύουσι ] is explained by Winer and others as an apparent tautology arising from the importance of this proposition (and therefore emphatic); but without adequate ground (and passages such as Gal_3:9, Rom_1:17, Php_3:9, are not relevant here); the expression, on the contrary, is quite in keeping with the circumstances of the Galatians. That salvation was intended for believers, was not denied; but they held to the opinion that obedience to the law must necessarily be the procuring cause of this salvation. Paul therefore says: in order that, in virtue of faith in Jesus Christ, not in virtue of obedience to the law, salvation should be given to the believers—so that thus the believers have no need of anything further than faith. Comp. Gal_5:4 f.