Galatia 3:4-7

3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing. 3:5 Does God then give ¹  you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law ²  or by your believing what you heard? ³ 

3:6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, ⁴  3:7 so then, understand ⁵  that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. ⁶ 

[3:5]  ¹ tn Or “provide.”

[3:5]  ² tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[3:5]  ³ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[3:6]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “know.”

[3:7]  ⁶ tn The phrase “sons of Abraham” is used here in a figurative sense to describe people who are connected to a personality, Abraham, by close nonmaterial ties. It is this personality that has defined the relationship and its characteristics (BDAG 1024-25 s.v. υἱός 2.c.α).