Bible Strands
Galatians 3:20
A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Galatian churches to clarify the temporary, secondary role of the Mosaic law in God’s redemptive plan. He writes this during a confrontation about whether Gentile believers must adopt Jewish law-keeping to fulfill God’s promise.
The words — μεσίτης (mesitēs) denotes a go-between who reconciles two parties, while ἑνὸς (henos) specifies singularity. The text states a mediator is irrelevant when only one party acts, emphasizing God’s unitary agency.
The thread — The passage contrasts with 1 Timothy 2:5, which affirms Christ as the sole mediator between God and humanity. It echoes Deuteronomy 6:4’s declaration of Yahweh’s absolute oneness and recalls Job 9:33’s lament over the absence of a divine go-between.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God’s covenant promise operates independently of mediated law-keeping. Readers must stop treating the law as a parallel path to righteousness and instead rely on the direct fulfillment of God’s word.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
- Job 9:33 Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
- Hebrews 8:6 Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.
- Hebrews 9:15 Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
- Romans 3:29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
- Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
- Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Galatians 3:17 What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.