3:7

In 3:7, Paul explained how his quotation from Genesis about Abraham related to the Galatians. Because the Galatians believed in Christ, they were spiritual descendants of Abraham. God considered both Abraham and the Galatians as righteous by means of faith.

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of parts of 3:7a and 3:7b. For example:

a So you should know that b the true children of Abraham are a those who have faith. (New Century Version)

3:7a

Understand, then, that: These words are a command or encouragement to draw a conclusion from the example of Abraham and his faith.

Some other ways to translate these words are:

So you should know that (New Century Version)
-or-
And so, you should understand that (Contemporary English Version)

those who have faith: This phrase means “it is those people who have faith” or “the people who believe ?in Christ? .”

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

it is the people who have faith
-or-
the people who believe ?in Christ? are the ones
-or-
if you believe

See faith, Meaning 1 in the Glossary for more information.

3:7b

are sons of Abraham: The expression sons of Abraham is a figure of speech. It means “to be like Abraham.” The Galatians are like Abraham in that they have faith. Because of that faith, they are considered to be in the line of Abraham’s descendants.

All Jews are physical descendants of Abraham. But Paul did not consider them to be descendants of Abraham if they did not have faith. He focused on the spiritual relationship and not on the physical relationship.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

the true children of Abraham (New Century Version)
-or-
are counted as Abraham’s children
-or-
are children of Abraham

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