Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Galatians 3:20

"Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one; but God is one." — Galatians 3:20 (ASV)

This verse is probably the most obscure verse in Galatians, if not in the entire NT. The difficulty lies in the abrupt, aphoristic character of the verse and in its relationship to Paul’s context. The most important interpretations fall into three categories:

(1) Those that take Paul’s reference to a “mediator” in a general sense.

According to this approach, Paul is introducing a general principle in support of the point made at the end of the preceding verse. Mediators always act between parties. Hence, since Moses was a mediator of the law, it follows that he acted between God and the people and that the law thereby came indirectly. The last phrase suggests that in giving the promise to Abraham (see vv.15–18) God acted directly and unilaterally.

(2) Those that take the reference to a “mediator” as a specific reference to Moses, the mediator in the previous verse. This approach can obviously lead to an interpretation similar to that given above. However, it can also lead to other views, such one in which Moses is contrasted with Christ as one who was unable to be a mediator of “a perfectly united body.” (3) Those that refer “the mediator” to Christ (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5). This view does not relate well to the context. If it is right, Paul would be acknowledging that even in Christianity there is a mediator, Christ; but he would be adding that since Christ is God as well as human, in Christ God is still dealing with people directly.

Whatever the details of the interpretation, the general thought seems to be that the promise must be considered superior to the law because the law is bilateral. That is, it was mediated, and; humankind was a party to it. The promise, on the other hand, is unilateral; humankind is not a party to it. This thought reinforces what Paul has said earlier about the unconditional and unilateral nature of the promises.