Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Galatians 3:24

"So that the law is become our tutor [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." — Galatians 3:24 (ASV)

The phrase “put in charge” is the Greek noun paidagogos (GK 4080), which means “a child-custodian” or “child-attendant.” The pedagogue was a slave employed by wealthy Greeks or Romans to have responsibility for one of the children of the family. He had charge of the child from about ages six to sixteen and was responsible for watching over his behavior wherever he went and for conducting him to and from school. Paul’s point is that this responsibility ceased when the child entered into the fullness of his position as a son, becoming an acknowledged adult by the formal rite of adoption by his father . The reference “to Christ” is temporal; it means “until we come of age at the time of the revelation of our full sonship through Christ’s coming.” The final phrase (lit., “in order that by faith we might be justified”) gives the ultimate objective of the law in its role of pedagogue. The emphasis is on justification rather than faith, for Paul has already shown that faith is the only means to salvation.