Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
The Renewed Covenant by Daniel Gregg
"Galatians 2:16 And we know that a man does not satisfy justice by the customary deeds except through the faithfulness of Messiah Yeshua. Even we in Messiah Yeshua faithfully trust so that we might satisfy justice by the faithfulness of Messiah, and not by the customary deeds, because by the customary deeds no one will satisfy justice" (DLT: torahtimes.org).
comment1: Paraphrase = Divine Justice [the penalty of sin] is not satisfied by the normal deeds [any works or any traditions or any good deeds whatsoever or any attempts at acquittal by any legalistic or philosophical pleading or by imputed righteousness, or by the believers faith, or by the believers baptism, or by circumcision], except through the faithfulness [commitment, obedience] of Messiah Yeshua [to die for sin on the cross].
satisfy justice : δικαιοω. The idea here in the normal Koine Greek is "to do justice to" (McGrath); or to "have justice done" (Thayer); "show justice" (BDAG, def. 1); LSJ, "brought to justice"; TDNT, "secure justice", "pass sentence", "do justice to". Please see full documentation and photo's of all Greek Lexical entries at the link below. "satisfy justice" lies well within the range of meaning "to secure justice" or "have justice done". There is no direct Hebrew equivalent of this word in צדק. Several words will have to be used.
http://www.torahtimes.org/Greek_database/greek_words_index.htm
customary deeds : εργων νομου. מעשי מנהגי. This does not refer to Torah properly practiced from love, but relates to Torah only as if it might be pleaded to obtain an acquittal from God, an improper usage which at best can be classified under tradition. The very first definition of νομος in the very best Greek Lexicon is "1. a custom, rule, principle, norm" (BDAG, 3rd edition, 2000). The construction here is the "Hebrew Genitive, Genitive of Quality" (cf. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar—Beyond the Basics, page 86). Also, the definition "law" does not even rate the first definition any more, and the reason why is that scholars have realized that this isn't the primary meaning νομος of in Greek.
faithfulness : πιστεως. אמונה. The Greek word πιστις in the very best Greek Lexicon means "1a. faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, commitment" (BDAG, 3rd Edition, pg. 818). It reflects the meaning of its Hebrew equivalent אמונה. Here it refers to Messiah's faithfulness or commitment to make atonement for sins. It means his faithfulness to the cross.
faithfully trust : πιστευω. האמן. See BDAG, 3rd edition, def. 2. Biblical faith is not just "believe". No, it is a "total commitment to the one who is trusted" (pg. 817). (DLC: torahtimes.org)
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/gal0505.html)
All Rights Reserved, 2009 by Daniel Gregg. No part of this article may be copied without including the above reference to the author's original: torahtimes.org. It is preferable only to include what is in the boxes, however the live link in the second box may be omitted if necessary.