"¹⁵ Brothers, I speak according to man: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.  ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  It does not say, 'and to the seeds' as about many unless as about one, and 'to your seed' who is Messiah. ¹⁷  So this is what I am saying: what became the norm 430 years afterward does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the norm, it no longer is by the promise, but God gave it to Abraham by the promise. ¹⁹ Why then what is the norm? It was provided on account of transgressions until the seed should come, on whom it had been promised, being directed through angels by a mediator. ²⁰ And the mediator of one is not, but God alone is. ²¹ So is the customary ruling against the promises of God?  By no means!  For if a custom was given, which is able to bring to life, certainly by custom would be the justice." (DLT: torahtimes.org, Gal. 3:15, some ESV stylisms).

Comment: vs. 16. the Greek αλλ = אלא = unless (BLASS §448).  Paul does not deny that seed is collective and refers to Israel.  The usual English translation just denies what Torah teaches, but Paul's Greek does not.  Paul is finding a רמז for Messiah in the promise. vs. 17 The customary refers to the customary curses.  "νομος...the synonym εθος [habit, usage, custom] (cp. συνηθεια [custom, accustomed; cp. συνηθης, habitual, customary, usual]) denotes that which is habitual or customary ...A special semantic problem for modern readers encountering the term νομος is the general tendency to confine usage of the term 'law' to codified statutes. Such limitation has led to much fruitless debate in the history of NT interpretation" (BDAG, 3rd edition, pg. 677).   The introduction of the customary, i.e. the curses or the norm is to bring transgression under judgment.  vs. 18 Paul's use of νομος here means the inheritance is not according to the norm of judgment, but according to the exception in Messiah because he paid the penalty. vs. 19.1 Paul then is asking why the Torah is used as the norm to determine against what standard judgment will be executed.  Mind you, he is only asking about the customary curse on transgressors here, and his temporal comment here applies only to redeemed Israel.  For the unrepentant or rebellious world, the curse for judgment does not end with Messiah.  Paul simply re-explains this in vs. 22-25.  19.2  The rest of verse 19 and vs. 20 have been exceedingly hard to interpret.  One commentator counted more than 400 different interpretations on vs. 20!    So we will stay close to the Greek here, and prayerfully consider it; ω επηγγελεται = on-whom it-had-been-promised.  By hint, type, and direct prophecy, the Scripture promised that Messiah would die for Israel's transgressions.  That which is customary falls on him.  Messiah receives the norm we should receive in our place; διαταγεις δι αγγελων = directed through angels.  The angels were in charge of updating the books, the records of transgressions and the book of life; εν χειρι μεστιου = in hand of mediator.  This mediation idea here is not that of a negotiator.  It is that of a judge who directs the curse onto the transgressors, i.e. the angel of YHWH.  As the next verse will make clear, the administrator of the curse is not Moses or his successor, but only God. vs. 20 ο δε μεσιτης ενος ουκ εστιν, ο δε θεος εις εστιν = And the mediator of יחד is not, but God אחד is.  In the legacy of the DSS we have a good clue as to who was behind Paul's enemies.  It was a Messianic version of the Yahad brotherhood, which appointed an overseer or "mediator" to determine who was keeping the law, and who was cursed.  It is kind of like the Catholic Priest who claims he can absolve sin and assign penances.  Paul denies such a mediator exists in legacy or succession from Moses, and asserts that God alone (אחד used in a adverbial sense) is the only judge.  The reason for the 400 interpretations then has to do with two forms of the same Hebrew term which can only be represented ambiguously in Greek ενος...εις, and the original recipients would have no problem knowing what Paul spoke of.  The other reason we know it was a Messianic version of the Yahad is the sectarian calendar alluded to in Gal. 4:10. vs. 21 The customary curse, of course, brings death, and Paul seems to be tossing all errant traditions into the sense of νομος along with the curse in this verse; οντως εκ νομου αν η δικαιοσυνη = certainly by tradition would be the righteousness.  Paul uses the article (η) here because he means the ultimate justice (i.e. satisfaction of the divine penalty) and perfect righteousness, which we would call "the righteousness" required for an acquittal.

 

 

(DLC: torahtimes.org)

Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/gal0315.html)