Galatians 3:28—Neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male and Female
How would we live together in an ideal society?
Karin Neutel
May 02, 2026
35 Comments
126281 views
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC. Photo: Robin Ngo.
At the end of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. alludes to the apostle Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (NRSV). In her Biblical Views column in the January/February 2018 issue of BAR, republished in full below, Biblical scholar Karin Neutel examines Paul’s vision for how we would live together in an ideal society.—Ed.
How would we live together in an ideal society? In his letters, the apostle Paul formulated something of an answer to this question. Paul expected an imminent cosmic change, a new creation ushered in by the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Prominent in his vision of this new creation was the fact that all the nations of the world would worship the one true God, together with Israel. Consequently, the apostle called upon gentiles to abandon their gods, to accept God’s Messiah, and to live “in Christ,” in expectation of what was about to happen. “In Christ,” Paul writes, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor male and female” (Galatians 3:28).
The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?), c. 1657. Widener Collection; on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
This verse seems to strike an almost modern note about human equality. Contemporary interpreters have updated Paul’s statement and added pairs to the three original ones: “neither gay nor straight,” “neither healthy nor disabled,” and “neither black nor white.” While these creative rewritings make Paul’s statement speak to new situations, they also highlight something about the original: These three pairs must have been as relevant in the first century, as the additional categories are today.
So why does Paul put exactly these categories together? The three pairs that Paul includes in this verse all played a role in first-century conceptions of what an ideal world would look like. When imagining ideal or utopian communities, Paul’s contemporaries picture different peoples living together in one homogeneous group under one law—without ethnic distinction. They also imagine societies where people are not divided into households and families, but all live as “brothers,” as equals. Such communities could reject property, slavery, and marriage, since in the minds of first-century philosophers, doing away with possessions, slaves, and wives meant removing the major causes of social conflict. When Paul sums up the community of those who live “in Christ,” he uses categories that reflect such first-century ideals.
This ideal of unity that Paul shared with his contemporaries was influenced by cosmopolitanism, a popular philosophical idea in the early Roman Empire. Cosmopolitanism’s main component was the conviction that all people are first and foremost citizens of the cosmos, rather than of their local communities. This shared cosmic origin was thought to connect all people with each other and with the divine, and it suggested that all people could live in a unified society, rather than divided into different ethnic and geographic communities. Cosmopolitanism had implications not only for contemporary ideas about ethnic difference, but also for ideas about the positions of slave and free and about marriage and the relationship between husband and wife. It therefore affected all three of the pairs mentioned by Paul. We can see how this works if we take a closer look at each of the pairs.
Like other first-century Jews, Paul expected that in the end time, people from the nations would turn to the God of Israel. In Paul’s letters, this expectation is expressed specifically in terms that have a cosmopolitan ring to them, in that they appeal to this ideal of ethnic unity. When he writes that both Jews and non-Jews can be sons of Abraham together (Romans 4:9–12), or that there is no difference between Jew and gentile (Romans 10:12), Paul denies the relevance of ethnic distinctions, as was characteristic of cosmopolitanism. In these statements, the cosmopolitan mood of the time shines through and takes on a clearly Jewish color.
Attitudes toward slaves were also influenced by the cosmopolitan notion that all people are fundamentally connected. Seen in a cosmopolitan light, slavery constituted a challenge to the brotherhood of all human beings. Even though conventional society was thought to require slavery, and cosmopolitan thought did not challenge this, it could imagine a utopian society as one without slaves, where people either shared tasks equally or simply had no need of labor. Paul’s statements about slaves and free people draw on such ideals, most clearly when he writes that there is “neither slave nor free.”
When it comes to the third pair, male-female, things get a little more complicated. Although it may seem obvious to contemporary readers that this pair refers to gender difference, or gender equality, from an ancient perspective it more likely points to the pairing off of men and women in marriage and procreation.
The distinctive formulation of the third pair, “male and female,” suggests a citation from Genesis 1:27. This passage describes the creation of male and female and God’s instruction to them to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the world. It is exactly this world—with its focus of men and women, and on procreation—that Paul expects to end. Marriage will end along with it, as he writes in the well-known passage about living “as if not.” Here Paul instructs men who have wives to live as if they do not have wives “because the forms of this world are passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:29–31). Paul’s own advice—highly unusual at the time—that both men and women should not marry if they could avoid it, confirms how he thought about the practice of marriage (1 Corinthians 7:7–9, 1 Corinthians 32–40).
The cosmopolitan worldview understood marriage as a fundamental tie that formed the primary connection between a man and the rest of humanity. From that first and most intimate bond, all other social relationships extended. Given its important role in ensuring legitimate offspring, the handing down of property, and the continuation of society, it is no wonder that the breakdown of the current world—and the arrival of a new and ideal creation—was thought to encompass the end of marriage.
Seen in the light of first-century cosmopolitan ideals, Paul’s declaration of unity thus takes on a distinctly ancient form. It does not proclaim the equality of all people, regardless of their social positions, as is sometimes assumed by readers today. Rather, it envisages a social ideal of harmony and connection, where those factors in society that create division and conflict have been removed.
Paul’s conviction that he was called at this crucial moment to participate in God’s ultimate plan for the world caused him to imagine what a new and ideal creation would be like and how people would live in such a new creation. His summary of this ideal as “neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor male and female” resonated with the concerns expressed by his contemporaries.
Karin Neutel is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo in Norway. Her most recent book is A Cosmopolitan Ideal: Paul’s Declaration ‘Neither Jew Nor Greek, Neither Slave Nor Free, Nor Male and Female’ in the Context of First-Century Thought (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015).
Biblical Views: “Neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male and Female” by Karin Neutel originally appeared in the January/February 2018 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. It was first republished in Bible History Daily on January 12, 2018.
Not a BAS Library or All-Access Member yet? Join today.
Related reading in Bible History Daily
Paul’s First Missionary Journey through Perga and Pisidian Antioch
All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library
Biblical Profile: Paul of Arabia? The Apostle’s Early Adventures
Not a BAS Library or All-Access Member yet? Join today.
Related Posts
Must-Read Free eBooks
Unlock Unlimited Access to the Bible's Past
Unlock Unlimited Access to the Bible's Past
Become an All-Access Member to explore the Bible's rich history. Get Biblical Archaeology Review in print, full online access, and FREE online talks. Plus, enjoy special Travel/Study discounts. Don't miss out—begin your journey today!
Karen,
I sometimes wonder where the exegesis and eisigesis begins and ends. That is always the danger when we look at text, speech, etc.
The context, context, and context is the most important part of exegesis and interpretation. One not only translates the text from the Source Language (SL) to the Target Language (TL), but one also needs to understand and interpret the underlying genre, grammare, syntax, idioms, etc. I know that I am not saying anything new to you.
What is the Purpose of the Law? Several answers are given. First, the Purpose of the Law was because of transgressions, i.e. a means to checking sin so that one would know what sin is. It acted as a restraint. Second, the Purpose of the Law was to confirm that a Covenant between God and Man (the nation of Israel) had been sealed with the Two Tablets of the Law (Ten Words-each copy) acting as witnesses for the two parties to be placed in the Ark of the Covenant.
The Promise to Abraham was an Unconditional Covenant or Promise which was irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Thus, the Law could not nullify the Promise to Abraham since the Promise was done by faith not confirmed by Law.
The Purpose of the Law was to act as a guardian or school master until the believer reached the age of maturity. Until then, the believer, although an heir, was no different from any other person of the household.
Therefore, any person whether ethnic group (Jew or Gentile), social status (slave or free), or gender (male or female) would prevent one from coming to salvation in Christ. Thus, becoming an heir of the Promise.
If there is one thing that the group called Christians were known for was that as “little Christs” it was that “loved one another” and did not allow ethnicity, social status or gender to interfere with one’s salvation and God, i.e. one’s justification not one’s role in society or church.
Christians are no longer under the law; Jesus was born under the Law and he kept it perfectly. Galatians 4:4. When Jesus was asked by a man, well versed in the law, what is the greatest commandment; Jesus replied that it was love of God and love of neighbour. The Mosaic Law, including the ‘ten commandments’ was done away with when Jesus was put to death Colossians 2:13, 14; Hebrews 10:1; Galatians 3:13; Romans 10:4; Romans 7:6; Romans 13:8-10; Colossians 2:16; Galatians 4:10, 11 etc., etc
Acts 15:28, 29 shows that even the Sabbath was not observed by Christians.
It wasn’t until Constantine the ‘Great’ when he decreed that Sunday would be a holy day……..and that was because it was tied up with sun worship, and everyone had to observe it, except farmers, they had to work.
The apostle Paul opens the letter to the churches in Galatia with these words: “I want you to know brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preach is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:11-12. The author does not make an acceptable argument that the concept of “cosmopolitanism” was received by Paul by revelation from Jesus Christ as part of the gospel.
The passage is about the equality of souls through salvation in Jesus Christ, regardless of their position under the Mosaic covenant; and that gentile converts are not required to live according to the Law. Paul is explaining to the Galatians that, as Gentile converts to Christ, they are not bound by the Jewish Law, in opposition to what the Judaizers were teaching at the time, but are saved by faith in Christ alone, as Christ was the promised offspring of Abraham through whom all nations would be blessed.
Let us look at the verse in context:
“Why then the [Mosaic] Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through Angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the [Mosaic] Law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the Law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the Law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the Law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:19-29 ESV
I agree with a previous poster that BAR should stick with archaeology and leave theology to the church.
So, by Faith IN Jesus Christ one is Justified yet still have to Live by the Law. For obedience of the Law is the Work Through Jesus Christ. For Faith without Work is dead.
The article notes “Contemporary interpreters have updated Paul’s statement and added pairs to the three original ones: “neither gay nor straight,” “neither healthy nor disabled,” and “neither black nor white.”
I think that from Paul’s point of view, “neither black nor white” would be covered by “Jew or Gentile”, because it is about ethnicity. I think Paul might include “neither healthy nor disabled” if he were enumerating the possibilities. My guess is that he limited it to three to maintain the flow of the argument. I doubt that Paul would include “neither gay nor straight” because he talks about homosexual behavior as a choice to be avoided in other parts of his letters.
The premise of this article is unsupported by the article:
“This ideal of unity that Paul shared with his contemporaries was influenced by cosmopolitanism, a popular philosophical idea in the early Roman Empire.”
Correlation of ideas does not prove causation.
I’ve subscribed to BAR for maybe 20 years. Please, BAR, stick to archaeology and don’t put this kind of trash in it. She concludes “Paul’s vision for how we would live together in an ideal society” is for everyone to stop getting married. Really? Her study of Gal. 3:28 is completely removed from its own context, much less the clear teaching of the rest of the New Testament, including Paul’s other writings. The point of v28 is that Christians are “all one in Christ Jesus.” Since they are one, Christians should not think of themselves as “Jew nor Greek, slave nor free” and so on. Galatians was written to stop some Jewish Christians who were saying, among other things, that Gentile Christians should be circumcised. See Gal.5:1-14.
Glad to see that many noted that taking verses out of context you can make a passage say anything you want. Remember that verse divisions are not part of the original text and can lead to ‘questionable’ interpretations–like the one we get in this article.
While provacative and eloquent, the author fails to interpret verses in context. This appears to be an attempt to insert a modern political agenda into an ancient scenario. Even a cursory reading of the entire text and a minimal understanding of Paul’s ideology will quickly reveal the authors position to be tenuous at best.
Seems that many commentators on this article have little understanding of the way G-d, as Creator, can even use “society” and “intellectual history” for divine purposes. Certainly “cosmopolitanism” and not “tribalism” is the ultimate goal of G-d for humanity. Seems like too many BAR readers cannot hold two non-contradictory thoughts in their brains at the same time. Paul put forward a “theology of Christ” available to all. His vision/theology was BOTH cosmopolitan (using Roman and Greek and Hebrew ideas here and elsewhere) AND biblical (by definition, since his writing are in the bible!).