Cheryl Schatz

Don,

I think we can safely assume that Paul is talking about the Jewish inheritance rights for several reasons:

1.  The “law” that is referenced is the entire code of law given to the Jews not the Gentiles (no Roman or Greek law even hinted at here).

2.  The Judaizers that were instigating this return to the law were Jews that came from James and so it was the Jewish mindset that is at work in this passage.

3.  The “different gospel” that threatened the Gentile Christians was circumcision and rules brought in by the Jewish oral law.  Circumcision laws would have nothing to do with any Greek or Roman set of laws.

4.  Since we know that Galatians 3:28 cannot be about salvation since the salvation of the Galatians is not what is in question here but rather the outworking of their salvation, the addition of “female” is Galatians must be linked to inheritance issues which is a problem for women amongst the Jews.  There is no other reason to bring in females being equal in Christ with the males.   Galatians chapter 4 is about inheritance and so is Galatians 3:29 the verse directly after verse 28.  Verses 28 & 29 are attached by another “IF” “THEN” conditional connection.

Gal 3:29  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

The entire passage has the Jewish “flavor” of a hindrance caused by those intent on bringing the Gentile believers under bondage.  1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 also has that Jewish “flavor” by its reference to the Jewish oral law insisted on by the Judaizers.  There is of course no God-given OT law that restricted the ability for a woman to learn in public or speak in public.

From what I can see from the passage there is no issue of Roman or Greek influence in the bondage that is being brought onto the Galatians.  It is pure and simple a Jewish influence designed to force the Gentile Christians to conform to both the old covenant laws and to the Jewish oral laws that hindered women from using their gifts in public and restricted men to circumcision.  Paul refutes all of this by using the Jewish inheritance law to his benefit.  He brilliantly argues for women’s privileges and benefits by designating them “in Christ” as part of Christ’s body (THE male heir) therefore all would rightly be receiving sonship and therefore equal heirs (or elsewhere called “joint heirs”).  Inheritance then for all is key to us being IN CHRIST for only through him are we heirs at all.

Don, thanks for your thoughts!  It is always good to test the exegesis.  If there was a Roman or Greek law that was threatening the Christian community by taking away equal inheritance rights or equal anything, I would be willing to see the biblical evidence from the book of Galatians.  This is where the primary evidence is located and from everything I can see in Galatians, the threat is from the Jewish agitators alone and the evidence used throughout is Jewish-based law.