1. Galatians 3:23–4:7 as an instance of gender-inclusive translation unwittingly neutering the radically gender-inclusive nature of the gospel:
2. Four times Paul refers to those belonging to Christ by faith as "son/s" (υἱός); in three of those instances (we'll get to the fourth), the NIV, for example, translates the word "child/ren" (3:26; 4:7).
3. Is Paul "predictably" succumbing to the patriarchal worldview and linguistic patterns of his day? Doesn't appear so, considering the close proximity of "you are all sons" (3:26) to his boldly egalitarian statement, "there is no male and female" (3:28).
4. More to the point, he uses alternate terms for sons and daughters elsewhere nearby: "little child, minor" (νήπιος, 4:1, 3) and "children" (τεκνίον, 4:19). So, this isn't a case of limited vocabulary, as if boy-specific terms were all he had at his disposal.
5. Rather, it appears Paul intentionally uses gendered vocabulary (sons, heir, adoption) to communicate a theological truth: that in God's (Abrahamic) family, legal privileges normally reserved for male heirs are conferred upon all adoptees, including Gentiles, slaves, and women.
6. In the Roman world, of course, boys alone (and only non-minors, per 4:1-2) possessed full inheritance rights (ὁ κληρονόμος, 4:1, 7). In particular, 4:7 underlines Paul's reference to the if-a-son-then-an-heir (εἰ δὲ υἱός καὶ κληρονό) cultural logic of his day.
7. Furthermore, the Roman practice of adoption (to which Paul appeals in 4:5) granted legal rights to a childless wealthy person's estate to the newly acquired son. This legal process entailed adoption-to-SONSHIP, strictly speaking, as reflected in Paul's word choice (υἱοθεσία).
8. So, when Paul addresses the Galatian Christians as "sons" and "heirs" who have been "adopted as sons" through the only Son (4:4), the gendered aspect of these words are central to his particular use of them. Daughters, too, are granted rights typically reserved for sons.
9. Regardless of social status, despite their disenfranchisement in the world, all who belong to Christ are rightful heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. Why? "In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. ... And since you are his son, God has made you also an heir."
10. It's true that all this needs to be exposited regardless of how the words are translated. (NB: This isn't a condemnation of any particular translation). But I think gender-inclusive renderings of those words actually diminish the culturally subversive point that Paul makes.
