Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ¹  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ²  of slavery.

Galatia 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ³  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ⁴  but through love serve one another. ⁵ 

Galatia 5:16

5:16 But I say, live ⁶  by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. ⁷ 

Galatia 5:19-21

5:19 Now the works of the flesh ⁸  are obvious: ⁹  sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ¹⁰  hostilities, ¹¹  strife, ¹²  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ¹³  factions, 5:21 envying, ¹⁴  murder, ¹⁵  drunkenness, carousing, ¹⁶  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

[5:1]  ¹ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ² sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[5:13]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[5:13]  ⁵ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

[5:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).

[5:16]  ⁷ tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.

[5:19]  ⁸ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

[5:19]  ⁹ tn Or “clear,” “evident.”

[5:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “witchcraft.”

[5:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

[5:20]  ¹² tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

[5:20]  ¹³ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).

[5:21]  ¹⁴ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ¹⁵ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).