Galatia 1:6-7

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ¹  who called you by the grace of Christ ²  and are following ³  a different ⁴  gospel – 1:7 not that there really is another gospel, ⁵  but ⁶  there are some who are disturbing you and wanting ⁷  to distort the gospel of Christ.

Galatia 1:17

1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem ⁸  to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, ⁹  and then returned to Damascus.

Galatia 2:7

2:7 On the contrary, when they saw ¹⁰  that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised ¹¹  just as Peter was to the circumcised ¹² 

Galatia 3:10

3:10 For all who ¹³  rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” ¹⁴ 

Galatia 4:9

4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ¹⁵  basic forces? ¹⁶  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ¹⁷ 

Galatia 4:14

4:14 and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. ¹⁸  Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God, ¹⁹  as though I were Christ Jesus himself! ²⁰ 

Galatia 5:12-13

5:12 I wish those agitators ²¹  would go so far as to ²²  castrate themselves! ²³ 

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ²⁴  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ²⁵  but through love serve one another. ²⁶ 

Galatia 5:22

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ²⁷  is love, ²⁸  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²⁹ 

Galatia 6:8

6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh ³⁰  will reap corruption ³¹  from the flesh, ³²  but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

[1:6]  ¹ sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).

[1:6]  ² tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì⁵¹ א A B F^c Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg sy^p bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241^s pc sy^h**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thret^lem), a few mss (Ì^46vid F* G H^vid ar b Tert Cyp Ambst Pel) have simply χάριτι with no modifier. Internally, the reading that seems best to explain the rise of the others is the shortest reading, χάριτι. Indeed, the fact that three different adjuncts are found in the mss seems to be a natural expansion on the simple “grace.” At the same time, the witnesses for the shortest reading are not particularly impressive, being that they largely represent one textual strand (Western), and a less-than-reliable one at that. Further, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see the construction χάρις (cari", “grace”) followed by Χριστοῦ without some other name (such as κυρίου [kuriou, “Lord”] or ᾿Ιησοῦ). The construction χάρις θεοῦ is likewise frequent in Paul. Thus, upon closer inspection it seems that the original wording here was χάριτι Χριστοῦ (for it is difficult to explain how this particular reading could have arisen from the simple χάριτι, in light of Paul’s normal idioms), with the other readings intentionally or accidentally arising from it.

[1:6]  ³ tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “another.”

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “which is not another,” but this could be misunderstood to mean “which is not really different.” In fact, as Paul goes on to make clear, there is no other gospel than the one he preaches.

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “except.”

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Or “trying.”

[1:17]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:17]  ⁹ sn As a geographical region Arabia included the territory west of Mesopotamia, east and south of Syria and Palestine, extending to the isthmus of Suez. During the Roman occupation, some independent kingdoms arose like that of the Nabateans south of Damascus, and these could be called simply Arabia. In light of the proximity to Damascus, this may well be the territory Paul says he visited here. See also C. W. Briggs, “The Apostle Paul in Arabia,” Biblical World 41 (1913): 255-59.

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn The participle ἰδόντες (idontes) has been taken temporally to retain the structure of the passage. Many modern translations, because of the length of the sentence here, translate this participle as a finite verb and break the Greek sentences into several English sentences (NIV, for example, begins new sentences at the beginning of both vv. 8 and 9).

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.

[2:7]  ¹² tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.

[3:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “For as many as.”

[3:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

[3:10]  sn A quotation from Deut 27:26.

[4:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.

[4:9]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[4:14]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “your trial in my flesh you did not despise or reject.”

[4:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[4:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “as an angel of God…as Christ Jesus.” This could be understood to mean either “you welcomed me like an angel of God would,” or “you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God.” In context only the second is accurate, so the translation has been phrased to indicate this.

[5:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “the ones who are upsetting you.” The same verb is used in Acts 21:38 to refer to a person who incited a revolt. Paul could be alluding indirectly to the fact that his opponents are inciting the Galatians to rebel against his teaching with regard to circumcision and the law.

[5:12]  ²² tn Grk “would even.”

[5:12]  ²³ tn Or “make eunuchs of themselves”; Grk “cut themselves off.” This statement is rhetorical hyperbole on Paul’s part. It does strongly suggest, however, that Paul’s adversaries in this case (“those agitators”) were men. Some interpreters (notably Erasmus and the Reformers) have attempted to soften the meaning to a figurative “separate themselves” (meaning the opponents would withdraw from fellowship) but such an understanding dramatically weakens the rhetorical force of Paul’s argument. Although it has been argued that such an act of emasculation would be unthinkable for Paul, it must be noted that Paul’s statement is one of biting sarcasm, obviously not meant to be taken literally. See further G. Stählin, TDNT 3:853-55.

[5:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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).

[5:22]  ²⁷ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ²⁸ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ²⁹ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[6:8]  ³⁰ tn 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.”

[6:8]  ³¹ tn Or “destruction.”

[6:8]  ³² tn See the note on the previous occurrence of the word “flesh” in this verse.