Galatia 4:20

4:20 I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, ¹  because I am perplexed about you.

Galatia 4:27

4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ² 

break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,

because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous

than those of the woman who has a husband.” ³ 

Galatia 1:10

1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, ⁴  or of God? Or am I trying to please people? ⁵  If I were still trying to please ⁶  people, ⁷  I would not be a slave ⁸  of Christ!

Galatia 2:17

2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages ⁹  sin? Absolutely not!

Galatia 4:10

4:10 You are observing religious ¹⁰  days and months and seasons and years.

Galatia 5:12

5:12 I wish those agitators ¹¹  would go so far as to ¹²  castrate themselves! ¹³ 

Galatia 6:12

6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters ¹⁴  are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so ¹⁵  only to avoid being persecuted ¹⁶  for the cross of Christ.

Galatia 4:21

An Appeal from Allegory

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? ¹⁷ 

Galatia 5:3

5:3 And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey ¹⁸  the whole law.

Galatia 1:23

1:23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news ¹⁹  of the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Galatia 4:12

4:12 I beg you, brothers and sisters, ²⁰  become like me, because I have become like you. You have done me no wrong!

Galatia 3:8

3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, ²¹  saying, “All the nations ²²  will be blessed in you.” ²³ 

Galatia 4:24

4:24 These things may be treated as an allegory, ²⁴  for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.

Galatia 5:17

5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires ²⁵  that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to ²⁶  each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

[4:20]  ¹ tn Grk “voice” or “tone.” The contemporary English expression “tone of voice” is a good approximation to the meaning here.

[4:27]  ² tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:27]  ³ tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”

[4:27]  sn A quotation from Isa 54:1.

[1:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “of men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.

[1:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.

[1:10]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively (ExSyn 550).

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:10]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[2:17]  ⁹ tn Or “does Christ serve the interests of sin?”; or “is Christ an agent for sin?” See BDAG 230-31 s.v. διάκονος 2.

[4:10]  ¹⁰ tn The adjective “religious” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that the problem concerns observing certain days, etc. in a religious sense (cf. NIV, NRSV “special days”). In light of the polemic in this letter against the Judaizers (those who tried to force observance of the Mosaic law on Gentile converts to Christianity) this may well be a reference to the observance of Jewish Sabbaths, feasts, and other religious days.

[5:12]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “would even.”

[5:12]  ¹³ 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.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “in the flesh.” L&N 88.236 translates the phrase “those who force you to be circumcised are those who wish to make a good showing in external matters.”

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to be circumcised, only.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with the words “They do so,” which were supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[6:12]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ Grk “so that they will not be persecuted.” The indicative after ἵνα μή (Jina mh) is unusual (though not unexampled elsewhere in the NT), making it the harder reading. The evidence is fairly evenly split between the indicative διώκονται (diwkontai; Ì⁴⁶ A C F G K L P 0278 6 81 104 326 629 1175 1505 pm) and the subjunctive διώκωνται (diwkwntai; א B D Ψ 33 365 1739 pm), with a slight preference for the subjunctive. However, since scribes would tend to change the indicative to a subjunctive due to syntactical requirements, the internal evidence is decidedly on the side of the indicative, suggesting that it is original.

[4:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw) means “hear, listen to,” but by figurative extension it can also mean “obey.” It can also refer to the process of comprehension that follows hearing, and that sense fits the context well here.

[5:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “keep”; or “carry out”; Grk “do.”

[1:23]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek verb here is εὐαγγελίζεται (euangelizetai).

[4:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[3:8]  ²¹ tn For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι (proeuangelizomai) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.

[3:8]  ²² tn The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη (ta eqnh), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”

[3:8]  ²³ sn A quotation from Gen 12:3; 18:18.

[4:24]  ²⁴ tn Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an allegory based on the OT account.

[5:17]  ²⁵ tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.

[5:17]  ²⁶ tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).