Galatia 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Galatia 1:4

1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father,

Galatia 1:6-7

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ²  who called you by the grace of Christ ³  and are following ⁴  a different ⁵  gospel – 1:7 not that there really is another gospel, ⁶  but ⁷  there are some who are disturbing you and wanting ⁸  to distort the gospel of Christ.

Galatia 1:13

1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life ⁹  in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.

Galatia 1:19-20

1:19 But I saw none of the other apostles ¹⁰  except James the Lord’s brother. 1:20 I assure you ¹¹  that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! ¹² 

Galatia 2:5

2:5 But ¹³  we did not surrender to them ¹⁴  even for a moment, ¹⁵  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ¹⁶ 

Galatia 2:12

2:12 Until ¹⁷  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ¹⁸  and separated himself ¹⁹  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ²⁰ 

Galatia 2:14

2:14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ²¹  in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force ²²  the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Galatia 2:20-21

2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, ²³  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So ²⁴  the life I now live in the body, ²⁵  I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ²⁶  who loved me and gave himself for me. 2:21 I do not set aside ²⁷  God’s grace, because if righteousness ²⁸  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ²⁹ 

Galatia 3:10

3:10 For all who ³⁰  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.” ³¹ 

Galatia 3:13-14

3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming ³²  a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) ³³  3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, ³⁴  so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

Galatia 3:17

3:17 What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, ³⁵  so as to invalidate the promise.

Galatia 3:21

3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? ³⁶  Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ³⁷ 

Galatia 3:23

Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise

3:23 Now before faith ³⁸  came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners ³⁹  until the coming faith would be revealed.

Galatia 3:29

3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, ⁴⁰  heirs according to the promise.

Galatia 4:2-4

4:2 But he is under guardians ⁴¹  and managers until the date set by his ⁴²  father. 4:3 So also we, when we were minors, ⁴³  were enslaved under the basic forces ⁴⁴  of the world. 4:4 But when the appropriate time ⁴⁵  had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Galatia 4:6

4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls ⁴⁶  “Abba! ⁴⁷  Father!”

Galatia 4:30

4:30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” ⁴⁸  of the free woman.

Galatia 5:8

5:8 This persuasion ⁴⁹  does not come from the one who calls you!

Galatia 5:11

5:11 Now, brothers and sisters, ⁵⁰  if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? ⁵¹  In that case the offense of the cross ⁵²  has been removed. ⁵³ 

Galatia 5:17

5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires ⁵⁴  that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to ⁵⁵  each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

Galatia 5:22

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ⁵⁶  is love, ⁵⁷  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ⁵⁸ 

Galatia 5:24

5:24 Now those who belong to Christ ⁵⁹  have crucified the flesh ⁶⁰  with its passions ⁶¹  and desires.

Galatia 6:2

6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatia 6:8

6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh ⁶²  will reap corruption ⁶³  from the flesh, ⁶⁴  but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Galatia 6:12

6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters ⁶⁵  are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so ⁶⁶  only to avoid being persecuted ⁶⁷  for the cross of Christ.

Galatia 6:14

6:14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which ⁶⁸  the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatia 6:16-18

6:16 And all who will behave ⁶⁹  in accordance with this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on the Israel of God. ⁷⁰ 

6:17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. ⁷¹ 

6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be ⁷²  with your spirit, brothers and sisters. ⁷³  Amen.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:6]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “another.”

[1:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “except.”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Or “trying.”

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Or “lifestyle,” “behavior.”

[1:19]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “But another of the apostles I did not see, except…” with “another” in emphatic position in the Greek text. Paul is determined to make the point that his contacts with the original twelve apostles and other leaders of the Jerusalem church were limited, thus asserting his independence from them.

[1:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:20]  ¹² tn Grk “What things I am writing to you, behold, before God [that] I am not lying.”

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.

[2:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”

[2:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).

[2:5]  ¹⁶ sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).

[2:12]  ¹⁷ tn The conjunction γάρ has not been translated here.

[2:12]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he drew back.” If ἑαυτόν (Jeauton) goes with both ὑπέστελλεν (Jupestellen) and ἀφώριζεν (afwrizen) rather than only the latter, the meaning would be “he drew himself back” (see BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 1.a).

[2:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “and held himself aloof.”

[2:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the [ones] of the circumcision,” that is, the group of Jewish Christians who insisted on circumcision of Gentiles before they could become Christians.

[2:14]  ²¹ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[2:14]  ²² tn Here ἀναγκάζεις (anankazei") has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).

[2:20]  ²³ tn Both the NA²⁷/UBS⁴ Greek text and the NRSV place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.

[2:20]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:20]  ²⁵ tn Grk “flesh.”

[2:20]  ²⁶ tc A number of important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (qeou kai Cristou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou tou qeou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of mss, including several important ones (א A C D¹ Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co). The construction “of God and Christ” appears to be motivated as a more explicit affirmation of the deity of Christ (following as it apparently does the Granville Sharp rule). Although Paul certainly has an elevated Christology, explicit “God-talk” with reference to Jesus does not normally appear until the later books (cf., e.g., Titus 2:13, Phil 2:10-11, and probably Rom 9:5). For different arguments but the same textual conclusions, see TCGNT 524.

[2:20]  tn Or “I live by faith in the Son of God.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 16 for the rationale behind the translation “the faithfulness of the Son of God.”

[2:20]  sn On the phrase because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ExSyn 116, which notes that the grammar is not decisive, nevertheless suggests that “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept (for the idea is expressed in many of the same contexts, only with the verb πιστεύω rather than the noun), but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful.” Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.

[2:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”

[2:21]  ²⁸ tn Or “justification.”

[2:21]  ²⁹ tn Or “without cause,” “for no purpose.”

[3:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “For as many as.”

[3:10]  ³¹ 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.

[3:13]  ³² tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.

[3:13]  ³³ sn A quotation from Deut 21:23. By figurative extension the Greek word translated tree (ζύλον, zulon) can also be used to refer to a cross (L&N 6.28), the Roman instrument of execution.

[3:14]  ³⁴ tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”

[3:17]  ³⁵ tc Most mss (D F G I 0176 0278 Ï it sy) read “ratified by God in Christ” whereas the omission of “in Christ” is the reading in Ì⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ 6 33 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 pc co. The shorter reading is strongly supported by the ms evidence, and it is probable that a copyist inserted the words as an interpretive gloss. However, this form of the “in Christ” expression is somewhat atypical in the corpus Paulinum (εἰς Χριστόν [ei" Criston] rather than ἐν Χριστῷ [en Cristw]), a fact which tempers one’s certainty about the shorter reading. Nevertheless, the expression is used more in Galatians than in any other of Paul’s letters (Gal 2:16; 3:24, 27), and may have been suggested by such texts to early copyists.

[3:21]  ³⁶ tc The reading τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “of God”) is well attested in א A C D (F G read θεοῦ without the article) Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co. However, Ì⁴⁶ B d Ambst lack the words. Ì⁴⁶ and B perhaps should not to be given as much weight as they normally are, since the combination of these two witnesses often produces a secondary shorter reading against all others. In addition, one might expect that if the shorter reading were original other variants would have crept into the textual tradition early on. But 104 (a.d. 1087) virtually stands alone with the variant τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou, “of Christ”). Nevertheless, if τοῦ θεοῦ were not part of the original text, it is the kind of variant that would be expected to show up early and often, especially in light of Paul’s usage elsewhere (Rom 4:20; 2 Cor 1:20). A slight preference should be given to the τοῦ θεοῦ over the omission. NA²⁷ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:21]  ³⁷ tn Or “have been based on the law.”

[3:23]  ³⁸ tn Or “the faithfulness [of Christ] came.”

[3:23]  ³⁹ tc Instead of the present participle συγκλειόμενοι (sunkleiomenoi; found in Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* F G P Ψ 33 1739 al), C D¹ 0176 0278 Ï have the perfect συγκεκλεισμένοι (sunkekleismenoi). The syntactical implication of the perfect is that the cause or the means of being held in custody was confinement (“we were held in custody [by/because of] being confined”). The present participle of course allows for such options, but also allows for contemporaneous time (“while being confined”) and result (“with the result that we were confined”). Externally, the perfect participle has little to commend it, being restricted for the most part to later and Byzantine witnesses.

[3:23]  tn Grk “being confined.”

[3:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.

[4:2]  ⁴¹ tn The Greek term translated “guardians” here is ἐπίτροπος (epitropo"), whose semantic domain overlaps with that of παιδαγωγός (paidagwgo") according to L&N 36.5.

[4:2]  ⁴² tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[4:3]  ⁴³ tn See the note on the word “minor” in 4:1.

[4:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “basic principles,” “elemental things,” or “elemental spirits.” Some interpreters take this as a reference to supernatural powers who controlled nature and/or human fate.

[4:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “the fullness of time” (an idiom for the totality of a period of time, with the implication of proper completion; see L&N 67.69).

[4:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “calling.” The participle is neuter indicating that the Spirit is the one who calls.

[4:6]  ⁴⁷ tn The term “Abba” is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic אַבָּא (’abba’), literally meaning “my father” but taken over simply as “father,” used in prayer and in the family circle, and later taken over by the early Greek-speaking Christians (BDAG 1 s.v. ἀββα).

[4:30]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.

[5:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “The persuasion,” referring to their being led away from the truth (v. 7). There is a play on words here that is not easily reproducible in the English translation: The words translated “obey” (πείθεσθαι, peiqesqai) in v. 7 and “persuasion” (πεισμονή, peismonh) in v. 8 come from the same root in Greek.

[5:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:11]  ⁵¹ sn That is, if Paul still teaches observance of the Mosaic law (preaches circumcision), why is he still being persecuted by his opponents, who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law?

[5:11]  ⁵² sn The offense of the cross refers to the offense to Jews caused by preaching Christ crucified.

[5:11]  ⁵³ tn Or “nullified.”

[5:17]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).

[5:22]  ⁵⁶ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ⁵⁷ 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]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[5:24]  ⁵⁹ tc ‡ Some mss (א A B C P Ψ 0122¹ 0278 33 1175 1739 pc co) read “Christ Jesus” here, while many significant ones (Ì⁴⁶ D F G 0122*^,2 latt sy), as well as the Byzantine text, lack “Jesus.” The Byzantine text is especially not prone to omit the name “Jesus”; that it does so here argues for the authenticity of the shorter reading (for similar instances of probably authentic Byzantine shorter readings, see Matt 24:36 and Phil 1:14; cf. also W.-H. J. Wu, “A Systematic Analysis of the Shorter Readings in the Byzantine Text of the Synoptic Gospels” [Ph.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002]). On the strength of the alignment of Ì⁴⁶ with the Western and Byzantine texttypes, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[5:24]  ⁶⁰ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

[5:24]  ⁶¹ tn The Greek term παθήμασιν (paqhmasin, translated “passions”) refers to strong physical desires, especially of a sexual nature (L&N 25.30).

[6:8]  ⁶² 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]  ⁶³ tn Or “destruction.”

[6:8]  ⁶⁴ tn See the note on the previous occurrence of the word “flesh” in this verse.

[6:12]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁷ 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.

[6:14]  ⁶⁸ tn Or perhaps, “through whom,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than the cross.

[6:16]  ⁶⁹ tn The same Greek verb, στοιχέω (stoicew), occurs in Gal 5:25.

[6:16]  ⁷⁰ tn The word “and” (καί) can be interpreted in two ways: (1) It could be rendered as “also” which would indicate that two distinct groups are in view, namely “all who will behave in accordance with this rule” and “the Israel of God.” Or (2) it could be rendered “even,” which would indicate that “all who behave in accordance with this rule” are “the Israel of God.” In other words, in this latter view, “even” = “that is.”

[6:17]  ⁷¹ tn Paul is probably referring to scars from wounds received in the service of Jesus, although the term στίγμα (stigma) may imply ownership and suggest these scars served as brands (L&N 8.55; 33.481; 90.84).

[6:18]  ⁷² tn Or “is.” No verb is stated, but a wish (“be”) rather than a declarative statement (“is”) is most likely in a concluding greeting such as this.

[6:18]  ⁷³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.