Galatia 1:16--2:10
Konteks1:16 to reveal his Son in 1 me so that I could preach him 2 among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from 3 any human being, 4 1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem 5 to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, 6 and then returned to Damascus.
1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem 7 to visit Cephas 8 and get information from him, 9 and I stayed with him fifteen days. 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 1:21 Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 1:22 But I was personally 13 unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 1:23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news 14 of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 1:24 So 15 they glorified God because of me. 16
2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem 17 again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2:2 I went there 18 because of 19 a revelation and presented 20 to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so 21 only in a private meeting with the influential people, 22 to make sure that I was not running – or had not run 23 – in vain. 2:3 Yet 24 not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 2:4 Now this matter arose 25 because of the false brothers with false pretenses 26 who slipped in unnoticed to spy on 27 our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. 28 2:5 But 29 we did not surrender to them 30 even for a moment, 31 in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 32
2:6 But from those who were influential 33 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 34 ) – those influential leaders 35 added 36 nothing to my message. 37 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw 38 that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised 39 just as Peter was to the circumcised 40 2:8 (for he who empowered 41 Peter for his apostleship 42 to the circumcised 43 also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 44 2:9 and when James, Cephas, 45 and John, who had a reputation as 46 pillars, 47 recognized 48 the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me 49 the right hand of fellowship, agreeing 50 that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 51 2:10 They requested 52 only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.
[1:16] 1 tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.
[1:16] 2 tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.
[1:16] 3 tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.
[1:16] 4 tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”
[1:17] 5 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:17] 6 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.
[1:18] 7 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:18] 8 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
[1:18] 9 tn Although often translated “to get acquainted with Cephas,” this could give the impression of merely a social call. L&N 34.52 has “to visit, with the purpose of obtaining information” for the meaning of ἱστορέω (Jistorew), particularly in this verse.
[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] 12 tn Grk “What things I am writing to you, behold, before God [that] I am not lying.”
[1:22] 13 tn Or “by sight”; Grk “by face.”
[1:23] 14 tn The Greek verb here is εὐαγγελίζεται (euangelizetai).
[1:24] 15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the report about Paul’s conversion.
[1:24] 16 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν εμοί (en emoi) has been translated with a causal force.
[2:1] 17 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:2] 18 tn Grk “I went up”; one always spoke idiomatically of going “up” to Jerusalem.
[2:2] 19 tn Or “in accordance with.” According to BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.5.a.δ, “Oft. the norm is at the same time the reason, so that in accordance with and because of are merged…Instead of ‘in accordance w.’ κ. can mean simply because of, as a result of, on the basis of…κ. ἀποκάλυψιν Gal 2:2.”
[2:2] 20 tn Or “set before them.”
[2:2] 21 tn Grk “Gentiles, but only privately…to make sure.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with “But” and the words “I did so,” an implied repetition from the previous clause, were supplied to make a complete English sentence.
[2:2] 22 tn L&N 87.42 has “important persons, influential persons, prominent persons” for οἱ δοκοῦντες and translates this phrase in Gal 2:2 as “in a private meeting with the prominent persons.” The “prominent people” referred to here are the leaders of the Jerusalem church.
[2:2] 23 tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trecw, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.
[2:3] 24 tn Grk “But,” translated here as “Yet” for stylistic reasons (note the use of “but” in v. 2).
[2:4] 25 tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.
[2:4] 26 tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.
[2:4] 27 tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).
[2:4] 28 tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.
[2:5] 29 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] 30 tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”
[2:5] 31 tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).
[2:5] 32 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).
[2:6] 33 tn Or “influential leaders.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a.β has “the influential men Gal 2:2, 6b. A fuller expr. w. the same mng., w. inf. added…vss. 6a, 9.” This refers to the leadership of the Jerusalem church.
[2:6] 34 tn Grk “God does not receive the face of man,” an idiom for showing favoritism or partiality (BDAG 887-88 s.v. πρόσωπον 1.b.α; L&N 88.238).
[2:6] 35 tn Or “influential people”; here “leaders” was used rather than “people” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy with the word “people” in the previous parenthetical remark. See also the note on the word “influential” at the beginning of this verse.
[2:6] 36 tn Or “contributed.” This is the same word translated “go to ask advice from” in 1:16, but it has a different meaning here; see L&N 59.72.
[2:6] 37 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
[2:7] 38 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] 39 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
[2:7] 40 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
[2:8] 41 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
[2:8] 42 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
[2:8] 43 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
[2:8] 44 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
[2:9] 45 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
[2:9] 46 tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.
[2:9] 47 sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.
[2:9] 48 tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.
[2:9] 49 tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”
[2:9] 50 tn Grk “so,” with the ἵνα (Jina) indicating the result of the “pillars” extending the “right hand of fellowship,” but the translation “they gave…the right hand of fellowship so that we would go” could be misunderstood as purpose here. The implication of the scene is that an agreement, outlined at the end of v. 10, was reached between Paul and Barnabas on the one hand and the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church on the other.
[2:9] 51 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
[2:10] 52 tn Grk “only that we remember the poor”; the words “They requested” have been supplied from the context to make a complete English sentence.
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