Galatia 1:3

1:3 Grace and peace to you ¹  from God the Father and our ²  Lord Jesus Christ,

Galatia 1:20

1:20 I assure you ³  that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! ⁴ 

Galatia 4:13

Personal Appeal of Paul

4:13 But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you,

Galatia 4:19

4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! ⁵ 

Galatia 6:11

Final Instructions and Benediction

6:11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand!

[1:3]  ¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:3]  ² tc ‡ The unusual order καὶ κυρίου ἡμῶν (kai kuriou Jhmwn), which produces the reading “our Lord Jesus Christ” instead of “God our Father,” is read by Ì^46,51vid B D F G H 1739 1881 Ï sy sa, while the more normal ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου (Jhmwn kai kuriou) is found in א A P Ψ 33 81 326 365 2464 pc. Thus, the reading adopted in the translation is more widespread geographically and is found in the two earliest witnesses, along with several good representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texttypes. Internally, there would be a strong motivation for scribes to change the order: “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” is Paul’s normal greeting; here alone is the pronoun attached to “Jesus Christ” (except in the pastorals, though the greeting in these letters is nevertheless unlike the rest of the corpus Paulinum). Intrinsically, the chosen reading is superior as well: Scribes would be prone to emulate Paul’s regular style, while in an early letter such as this one his regular style was yet to be established (for a similar situation, cf. the text-critical discussion at 1 Thess 1:1). Hence, there is a strong probability that the reading in the translation is authentic. Although B. M. Metzger argues that “the apostle’s stereotyped formula was altered by copyists who, apparently in the interest of Christian piety, transferred the possessive pronoun so it would be more closely associated with ‘Lord Jesus Christ’” (TCGNT 520), one might expect to see the same alterations in other Pauline letters. That this is not the case argues for “our Lord Jesus Christ” as the authentic reading here.

[1:20]  ³ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “What things I am writing to you, behold, before God [that] I am not lying.”

[4:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “My children, for whom I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you.” The relative clauses in English do not pick up the emotional force of Paul’s language here (note “tone of voice” in v. 20, indicating that he is passionately concerned for them); hence, the translation has been altered slightly to capture the connotative power of Paul’s plea.

[4:19]  sn That is, until Christ’s nature or character is formed in them (see L&N 58.4).