Galatia 5:2-4

5:2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! 5:3 And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey ¹  the whole law. 5:4 You who are trying to be declared righteous ²  by the law have been alienated ³  from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Galatia 5:8

5:8 This persuasion ⁴  does not come from the one who calls you!

Galatia 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ⁵  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ⁶  but through love serve one another. ⁷ 

[5:3]  ¹ tn Or “keep”; or “carry out”; Grk “do.”

[5:4]  ² tn Or “trying to be justified.” The verb δικαιοῦσθε (dikaiousqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).

[5:4]  ³ tn Or “estranged”; BDAG 526 s.v. καταργέω 4 states, “Of those who aspire to righteousness through the law κ. ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ be estranged from Christ Gal 5:4.”

[5:8]  ⁴ 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.

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

[5:13]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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).