12:11 I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison 12 to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
13:1 This is the third time I am coming to visit 14 you. By the testimony 15 of two or three witnesses every matter will be established. 16
1:1 From Paul, 17 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1:11 Now 18 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, 19 that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 20 1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; 21 instead I received it 22 by a revelation of Jesus Christ. 23
1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life 24 in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.
2:6 But from those who were influential 29 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 30 ) – those influential leaders 31 added 32 nothing to my message. 33 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw 34 that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised 35 just as Peter was to the circumcised 36 2:8 (for he who empowered 37 Peter for his apostleship 38 to the circumcised 39 also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 40 2:9 and when James, Cephas, 41 and John, who had a reputation as 42 pillars, 43 recognized 44 the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me 45 the right hand of fellowship, agreeing 46 that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 47
2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem 48 again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too.
1 tn The present tense of συνιστάνομεν (sunistanomen) has been translated as a conative present.
2 tn Or “to boast about us.”
3 tn Or “who boast.”
4 tn Or “in what is seen.”
5 tn Or “preaches.”
6 tn Grk “another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed.”
7 tn Grk “a different spirit which you did not receive.”
8 tn Grk “a different gospel which you did not accept.”
9 tn Or “you endure it very well.”
10 sn Many is a reference to Paul’s opponents.
11 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
12 tn Or “I am in no way inferior.”
13 tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
14 tn The word “visit” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
15 tn Grk “By the mouth.”
16 sn A quotation from Deut 19:15 (also quoted in Matt 18:16; 1 Tim 5:19).
17 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
18 tc ‡ The conjunction δέ (de) is found in Ì46 א*,2 A D1 Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy bo, while γάρ (gar) is the conjunction of choice in א1 B D*,c F G 33 pc lat sa. There are thus good representatives on each side. Scribes generally tended to prefer γάρ in such instances, most likely because it was more forceful and explicit. γάρ is thus seen as a motivated reading. For this reason, δέ is preferred.
19 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
20 tn Grk “is not according to man.”
21 tn Or “I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it.”
22 tn The words “I received it” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
23 tn It is difficult to determine what kind of genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou) is. If it is a subjective genitive, the meaning is “a revelation from Jesus Christ” but if objective genitive, it is “a revelation about Jesus Christ.” Most likely this is objective since the explanation in vv. 15-16 mentions God revealing the Son to Paul so that he might preach, although the idea of a direct revelation to Paul at some point cannot be ruled out.
24 tn Or “lifestyle,” “behavior.”
25 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.
26 tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”
27 tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).
28 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).
29 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.
30 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).
31 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.
32 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.
33 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
34 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).
35 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
36 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
37 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
38 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
39 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
40 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
41 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
42 tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.
43 sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.
44 tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.
45 tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”
46 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.
47 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
48 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
49 tn Grk “calling.” The participle is neuter indicating that the Spirit is the one who calls.
50 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).