2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem 11 again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too.
1:11 Now 21 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, 22 that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 23
1 sn If indeed. The author is not doubting whether his audience has heard, but is rather using provocative language (if indeed) to engage his audience in thinking about the magnificence of God’s grace. However, in English translation, the apodosis (“then”-clause) does not come until v. 13, leaving the protasis (“if”-clause) dangling. Eph 3:2-7 constitute one sentence in Greek.
2 tn Or “administration,” “dispensation,” “commission.”
3 tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.
4 tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.
5 tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.
6 tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”
7 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
8 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
9 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
10 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
11 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
12 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).
13 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
14 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
15 tn Grk “I went up”; one always spoke idiomatically of going “up” to Jerusalem.
16 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.”
17 tn Or “set before them.”
18 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.
19 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.
20 tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trecw, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.
21 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.
22 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).
23 tn Grk “is not according to man.”