4:17 They court you eagerly, 3 but for no good purpose; 4 they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. 5
2:6 But from those who were influential 26 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 27 ) – those influential leaders 28 added 29 nothing to my message. 30
“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; 35
break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,
because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than those of the woman who has a husband.” 36
1 tn Grk “behold.”
2 tn Grk “What things I am writing to you, behold, before God [that] I am not lying.”
3 tn Or “They are zealous for you.”
4 tn Or “but not commendably” (BDAG 505 s.v. καλῶς 2).
5 tn Or “so that you would be zealous.”
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.
7 tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).
8 tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.
9 tn Or “is not mocked,” “will not be ridiculed” (L&N 33.409). BDAG 660 s.v. μυκτηρίζω has “of God οὐ μ. he is not to be mocked, treated w. contempt, perh. outwitted Gal 6:7.”
10 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
11 tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.
12 tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.
13 tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.
14 tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”
13 tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.
14 tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important
15 tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).
15 tn Or perhaps, “through whom,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than the cross.
17 tn Grk “yet knowing”; the participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
18 tn Grk “no man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
19 sn The law is a reference to the law of Moses.
20 tn Or “faith in Jesus Christ.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pisti" Cristou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in v. 20; Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 3:22; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.
21 tn In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.
22 tn Or “by faith in Christ.” See comment above on “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”
23 tn Or “no human being”; Grk “flesh.”
19 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.
20 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).
21 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.
22 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.
23 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
21 tn Grk “his seed,” a figurative extension of the meaning of σπέρμα (sperma) to refer to descendants (L&N 10.29).
22 tn Grk “It”; the referent (the scripture) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The understood subject of the verb λέγει (legei) could also be “He” (referring to God) as the one who spoke the promise to Abraham.
23 tn Grk “to seeds.” See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse. Here the term is plural; the use of the singular in the OT text cited later in this verse is crucial to Paul’s argument.
24 tn See the note on “descendant” earlier in this verse.
23 tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
24 tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”
25 sn A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.