Galatians 1:13

1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life ¹  in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.

Galatians 3:8

3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, ²  saying, “All the nations ³  will be blessed in you.” ⁴ 

Galatians 6:12

6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters ⁵  are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so ⁶  only to avoid being persecuted ⁷  for the cross of Christ.

Galatians 6:14

6:14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which ⁸  the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:17

6:17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. ⁹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn Or “lifestyle,” “behavior.”

[3:8]  ² tn For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι (proeuangelizomai) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.

[3:8]  ³ tn The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη (ta eqnh), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”

[3:8]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Gen 12:3; 18:18.

[6:12]  ³ tn Grk “in the flesh.” L&N 88.236 translates the phrase “those who force you to be circumcised are those who wish to make a good showing in external matters.”

[6:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “to be circumcised, only.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with the words “They do so,” which were supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[6:12]  ⁵ tc ‡ Grk “so that they will not be persecuted.” The indicative after ἵνα μή (Jina mh) is unusual (though not unexampled elsewhere in the NT), making it the harder reading. The evidence is fairly evenly split between the indicative διώκονται (diwkontai; Ì⁴⁶ A C F G K L P 0278 6 81 104 326 629 1175 1505 pm) and the subjunctive διώκωνται (diwkwntai; א B D Ψ 33 365 1739 pm), with a slight preference for the subjunctive. However, since scribes would tend to change the indicative to a subjunctive due to syntactical requirements, the internal evidence is decidedly on the side of the indicative, suggesting that it is original.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “through whom,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than the cross.

[6:17]  ⁵ tn Paul is probably referring to scars from wounds received in the service of Jesus, although the term στίγμα (stigma) may imply ownership and suggest these scars served as brands (L&N 8.55; 33.481; 90.84).