Galatians 1:17

1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem ¹  to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, ²  and then returned to Damascus.

Galatians 5:12

5:12 I wish those agitators ³  would go so far as to ⁴  castrate themselves! ⁵ 

Galatians 2:9

2:9 and when James, Cephas, ⁶  and John, who had a reputation as ⁷  pillars, ⁸  recognized ⁹  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ¹⁰  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ¹¹  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹² 

Galatians 3:20

3:20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. ¹³ 

Galatians 1:18

1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem ¹⁴  to visit Cephas ¹⁵  and get information from him, ¹⁶  and I stayed with him fifteen days.

Galatians 4:9

4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ¹⁷  basic forces? ¹⁸  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ¹⁹ 

Galatians 3:4

3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing.

Galatians 4:19

4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! ²⁰ 

Galatians 5:7

5:7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying ²¹  the truth?

Galatians 5:16

5:16 But I say, live ²²  by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. ²³ 

Galatians 5:25

5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with ²⁴  the Spirit.

Galatians 2:2

2:2 I went there ²⁵  because of ²⁶  a revelation and presented ²⁷  to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ²⁸  only in a private meeting with the influential people, ²⁹  to make sure that I was not running – or had not run ³⁰  – in vain.

Galatians 3:19

3:19 Why then was the law given? ³¹  It was added ³²  because of transgressions, ³³  until the arrival of the descendant ³⁴  to whom the promise had been made. It was administered ³⁵  through angels by an intermediary. ³⁶ 

Galatians 1:16

1:16 to reveal his Son in ³⁷  me so that I could preach him ³⁸  among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from ³⁹  any human being, ⁴⁰ 

Galatians 4:17

4:17 They court you eagerly, ⁴¹  but for no good purpose; ⁴²  they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. ⁴³ 

[1:17]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:17]  ² sn As a geographical region Arabia included the territory west of Mesopotamia, east and south of Syria and Palestine, extending to the isthmus of Suez. During the Roman occupation, some independent kingdoms arose like that of the Nabateans south of Damascus, and these could be called simply Arabia. In light of the proximity to Damascus, this may well be the territory Paul says he visited here. See also C. W. Briggs, “The Apostle Paul in Arabia,” Biblical World 41 (1913): 255-59.

[5:12]  ³ tn Grk “the ones who are upsetting you.” The same verb is used in Acts 21:38 to refer to a person who incited a revolt. Paul could be alluding indirectly to the fact that his opponents are inciting the Galatians to rebel against his teaching with regard to circumcision and the law.

[5:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “would even.”

[5:12]  ⁵ tn Or “make eunuchs of themselves”; Grk “cut themselves off.” This statement is rhetorical hyperbole on Paul’s part. It does strongly suggest, however, that Paul’s adversaries in this case (“those agitators”) were men. Some interpreters (notably Erasmus and the Reformers) have attempted to soften the meaning to a figurative “separate themselves” (meaning the opponents would withdraw from fellowship) but such an understanding dramatically weakens the rhetorical force of Paul’s argument. Although it has been argued that such an act of emasculation would be unthinkable for Paul, it must be noted that Paul’s statement is one of biting sarcasm, obviously not meant to be taken literally. See further G. Stählin, TDNT 3:853-55.

[2:9]  ⁵ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.

[2:9]  ⁷ sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.

[2:9]  ⁸ tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”

[2:9]  ¹⁰ 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.

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.

[3:20]  ⁷ tn The meaning of this verse is disputed. According to BDAG 634 s.v. μεσίτης, “It prob. means that the activity of an intermediary implies the existence of more than one party, and hence may be unsatisfactory because it must result in a compromise. The presence of an intermediary would prevent attainment, without any impediment, of the purpose of the εἶς θεός in giving the law.” See also A. Oepke, TDNT 4:598-624, esp. 618-19.

[1:18]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:18]  ¹⁰ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Although often translated “to get acquainted with Cephas,” this could give the impression of merely a social call. L&N 34.52 has “to visit, with the purpose of obtaining information” for the meaning of ἱστορέω (Jistorew), particularly in this verse.

[4:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.

[4:9]  ¹² tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.

[4:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[4:19]  ¹³ 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.

[5:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “following.” BDAG 792 s.v. πείθω 3.b states, “obey, follow w. dat. of the pers. or thing…Gal 3:1 v.l.; 5:7.”

[5:16]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).

[5:16]  ¹⁸ 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.

[5:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “let us also follow,” “let us also walk by.”

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “I went up”; one always spoke idiomatically of going “up” to Jerusalem.

[2:2]  ²² 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.”

[2:2]  ²³ tn Or “set before them.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ 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.

[2:2]  ²⁵ 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.

[2:2]  ²⁶ tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trecw, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.

[3:19]  ²³ tn Grk “Why then the law?”

[3:19]  ²⁴ tc For προσετέθη (proseteqh) several Western mss have ἐτέθη (eteqh, “it was established”; so D* F G it Ir^lat Ambst Spec). The net effect of this reading, in conjunction with the largely Western reading of πράξεων (praxewn) for παραβάσεων (parabasewn), seems to be a very positive assessment of the law. But there are compelling reasons for rejecting this reading: (1) externally, it is provincial and relatively late; (2) internally: (a) transcriptionally, there seems to be a much higher transcriptional probability that a scribe would try to smooth over Paul’s harsh saying here about the law than vice versa; (b) intrinsically: [1] Paul has already argued that the law came after the promise (vv. 15-18), indicating, more than likely, its temporary nature; [2] the verb “was added” in v. 19 (προσετέθη) is different from the verb in v. 15 (ἐπιδιατάσσεται, epidiatassetai); virtually all exegetes recognize this as an intentional linguistic shift on Paul’s part in order not to contradict his statement in v. 15; [3] the temper of 3:1–4:7 is decidedly against a positive statement about the Torah’s role in Heilsgeschichte.

[3:19]  ²⁵ tc παραδόσεων (paradosewn; “traditions, commandments”) is read by D*, while the vast majority of witnesses read παραβάσεων (parabasewn, “transgressions”). D’s reading makes little sense in this context. πράξεων (praxewn, “of deeds”) replaces παραβάσεων in Ì⁴⁶ F G it Ir^lat Ambst Spec. The wording is best taken as going with νόμος (nomo"; “Why then the law of deeds?”), as is evident by the consistent punctuation in the later witnesses. But such an expression is unpauline and superfluous; it was almost certainly added by some early scribe(s) to soften the blow of Paul’s statement.

[3:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.

[3:19]  ²⁷ tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.

[3:19]  ²⁸ tn Many modern translations (NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this word (μεσίτης, mesith"; here and in v. 20) as “mediator,” but this conveys a wrong impression in contemporary English. If this is referring to Moses, he certainly did not “mediate” between God and Israel but was an intermediary on God’s behalf. Moses was not a mediator, for example, who worked for compromise between opposing parties. He instead was God’s representative to his people who enabled them to have a relationship, but entirely on God’s terms.

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.

[1:16]  ²⁶ tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.

[1:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.

[1:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”

[4:17]  ²⁷ tn Or “They are zealous for you.”

[4:17]  ²⁸ tn Or “but not commendably” (BDAG 505 s.v. καλῶς 2).

[4:17]  ²⁹ tn Or “so that you would be zealous.”