Galatians 1:6

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ¹  who called you by the grace of Christ ²  and are following ³  a different ⁴  gospel –

Galatians 1:8

1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach ⁵  a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ⁶  let him be condemned to hell! ⁷ 

Galatians 1:17

1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem ⁸  to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, ⁹  and then returned to Damascus.

Galatians 2:11

Paul Rebukes Peter

2:11 But when Cephas ¹⁰  came to Antioch, ¹¹  I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. ¹² 

Galatians 3:1

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You ¹³  foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell ¹⁴  on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed ¹⁵  as crucified!

Galatians 3:5

3:5 Does God then give ¹⁶  you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law ¹⁷  or by your believing what you heard? ¹⁸ 

Galatians 4:20

4:20 I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, ¹⁹  because I am perplexed about you.

Galatians 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ²⁰  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ²¹  of slavery.

[1:6]  ¹ sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).

[1:6]  ² tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì⁵¹ א A B F^c Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg sy^p bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241^s pc sy^h**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thret^lem), a few mss (Ì^46vid F* G H^vid ar b Tert Cyp Ambst Pel) have simply χάριτι with no modifier. Internally, the reading that seems best to explain the rise of the others is the shortest reading, χάριτι. Indeed, the fact that three different adjuncts are found in the mss seems to be a natural expansion on the simple “grace.” At the same time, the witnesses for the shortest reading are not particularly impressive, being that they largely represent one textual strand (Western), and a less-than-reliable one at that. Further, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see the construction χάρις (cari", “grace”) followed by Χριστοῦ without some other name (such as κυρίου [kuriou, “Lord”] or ᾿Ιησοῦ). The construction χάρις θεοῦ is likewise frequent in Paul. Thus, upon closer inspection it seems that the original wording here was χάριτι Χριστοῦ (for it is difficult to explain how this particular reading could have arisen from the simple χάριτι, in light of Paul’s normal idioms), with the other readings intentionally or accidentally arising from it.

[1:6]  ³ tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “another.”

[1:8]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most witnesses have ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) either after (א² A [D* ὑμᾶς] 6 33 326 614 945 1881 Ï Tert^pt Ambst) or before (Ì^51vid B H 0278 630 1175 [1739* ἡμῖν]) εὐαγγελίζηται (euaggelizhtai, “should preach” [or some variation on the form of this verb]). But the fact that it floats suggests its inauthenticity, especially since it appears to be a motivated reading for purposes of clarification. The following witnesses lack the pronoun: א* F G Ψ ar b g Cyp Mcion^T Tert^pt Lcf. The external evidence admittedly is not as weighty as evidence for the pronoun, but coupled with strong internal evidence the shorter reading should be considered original. Although it is possible that scribes may have deleted the pronoun to make Paul’s statement seem more universal, the fact that the pronoun floats suggests otherwise. NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Or “other than the one we preached to you.”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “let him be accursed” (ἀνάθεμα, anaqema). The translation gives the outcome which is implied by this dreadful curse.

[1:17]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:17]  ¹⁰ 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.

[2:11]  ¹³ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[2:11]  ¹⁴ map For location see JP1 F2; JP2 F2; JP3 F2; JP4 F2.

[2:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “because he stood condemned.”

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.

[3:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainw) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).

[3:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Or “provide.”

[3:5]  ²² tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[3:5]  ²³ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[4:20]  ²⁵ tn Grk “voice” or “tone.” The contemporary English expression “tone of voice” is a good approximation to the meaning here.

[5:1]  ²⁹ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ³⁰ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.