Galatians 2:1-5

Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem ¹  again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2:2 I went there ²  because of ³  a revelation and presented ⁴  to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ⁵  only in a private meeting with the influential people, ⁶  to make sure that I was not running – or had not run ⁷  – in vain. 2:3 Yet ⁸  not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 2:4 Now this matter arose ⁹  because of the false brothers with false pretenses ¹⁰  who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ¹¹  our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ¹²  2:5 But ¹³  we did not surrender to them ¹⁴  even for a moment, ¹⁵  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ¹⁶ 

[2:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

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

[2:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “set before them.”

[2:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trecw, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “But,” translated here as “Yet” for stylistic reasons (note the use of “but” in v. 2).

[2:4]  ⁹ tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).

[2:4]  ¹² tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.

[2:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”

[2:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).

[2:5]  ¹⁶ sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).