Discovery BoxGalatians 2:6-21
Context2:6 But from those who were influential 1 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 2 ) – those influential leaders 3 added 4 nothing to my message. 5 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw 6 that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised 7 just as Peter was to the circumcised 8 2:8 (for he who empowered 9 Peter for his apostleship 10 to the circumcised 11 also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 12 2:9 and when James, Cephas, 13 and John, who had a reputation as 14 pillars, 15 recognized 16 the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me 17 the right hand of fellowship, agreeing 18 that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 19 2:10 They requested 20 only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.
2:11 But when Cephas 21 came to Antioch, 22 I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. 23 2:12 Until 24 certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this 25 and separated himself 26 because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. 27 2:13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them 28 by their hypocrisy. 2:14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas 29 in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force 30 the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
2:15 We are Jews by birth 31 and not Gentile sinners, 32 2:16 yet we know 33 that no one 34 is justified by the works of the law 35 but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. 36 And 37 we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ 38 and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one 39 will be justified. 2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages 40 sin? Absolutely not! 2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, 41 I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. 42 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, 43 and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So 44 the life I now live in the body, 45 I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, 46 who loved me and gave himself for me. 2:21 I do not set aside 47 God’s grace, because if righteousness 48 could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! 49
[2:6] 1 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.
[2:6] 2 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).
[2:6] 3 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.
[2:6] 4 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.
[2:6] 5 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
[2:7] 6 tn The participle ἰδόντες (idontes) has been taken temporally to retain the structure of the passage. Many modern translations, because of the length of the sentence here, translate this participle as a finite verb and break the Greek sentences into several English sentences (NIV, for example, begins new sentences at the beginning of both vv. 8 and 9).
[2:7] 7 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
[2:7] 8 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
[2:8] 9 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
[2:8] 10 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
[2:8] 11 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
[2:8] 12 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
[2:9] 13 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
[2:9] 14 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] 15 sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.
[2:9] 16 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] 17 tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”
[2:9] 18 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] 19 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
[2:10] 20 tn Grk “only that we remember the poor”; the words “They requested” have been supplied from the context to make a complete English sentence.
[2:11] 21 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
[2:11] 22 map For location see JP1 F2; JP2 F2; JP3 F2; JP4 F2.
[2:11] 23 tn Grk “because he stood condemned.”
[2:12] 24 tn The conjunction γάρ has not been translated here.
[2:12] 25 tn Grk “he drew back.” If ἑαυτόν (Jeauton) goes with both ὑπέστελλεν (Jupestellen) and ἀφώριζεν (afwrizen) rather than only the latter, the meaning would be “he drew himself back” (see BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 1.a).
[2:12] 26 tn Or “and held himself aloof.”
[2:12] 27 tn Grk “the [ones] of the circumcision,” that is, the group of Jewish Christians who insisted on circumcision of Gentiles before they could become Christians.
[2:13] 28 tn The words “with them” are a reflection of the σύν- (sun-) prefix on the verb συναπήχθη (sunaphcqh; see L&N 31.76).
[2:14] 29 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
[2:14] 30 tn Here ἀναγκάζεις (anankazei") has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).
[2:15] 32 tn Grk “and not sinners from among the Gentiles.”
[2:16] 33 tn Grk “yet knowing”; the participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[2:16] 34 tn Grk “no man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
[2:16] 35 sn The law is a reference to the law of Moses.
[2:16] 36 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.
[2:16] 37 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.
[2:16] 38 tn Or “by faith in Christ.” See comment above on “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”
[2:16] 39 tn Or “no human being”; Grk “flesh.”
[2:17] 40 tn Or “does Christ serve the interests of sin?”; or “is Christ an agent for sin?” See BDAG 230-31 s.v. διάκονος 2.
[2:18] 41 tn Or “once tore down.”
[2:18] 42 tn Traditionally, “that I am a transgressor.”
[2:20] 43 tn Both the NA27/UBS4 Greek text and the NRSV place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.
[2:20] 44 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. 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.
[2:20] 46 tc A number of important witnesses (Ì46 B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (qeou kai Cristou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou tou qeou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of
[2:21] 47 tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”
