Galatians 3:1-5

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You ¹  foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell ²  on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed ³  as crucified! 3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law ⁴  or by believing what you heard? ⁵  3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began ⁶  with ⁷  the Spirit, are you now trying to finish ⁸  by human effort? ⁹  3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing. 3:5 Does God then give ¹⁰  you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law ¹¹  or by your believing what you heard? ¹² 

Galatians 4:9-15

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 ¹³  basic forces? ¹⁴  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ¹⁵  4:10 You are observing religious ¹⁶  days and months and seasons and years. 4:11 I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain. 4:12 I beg you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁷  become like me, because I have become like you. You have done me no wrong!

Personal Appeal of Paul

4:13 But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you, 4:14 and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. ¹⁸  Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God, ¹⁹  as though I were Christ Jesus himself! ²⁰  4:15 Where then is your sense of happiness ²¹  now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me!

Galatians 5:4

5:4 You who are trying to be declared righteous ²²  by the law have been alienated ²³  from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Galatians 5:7

5:7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying ²⁴  the truth?

Psalms 106:13

106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; ²⁵ 

they did not wait for his instructions. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ²⁷  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ²⁸ 

they say wonderful things about me, ²⁹ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ³⁰ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ³¹ 

Jeremiah 2:12-13

2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens! ³² 

Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”

says the Lord.

2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:

they have rejected me,

the fountain of life-giving water, ³³ 

and they have dug cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

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

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

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”

[3:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.

[3:3]  ⁷ tn Or “by the Spirit.”

[3:3]  ⁸ tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.

[3:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “provide.”

[3:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[3:5]  ¹² tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).

[4:9]  ¹³ tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.

[4:9]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.

[4:9]  ¹⁵ 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.

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn The adjective “religious” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that the problem concerns observing certain days, etc. in a religious sense (cf. NIV, NRSV “special days”). In light of the polemic in this letter against the Judaizers (those who tried to force observance of the Mosaic law on Gentile converts to Christianity) this may well be a reference to the observance of Jewish Sabbaths, feasts, and other religious days.

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[4:14]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “your trial in my flesh you did not despise or reject.”

[4:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[4:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “as an angel of God…as Christ Jesus.” This could be understood to mean either “you welcomed me like an angel of God would,” or “you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God.” In context only the second is accurate, so the translation has been phrased to indicate this.

[4:15]  ²¹ tn Or “blessedness.”

[5:4]  ²² tn Or “trying to be justified.” The verb δικαιοῦσθε (dikaiousqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).

[5:4]  ²³ tn Or “estranged”; BDAG 526 s.v. καταργέω 4 states, “Of those who aspire to righteousness through the law κ. ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ be estranged from Christ Gal 5:4.”

[5:7]  ²⁴ 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.”

[106:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his works.”

[106:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his counsel.”

[29:13]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[2:12]  ³² sn In earlier literature the heavens (and the earth) were called on to witness Israel’s commitment to the covenant (Deut 30:12) and were called to serve as witnesses to Israel’s fidelity or infidelity to it (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).

[2:13]  ³³ tn It is difficult to decide whether to translate “fresh, running water” which the Hebrew term for “living water” often refers to (e.g., Gen 26:19; Lev 14:5), or “life-giving water” which the idiom “fountain of life” as source of life and vitality often refers to (e.g., Ps 36:9; Prov 13:14; 14:27). The contrast with cisterns, which collected and held rain water, suggests “fresh, running water,” but the reality underlying the metaphor contrasts the Lord, the source of life, health, and vitality, with useless idols that cannot do anything.