Galatians 4:21

An Appeal from Allegory

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? ¹ 

Galatians 4:15

4:15 Where then is your sense of happiness ²  now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me!

Galatians 6:17

6:17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. ³ 

Galatians 2:6

2:6 But from those who were influential ⁴  (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people ⁵ ) – those influential leaders ⁶  added ⁷  nothing to my message. ⁸ 

Galatians 2:9

2:9 and when James, Cephas, ⁹  and John, who had a reputation as ¹⁰  pillars, ¹¹  recognized ¹²  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ¹³  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ¹⁴  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁵ 

[4:21]  ¹ tn Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw) means “hear, listen to,” but by figurative extension it can also mean “obey.” It can also refer to the process of comprehension that follows hearing, and that sense fits the context well here.

[4:15]  ² tn Or “blessedness.”

[6:17]  ³ tn Paul is probably referring to scars from wounds received in the service of Jesus, although the term στίγμα (stigma) may imply ownership and suggest these scars served as brands (L&N 8.55; 33.481; 90.84).

[2:6]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.

[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.