Galatians 6:15

6:15 For ¹  neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for ²  anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! 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 3:3

3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began ⁹  with ¹⁰  the Spirit, are you now trying to finish ¹¹  by human effort? ¹² 

Galatians 5:16

5:16 But I say, live ¹³  by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. ¹⁴ 

Galatians 6:16

6:16 And all who will behave ¹⁵  in accordance with this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on the Israel of God. ¹⁶ 

Galatians 3:21

3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? ¹⁷  Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ¹⁸ 

[6:15]  ¹ tc The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is found after “For” in some mss (א A C D F G 0278 1881 Ï lat bo), but lacking in Ì⁴⁶ B Ψ 33 1175 1505 1739* and several fathers. The longer reading probably represents a harmonization to Gal 5:6.

[6:15]  ² tn Grk “is.”

[6:15]  ³ tn Grk “but a new creation”; the words “the only thing that matters” have been supplied to reflect the implied contrast with the previous clause (see also Gal 5:6).

[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.

[3:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.

[3:3]  ⁸ tn Or “by the Spirit.”

[3:3]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”

[5:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).

[5:16]  ¹¹ tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.

[6:16]  ¹³ tn The same Greek verb, στοιχέω (stoicew), occurs in Gal 5:25.

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn The word “and” (καί) can be interpreted in two ways: (1) It could be rendered as “also” which would indicate that two distinct groups are in view, namely “all who will behave in accordance with this rule” and “the Israel of God.” Or (2) it could be rendered “even,” which would indicate that “all who behave in accordance with this rule” are “the Israel of God.” In other words, in this latter view, “even” = “that is.”

[3:21]  ¹⁶ tc The reading τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “of God”) is well attested in א A C D (F G read θεοῦ without the article) Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co. However, Ì⁴⁶ B d Ambst lack the words. Ì⁴⁶ and B perhaps should not to be given as much weight as they normally are, since the combination of these two witnesses often produces a secondary shorter reading against all others. In addition, one might expect that if the shorter reading were original other variants would have crept into the textual tradition early on. But 104 (a.d. 1087) virtually stands alone with the variant τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou, “of Christ”). Nevertheless, if τοῦ θεοῦ were not part of the original text, it is the kind of variant that would be expected to show up early and often, especially in light of Paul’s usage elsewhere (Rom 4:20; 2 Cor 1:20). A slight preference should be given to the τοῦ θεοῦ over the omission. NA²⁷ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “have been based on the law.”