Galatians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Galatians 1:7

1:7 not that there really is another gospel, ²  but ³  there are some who are disturbing you and wanting ⁴  to distort the gospel of Christ.

Galatians 1:12

1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; ⁵  instead I received it ⁶  by a revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁷ 

Galatians 1:16

1:16 to reveal his Son in ⁸  me so that I could preach him ⁹  among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from ¹⁰  any human being, ¹¹ 

Galatians 2:5

2:5 But ¹²  we did not surrender to them ¹³  even for a moment, ¹⁴  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ¹⁵ 

Galatians 2:17

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 ¹⁶  sin? Absolutely not!

Galatians 2:21

2:21 I do not set aside ¹⁷  God’s grace, because if righteousness ¹⁸  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ¹⁹ 

Galatians 3:12

3:12 But the law is not based on faith, ²⁰  but the one who does the works of the law ²¹  will live by them. ²² 

Galatians 4:18

4:18 However, it is good ²³  to be sought eagerly ²⁴  for a good purpose ²⁵  at all times, and not only when I am present with you.

Galatians 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ²⁶  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ²⁷  of slavery.

Galatians 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ²⁸  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ²⁹  but through love serve one another. ³⁰ 

Galatians 6:4

6:4 Let each one examine ³¹  his own work. Then he can take pride ³²  in himself and not compare himself with ³³  someone else.

Galatians 6:13

6:13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. ³⁴ 

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¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

² tn Grk “which is not another,” but this could be misunderstood to mean “which is not really different.” In fact, as Paul goes on to make clear, there is no other gospel than the one he preaches.

³ tn Grk “except.”

⁴ tn Or “trying.”

⁵ tn Or “I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it.”

⁶ tn The words “I received it” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

⁷ tn It is difficult to determine what kind of genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou) is. If it is a subjective genitive, the meaning is “a revelation from Jesus Christ” but if objective genitive, it is “a revelation about Jesus Christ.” Most likely this is objective since the explanation in vv. 15-16 mentions God revealing the Son to Paul so that he might preach, although the idea of a direct revelation to Paul at some point cannot be ruled out.

⁸ tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.

⁹ tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.

¹⁰ tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.

¹¹ tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).

¹⁵ 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).

¹⁶ tn Or “does Christ serve the interests of sin?”; or “is Christ an agent for sin?” See BDAG 230-31 s.v. διάκονος 2.

¹⁷ tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”

¹⁸ tn Or “justification.”

¹⁹ tn Or “without cause,” “for no purpose.”

²⁰ tn Grk “is not from faith.”

²¹ tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²² sn A quotation from Lev 18:5. The phrase the works of the law is an editorial expansion on the Greek text (see previous note); it has been left as normal typeface to indicate it is not part of the OT text.

²³ tn Or “commendable.”

²⁴ tn Or “to be zealous.”

²⁵ tn Grk “But it is always good to be zealous in good.”

²⁶ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

²⁷ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

²⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

²⁹ tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

³⁰ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

³¹ tn Or “determine the genuineness of.”

³² tn Grk “he will have a reason for boasting.”

³³ tn Or “and not in regard to.” The idea of comparison is implied in the context.

³⁴ tn Or “boast about you in external matters,” “in the outward rite” (cf. v. 12).