Galatians 1:6

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ¹  who called you by the grace of Christ ²  and are following ³  a different ⁴  gospel –

Galatians 1:16

1:16 to reveal his Son in ⁵  me so that I could preach him ⁶  among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from ⁷  any human being, ⁸ 

Galatians 2:13

2:13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them ⁹  by their hypocrisy.

Galatians 3:14

3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, ¹⁰  so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

Galatians 3:22

3:22 But the scripture imprisoned ¹¹  everything and everyone ¹²  under sin so that the promise could be given – because of the faithfulness ¹³  of Jesus Christ – to those who believe.

Galatians 4:7

4:7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are ¹⁴  a son, then you are also an heir through God. ¹⁵ 

Galatians 4:17

4:17 They court you eagerly, ¹⁶  but for no good purpose; ¹⁷  they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. ¹⁸ 

Galatians 4:29

4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent ¹⁹  persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, ²⁰  so it is now.

Galatians 6:9-10

6:9 So we must not grow weary ²¹  in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. ²²  6:10 So then, ²³  whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith. ²⁴ 

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. ²⁵ 

---

¹ sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).

² tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì⁵¹ א A B F^c Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg sy^p bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241^s pc sy^h**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thret^lem), a few mss (Ì^46vid F* G H^vid ar b Tert Cyp Ambst Pel) have simply χάριτι with no modifier. Internally, the reading that seems best to explain the rise of the others is the shortest reading, χάριτι. Indeed, the fact that three different adjuncts are found in the mss seems to be a natural expansion on the simple “grace.” At the same time, the witnesses for the shortest reading are not particularly impressive, being that they largely represent one textual strand (Western), and a less-than-reliable one at that. Further, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see the construction χάρις (cari", “grace”) followed by Χριστοῦ without some other name (such as κυρίου [kuriou, “Lord”] or ᾿Ιησοῦ). The construction χάρις θεοῦ is likewise frequent in Paul. Thus, upon closer inspection it seems that the original wording here was χάριτι Χριστοῦ (for it is difficult to explain how this particular reading could have arisen from the simple χάριτι, in light of Paul’s normal idioms), with the other readings intentionally or accidentally arising from it.

³ tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”

⁴ tn Grk “another.”

⁵ tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.

⁶ tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.

⁷ tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.

⁸ tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”

⁹ tn The words “with them” are a reflection of the σύν- (sun-) prefix on the verb συναπήχθη (sunaphcqh; see L&N 31.76).

¹⁰ tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”

¹¹ tn Or “locked up.”

¹² tn Grk “imprisoned all things” but τὰ πάντα (ta panta) includes people as part of the created order. Because people are the emphasis of Paul’s argument ( “given to those who believe” at the end of this verse.), “everything and everyone” was used here.

¹³ tn Or “so that the promise could be given by faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.” 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 Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 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.

sn On the phrase because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, ExSyn 116, which notes that the grammar is not decisive, nevertheless suggests that “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept (for the idea is expressed in many of the same contexts, only with the verb πιστεύω rather than the noun), but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful.” Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and if a son, then also an heir.” The words “you are” have been supplied twice to clarify the statement.

¹⁵ tc The unusual expression διὰ θεοῦ (dia qeou, “through God”) certainly prompted scribes to alter it to more customary or theologically acceptable ones such as διὰ θεόν (dia qeon, “because of God”; F G 1881 pc), διὰ Χριστοῦ (dia Cristou, “through Christ”; 81 630 pc sa), διὰ ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (dia Ihsou Cristou, “through Jesus Christ”; 1739^c), θεοῦ διὰ Χριστοῦ (“[an heir] of God through Christ”; א² C³ D [P] 0278 [6 326 1505] Ï ar sy), or κληρονόμος μὲν θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμος δὲ Χριστοῦ (klhronomo" men qeou, sugklhronomo" de Cristou, “an heir of God, and fellow-heir with Christ”; Ψ pc [cf. Rom 8:17]). Although it is unusual for Paul to speak of God as an intermediate agent, it is not unprecedented (cf. Gal 1:1; 1 Cor 1:9). Nevertheless, Gal 4:7 is the most direct statement to this effect. Further testimony on behalf of διὰ θεοῦ is to be found in external evidence: The witnesses with this phrase are among the most important in the NT (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B C* 33 1739*^vid lat bo Cl).

¹⁶ tn Or “They are zealous for you.”

¹⁷ tn Or “but not commendably” (BDAG 505 s.v. καλῶς 2).

¹⁸ tn Or “so that you would be zealous.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.

²⁰ tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”

²¹ tn Or “not become discouraged,” “not lose heart” (L&N 25.288).

²² tn Or “if we do not become extremely weary,” “if we do not give out,” “if we do not faint from exhaustion” (L&N 23.79).

²³ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what Paul has been arguing.

²⁴ tn Grk “to those who are members of the family of [the] faith.”

²⁵ tn Or “boast about you in external matters,” “in the outward rite” (cf. v. 12).