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 1:8

1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach ⁵  a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ⁶  let him be condemned to hell! ⁷ 

Galatians 1:23

1:23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news ⁸  of the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Galatians 2:17-18

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 ⁹  sin? Absolutely not! 2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, ¹⁰  I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. ¹¹ 

Galatians 3:12

3:12 But the law is not based on faith, ¹²  but the one who does the works of the law ¹³  will live by them. ¹⁴ 

Galatians 3:28

3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave ¹⁵  nor free, there is neither male nor female ¹⁶  – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 4:22-24

4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the ¹⁷  slave woman and the other by the free woman. 4:23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, ¹⁸  while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 4:24 These things may be treated as an allegory, ¹⁹  for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.

Galatians 5:10

5:10 I am confident ²⁰  in the Lord that you will accept no other view. ²¹  But the one who is confusing ²²  you will pay the penalty, ²³  whoever he may be.

Galatians 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ²⁴  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ²⁵  but through love serve one another. ²⁶ 

Galatians 6:4

6:4 Let each one examine ²⁷  his own work. Then he can take pride ²⁸  in himself and not compare himself with ²⁹  someone else.

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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 tc ‡ Most witnesses have ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) either after (א² A [D* ὑμᾶς] 6 33 326 614 945 1881 Ï Tert^pt Ambst) or before (Ì^51vid B H 0278 630 1175 [1739* ἡμῖν]) εὐαγγελίζηται (euaggelizhtai, “should preach” [or some variation on the form of this verb]). But the fact that it floats suggests its inauthenticity, especially since it appears to be a motivated reading for purposes of clarification. The following witnesses lack the pronoun: א* F G Ψ ar b g Cyp Mcion^T Tert^pt Lcf. The external evidence admittedly is not as weighty as evidence for the pronoun, but coupled with strong internal evidence the shorter reading should be considered original. Although it is possible that scribes may have deleted the pronoun to make Paul’s statement seem more universal, the fact that the pronoun floats suggests otherwise. NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

⁶ tn Or “other than the one we preached to you.”

⁷ tn Grk “let him be accursed” (ἀνάθεμα, anaqema). The translation gives the outcome which is implied by this dreadful curse.

⁸ tn The Greek verb here is εὐαγγελίζεται (euangelizetai).

⁹ tn Or “does Christ serve the interests of sin?”; or “is Christ an agent for sin?” See BDAG 230-31 s.v. διάκονος 2.

¹⁰ tn Or “once tore down.”

¹¹ tn Traditionally, “that I am a transgressor.”

¹² tn Grk “is not from faith.”

¹³ tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10.

¹⁶ tn Grk “male and female.”

¹⁷ tn Paul’s use of the Greek article here and before the phrase “free woman” presumes that both these characters are well known to the recipients of his letter. This verse is given as an example of the category called “well-known (‘celebrity’ or ‘familiar’) article” by ExSyn 225.

¹⁸ tn Grk “born according to the flesh”; BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4 has “Of natural descent τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκός children by natural descent Ro 9:8 (opp. τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας). ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται Gal 4:23; cp. vs. 29.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an allegory based on the OT account.

²⁰ tn The verb translated “I am confident” (πέποιθα, pepoiqa) comes from the same root in Greek as the words translated “obey” (πείθεσθαι, peiqesqai) in v. 7 and “persuasion” (πεισμονή, peismonh) in v. 8.

²¹ tn Grk “that you will think nothing otherwise.”

²² tn Or “is stirring you up”; Grk “is troubling you.” In context Paul is referring to the confusion and turmoil caused by those who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law.

²³ tn Or “will suffer condemnation” (L&N 90.80); Grk “will bear his judgment.” The translation “must pay the penalty” is given as an explanatory gloss on the phrase by BDAG 171 s.v. βαστάζω 2.b.β.

²⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

²⁵ 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.”

²⁶ 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).

²⁷ tn Or “determine the genuineness of.”

²⁸ tn Grk “he will have a reason for boasting.”

²⁹ tn Or “and not in regard to.” The idea of comparison is implied in the context.