Galatians 2:9

2:9 and when James, Cephas, ¹  and John, who had a reputation as ²  pillars, ³  recognized ⁴  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ⁵  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ⁶  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ⁷ 

Galatians 2:12

2:12 Until ⁸  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ⁹  and separated himself ¹⁰  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ¹¹ 

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¹ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

² tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.

³ sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.

⁴ tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.

⁵ tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.

⁸ tn The conjunction γάρ has not been translated here.

⁹ tn Grk “he drew back.” If ἑαυτόν (Jeauton) goes with both ὑπέστελλεν (Jupestellen) and ἀφώριζεν (afwrizen) rather than only the latter, the meaning would be “he drew himself back” (see BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 1.a).

¹⁰ tn Or “and held himself aloof.”

¹¹ tn Grk “the [ones] of the circumcision,” that is, the group of Jewish Christians who insisted on circumcision of Gentiles before they could become Christians.