6:1 Brothers and sisters, 4 if a person 5 is discovered in some sin, 6 you who are spiritual 7 restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. 8 Pay close attention 9 to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.
6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters 10 are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so 11 only to avoid being persecuted 12 for the cross of Christ.
1 tc Most
2 tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).
4 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
5 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
6 tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).
7 sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.
8 tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”
9 tn Grk “taking careful notice.”
10 tn Grk “in the flesh.” L&N 88.236 translates the phrase “those who force you to be circumcised are those who wish to make a good showing in external matters.”
11 tn Grk “to be circumcised, only.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with the words “They do so,” which were supplied to make a complete English sentence.
12 tc ‡ Grk “so that they will not be persecuted.” The indicative after ἵνα μή (Jina mh) is unusual (though not unexampled elsewhere in the NT), making it the harder reading. The evidence is fairly evenly split between the indicative διώκονται (diwkontai; Ì46 A C F G K L P 0278 6 81 104 326 629 1175 1505 pm) and the subjunctive διώκωνται (diwkwntai; א B D Ψ 33 365 1739 pm), with a slight preference for the subjunctive. However, since scribes would tend to change the indicative to a subjunctive due to syntactical requirements, the internal evidence is decidedly on the side of the indicative, suggesting that it is original.