Galatians 5:13-14

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ¹  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ²  but through love serve one another. ³  5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ⁴  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁵ 

Galatians 5:24-25

5:24 Now those who belong to Christ ⁶  have crucified the flesh ⁷  with its passions ⁸  and desires. 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with ⁹  the Spirit.

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

² 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.”

³ 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).

⁴ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

⁵ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

⁶ tc ‡ Some mss (א A B C P Ψ 0122¹ 0278 33 1175 1739 pc co) read “Christ Jesus” here, while many significant ones (Ì⁴⁶ D F G 0122*^,2 latt sy), as well as the Byzantine text, lack “Jesus.” The Byzantine text is especially not prone to omit the name “Jesus”; that it does so here argues for the authenticity of the shorter reading (for similar instances of probably authentic Byzantine shorter readings, see Matt 24:36 and Phil 1:14; cf. also W.-H. J. Wu, “A Systematic Analysis of the Shorter Readings in the Byzantine Text of the Synoptic Gospels” [Ph.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002]). On the strength of the alignment of Ì⁴⁶ with the Western and Byzantine texttypes, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

⁷ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

⁸ tn The Greek term παθήμασιν (paqhmasin, translated “passions”) refers to strong physical desires, especially of a sexual nature (L&N 25.30).

⁹ tn Or “let us also follow,” “let us also walk by.”