2:6 But from those who were influential 9 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 10 ) – those influential leaders 11 added 12 nothing to my message. 13 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw 14 that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised 15 just as Peter was to the circumcised 16 2:8 (for he who empowered 17 Peter for his apostleship 18 to the circumcised 19 also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 20 2:9 and when James, Cephas, 21 and John, who had a reputation as 22 pillars, 23 recognized 24 the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me 25 the right hand of fellowship, agreeing 26 that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 27 2:10 They requested 28 only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.
1 tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.
2 tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.
3 tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).
4 tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.
5 tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.
6 tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”
7 tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).
8 sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).
9 tn Or “influential leaders.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a.β has “the influential men Gal 2:2, 6b. A fuller expr. w. the same mng., w. inf. added…vss. 6a, 9.” This refers to the leadership of the Jerusalem church.
10 tn Grk “God does not receive the face of man,” an idiom for showing favoritism or partiality (BDAG 887-88 s.v. πρόσωπον 1.b.α; L&N 88.238).
11 tn Or “influential people”; here “leaders” was used rather than “people” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy with the word “people” in the previous parenthetical remark. See also the note on the word “influential” at the beginning of this verse.
12 tn Or “contributed.” This is the same word translated “go to ask advice from” in 1:16, but it has a different meaning here; see L&N 59.72.
13 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
14 tn The participle ἰδόντες (idontes) has been taken temporally to retain the structure of the passage. Many modern translations, because of the length of the sentence here, translate this participle as a finite verb and break the Greek sentences into several English sentences (NIV, for example, begins new sentences at the beginning of both vv. 8 and 9).
15 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
16 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
17 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
18 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
19 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
20 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
21 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
22 tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.
23 sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.
24 tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.
25 tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”
26 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.
27 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
28 tn Grk “only that we remember the poor”; the words “They requested” have been supplied from the context to make a complete English sentence.
29 tn Both the NA27/UBS4 Greek text and the NRSV place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.
30 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.
31 tn Grk “flesh.”
32 tc A number of important witnesses (Ì46 B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (qeou kai Cristou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou tou qeou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of
tn Or “I live by faith in the Son of God.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 16 for the rationale behind the translation “the faithfulness of the Son of God.”
sn On the phrase because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, 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.