Discovery BoxGalatians 2:6-9 
Context2:6 But from those who were influential 1 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 2 ) – those influential leaders 3 added 4 nothing to my message. 5 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw 6 that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised 7 just as Peter was to the circumcised 8 2:8 (for he who empowered 9 Peter for his apostleship 10 to the circumcised 11 also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 12 2:9 and when James, Cephas, 13 and John, who had a reputation as 14 pillars, 15 recognized 16 the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me 17 the right hand of fellowship, agreeing 18 that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 19
1 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.
2 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).
3 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.
4 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.
5 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
6 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).
7 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
8 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
9 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
10 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
11 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
12 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”
13 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).
14 tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.
15 sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.
16 tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.
17 tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”
18 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.
19 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
