Discovery BoxGalatians 3:2 
Context3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law 1 or by believing what you heard? 2
Galatians 3:15
Context3:15 Brothers and sisters, 3 I offer an example from everyday life: 4 When a covenant 5 has been ratified, 6 even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.
Galatians 6:12
Context6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters 7 are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so 8 only to avoid being persecuted 9 for the cross of Christ.
1 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.
2 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”
3 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
4 tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.
5 tn The same Greek word, διαθήκη (diaqhkh), can mean either “covenant” or “will,” but in this context the former is preferred here because Paul is discussing in vv. 16-18 the Abrahamic covenant.
6 tn Or “has been put into effect.”
7 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.”
8 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.
9 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.
