Discovery BoxGalatians 4:9 
Context4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless 1 basic forces? 2 Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 3
Galatians 5:17
Context5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires 4 that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to 5 each other, so that you cannot do what you want.
Galatians 6:12
Context6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters 6 are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so 7 only to avoid being persecuted 8 for the cross of Christ.
1 tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.
2 tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.
3 tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.
4 tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).
6 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.”
7 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.
8 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.
