SALUTATION (Galatians 1:1) Paul appointed Apostle, by no human source or agency, but by Jesus Christ and (with Him) God the Father, who raised Him from the dead (He called me and He lives!), (Galatians 1:2) and all my present travelling companions—to the various Churches of Galatia! (Galatians 1:3)... [ Continue Reading ]
In all the other Epistles of St Paul the salutation ends with our Galatians 1:3. Here Galatians 1:4 enlarges on the work of Christ, and Galatians 1:5 adds a doxology. In Rom. and Tit. a somewhat similar enlargement is made earlier in the salutation. ΠΑΥ͂ΛΟΣ. His Gentile name, and always used of him... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΟἹ ΣῪΝ ἘΜΟῚ ΠΆΝΤΕΣ�, “and the whole of the brethren with me.” For οἱ … πάντες see Galatians 5:14 note. Contrasted with πάντες οἱ ἄγιοι which = all the believers in the place whence a letter was written (Philippians 4:21), and meaning probably his special friends and workers with him at the time.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΆΡΙΣ ὙΜΙ͂Ν. St Paul here adapts the common epistolary χαίρειν, asking for the Galatians more than greeting and joy, even God’s grace. For this whole verse see the notes on Colossians 1:2. Robinson (_Ephesians_, pp. 221–226) shows that St Paul’s use of this word was “dominated by the thought of the... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΟΥ͂ ΔΌΝΤΟΣ ἙΑΝΤῸΝ. In this sense Titus 2:14; 1 Timothy 2:6[43] in each case with ὑπέρ; cf. Acts 19:31. So Eleazar, who slew the elephant, ἔδωκεν ἑαντὸν τοῦ σῶσαι τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ (1Ma 6:44). In Galatians 2:20 παραδόντος ἑαντὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, where, as here, there may be an echo of our Lord’s saying recor... [ Continue Reading ]
ὯΙ Ἡ ΔΌΞΑ κ.τ.λ. The doxology in the salutation (here only) takes the place of thanks to God for his readers. The article suggests “which properly belongs to Him.”... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΑΥΜΆΖΩ ὍΤΙ. Here only in the Pauline Epistles; Luke 11:38; John 3:7; John 4:27[44]. Cf. Mark 15:44; 1 John 3:13. [44] Is affixed to a word it means that all the passages are mentioned where that word occurs in the New Testament. ΟὝΤΩΣ ΤΑΧΈΩΣ. Hardly “so soon” (A.V.) referring to the brevity of tim... [ Continue Reading ]
SUBJECT OF THE EPISTLE STATED 6–9. _Surprise at the rapidity with which they were yielding to the false teachers_. (Galatians 1:6) I wonder that you are so quickly (yielding to the temptation and) going over from God who called you in the grace that is to be found in Christ, into a second gospel, ... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὃ ΟΥ̓Κ ἜΣΤΙΝ ἌΛΛΟ ΕἸ ΜῊ κ.τ.λ. εἰ μὴ = πλὴν ὅτι (Acts 20:23; Romans 14:14). Two interpretations are now possible: (1) Perhaps “unto another gospel (I mean that promulgated by the older Apostles) which is not a different gospel (from mine, for they really agree with me), except in so far as there ar... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΛΛᾺ ΚΑῚ ἘᾺΝ ἩΜΕΙ͂Σ. I and those with me (Galatians 1:2) in spite of any such false statements as the Galatians may have heard (Galatians 1:10 note). They know the gospel that he preached on his first visit. He will afterwards remind them of the effect of it among them, briefly in Galatians 1:9 and... [ Continue Reading ]
Repeats the curse, but (_a_) the change from the subjunctive to the indicative suggests that there is a person actually engaged in this erroneous preaching; (_b_) St Paul lays stress on the fact that the gospel of this person contradicts what they had in fact accepted. ὩΣ ΠΡΟΕΙΡΉΚΑΜΕΝ (cf. Galatians... [ Continue Reading ]
ἌΡΤΙ ΓᾺΡ. The ἄρτι is not in contrast to the time before his conversion (see ἔτι infra), nor to the occasion when he circumcised Timothy, but only takes up the ἄρτι of Galatians 1:9, emphasizing that sentence. The γάρ presents a proof that his strong asseveration there shows that he is not the smoot... [ Continue Reading ]
10–2:21. ST PAUL’S DEFENCE OF HIMSELF 10–12. _My one object is to please God, and to serve Christ, who revealed to me the Gospel_ (Galatians 1:10) I say “now,” for my words show clearly that I care not to win over men, but God alone. I once indeed tried to please men, but that was before my convers... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΝΩΡΊΖΩ ΓᾺΡ ὙΜΙ͂Ν. The δέ of the Received Text and W.H. margin is perhaps taken from 1 Corinthians 15:1. γὰρ. I have suggested that a great change came over me; I say so for I will now tell you more fully of it and the nature of the Gospel entrusted then to me. The direct personal statement γνωρίζω... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ΔῈ ΓᾺΡ ἘΓῺ κ.τ.λ. Expanding the thought of κατὰ ἄνθρωπον. My Gospel is not after the measure of man, for indeed it came to me not through man at all but through the personal revelation of Jesus Christ. οὐδὲ apparently does not emphasize the ἐγώ, as though he was claiming equality with the Twelve,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἨΚΟΎΣΑΤΕ ΓᾺΡ, “as we might say: For you, who know my former life, may well believe that it was by nothing short of a miracle I was converted. I will tell you the whole tale, and you will see how unlikely I was to have received the Gospel from the word of others” (Jowett). “Ye heard,” hardly from Je... [ Continue Reading ]
13, 14. _The Gospel was no product of my previous life_ (Galatians 1:13) For you heard (when I first came among you) of my mode of life once in the religion of the Jews, that I used to persecute excessively the true Church of God, and used to lay it waste, (Galatians 1:14) and was making progress i... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΠΡΟΈΚΟΠΤΟΝ. Always intransitive in the N.T. as sometimes in classical Greek. Cf. προκοπή Philippians 1:12; Philippians 1:25 and ἐνκόπτω, ch. Galatians 5:7. So on a papyrus of the 2nd cent. A.D. a young soldier thinking of his promotion writes ἐλπίζω ταχὺ προκόσαι (προκόψαι, Deissmann, _Licht vom... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΤΕ ΔῈ … ΕΥ̓ΘΈΩΣ. For St Paul’s present aim is not to describe God’s revelation to him but his independence of man. δέ. In contrast to tradition. He received the Gospel by God’s good pleasure and call and revelation. ΕΥ̓ΔΌΚΗΣΕΝ, “was well-pleased.” See Colossians 1:19 note, and Milligan on 1 Thessa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nor was the Gospel a product of conference with other Christians_ (Galatians 1:15) But when (in contrast to the life described in Galatians 1:13-14) God, who separated me in purpose before I was even born (there is the true Phariseeship!), and called me by His grace (at my conversion), (Galatians 1... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΨΑΙ … ἘΝ ἘΜΟῚ. Dependent on εὐδόκησεν. More than external manifestation was necessary. For that alone could not bring truth home to St Paul. He says therefore that the revelation came into his heart and remained there. τῆς�, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν εἶχεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ λαλοῦντα (Chrys.). This does not of c... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ΔῈ, “nor even.” For if I did not choose to consult others it might have seemed reasonable that I should confer with the Twelve. ἈΝΗ͂ΛΘΟΝ, Galatians 1:18; John 6:3[56]. Cf. ἀναβαίνω Galatians 2:1-2 and often in Gospels and Acts. ἀνά. See Galatians 2:1, note. [56] Is affixed to a word it means th... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΠΕΙΤΑ. “The twice-repeated ἔπειτα in this verse, in Galatians 1:21 and in Galatians 2:1, singles out three events in the Apostle’s life bearing upon his intercourse with the Church of Jerusalem: his first introduction to them, his departure to a distant sphere of labour, and his return to Jerusalem... [ Continue Reading ]
_A short visit to Jerusalem and then a long absence. Yet the churches of Judaea, though they knew me not by sight, recognized me and my work_ (Galatians 1:18) Then three years from my conversion I did go up to Jerusalem to gratify my curiosity to see Cephas, and I stayed with him only a fortnight. ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἝΤΕΡΟΝ ΔῈ, i.e. a second (Galatians 1:6 note). ΤΩ͂Ν� (Galatians 1:1 note) ΟΥ̓Κ ΕἾΔΟΝ, ΕἸ ΜῊ ἸΎΚΩΒΟΝ ΤῸΝ�. St Peter was to St Paul the object of attraction, not St James, from whom the emissaries of Galatians 2:12 came, and St Paul saw no other of the Apostles—save etc. The phrase suggests that St P... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἃ ΔῈ ΓΡΆΦΩ ὙΜΙ͂Ν κ.τ.λ. “It is a matter of life and death to the Apostle to prove his independence of the twelve” (Jowett). St Paul’s asseveration refers primarily to what he has already stated about his true relation to them, but naturally its force is carried on to his following words also. ἘΝΏΠΙ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΠΕΙΤΑ, Galatians 1:18 note. Galatians 1:21-24 continue the description of his independence of the Twelve. He stayed in Jerusalem only a fortnight and then went far away, and that for a long time. An endeavour has been made to press these verses against the South Galatian theory, by saying that if... [ Continue Reading ]
ἬΜΗΝ ΔῈ� … ΜΌΝΟΝ ΔῈ�. As this is an original Greek part of the N.T., not a translation from Hebrew or Aramaic, Dr Moulton is inclined to give this periphrastic tense its full classical emphasis, “I was _entirely_ unknown … only they had been _hearing_” (_Proleg._ 1906, p. 227). ΤΩ͂Ι ΠΡΟΣΏΠΩΙ. Cf. C... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΟΝΤΕΣ. Presumably from members of the Church at Jerusalem in particular (thus suggesting that his preaching was not contradictory to that of the elder Apostles), as well as from other Christian travellers. ὍΤΙ. Recitative, Romans 3:8. Ὁ ΔΙΏΚΩΝ. Timeless, 1 Thessalonians 2:12 (where, however, s... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἘΔΌΞΑΖΟΝ. In this meaning, frequent in N.T. and LXX. From Polybius onwards in the passive voice only (see Nägeli. _Wortschatz_, p. 61). The tense suggests that they found continued cause for δόξα. They kept on recognizing God’s handiwork in me and giving Him praise. ἘΝ ἘΜΟῚ, more than “in my ca... [ Continue Reading ]