Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Galatians 1:4

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 recorded in Mark 10:45 and Matthew 20:28. Observe how St Paul loses no time in speaking of Christ’s work of deliverance in this epistle which insists so much upon the completeness of the freedom obtained for us.

[43] Is affixed to a word it means that all the passages are mentioned where that word occurs in the New Testament.

ὑπὲρ. See notes on Textual Criticism. It has a sense of “interest in,” which is wanting to περί (Lightfoot). For ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3.

ἐξέληται ἡμᾶς. ἐξαιρεῖν here only in St Paul’s epistles. ὀκ with words of this kind suggests that the persons delivered have been within the grasp of the enemy; see Colossians 1:13 note.

ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ. See notes on Textual Criticism. On this difficult phrase see Bp Chase, The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church, pp. 115–117. Two interpretations are possible:

(1) “out of the present age, evil as it is,” πονηροῦ being then a kind of tertiary predicate; cf. 1 Peter 1:18. On the absence of the article see Winer-Schmiedel, § 20. 6b, and Blass, Gram. § 47. 8, who quotes Herm. Mand. x. 3 ὅτι λυπεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ δοθὲν τῷ�. ἐνεστώς however seems to be “used in a strictly temporal sense only when the context … defines the meaning” (Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 3:22); the primary thought is rather “of imminence, often of some threatening power” (Bp Chase). Moulton and Milligan quote an example of its combination with αἰών (= period of life) from a papyrus of 37 A.D. Expositor, VII. 5, 1908, p. 173.

(2) But more probably the words τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πον. are a genitive of possession, cf. Barnabas xv. 5 ἐλθὼν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καταργήσει τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ�, which suggests that πονηροῦ is here masculine. Cf. 1 John 5:19. In this case the translation is “to deliver us from the age of the evil one who besetteth us,” and the reference to the Lord’s Prayer appears to be certain.

κατὰ τὸ θέλημα. Probably with both δόντος κ.τ.λ. and ἐξέληται κ.τ.λ., i.e. both Christ’s sacrifice of Himself and the object of that sacrifice were in accordance with God’s will.

τοῦ θεοῦ κ. πατρὸς ἡμῶν, “our God and Father.” Supremacy, suggesting power and worship; Fatherhood, as regards believers (Galatians 1:3 note), suggesting their origin and their protection.

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Galatians 1:4

Old Testament

New Testament