Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Galatians 2:15

ἡμεῖς, i.e. originally (vide supra) “You Peter and I Paul.” But perhaps as written in the epistle “I Paul and my fellow-Jewish Christians.” It is taken up in the ἡμεῖς of Galatians 2:16.

φύσει (Ephesians 2:3; cf. c. Galatians 4:8 infra) Ἰουδαῖοι κ. οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἁμαρτωλοί. The common Jewish view (see Bousset, Religion des Judentums im N.T. Zeitalter, 1906, p. 489), fully shared by St Paul (Romans 1:18-32), is doubtless true. The Gentiles in fact were more sinful than Jews as regards gross sins, and are so still, in so far as they are not influenced by Christianity. St Paul calls them ἄνομοι (Romans 2:12) as well as ἄθεοι (Ephesians 2:12). Cf. 1Ma 1:34; 1Ma 2:44. Observe that he does not call them παραβάται, which would imply conscious resistance to a clearly perceived moral requirement (Galatians 2:18), but ἁμαρτωλοί, i.e. men out of harmony with the moral ideal known or unknown (B. W. Bacon).

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Galatians 2:15

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