Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Galatians 2:18

εἰ γὰρ. γάρ, to be taken closely with μὴ γένοιτο Romans 9:14-15; Romans 11:1. It is not sinful to abandon the Law in seeking justification, and thus to find oneself on the same level as a sinful Gentile, for the sin is in going back to the Law, as you Galatians are thinking of doing.

ἃ κατέλυσα ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ. For a similar contrast between καταλύω and οἰκοδομέω, cf. Mark 14:58 (|| Matthew 26:61), where however the nuance is quite different. The singular may be due (1) to St Paul’s courtesy in excluding others from the possibility of doing wrong (some critics, e.g. Winer-Schmiedel, § 22. 1, think he purposely thus transferred St Peter’s action to himself); or, better, (2) to his habit of referring possible spiritual experiences and their effect to himself (e.g. Galatians 4:6). If this be right he naturally passes on to state what has in fact been his experience (Galatians 2:19).

παραβάτην. Romans 2:25; Romans 2:27; James 2:9; James 2:11[84], cf. παράβασις Galatians 3:19 note. A transgressor of God’s will which has been laid down as a path in which to walk.

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

ἐμαυτὸν συνιστάνω, prove myself, show myself, 2 Corinthians 7:11; cf. Romans 3:5; Romans 5:8.

The phrase is stronger than “I am proved.” It means “I, by my own act of rebuilding an error once pulled down, prove even myself in the wrong. I stand convicted by my own new act, yes, as a transgressor of the Law itself” (cf. Galatians 2:19).

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Galatians 2:18

Old Testament

New Testament