Galatians 6:15

οὔτε γὰρ B 17 syr(pesh) Harcl. text. ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ οὔτε אACDG etc. vulg. syrHarcl. marg, probably taken from Galatians 5:6.

ἔστιν א*ABCD*G Syrpesh. Harcl. marg. ἰσχύει Text. Rec. with אcDcKLP etc. vulg. syrHarcl.text.

The subscription in אAB*C is simply πρὸς Γαλάτας. The Text. Rec. adds ἐγράφη� ʼΡώμης with B2KP. Late authorities add διὰ χειρὸς Παὐλου, or διὰ Τίτου, or διὰ Τίτου καὶ Λουκᾶ, or διὰ Τυχίκου.

15. This verse is said by Euthalius (5th cent.), Syncellus (8th cent.), Photius (9th cent.) to be quoted from the Ἀπόκρυφον Μωυσέως, but the statement cannot now be tested. Charles, however, says (Assumption of Moses, 1897, p. xvii): “There can be no doubt that the borrowing is just the other way, and that this Apocryph is a Christian composition, of the general contents of which we have no knowledge.” The passage is not contained in the portion of the Assumption of Moses that has come down to us, the date of which is placed by Charles between 7 and 30 A.D., i.e. earlier than our Epistle (p. lviii.).

οὔτε γὰρ. Cf. Galatians 5:6. I boast in nothing but the cross, for through this comes the new creation, which alone is of importance.

περιτομή … οὔτε�. Not circumcised and uncircumcised people, Galatians 2:7-8; cf. Galatians 3:28, for St Paul is not speaking here of his independence of men; but circumcision as an action (to which “uncircumcision” is somewhat loosely appended). He attributes no importance to it in itself. Cf. Colossians 3:11 note.

τι ἔστιν. Win.-Schm. § 6, 9c disputes this accentuation on the ground that ἐστιν here means neither “exists,” nor (after οὐκ) “is possible,” nor has other emphasis. Nestle accents τί ἐστιν. See the note on τι ἰσχύει, Galatians 5:6.

ἀλλὰ καινὴ κτίσις. A phrase found in Rabbinic literature, where it is a new “creature” (as probably in 2 Corinthians 5:17) rather than a new “creation” (see Colossians 3:10 note). Here the parallel to περιτομή and ἀκροβυστία suggests that it is the latter, i.e. the process of new creation in an individual. Meyer gives a list of the characteristics of the καινὴ κτίσις, among them Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:27; Galatians 5:6. For the allusion to the Creation compare also 2 Corinthians 4:6.