NARRATIVE OF THE AUTHOR'S VISIT WITH BARNABAS TO THE CHURCH OF JERUSALEM, HIS FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH PARTY LEADERS, AND THE BROTHERLY WELCOME AND RECOGNITION HE RECEIVED FROM JAMES PETER AND JOHN. The author has shown by a rapid glance over the first thirteen years of his Christian life how ind... [ Continue Reading ]
διὰ δεκατ. ἐτῶν. Greek usage in calculating intervals of time between two events reckons two years for the two broken years at the beginning and end of the period. Some critics, notably Lightfoot, calculate this period from the meeting with Peter mentioned in Galatians 1:18 : but this attaches far t... [ Continue Reading ]
κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν. This statement of Paul's motive is in no way inconsistent with the independent statement in the Acts that he was deputed by the Church. The revelation may have come to Paul himself, and in that case he prompted the decision of the Church, of which he and Barnabas were at that time t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, had not been compelled to be circumcised_. The last verse related the steps taken by Paul to disarm opposition. He was, however, no less resolute in his resistance to any encroachment on Christian freedom. The presence of Titus with him attested h... [ Continue Reading ]
The narrative returns here, after the parenthetical reference to Titus, to the subject of Galatians 2:1-2, and the verb ἀνέβην, already repeated in Galatians 2:2, must here also be supplied to complete the sense: _But it was because of the false brethren privily brought in that I went up, men who ca... [ Continue Reading ]
εἴξαμεν. Paul here couples Barnabas with himself in recording the determined resistance offered by both to the demand for the circumcision of all Christians preferred at Antioch. Barnabas was at that time a staunch supporter of Greek freedom. The verse obviously refers to their attitude at Antioch b... [ Continue Reading ]
The author here resumes the broken thread of the narrative, which he interrupted after Galatians 2:2 in order to show that his conciliatory attitude at Jerusalem was not due to weakness or irresolution. He now proceeds to relate the sequel of the advances which he made at Jerusalem to the Pharisaic... [ Continue Reading ]
The emphatic opening of this verse, Ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον, gives prominence to the thorough contrast presented by James, Cephas and John to the cold reserve of these suspicious and prejudiced opponents. It is perfectly clear in the Greek text, though unfortunately not in the English versions, that _they_... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐνεργήσας. When this verb is applied to the work of the Spirit in the hearts of men, the preposition ἐν is added to it. The absence of ἐν before Πέτρῳ and ἐμοί indicates that this verse is not describing the work of grace in the hearts of Peter and Paul, but the work of God _for_ them, _i.e._, for t... [ Continue Reading ]
The name of James is placed before those of the Apostles Peter and John. This was probably because as permanent head of the local Church he presided at meetings (_cf._ Acts 21:18). The well-known strictness of his own legal observance gave special weight to his support of Greek freedom on this occas... [ Continue Reading ]
μόνον … ἵνα. A verb must be supplied out of δεξιὰς ἔδωκαν expressive of the pledge that the other Apostles exacted from Barnabas and Paul. τῶν πτωχῶν. These words are displaced from their grammatical position after μνημονεύωμεν in order to lay stress upon the poor being the central object of the app... [ Continue Reading ]
INTRIGUE AT ANTIOCH TO AFFIX THE STIGMA OF UNCLEANNESS ON UNCIRCUMCISED BRETHREN, COUNTENANCED BY PETER AND BARNABAS, BUT OPENLY REBUKED BY PAUL. The gathering of many Christians at Antioch after the Apostolic Council during the sojourn of Paul and Barnabas in that city is recorded in the Acts, but... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἰακώβου. Any visitors from the Church of Jerusalem might perhaps be said to come from James, who was its permanent head; but these brethren appear to have been in special sympathy with James in regard to their strict observance of the Law, and the respect paid by Peter to their opinion suggests that... [ Continue Reading ]
συνυπεκρίθησαν … ὑποκρί σει The verb ὑποκρίνεσθαι is often used of playing a part as an actor in a play without any invidious meaning; but ὑπόκρισις corresponds throughout the N.T. to its English equivalent _hypocrisy_, and fidelity to the Greek text almost demands that rendering here. The men who h... [ Continue Reading ]
πρὸς τ. ἀλήθειαν. Our versions render πρός, _according to_, like κατά : and so impugn these men for want of uprightness in their conduct rather than for inconsistency of doctrine. But the censure of the Apostle is really directed to the falsehood of their teaching. They _were not dealing straightfor... [ Continue Reading ]
JEWS THEMSELVES WERE DRIVEN TO RESORT TO CHRIST AS SINNERS FOR PARDON BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT OBTAIN JUSTIFICATION BY PERFECT OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW NOT THAT THEY MIGHT THEREBY BECOME MORE FREE TO SIN, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF NEW LIFE IN CHRIST, EVEN AS PAUL HIMSELF ENDURED CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST, THAT CH... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ δικαιοῦται … Two methods of seeking justification in the sight of God are here distinguished. The former took account of nothing but stedfast obedience to the law of God. Before his conversion Paul knew no other: he had been taught by his legal training to base his standard of right and wrong ent... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ δὲ … ἁμαρτωλοί. The last verse arrived at the conclusion that Jewish converts by their own act condemned themselves to be guilty of a broken law. The argument now proceeds on this assumption “ _If_ it be true (as has been shown) that _we by seeking to be justified in Christ were found to be ourse... [ Continue Reading ]
“If, indeed, I do reestablish the authority of the Law over Christian life, it becomes true that Christ did lead me to transgression.” So argues the Apostle as he turns to his own life for an illustration of the incompatibility of allegiance to Christ with the continued supremacy of the Law.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἐγὼ. The stress laid on the personal pronoun shows that Paul is here referring to the facts of his personal history. He singles out his own conversion for the sake of the crucial example which it afforded of the difficulty of reconciling the commands of Christ with the traditional law of Israel, for... [ Continue Reading ]
Χριστῷ συνεστ. The Greek order throws special emphasis on Χριστῷ : union with Christ became from that time the central feature of his life; it entailed in the beginning a fellowship with his crucifixion, a real crucifixion of heart and will. By this figure he describes the intense agony of spiritual... [ Continue Reading ]
Christ died in order that men might live before God by His grace in spite of a broken Law; if men could keep the Law of themselves and live, there would be no call for grace, and the death of Christ would be proved a useless sacrifice. διὰ νόμου. Law was never, like faith, instrumental to justificat... [ Continue Reading ]