The very address reveals the occasion of the Epistle, the commotion and fervor of Paul, and the weightiness of his subject: (1) by the emphasis laid on his independent apostolic office and dignity, which had been called in question by the Judaizing errorists; (2) by the reference to the atoning deat... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:1. contains the text of the first two Chapter s: namely, the divine mission and independent apostolic authority of Paul, which the Judaizers denied, but which is clearly proved by the following narrative and the testimony of the older Apostles themselves. Galatians 1:4 implies the theme... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:2. AND ALL THE BRETHREN WHO ARE WITH ME. The companions and co-laborers of Paul, such as Silas, Timothy, Luke, Sosthenes, some of whom are expressly mentioned in the address of other Epistles (1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:1... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:3. GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE. The apostolic salutation combines the Greek _charis_ (‘grace') and the Hebrew _shalom_ (‘peace'), and infuses into both a deep Christian meaning. ‘Grace' comprehends the fulness of the gospel blessing, ‘peace' the fulness of our personal enjoyment of it and hap... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:4. Paul here touches on the doctrinal, as in Galatians 1:1 he touched on the personal, point of controversy with the false teachers. He holds up at once before the Galatians, who were returning to the bondage of the law, the picture of the dying Saviour, who, by the one sacrifice on the... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:5. TO WHOM (_is_) THE GLORY, without diminution or division. The article denotes that it is the glory which essentially belongs to God, and to God alone. To boundless mercy belongs boundless praise and gratitude. It is an affirmation (_is_) rather than a wish (_be_); comp. Matthew 6:13;... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:6. I MARVEL. A sharp rebuke in a mild word, which challenges explanation, and intimates that better things were expected from the Galatians. SO QUICKLY, namely, either after your conversion, which is alluded to in ‘who called you,' or after my second and last visit to you, or after the... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Apostasy of the Galatians; Anathema on the False Teachers_. In all other Epistles Paul begins in a spirit of Christian courtesy and love, thanksgiving and encouragement, thereby winning the affections and securing the respectful attention of his readers. But here he begins with an indignant ex... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:7. WHICH (pseudo-gospel of the heretical teachers) IS NOT ANOTHER, _i.e.,_ no gospel at all, but a perversion and corruption of the one unchangeable gospel. The gospel of Paul teaches that man is justified _by grace alone_ through faith in Jesus Christ; the pseudo-gospel of the Judaizers... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:8. BUT EVEN THOUGH WE OURSELVES (I and my colleagues, Galatians 1:2), OR AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, SHOULD PREACH [UNTO YOU] ANY GOSPEL OTHER THAN THAT (beyond that) WHICH WE PREACHED UNTO YOU, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. It is impossible to express more strongly and solemnly the conviction of the u... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:9. BEFORE refers not to Galatians 1:8, which is too near, but to the last visit of Paul to Galatia. PREACH εὐαγγελίζεται implies the actual fact, not the mere possibility, as the hypothetical SHOULD PREACH (εὐαγγελίζηται, Galatians 1:8), and thus attacks more directly the Galatian... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:10. accounts for, and thus softens, the apparently excessive severity of the preceding condemnation. The service of the gospel is absolutely irreconcilable with the selfish service of men. We should indeed serve our fellow-men (comp. Romans 15:1-3), but for God's sake, and for the promot... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:11. NOW I MAKE KNOWN TO YOU. This verb introduces a deliberate and emphatic statement of opinion (as in 1 Corinthians 15:1; 2 Corinthians 8:1). After the warm burst of feeling he proceeds to calm reasoning. Paul still acknowledges the readers as brethren, hoping to win them back from the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Apostolical Call and Authority of Paul._ Paul now enters upon his apology. He defends first his independent apostolical dignity (Galatians 1:11 to Galatians 2:11). and proves that he was called directly by Christ, that he received his gospel through revelation before he became even acquainted with... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:12. FOR NEITHER DID I MYSELF RECEIVE IT FROM MAN, NOR WAS I TAUGHT IT, BUT (it came to me) THROUGH REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST ‘ I myself' any more than the older Apostles. The opponents denied the equality of Paul with the original Twelve on that score; hence the ‘neither.' ‘Receive' sig... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:13. FOR YE HEARD (when I was with you) OF MY FORMER MANNER OF LIFE (or, CONDUCT) IN JUDAISM, _i.e.,_ the Jewish religion as opposed to Christianity, the religion of the Jewish hierarchy and the Pharisaic school, not the genuine religion of the Old Testament. Paul appeals to the well-know... [ Continue Reading ]
_Excursus on the Conversion of St. Paul._ Here we have from Paul's own pen a brief account of his conversion, which coincided with his call to the apostleship. It is more fully related three times in the Acts, once by Luke (chap. 9), and twice by Paul himself, before his countrymen at Jerusalem (ch... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:14. AND MADE PROGRESS (OR, ADVANCED) IN JUDAISM BEYOND MANY OF MINE OWN AN IN MY RACE (OR, NATION), BEING MORE EXCEEDINGLY ZEALOUS FOR THE TRADITIONS OF MY FATHERS. Paul far surpassed in zeal for the Jewish religion his contemporary kinsmen or fellow-religionists. He belonged to the extr... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:15-16. BUT WHEN IT PLEASED GOD WHO SET ME APART FROM MY MOTHER'S WOMB, AND CALLED ME THROUGH HIS GRACE, TO REVEAL HIS SON WITHIN ME, etc. Now he comes to his conversion and accumulates words to show the sole agency of God and the entire absence of all effort and merit of his own in this... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:16. TO REVEAL depends on ‘pleased,' not on ‘called.' WITHIN ME, in my inmost soul and consciousness. The external manifestation of the exalted Redeemer from heaven on the way to Damascus was accompanied by an inner illumination. THAT I MIGHT PREACH HIM AMONG THE GENTILES. The conversi... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:17. NEITHER WENT I UP TO JERUSALEM. The usual term, as Jerusalem was not only the religious capital of the Jews, [1] but situated on a high hill so that travellers from the east and the west, the north and the south, have to ascend. [1] In England and Scotland people ‘go up to London,'... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:18. THEN AFTER THREE YEARS I WENT UP TO JERUSALEM TO MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF (or , TO BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH) CEPHAS, AND REMAINED WITH HIM FIFTEEN DAYS. This first visit of Paul to Jerusalem after his conversion is the same as the one mentioned in Acts 9:25, and took place A. D. 40. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:19. BUT I SAW NO OTHER OF THE APOSTLES BUT ONLY JAMES. The other Apostles were probably absent on a mission to the scattered churches of the provinces (comp. Acts 9:31). The James here spoken of is not James the elder, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of St. John, who was still... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:20. This solemn asseveration refers to the statement Galatians 1:18-19. Judaizing opponents had probably spread the report in Galatia that Paul spent a much longer time in Jerusalem, and was instructed by the Jewish Apostles, especially by Peter, consequently dependent on them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:21. Comp. Acts 9:30. SYRIA, the province of which Antioch was the capital. CILICIA, the province adjoining Syria. Paul was a native of Tarsus, its capital, and a famous seat of learning. The object of his journey was no doubt to preach the gospel, as appears from Acts 15:23, where ch... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:22. AND WAS STILL UNKNOWN BY FACE, by sight, personally. JUDÆA is here the district without the capital, as Italy is often distinguished from Rome (Hebrews 13:24). The congregation of Jerusalem must be excepted; for there Paul was known from his visit mentioned in Galatians 1:18, and f... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:23. THEY WERE HEARING (kept hearing) expresses the idea of duration better than ‘heard.' THE FAITH _is_ used here in the passive or objective sense=the gospel, the Christian religion (not a formulated statement of dogmas, but rather a living system of divine truth); comp. Galatians 6:10... [ Continue Reading ]
Galatians 1:24. IN ME, in my case, or example, not on my account. The Christian hero-worship gives all the glory to God. Chrysostom: ‘He does not say, they marvelled at me, they were struck with admiration of me, but he attributes all to grace. They glorified God, he says, in me.' This truly Christi... [ Continue Reading ]