OVERVIEW
Paul concludes his letter essentially where he began it. In many of his letters, Paul’s subscriptions function to pass along greetings or to express joy for the believers, or they contain a doxology or requests for prayer. In Galatians, however, none of this is present. The subscription instead is made up of veiled exhortation in the form of sober warning statements. These warning statements reiterate Paul’s major concerns for the Galatians, which he has expressed throughout, resonating especially with the opening paragraph of 1:6–10. In 6:11–18, Paul closes with these exhortations in order to give the Galatians guidance to the implementation of all that has preceded, imploring them by way of these warnings to maintain their faith in Jesus Christ and regulate their walk according to the Spirit.
11See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
12Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.
17Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
COMMENTARY
11 These words alert those who are reading or listening to the reading of this letter that Paul is now addressing them directly by means of his own handwriting rather than through a secretary or amanuensis who has been transcribing Paul’s dictated words. He writes with his own hand at this point, in part, to authenticate for the Galatians the contents of the letter (cf. Ro 16:22; 1Co 16:21; Col 4:18; 2Th 3:17; Phm 19). But Paul’s direct address at the close of the epistle also serves a second purpose. He writes with his own hand to signify to them the level of importance he attaches to what follows, in which he places renewed emphasis on the main points made earlier in the body of letter.
Paul calls further attention to the significance of what he is writing in several ways beyond his personally writing what follows. First, he employs the imperative “see” (idete) as the beginning word of this closing section. This “command” word further arrests the Galatians’ attention and reinforces again the importance for them of what he will say to them in these closing comments. Second, he intentionally writes with “large letters.” Gramma (GK 1207, “letter”) refers here to the individual characters of the alphabet and not the entire document; were it his intent to speak of the letter as a whole, he would have used the term epistolē (GK 2186, “epistle,” “letter”), which was his usual practice when referring to his writings (cf. Ro 16:22; 1Co 5:9; 16:3; 2Co 3:1; 7:8; 10:9–11; Col 4:16; 1Th 5:27; 2Th 2:2, 15; 3:14, 17). It has been suggested that Paul uses the larger characters due to physical defect or infirmity or because he was not accustomed to writing. It is much more likely, however, that he uses these larger characters for emphasis. His calling attention to the fact that the characters in the manuscript changed at this point would have the same effect as using boldface type or underlining in modern writing (Burton, 348) and would alert both reader and listener to the force of Paul’s convictions about what he is now communicating to them (Lightfoot, 221). The apostle employs these emphatic devices because he is passionate that the Galatians understand his deep concern for them and his desire that they stay on the right course of the gospel and hear carefully this final admonition.
12–13 Paul returns here to the main reason he wrote this letter to the Galatians. The Judaizers are pressing the Galatians to become circumcised as an expression of their faith in Jesus. The Judaizers no doubt claimed that they were motivated by their desire to see the Gentile Galatians thoroughly incorporated into the people of God as full children of Abraham. But Paul ascribes their missionary work among the Galatians to more sinister motivations. As Paul understands the situation, the Judaizers are attempting to persuade the Galatians to become circumcised in order to “make a good impression outwardly,” “boast about [the Galatians’] flesh,” and “avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.” The point of the Judaizers’ message, from Paul’s perspective, is to gain the Galatians for the Jewish faith and nation and not to usher them into soteriological freedom. The Judaizers’ obsession with circumcision drives them to ignore the Spirit and even other aspects of ritual law (“not even those who are circumcised obey the law”). Their whole attention is apparently taken up with this issue and their insistence that the Galatians undergo this rite. In addition, they are motivated by the desire to avoid the kind of persecution Paul has experienced due to his preaching of a circumcision-free gospel (cf. 4:29; 5:11–12; see Martyn, 560–61). Thus Paul’s final analysis of the Judaizers’ message reflects his passionate exhortations to the Galatians throughout. He declares, in effect, “Avoid this distortion of the gospel and those who would lead you astray. They are motivated only by what your conversion will do for them; they are not interested in your good.”
14 Paul has just expressed what he considers to be improper or misguided boasting. Now he suggests where appropriate boasting or exultation should center: “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. Ro 5:3–5, 11; 1Co 1:18–31). It is only in the cross, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that redemption is to be found; it cannot come by circumcision as a means of law observance (cf. 2:16–21). Focusing on the cross ends all forms of legalistic observance, as Paul has maintained throughout this letter to the Galatians (1:4; 2:20; 3:1, 13; 6:12, 14). Thus, contrary to the base motivations of the Judaizers, who want only to advance their own cause among their Jewish brethren by means of “capturing” these Gentiles, Paul boasts in the very thing that brings him persecution (cf. 1:10; 5:11; 6:12), and the only thing that brings one into reconciliation with the one true and living God. Further, identification with Jesus and his cross brings one into different relationship to the world (kosmos, GK 3180). In Christ, this “mode of life which is characterized by earthly advantages, viewed as obstacles to righteousness” (Burton, 354), this world system with its claims to one’s time and energy and its supposed entitlements and position is “crucified” to the believer and the believer crucified to it. This is not to suggest that Paul means a distancing oneself from the physical world, an opting out of involvement with God’s material creation. Rather, what Paul has in mind is a disengagement from human power structures or from wealth sinfully used as a means to advance one’s own agenda at the expense of others around you (cf. Mk 10:42).
15 The train of thought relative to crucifixion to the world continues in this verse. Utilizing again a popular maxim (cf. Longenecker 296; Betz, 319) regarding the value of circumcision and new creation, what Paul intends in vv.12–14 comes into sharp focus here: external expressions of the Christian faith are subordinated to one’s identity in Christ (“new creation”) and living according to God’s direction (“by the Spirit”). As he has maintained throughout the letter, it is faith in Christ that matters, not external identity or ritual observance (3:28; 5:5–6). The life of faith is not to be lived in terms of external laws; it is to be lived in terms of “new creation” by means of God’s Spirit (cf. 2Co 2:12–5:17).
16 Paul follows the previous aphorism with the benediction of “peace and mercy” to all who will follow this “rule.” He now blesses all who will “keep in line with” (stoicheō; NIV, “follow”) the maxim previously iterated. In other words, for all who will order life on the basis of new creation rather than ritual law observance, Paul desires “peace and mercy.”
Paul pronounces this “peace” and “mercy” on all who will follow the rule and on the Israel of God. What he means by the term “Israel of God” is a matter of no small debate. Various translation alternatives have been suggested for this expression, all centering in how the verse is punctuated. The wording is unusual. The verse is densely written. There is a double “to” (epi, lit. “on” or “upon”), a double “and” (kai), and the attributes of “peace” and “mercy” are backward from Paul’s (and the NT’s) usual sequence. This has given rise to three major interpretations of Paul’s “Israel of God” expression.
One alternative punctuation places a comma after “mercy” and translates the kai (“and”) following “mercy” as “even” or “namely” (so NIV). This is referred to as the “expexegetical,” or “explanatory” kai. The verse is then translated, “As many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God” (so NIV). This translation identifies the “Israel of God” as the church, made up of both Gentile and Jewish believers. Such an understanding is in keeping with Paul’s desire to avoid factions and the separation of God’s people into groups, as expressed both here in Galatians and elsewhere in his writings (cf. 3:28–29; Ro 10:12; 1Co 12:13; Eph 2:11–18; 3:6; Col 3:11). The difficulty with this translation, however, is twofold. First, Paul nowhere else in his writings identifies Gentiles as in any sense “Israel.” But, and more important for the argument of Galatians, if this understanding is correct, it has Paul conceding a major point to his adversaries the Judaizers by identifying Gentile Christians as “Israel.” It would not be too far a stretch for his opponents to claim victory on the basis of this identification.
A second alternative punctuation places a comma after “mercy” but gives the second kai its more usual sense of “and.” The translation is then, “As many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” The sense of the verse in this translation is then that Paul desires “peace” for Gentile Christians and “mercy” for believing Israel. This understanding maintains the distinction between physical and nonphysical descendants of Abraham and yet calls for God to be gracious toward all believers.
A third punctuation possibility is to place a comma after “them,” remove the comma after “mercy,” and translate the second kai adjunctively as “also.” The translation following this punctuation is, “As many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and may there be mercy also upon the Israel of God.” This suggests that Paul may by these words intend that God grant peace to all who believe, Jew or Gentile, and at the same time adds the request that he be merciful toward those Jews who are elect (and hence are “the Israel of God”) but who have not yet believed. This view, too, protects Paul’s normal sense of the term “Israel” for physical descendants of Abraham. It is also in keeping with Paul’s otherwise consistent restriction of the use of “Israel” to the physical descendants of Jacob. In addition, this translation accounts for the unusual sequence of “peace and mercy,” the double kai (“and”) and the double epi (“upon”). It also pictures Paul uttering a prayer (“also mercy upon the Israel of God”) that he undoubtedly prayed many times (cf. Ro 9:1–3; 10:1).
Though there are difficulties with each of these views, on balance the third translation is to be preferred. Paul here invokes God’s peace upon all who will live by the Spirit (“follow this rule”) and at the same time expresses his desire for mercy to be extended to elect Jews who have yet to come to faith in Messiah Jesus.
17 Paul has made several statements reminding the Galatians about the threat to their faith represented by the message of the Judaizers and has pronounced a peace benediction on all who will follow the rule of walking in the Spirit. He now obliquely references his apostolic status and warns against further troubles as a means to call the Galatians to sober reflection on what he has written.
Paul is the apostle commissioned especially by the Lord Jesus with ministry to the Gentiles (Ac 9:15). As such, the challenge to his Galatian ministry represented by the Judaizers and their message has caused him “trouble” (kopos, GK 3160, “toil,” “labor,” “work”). He takes personally the fact that the Judaizers have encroached on his Gentile converts and have dissuaded some of them from following the truth of the gospel he had preached to them. So he calls here for that activity to cease (lit., the opening words are “let no one continue to cause me trouble”).
The reason Paul expects this troubling activity to cease is that he has been scarred and disfigured for the cause of Christ. He references here “marks of Jesus,” implicitly claiming by this his apostolic authority. These are marks that result from his association with Jesus, the Christ. The fact that he bears these marks “on [his] body” indicate their physical nature. As noted by Longenecker, 300, Paul is Jesus’ “marked man,” under the ownership and protection of Christ. The implication is that the Judaizers must cease proclaiming their “different gospel” or face Christ’s retributive justice.
18 Paul closes his letter to the Galatians with his typical grace benediction (cf. Ro 16:20; 1Co 16:23; 2Co 13:14; Eph 6:24; Php 4:23; Col 4:18; 1Th 5:28; 2Th 3:18; 1Ti 6:21; 2Ti 4:22; Tit 3:15; Phm 25), except here he adds the word “brothers.” This suggests that Paul desires to end his letter on a note that expresses his continued affection for the Galatians, despite the fact that he has spoken to them quite severely at a number of points. The final word, “Amen,” suggests the firmness of Paul’s hopes that the Galatians will take to heart all that he has said to them by adhering to that grace of which he has continually spoken to them throughout the letter, centered in the person, word, and work of Jesus Christ.
NOTES
11 Many follow the popular suggestion that Paul writes here with “large letters” due to his supposed eye problem; this assumes that earlier references made to his illness and the Galatians’ tearing out their eyes and giving them to him (4:13, 15) indicate that his eyes are the problem—an uncertain conclusion at best. Equally unlikely is the supposition of Adolph Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1909], 166), who stated that “writing was not an easy thing to [Paul’s] workman’s hand,” or the suggestion of Nigel Turner (Grammatical Insights into New Testament Greek [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1965], 94), who posited that Paul was actually crucified at Perga in Pamphylia (cf. 2:19; 6:14, 17), sustained permanent damage to his hand, and thus could not write well. It is much more likely that he uses the large alphabetic characters for emphasis.
16 There are extensive discussions of this verse, its punctuation possibilities, and the resulting translations. For further information, see Gregory K. Beale, “‘Peace and Mercy upon the Israel of God’: The Old Testament Background of Galatians 6:16b,” Bib 80 (1999), 204–23; Longenecker, 297–98 (Beale and Longenecker espouse position 1, that “Israel of God” = the church); Peter Richardson, Israel in the Apostolic Church (SNTSMS 10; Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1969), 74–84; Carl B. Hoch Jr., All Things New: The Significance of Newness for Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 278; Burton, 357–58 (Richardson, Hoch, and Burton all represent position 3, that Paul enjoins peace upon Jews and Gentiles who believe and requests God’s mercy on elect, though yet unbelieving, Israel).