Annotations for Galatians

1:1–3 Letters opened with the sender’s name (v. 1), the recipient’s name (v. 2), and a blessing (v. 3), expanding on points as needed.

1:1 sent . . . by Jesus Christ and God the Father. Paul’s being sent by God (vv. 1, 12, 16–20) may contrast with the proponents of circumcision who want to please their constituency (6:12–13).

1:2 all the brothers and sisters with me. Writers sometimes named other mutual friends as coauthors even if they did not contribute much to the letter; Paul probably implies at least the backing of other believers. Galatia. Refers to the Roman province, which included Pisidian Antioch, Iconium and Lystra (Ac 13–14; see Introduction to Galatians: Date and Recipients). Paul often writes in terms of provinces (e.g., Ro 15:26; 16:5; 1Th 1:7–8).

1:3 Grace and peace . . . from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. For the fusion of Greek and Jewish greetings, and blessings from both the Father and Jesus as deity, see note on Ro 1:7.

1:4 present evil age. Most Judeans expected suffering and evil to characterize the present age but believed that when the Messiah came and the dead were raised, God would establish a new age of righteousness, peace and justice. Because Jesus has come and is yet to come, believers experience now a foretaste of the coming world (cf. 1Co 2:9–10; 2Co 5:5; Heb 6:5).

1:6 I am astonished. Ancient letters sometimes included a thanksgiving and often a prayer; Paul’s other letters to churches include both, so Paul’s brusque beginning here (along with the curse that follows in vv. 8–9) establishes a harsh tone at the beginning of the letter. Only particularly harsh letters started like this. deserting. Members of ancient peoples and movements despised apostates, who were viewed as traitors.

1:7 which is really no gospel at all. Speakers sometimes corrected themselves with a starker claim to reinforce the point. some people. Leaving the troublemakers anonymous does not necessarily mean that Paul lacks further information; sometimes critics refused to dignify their enemies by naming them. trying to pervert the gospel. In the OT those who distorted the divine message were false prophets (e.g., Jer 23:16), for whom the penalty was death (Dt 13:5; 18:20).

1:8–9 let them be under God’s curse! . . . let them be under God’s curse! Repeating a claim reinforced it. People invoked curses on rivals in sports, romance and so forth, but these appear typically in secret magic rather than public letters. The Greek version of Dt 13:15–17, however, applies this language to Israelites who follow false gods and thus must be annihilated.

1:8 if . . . an angel from heaven should preach. Some Jewish apocalyptic visionaries and mystics claimed revelations from angels. Perhaps Paul’s opponents also claimed them, but Paul might also simply use hyperbole here.

1:10–2:21 Various kinds of ancient works often opened (after a preface) with a narration of events leading up to the present situation or case, sometimes even before laying out the case. Sometimes the narration could be autobiographic, especially when defending oneself against critics’ complaints; proving one’s character was important in such a defense. Themes in ancient argument included divine attestation, examination of character and behavior and comparisons between figures personifying different values or sides of the dispute.

1:10 approval . . . of God. Both prophets and philosophers emphasized seeking divine rather than human approval. am I trying to please people? Thinkers despised demagogues who flattered the masses (cf. 6:12–13).

1:12 by revelation from Jesus Christ. See Ac 9:3–6; 22:14–16; 26:15–18.

1:14 advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age. Usually in cordial ways, members of the same age group often competed during schooling. The most advanced education in Scripture, including for Greek-speakers, was in Jerusalem; whereas the average Judean may have been illiterate, children from wealthy and educated families received more training. Paul apparently had the highest level of training, normally available in the mid to late teens. zealous. See note on Ac 22:3. traditions of my fathers. Pharisees (cf. Php 3:5) were known for valuing their ancient traditions. Whereas the two major disciplines in advanced Greek education were rhetoric and philosophy, and elite Greek and Roman writers showed off their learning with lavish classical citations, a chief characteristic of many of Paul’s letters is his facility with Scripture. Paul’s advanced education focused on Scripture, as was fitting for a Pharisee; although some Greek learning was also available in Jerusalem, in Paul’s day it remained the world center of Jewish learning.

1:15 set me apart from my mother’s womb. Compare especially Jeremiah’s prophetic call (Jer 1:5; cf. Isa 49:1).

1:16 not to consult any human being. Disciples passed on their teachers’ teachings and were their subordinates. Paul was not a disciple of Jesus’ disciples.

1:17 Arabia. In Paul’s day, “Arabia” meant primarily Nabatea, a prosperous kingdom ruled by Aretas IV (see note on 2Co 11:32). Many Nabatean cities were to the east of Galilee, but Nabateans controlled much territory from far south of Judea to nearly as far north as Damascus, and their merchants traveled widely in the east. Most Nabateans spoke their own dialect of Aramaic, although Greek was also known and later (by the early second century) became dominant. Many Jews lived among them, just as some of them lived in Perea (directly east of Judea and Samaria).

1:18 after three years. Even part of a year counted as a whole. Cephas. Transliterates the Aramaic word for “rock”; the Greek equivalent is Peter. stayed with him. The ancient world valued hospitality, and Peter welcomed Paul.

1:20 assure you before God. An oath called a deity to witness; breaking the oath therefore invited divine judgment. This recognition deterred most people from swearing falsely.

1:21 Syria and Cilicia. Formerly two provinces, they were joined together as a single province at this time. Paul spent time in both Tarsus (in Cilicia) and Antioch (in Syria; Ac 9:30; 11:25–26).

1:22 unknown to the churches of Judea. Being born in the Diaspora and educated in Jerusalem (Ac 22:3), Paul would have been known to some in Jerusalem but not in wider Judea. Even in Jerusalem, churches knew him more as a persecutor (vv. 13, 19, 23), and in an era without photographs not all of them would have known him by face. The majority of the Jerusalem church came from a different social class than Paul, and many now estimate Jerusalem’s population in this era at 70,000 or higher.

2:1–2 I went up again to Jerusalem . . . in response to a revelation. A majority of scholars believe that in vv. 1–10 Paul narrates elements of the Jerusalem council, c. AD 48 (Ac 15), based on key elements shared between them. Others argue that the “revelation” of v. 2 better fits the mission depicted in Ac 11:28–30 (though cf. Gal 1:12).

2:1 after fourteen years. Parts of a year counted as a whole; the 14 years here probably count from Paul’s earlier visit in 1:18–19.

2:3 not even Titus . . . was compelled to be circumcised. Some very conservative Jews required Gentiles to become Jewish (including by circumcision) for salvation; others believed that God accepted sexually pure, non-idolatrous Gentiles (rare as those were), but that one must be circumcised to become part of God’s people.

2:4 In Greek, Paul leaves a sentence unfinished; particularly passionate letters and speeches could do this to communicate intensity.

2:6 God does not show favoritism. See notes on Ac 10:34–35; Ro 2:11.

2:9 those esteemed as pillars. Ancient writers often called influential people “pillars.” Cf. possibly also Eph 2:20. the right hand of fellowship. Taking someone by the hand communicated assurance, welcome or an agreement.

2:10 remember the poor. Both Scripture and Jewish tradition heavily emphasized care for the poor (e.g., Pr 19:17; 21:13). Cf. examples in Ac 11:30; 24:17.

2:11 Antioch. More than 300 miles (480 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, Antioch was the center of the Gentile mission (Ac 11:20), including Paul’s mission (Ac 13:1–3; 14:26; 15:35; 18:22–23). I opposed him to his face. Conflict between Paul and the proponents of circumcision there had helped precipitate the Jerusalem council (Ac 15:1, 22–23). For the confrontation, see note on v. 14.

2:12 he used to eat with the Gentiles. Respectable Judean and Galilean Jews did not eat with Gentiles (Ac 10:28; 11:3). The growth of nationalism in Judea (see note on Ac 12:3) pressured moderates (such as Peter and probably James) to avoid offending more conservative voices. Although they probably saw table fellowship with the uncircumcised as secondary to the Jerusalem church’s unity (cf. 1Co 9:20–21), Paul saw it as denying the wider unity of God’s people. For him, following Christ made a person part of God’s people (cf. 3:7, 29).

2:14 in front of them all. Jewish custom demanded attempts to resolve matters privately before a public rebuke (cf. 6:1; Mt 18:15), except in extraordinary circumstances—such as this one.

2:15 not sinful Gentiles. Eating with sinners (see v. 12 and note) might evoke Jesus’ ministry (Mk 2:15–17).

2:16 works of the law. Some believe these “works” refer to distinctively Jewish customs such as circumcision and food customs, which had become crucial to Jewish people as identity markers. With others, the phrase more likely refers to all Biblical laws; the distinctive markers may well, however, have been those most prominent in people’s minds.

2:17 Paul refutes a potential objection (cf. notes on Ro 2:1–29; 1Co 6:12).

2:20 crucified with Christ. For crucifixion and its shame, see note on 6:14. Christ lives in me. Although the OT spoke of the Spirit empowering God’s servants (e.g., Nu 11:25; 27:18), the experience of Christ’s life active in believers indicates even fuller identification.

3:1 foolish. Only in harsh circumstances, such as answering a rude challenger, did speakers challenge their own hearers with insults such as “Fool!” (cf. 1Co 15:36). Galatians. See Introduction: Date and Recipients. bewitched. The Greek term sometimes involved someone cursing another by means of a jealous look. Before your very eyes. When speakers communicated vividly, hearers said they envisioned the events narrated as if before their very eyes. Paul’s life also revealed Christ (2:20).

3:2–5 Ancient argumentation often developed contrasts between opposites, as in vv. 2–3, 5.

3:2 receive the Spirit by the works of the law. Some Jewish tradition associated the Spirit with special piety, in contrast to here. Scripture associated the Spirit especially with Israel at its restoration (Isa 44:3; Eze 39:29), but here Gentiles received the Spirit through trusting the message.

3:3 finish by means of the flesh. Apparently those of the circumcision party want the Galatian believers to “complete” their faith by embracing all the law, just as Jews expected of full converts to Judaism. In Jewish belief, such converts became members of God’s people when circumcised in the flesh (6:12–13; the Hebrew of Ge 17:11).

3:4 if it really was in vain. One rhetorical technique was making and then correcting a misstatement.

3:5 work miracles among you. Although ancients expected healings at shrines of healing deities such as Asclepius, they did not experience them simply in religious gatherings. Early Christians were thus distinctive in experiencing miracles without shrines or wonderworkers.

3:6 Abraham believed God. Jewish people praised the righteousness of their ancestor Abraham; his faith in Ge 15:6 was often viewed as one of his important works. Paul points out that Scripture connected his righteousness only with his trust in God’s promise. The context of such trust was a relationship with God. At this time when God favored Abram by counting him righteous, Abram’s faith was still basic and imperfect (cf. Ge 15:8; 16:2–4); nevertheless, it was developing (Ge 12:1–4; 22:5–10). God saves those he favors because of their trust in him, not because their imperfect good works obligate him to do so.

3:7 those who have faith are children of Abraham. Jewish people regarded themselves as Abraham’s children and heirs of his covenant. But people also sometimes figuratively labled those who acted like someone else as that person’s children. Paul applies the title spiritually to all who act as Abraham did, following God’s promise. (The promise is now more complete in Christ [vv. 14–22, 29], so this especially means following Christ.)

3:8 Scripture foresaw. As here, Jewish sources sometimes personified Scripture. announced the gospel in advance to Abraham. Abraham believed the prototype of the good news already available to him. Jewish teachers connected texts on similar subjects, and Paul draws on a repeated element in the promise to Abraham, namely, the blessing of the nations, or Gentiles (Ge 12:3; 18:18; 22:18). Many Jewish traditions viewed Abraham as the model convert to Judaism, but he was justified (Ge 15:6) years before he was circumcised (Ge 17:24–25).

3:10 all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. Both Ge 12:3 and the blessings of the law in Dt 28 contrast the curses of those who oppose Abraham or those who break the covenant with the blessings of Abraham’s descendants or those who keep the covenant. Reasoning by opposites was a frequent method of interpretation. Paul thus argues that imperfect obedience to the works of the law brings a curse (Dt 27:26, the summary of the curses). According to common Jewish teaching, human obedience was always imperfect, so God could not require perfect obedience as a condition for salvation. Like other ancient Jewish teachers, however, Paul interprets a text (here Dt 27:26) for all that he can get from it—after all, God was in a position to demand perfection.

3:11–13 Ancient Jewish teachers often connected texts based on common key words, and Paul provides a string of such linkages in these verses.

3:11 Paul links with Ge 15:6 (cited in v. 6) the only other text that included both “righteous” and faith together—Hab 2:4.

3:12 A shared key term (see note on vv. 11–13) links Hab 2:4 (in v. 11) with Lev 18:5 (and similar texts) here. The person who does these things will live by them. One may have life by faith; the law, by contrast, can grant life only to those who live by it. Although Lev 18:5 spoke of long life in the land (e.g., Dt 4:1, 40), Jewish teachers also applied such passages to life in the world to come, and the proponents of circumcision (especially if they were as conservative as the teachers in Ac 15:1) may have used these texts to demand that Gentile converts embrace the law. Yet Jewish teachers themselves admitted that virtually everyone sinned. How then could the law grant life? Paul argues that, contrary to the intruders’ views, the law was never designed to bring life (v. 21), except perhaps as a way of expressing faith.

3:13 Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. A shared key term (see note on vv. 11–13) links Dt 27:26 (in v. 10) with Dt 21:23 here. Although Israelites hung only the dead in Dt 21 (cf. Ge 40:19), many peoples in recent centuries had learned to execute people by hanging. Jesus experienced the curse in our place.

3:14 blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles. Paul cites the blessing that is for all nations (v. 8). By this period Jewish people applied the promise and blessing given to Abraham not only to the original promised land but to the whole world to come. the promise of the Spirit. The Spirit, associated with the world to come, here offers a foretaste (cf. Eph 1:3, 13–14). Paul focuses here less on the promise of land, however (cf. Ge 12:1), than the promise of Abraham’s seed (Ge 12:2; 15:7) in whom the nations will be blessed (Ge 12:3; 18:18).

3:15 human covenant. Greeks usually used Paul’s Greek term for “covenant” (diathêkê) for a “testament” or “will,” a legal document opened at someone’s death. By contrast, the Greek version of the Torah used the term to translate a term meaning “covenant.” Ancient arguments often used wordplays to advance their case. Paul refers here to the covenant, but he plays on the Greek term’s legal nuances; that Scripture promised Israel an inheritance in the land (cf. v. 18) reinforced the usefulness of the connection. God’s full covenant with Abraham (Ge 17:9–14) foreshadowed the Mosaic covenant, but God deemed Abraham righteous and promised to bless the nations even before this in Ge 12:3; 15:6 (cf. Ro 4:10–11).

A new will could replace an older one, though not after the testator’s death. Nevertheless, no one could modify an existing will, since one would have to break the witnesses’ seals that guaranteed its validity; it could be validly opened only once, when the testator died. Some may have argued against Paul’s idea of a new covenant transforming the Mosaic covenant, but Paul here argues that the covenant introduced by Moses could not abrogate the covenant God made with Abraham to bless all nations (v. 8). If any covenant’s stipulations were temporary, then, it was the covenant from Moses’ time.

3:16 does not say “and to seeds” . . . but “and to your seed.” As Paul himself knew, the Greek term translated “seed” could apply to a group as well as to an individual (v. 29). Refuting his circumcision-promoting opponents, however, Paul uses a common Jewish argumentative technique of choosing the option (singular or plural) that worked best for the argument. Whereas Jewish interpreters usually applied the inheritance line of Abraham’s singular seed to Isaac (cf. 4:28), Paul applies it to Jesus, whom he for other reasons knows to be the climax of Abraham’s line and promise. Paul admits Israel as Abraham’s seed elsewhere (Ro 9:7; 2Co 11:22), but he has already established those who have faith as being Abraham’s offspring in a different way (Gal 3:7; cf. Ro 4:13, 16). He also recognizes that Abraham’s blessing to the nations (Ge 12:2–3) comes especially through Jesus and his movement.

3:17 430 years later. Recalls Ex 12:40. the covenant previously established by God. Although some Jewish traditions claimed that the patriarchs observed the law or dated its creation before the world’s beginning, everyone acknowledged that Israel accepted the law only at Mount Sinai. If anyone protested that the new covenant (Jer 31:31–34) could not replace the unique stipulations of the prior Sinai covenant, Paul might reply that the new covenant harked back to God’s earlier plan exemplified in his promise to Abraham.

3:18 inheritance . . . promise. Scripture promised Israel an inheritance (e.g., Ex 32:13; Dt 4:21, 38), and Jewish tradition spoke often of “inheriting” the coming world. (Naturally, the image never implied God’s death.)

3:19 Why . . . was the law given at all? A civil law was meant to restrain harm, not to save. Paul is aware of the law being written on the heart (cf. 6:2; see note on Ro 8:2), but that was not its public function for Israel as a whole. This external restraining function would not change the earlier covenant or promise of inheritance (v. 15) and was necessary only until the promise’s fulfillment (vv. 23–25). Philosophers felt that law was necessary to restrain the masses but that the wise did not need such external direction. given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. Moses was mediator of the law (cf. Ex 20:19). Jewish tradition claimed that the law was given through angels; Paul contrasts this with the unmediated promise given by God himself. God is one. No belief was more central to Judaism than this (cf. Dt 6:4).

3:21 if a law . . . could impart life. Jewish teachers sometimes spoke of eternal life as a reward for observing the law (see note on v. 12). Paul rightly objects, however, that the purpose of civil law was not to bring life (see note on v. 19).

3:22 under the control of sin. Although Jewish teachers and traditions sometimes explained away the sins of the patriarchs to which Paul could have pointed, Jewish teachers recognized that virtually everyone sinned.

3:23 held in custody under the law . . . until the faith that was to come would be revealed. Paul divides history into phases, as Jewish teachers sometimes did. Although transcultural principles in the law might be eternal (e.g., Ex 31:17), its public restraining function was only until the promise. (Some eternal promises also could be revoked temporarily or permanently when their recipients violated the conditions; e.g., 1Sa 2:30; 2Ki 21:7–15.) Paul is getting his hearers’ attention; because pious Jewish people loved and praised the law, they would find Paul’s strong language shocking.

3:24 guardian. The Greek term here refers not even to a teacher but to the slave assigned to watch out for the student on his way to school and help him with his manners and schoolwork. The image is not negative per se; children often grew fond of their slave guardians and later freed them. Guardians were also normally better educated than the free masses. But it would still shock other Jewish thinkers, for whom the law was their teacher.

3:25 Now that this faith has come. In most ancient Mediterranean cultures boys came of age as men around age 13 or 14; guardians were no longer needed.

3:26 children of God through faith. God adopted Israel as his children (Dt 14:1), though individual Israelites’ participation in this covenant was conditional (cf. Dt 32:5, 20). Paul has argued that those who trust God’s message as Abraham did are God’s true children, i.e., those genuinely in covenant relationship with him (vv. 7, 14). They receive the inheritance of v. 18.

3:27 baptized into Christ . . . clothed yourselves with Christ. Everyone would understand Paul’s images. Jewish teachers normally expected Gentiles converting to Judaism to be baptized so they could join God’s people; these converts were baptized naked and could then be reclothed after the baptism. Jewish writers could speak of being “clothed” with the Spirit or virtues.

3:28 all one in Christ Jesus. Only a minority of groups even claimed to surmount ethnic and class divisions; the Diaspora churches who brought diverse peoples and classes together were thus distinctive. Early Christians formed the fullest bridge between Jews and Gentiles; apart from some comparatively small philosophic groups they proved distinctive in challenging class (slave versus free) and often gender prejudices. Some Greeks thanked the deity for not making them animals, women or non-Greeks; some Jewish teachers thanked God for not making them Gentiles, women or ignorant people (in some versions, slaves).

3:29 Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Jewish people considered themselves “Abraham’s seed” and heirs of God’s promises; Paul applies this to all who, like Abraham, trust God’s promised plan now climaxed in Christ (see v. 16).

4:1 heir is . . . no different from a slave. Ancient sources often contrast sons and slaves; slaves could be part of the “property” that sons inherited. Laws and philosophic ideals, however, treated minor sons in ways analogous to slaves. The slave here continues the image of the slave guardian (3:24), who was in a way over the minor he guarded.

4:2 guardians and trustees. The term translated “guardians” here differs from that in 3:24 and here refers to managers of an estate. Managers and trustees could be relatives, though powerful slaves also were often used to manage estates. until the time set by his father. If the father died, the heir could not access his wealth until the will directed or at puberty. The thought was often that he needed to be mature enough to use the resources wisely.

4:3 in slavery. Minors could be under a benevolent slave guardian (3:24), but now a more hostile slavery appears. elemental spiritual forces. This phrase sometimes referred to anything rudimentary, such as the alphabet. Paul could refer here to calendrical and other rules (cf. v. 10); although their rules differed, both Jews (in the law and its interpretations) and Gentiles had such rules. Alternatively, many scholars believe that the phrase here refers to the elements of the universe treated by many Gentiles as deities (e.g., wind, fire, and other aspects of nature such as the stars and sea; Judaism had demythologized them as angels who ruled over nature). In late antiquity growing numbers feared the personified, power of arbitrary Fate, which was supposed to exercise its will through the astral spirits, the gods who ruled the stars. In contrast to most of his Jewish contemporaries, Paul believes that even the Jewish people were enslaved by such evil spiritual powers apart from Christ (see note on v. 9.

4:4 set time had fully come. Paul has divided history into phases (see 3:23 and note), as Jewish teachers sometimes did. Jewish texts often speak of the fulfillment of appointed times in history as a way of recognizing God’s perfect wisdom in and sovereignty over history. Here Paul compares this fulfillment to the point at which a boy attains maturity and is considered an adult (typically about 13 or 14 years old; what we now know as the Jewish bar mitzvah ceremony is a much later historical development).

4:5 might receive adoption to sonship. God had adopted Israel as his child (e.g., Ex 4:22) and promised the nation an inheritance (e.g., Dt 26:1). A frequent reason for adoption in the Greco-Roman world was to have an heir.

4:6 sent the Spirit. Developing one OT emphasis about God’s Spirit, Jewish people associated the Spirit particularly with inspiration. Here the Spirit inspires believers’ assurance of their relationship with God. Abba, Father. Jewish people often called God Father, but rarely if ever addressed him as Abba, an intimate, vernacular Aramaic title for one’s father. Believers in Jesus, most of whom in the Diaspora did not speak Aramaic, undoubtedly borrowed this title from Jesus’ use of it (see note on Mk 14:36; Ro 8:15).

4:7 slave. Refers to the analogous status of the minor in v. 1 and prepares for v. 8.

4:8 when you did not know God . . . those who by nature are not gods. Jewish people often said that the Gentiles did not know God, and that their gods were mere creations of the true God. These other gods were not gods at all (Dt 32:17; 2Ki 19:18; 2Ch 13:9; Isa 37:19; Jer 2:11; 5:7; in the Apocrypha, see Epistle of Jeremiah vv. 15, 23, 29, 49, 52, 65, 72). Jews often regarded Gentile gods as nonexistent, though some viewed them as falsely worshiped humans of the past. Most ancient Jewish and all ancient Christian sources regarded the spirits worshiped by Gentiles as actually demons (1Co 10:20; see notes on Gal 4:3, 9). by nature. Greek thinkers also evaluated beliefs by their correspondence to nature; Jewish thinkers responded that it was against nature to worship what is created. (A minority of Greeks regarded deities other than nature as mere human inventions, but even many of them still venerated forces of nature.)

4:9 or rather. Making and then correcting a misstatement was one way to draw attention to one’s point. forces. See note on v. 3. Some of Phrygia’s indigenous cults, such as that of the prominent mother goddess, were closely tied to nature.

4:10 special days. Before their conversion, Gentiles observed festivals for their deities and regarded various days as lucky or unlucky. But Judaism also had its own special calendar of holy days, new moons, sabbatical years and so forth. By returning to a ceremonial, calendrical religion regulated by heavenly bodies they once regarded as gods, the Galatians return to pagan bondage under these spiritual forces (cf. vv. 3, 9).

4:12–20 Unlike the harshest letters of rebuke, Paul includes affectionate elements characteristic of letters between friends. Persuaders often climaxed a section with a deep appeal to emotion as well as reason. The intensity of Paul’s expression of love here softens the preceding harsh tone.

4:12 become like me, for I became like you. Ancient Mediterranean culture valued reciprocity. Ideally, friends shared everything in common, so what belonged to one belonged to the other (cf. 1Ki 22:4).

4:13 because of an illness. Some suggest that Paul’s illness was malaria, inviting his work in the higher-elevation Galatian interior (cf. Ac 13:14). illness. The Greek term can also mean “weakness,” which could also include injuries from persecution. Whatever the case, people often viewed physical problems as divine punishment and viewed physical wholeness and handsomeness as praiseworthy and attractive.

4:14 as if I were an angel of God. Receiving someone as an angel of God showed enormous respect (Ge 33:10; 1Sa 29:9; 2Sa 14:17, 20; 19:27; Zec 12:8); they received him as the one who sent him (cf. Lk 10:16). It need not mean they actually mistook him for an angel (cf. Ac 14:12).

4:15 would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Although some argue that Galatian believers’ willingness to donate their eyes to Paul suggests a vision problem in vv. 13–14, giving one’s eyes was a known figure of speech for sacrificial love. Sacrificing for a friend expressed one of the highest Greek ideals of friendship. Letter writers sometimes appealed to the recipients’ love for them. Likewise, letter writers sometimes affirmed their affection by protesting the recipients’ lack of or decline in comparable affection.

4:16 Have I now become your enemy . . . ? A speaker would sometimes challenge hearers as to what crime the speaker has committed, or ask why the hearers have requited his love with enmity. telling you the truth. Speakers sometimes protested that they spoke truth firmly for the hearers’ good, in contrast to flatterers merely seeking to ingratiate themselves.

4:17 zealous. See 1:14; see also note on Ac 22:3.

4:18 not just when I am with you. Accusations flourished more when one was not present to defend oneself (e.g., Ac 21:21). Letters were meant to approximate one’s presence insofar as possible.

4:19 dear children. For Paul addressing them as if unbelievers, see note on 2Co 5:20. I am again in the pains of childbirth. Everyone recognized such pain as agonizing; moreover, even with skilled midwives, mothers often died in or soon after childbirth. Writers thus sometimes depicted their hard work as labor pains. Later Jewish teachers said that when one converted someone to their faith, it was as if they had created the person.

4:20 I am perplexed about you! In emotionally intense, dismaying situations, skilled speakers and writers could express confusion, as here.

4:21 Tell me. Speakers sometimes introduced challenges to imaginary interlocutors in this manner. what the law says. Jewish thinkers included Genesis (along with the rest of the Pentateuch) in the law.

4:23 son by the slave woman. God blessed Abraham’s son Ishmael (Ge 16:10; 17:20; 21:13, 18), but this narrative was a digression in Genesis from the narrative of the promised seed (Ge 15:4–5; 17:15–19, 21; 18:14; 21:12). born according to the flesh. Cf. 3:3 (see note there). Ishmael’s birth was according to natural human ways of having children; Isaac’s birth was impossible by purely natural means.

4:24 figuratively. Writers used this Greek term in various ways; philosophers often used it to deny the literal meaning of a story, but Jewish interpreters usually accepted the literal meaning and simply applied it also in an analogy, as here. (When the Jewish philosopher Philo adds an extra, allegorical meaning to Sarah and Hagar, they represent advanced versus elementary education; Philo clearly addressed a different kind of audience than Paul has in mind here.) slaves. Paul continues the slave versus free analogy from 3:24–4:11 and the issue of promise from 3:14–22, 29. Because Paul rarely argues allegorically, some think that he is here answering his opponents, who may have compared Gentile God-fearers to Ishmael and those who became members of God’s people and kept the law with the line of Isaac. (Both Ishmael and Isaac were circumcised.)

4:25 Mount Sinai in Arabia. The region controlled by Nabatean Arabs, to the east, south and northeast of Judea and Galilee (see note on 1:17). Jewish people in this period regarded the Nabatean Arabs as Ishmaelites, Hagar’s descendants; this may help to explain why Paul connects Hagar with Sinai “in Arabia.” Some scholars believe that Paul answers opponents who connected Sinai and its law with the end-time law going forth from Jerusalem (see v. 26; Isa 2:2–4; 65:17–19).

4:26 Jerusalem that is above . . . our mother. Jewish people celebrated the Biblical promise of a new Jerusalem (Isa 65:17–19), which was sometimes envisioned as a mother (Isa 66:7–10). Both Jews and Gentiles could speak of their ancestral, founding city as a “mother city.” Jewish people sometimes also spoke of “Jerusalem above” and envisioned it coming down to earth in the future. (Phrygians worshiped their mother goddess, often identified with earth, but maternal imagery was broader than this; cf. v. 19; Rev 12:2.)

4:27 barren woman. Isa 54:1, cited here and following Isa 53, depicts the restoration of God’s people in terms of Jerusalem as a mother giving birth (relevant for v. 26). Some later Jewish teachers connected the barren woman giving birth in Isa 54:1 with Sarah in Ge 21:2 (cf. Isa 51:2).

4:28 children of promise. Like Isaac, those among the nations blessed in Abraham’s seed (3:8) are the humanly impossible children of promise.

4:29 the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. Comparing the current situation, Paul reintroduces flesh and Spirit (3:3; cf. 5:16–17; 6:8). Circumcision was a sign of the covenant in the flesh (Ge 17:10–14), but a greater proof of the new covenant is the promised end-time gift of the Spirit (Eze 36:24–27), which makes the lesser sign unnecessary. Perhaps someone could construe Ishmael as persecuting Isaac (cf. Ge 21:9), but what is clear is the ancient expectation that the morally inferior persecuted their moral superiors (e.g., interpretations of the Cain and Abel story; Esau and Jacob).

4:30 Get rid of the slave woman and her son. Sarah demanded that Hagar’s son be sent away to protect Isaac’s inheritance (Ge 21:10), and God confirmed this exhortation (21:12). Paul implies that his audience should send away the spiritual Ishmaelites—those trying to tie them to the Sinai covenant rather than the superior promise.

5:1 freedom . . . yoke of slavery. Paul applies his previous analogy regarding freedom and slavery (4:22–31). Jewish teachers honored the yoke of the law (see note on Ac 15:10), but a yoke also symbolized slavery.

5:2 Sometimes one saved the greatest issue of controversy for later in the letter. Although Paul addressed circumcision in his narrative (2:3–12), it is here that he begins to address it as a central issue of conflict with his opponents in Galatia (vv. 2–3, 6, 11; 6:12–15).

5:3 obligated to obey the whole law. Most Jewish teachers believed that God accepted Gentiles who kept the most basic commandments (e.g., against idolatry and sexual immorality). Those who were circumcised and so converted to Judaism, however, became obligated to keep all the laws incumbent on ethnic Israel.

5:4 alienated from Christ . . . fallen away from grace. Jewish people recognized that even Jewish people could fall away (become apostate) if they rejected God’s law; Paul here warns of rejecting something greater, God’s promise by grace.

5:5 righteousness for which we hope. Scripture associated the Spirit with the future restoration (e.g., Eze 37:14). Thus Paul may say that the Spirit provides a foretaste of the perfect righteousness of the future kingdom and/or confirmation that one will be declared righteous in the day of judgment.

5:7 running a good race. For athletic metaphors, see the article “Athletic Imagery in 1 Corinthians 9.” cut in. May continue the athletic metaphor, and supports a wordplay with “emasculate” (lit. “cut off”) in v. 12.

5:9 yeast works through the whole batch. Fermented dough (leaven; here “yeast”) pervades the dough, hence could apply figuratively to something (here sin) that infects the whole.

5:10 I am confident . . . you will take no other view. Speakers and writers sometimes expressed confidence that their hearers would respond positively.

5:11 why am I still being persecuted? Had Paul required circumcision for conversion, he would not have incurred persecution from his fellow Jews (including in Galatia; cf. Ac 13:43–45, 50; 14:2, 19). His opponents in Galatia were avoiding this persecution (Gal 6:12–13).

5:12 go the whole way and emasculate themselves! Witty insults were conventional in debate. Many Gentiles viewed circumcision as mutilation; castration was, however, horrifying to Jews because it excluded one from the covenant (Dt 23:1). (Others also mocked eunuchs, especially Galli, the self-castrated worshipers of Phrygia’s mother goddess.) For the sake of the Galatian believers, Paul wishes that those preaching circumcision would slip with their knives and remove their own male organs.

5:14 Love your neighbor as yourself. One of the various texts that Jewish teachers used as summaries of the law was Lev 19:18; this is one of the two that Jesus used (Mk 12:31).

5:15 devour each other. Ancient Mediterranean societies abhorred cannibalism, and sometimes used the concept as a metaphor for abusing one another.

5:16 walk by the Spirit. Jewish people were supposed to walk in God’s law and ways (e.g., Dt 5:33; 26:17). In the promised end time, God would put his Spirit within his people so they would walk in (in the Greek version, “go in”) obedience to him (Eze 36:27).

5:17 flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit. One either follows the way of flesh—human desires apart from God—or the way of the Spirit (see the article “Flesh and Spirit”). The Dead Sea Scrolls divided humanity into the righteous and wicked and viewed every action as from either God’s Spirit or the spirit of error. The members of that community were not claiming to be perfect, but believed that they were on the right side of the divide.

5:18 led by the Spirit. Might evoke how God led Israel in the wilderness (see note on Ro 8:14). not under the law. Philosophers denied that laws were necessary for the wise, because they would choose what was right. Scripture promised that in the new covenant God would write the law on the hearts of his people (Jer 31:31–34), by the Spirit (Eze 36:27). The solution to the flesh is not found in fighting the flesh, but in welcoming the Spirit (vv. 16–17).

5:19–23 One either follows the way of flesh—human desires apart from God—or the way of the Spirit (see the article “Flesh and Spirit”). Some ancient writers included both vice lists (as in vv. 19–21) and virtue lists (as in vv. 22–23) together.

5:19–21 Ancient writers often provided lists of vices.

5:19 acts. Lit. “works.” Human religion is ineffective without God’s Spirit (cf. 3:2–3).

5:22–23 Ancient writers sometimes provided lists of virtues.

5:22 fruit of the Spirit. Both Scripture (see note on Jn 15:2) and the Greek language more generally sometimes used “fruit” figuratively. As Jesus noted, fruit merely reflects the true character of the tree (Mt 7:17–18; Lk 6:43–44); since people of the Spirit have a new life (Gal 5:24), it is natural for them to reflect the character of the Spirit. “Fruit” thus contrasts with “acts” (i.e., works; v. 19). Some of the positive emotions listed by philosophers correspond to Paul’s list here, but Paul’s list is moral more than emotional.

5:23 no law. For the character of love (v. 22) fulfilling the law, see v. 14; for laws not objecting to right behavior, see note on v. 18.

5:24 crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. By using reason, philosophers tried to control or (among Stoics) to eradicate their passions, without pretending that they had achieved this goal. Jewish thinkers claimed that the law gave them rational power to defeat or control passions. Here, however, Paul thinks not of mere human effort but of confidently depending on and acting on Christ’s work (vv. 19–23; 2:20; 6:14).

5:25 live by the Spirit. Cf. Eze 37:1–14; Ro 8:8–13. keep in step with the Spirit. Cf. note on v. 16.

6:1 restore that person gently. Many ancient thinkers, and virtually all Jews, valued private and patient correction.

6:2 Carry each other’s burdens. Carrying burdens was often involuntary (a task required by soldiers or demanded of slaves) but is here offered freely (cf. Mt 5:41). law of Christ. In view of Gal 5:14 (see note there), this could evoke Jesus’ teaching about love. Paul also believed that the Spirit wrote the heart of the law inside believers (see note on 5:18; cf. Ro 8:2).

6:3 thinks they are something when they are not. Philosophers also warned about the ignorant thinking themselves something when they were nothing.

6:5 each one should carry their own load. Greeks had similar sayings that meant that one should be self-reliant. Paul might instead emphasize not looking down on others (vv. 1, 3).

6:6 share all good things with their instructor. Teachers in early Christian communities, unlike many ancient moral teachers, did not normally charge fees or depend on patrons; that model was probably not economically viable for most house congregations, so teachers did not depend on their congregations for their support. Nevertheless, believers should be generous toward them. Some find here also a hint of Paul’s collection for Jerusalem (perhaps 2:10; see 1Co 16:1; with Gal 6:7–9, cf. 2Co 9:6–10), although the principle here is probably more general.

6:7 A man reaps what he sows. Reaping what one sows became a common proverb in the ancient world (cf., e.g., Pr 11:18; 22:8; Hos 8:7; 10:12). Ancient writers occasionally used sowing as a monetary image.

6:8 flesh . . . Spirit. See the article “Flesh and Spirit.” Spirit . . . life. The Spirit is associated with resurrection (Eze 37:5–14).

6:10 do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Society would view such instructions positively. Most thinkers on moral topics urged work for the common good; a majority also recognized that this work did not preclude special interest in one’s group.

6:11 what large letters . . . with my own hand. Most people did not write letters the length of Galatians, or even short ones, but dictated them to scribes; often they wrote small to finish the task quickly or within the space left on the sheet of papyrus (which could be expensive). Paul, who may be unaccustomed to writing (some even suggest that artisan work in winter weakened his hands), cannot write small and quickly. Some documents also seem to have called attention to especially important points at their beginning or end by using large letters. Whatever the purpose of “large letters” here, the main point is that not a scribe but Paul himself writes this section, as the handwriting shows. Paul’s special effort expresses (as it often did in ancient letters) special affection and/or the special importance of what he writes.

6:12 impress people by means of the flesh. Circumcision was in the flesh (Ge 17:13–14); Paul’s opponents not only sow to the flesh (v. 8) but want to impress their Judean peers with the Galatians’ foreskins (one could boast in another; see note on v. 14). to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Some Gentiles viewed circumcision as mutilation, but it was mild compared with the grotesque suffering of crucifixion (see note on v. 14). Paul is unafraid of persecutors (v. 14).

6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of . . . Christ. Ancients despised boasting for oneself, but boasting in another was acceptable. cross. Crucifixion was a shameful death; people did not want to be associated with those executed on crosses.

6:15 Neither . . . means anything. Circumcision was merely a sign of the covenant, but now the promise is being fulfilled. new creation. Points to the widespread Jewish expectation (rooted in Isa 65:17, 22) of the new heavens and earth. In Christ, believers begin to experience the foretaste of the new world (cf. 2Co 5:5, 17).

6:16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule. Jewish people often used the blessing, “Peace (or sometimes mercy) be with” (the person being blessed), and regularly prayed, “Peace . . . to Israel.”

6:17 bear on my body the marks of Jesus. People often displayed their wounds as signs of loyalty or to invite sympathy for their claims. Jesus was whipped and nailed to the cross (cf. Col 2:14), and Paul had also been persecuted (Gal 5:11) and presumably wounded (e.g., Ac 16:22). Sharing in the cross (v. 14; 2:20), Paul’s wounds run deeper than circumcision.

6:18 brothers and sisters. Jews called fellow Jews brothers and sisters; although various other groups (including religious groups) shared such kinship language, Paul’s conclusion of his letter to a mostly Gentile audience (cf. 4:8; 5:2–3) in this way may be significant in view of the preceding arguments (cf. 3:26).