Galatians 1

Ga 1:1-24.

SUPERSCRIPTION.

GREETINGS.

THE

CAUSE OF

HIS

WRITING

IS

THEIR

SPEEDY

FALLING

AWAY FROM THE

GOSPEL

HE

TAUGHT.

DEFENSE OF

HIS

TEACHING:

HIS

APOSTOLIC

CALL

INDEPENDENT OF

MAN.

Judaizing teachers had persuaded the Galatians that Paul had taught them

the new religion imperfectly, and at second hand; that the founder of

their church himself possessed only a deputed commission, the seal of

truth and authority being in the apostles at Jerusalem: moreover, that

whatever he might profess among them, he had himself at other times, and

in other places, given way to the doctrine of circumcision. To refute

this, he appeals to the history of his conversion, and to the manner of

his conferring with the apostles when he met them at Jerusalem; that so

far was his doctrine from being derived from them, or they from

exercising any superiority over him, that they had simply assented to

what he had already preached among the Gentiles, which preaching was

communicated, not by them to him, but by himself to them

[PALEY]. Such

an apologetic Epistle could not be a later forgery, the objections which

it meets only coming out incidentally, not being obtruded as they would

be by a forger; and also being such as could only arise in the earliest

age of the Church, when Jerusalem and Judaism still held a prominent

place.

1. apostle--in the earliest Epistles, the two to the

Thessalonians, through humility, he uses no title of authority; but

associates with him "Silvanus and Timotheus"; yet here, though

"brethren"

(Ga 1:2)

are with him, he does not name them but puts his own name and

apostleship prominent: evidently because his apostolic commission needs

now to be vindicated against deniers of it.

of--Greek, "from." Expressing the origin from which his mission

came, "not from men," but from Christ and the Father (understood) as

the source. "By" expresses the immediate operating agent in the call.

Not only was the call from God as its ultimate source, but by Christ and the Father as the immediate agent in calling him

(Ac 22:15; 26:16-18).

The laying on of Ananias' hands

(Ac 9:17)

is no objection to this; for that was but a sign of the fact, not an

assisting cause. So the Holy Ghost calls him specially

(Ac 13:2, 3);

he was an apostle before this special mission.

man--singular; to mark the contrast to "Jesus Christ." The opposition

between "Christ" and "man," and His name being put in closest connection

with God the Father, imply His Godhead.

raised him from the dead--implying that, though he had not seen Him in

His humiliation as the other apostles (which was made an objection

against him), he had seen and been

constituted an apostle by Him in His resurrection power

(Mt 28:18;

Ro 1:4, 5).

Compare as to the ascension, the consequence of the resurrection, and

the cause of His giving "apostles,"

Eph 4:11.

He rose again, too, for our justification

(Ro 4:25);

thus Paul prepares the way for the prominent subject of the Epistle,

justification in Christ, not by the law.

2. all the brethren--I am not alone in my doctrine; all my

colleagues in the Gospel work, travelling with me

(Ac 19:29,

Gaius and Aristarchus at Ephesus:

Ac 20:4,

Sopater, Secundus, Timotheus, Tychicus, Trophimus, some, or all of

these), join with me. Not that these were joint authors with

Paul of the Epistle: but joined him in the sentiments and

salutations. The phrase, "all the brethren," accords with a date

when he had many travelling companions, he and they having to bear

jointly the collection to Jerusalem [CONYBEARE and

HOWSON].

the churches--Pessinus and Ancyra were the principal cities; but

doubtless there were many other churches in Galatia

(Ac 18:23;

1Co 16:1).

He does not attach any honorable title to the churches here, as

elsewhere, being displeased at their Judaizing. See First Corinthians;

First Thessalonians, &c. The first Epistle of Peter is addressed to

Jewish Christians sojourning in Galatia

(1Pe 1:1),

among other places mentioned. It is interesting thus to find the

apostle of the circumcision, as well as the apostle of the

uncircumcision, once at issue

(Ga 2:7-15),

co-operating to build up the same churches.

3. from . . . from--Omit the second "from." The

Greek joins God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in closet

union, by there being but the one preposition.

4. gave himself--

(Ga 2:20);

unto death, as an offering. Found only in this and the Pastoral

Epistles. The Greek is different in

Eph 5:25

(see on

Eph 5:25).

for our sins--which enslaved us to the present evil world.

deliver us from this--Greek, "out of the," &c. The Father

and Son are each said to "deliver us," &c.

(Col 1:13):

but the Son, not the Father, gave Himself for us in order to do

so, and make us citizens of a better world

(Php 3:20).

The Galatians in desiring to return to legal bondage are, he implies,

renouncing the deliverance which Christ wrought for us. This he

more fully repeats in

Ga 3:13.

"Deliver" is the very word used by the Lord as to His deliverance of

Paul himself

(Ac 26:17):

an undesigned coincidence between Paul and Luke.

world--Greek, "age"; system or course of

the world, regarded from a religious point of view. The present

age opposes the "glory"

(Ga 1:5)

of God, and is under the authority of the Evil One. The "ages of ages"

(Greek,

Ga 1:5)

are opposed to "the present evil age."

according to the will of God and our Father--Greek, "of Him who

is at once God [the sovereign Creator] and our Father"

(Joh 6:38, 39; 10:18,

end). Without merit of ours. His sovereignty as

"GOD," and our filial relation to Him as

"OUR FATHER," ought to keep

us from blending our own legal notions (as the Galatians were doing)

with His will and plan. This paves the way for his argument.

5. be glory--rather, as Greek, "be the

glory"; the glory which is peculiarly and exclusively His. Compare

Note, see on

Eph 3:21.

6. Without the usual expressions of thanksgiving for their faith,

&c., he vehemently plunges into his subject, zealous for "the glory" of

God

(Ga 1:5),

which was being disparaged by the Galatians falling away from the pure

Gospel of the "grace" of God.

I marvel--implying that he had hoped better things from them, whence

his sorrowful surprise at their turning out so different from his

expectations.

so soon--after my last visit; when I hoped and thought you were

untainted by the Judaizing teachers. If this Epistle was written from

Corinth, the interval would be a little more than three years, which

would be "soon" to have fallen away, if they were apparently sound at

the time of his visit.

Ga 4:18, 20

may imply that he saw no symptom of unsoundness then, such as he

hears of in them now. But English Version is probably not

correct there. See see on

Ga 4:18;

Ga 4:20;

also see

Introduction.

If from Ephesus, the interval would be not more than one year.

BIRKS holds the Epistle to have been written from

Corinth after his FIRST visit to Galatia; for this

agrees best with the "so soon" here: with

Ga 4:18,

"It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not

only when I am present with you." If they had persevered in the faith

during three years of his first absence, and only turned aside after

his second visit, they could not be charged justly with adhering to the

truth only when he was present: for his first absence was longer than

both his visits, and they would have obeyed longer in his

"absence" than in his "presence." But if their decline

had begun immediately after he left them, and before his return to

them, the reproof will be just. But see on

Ga 4:13.

removed--Translate, "are being removed," that is, ye are

suffering yourselves so soon (whether from the time of my last

visit, or from the time of the first temptation held out to you)

[PARÆUS] to be removed by Jewish seducers. Thus he softens the

censure by implying that the Galatians were tempted by seducers from

without, with whom the chief guilt lay: and the present, "ye are

being removed," implies that their seduction was only in process of

being effected, not that it was actually effected. WAHL,

ALFORD, and

others take the Greek as middle voice. "ye are removing" or

"passing over." "Shifting your ground" [CONYBEARE and

HOWSON]. But thus

the point of Paul's oblique reference to their misleaders is lost; and

in

Heb 7:12

the Greek is used passively, justifying its being taken so here.

On the impulsiveness and fickleness of the Gauls (another form of

Kel-t-s, the progenitors of the Erse, Gauls, Cymri, and Belgians),

whence the Galatians sprang, see

Introduction

and CÆSAR [Commentaries on the Gallic

War, 3.19].

from him that called you--God the Father

(Ga 1:15;

Ga 5:8;

Ro 8:30;

1Co 1:9;

1Th 2:12; 5:24).

into--rather, as Greek, "IN the

grace of Christ," as the element in which, and the instrument

1Co 7:15;

Ro 5:15,

"the gift by (Greek, 'in') grace (Greek, 'the

grace') of (the) one man." "The grace of Christ," is Christ's

gratuitously purchased and bestowed justification, reconciliation, and

eternal life.

another--rather, as Greek, "a second and different gospel,"

that is, into a so-called gospel, different altogether from the only

true Gospel.

7. another--A distinct Greek word from that in

Ga 1:6.

Though I called it a gospel

(Ga 1:6),

it is not really so. There is really but one Gospel, and no

other gospel.

but--Translate, "Only that there are some that trouble you," &c.

(Ga 5:10, 12).

All I meant by the "different gospel" was nothing but a perversion by

"some" of the one Gospel of Christ.

would pervert--Greek, "wish to pervert"; they could not really

pervert the Gospel, though they could pervert Gospel professors (compare

Ga 4:9, 17, 21; 6:12, 13;

Col 2:18).

Though acknowledging Christ, they insisted on circumcision and Jewish

ordinances and professed to rest on the authority of other apostles,

namely, Peter and James. But Paul recognizes no gospel, save the pure

Gospel.

8. But--however weighty they may seem "who trouble you." Translate

as Greek, "Even though we," namely, I and the brethren with me,

weighty and many as we are

(Ga 1:1, 2).

The Greek implies a case supposed which never has occurred.

angel--in which light ye at first received me (compare

Ga 4:14;

1Co 13:1),

and whose authority is the highest possible next to that of God and

Christ. A new revelation, even though seemingly accredited by miracles,

is not to be received if it contradict the already existing revelation.

For God cannot contradict Himself

(De 13:1-3;

1Ki 13:18;

Mt 24:24;

2Th 2:9).

The Judaizing teachers sheltered themselves under the names of the

great apostles, James, John, and Peter: "Do not bring these names up to

me, for even if an angel," &c. Not that he means, the apostles

really supported the Judaizers: but he wishes to show, when the truth

is in question, respect of persons is inadmissible [CHRYSOSTOM].

preach--that is, "should preach."

any other gospel . . . than--The Greek expresses not so much "any

other gospel different from what we have preached," as, "any gospel

BESIDE that which we preached." This distinctly opposes the traditions

of the Church of Rome, which are at once besides and against (the Greek includes both ideas) the written Word, our only "attested

rule."

9. said before--when we were visiting you (so "before" means,

2Co 13:2).

Compare

Ga 5:2, 3, 21.

Translate, "If any man preacheth unto you any gospel

BESIDE that which," &c. Observe the indicative,

not the subjunctive or conditional mood, is used, "preacheth,"

literally, "furnisheth you with any gospel." The fact is

assumed, not merely supposed as a contingency, as in

Ga 1:8,

"preach," or "should preach." This implies that he had already observed

(namely, during his last visit) the machinations of the Judaizing

teachers: but his surprise

(Ga 1:6)

now at the Galatians being misled by them, implies that they had

not apparently been so then. As in

Ga 1:8

he had said, "which we preached," so here, with an augmentation of the

force, "which ye received"; acknowledging that they had truly

accepted it.

accursed--The opposite appears in

Ga 6:16.

10. For--accounting for the strong language he has just used.

do I now--resuming the "now" of

Ga 1:9.

"Am I now persuading men?" [ALFORD], that

is, conciliating. Is what I have just now said a sample of

men-pleasing, of which I am accused? His adversaries accused him of

being an interested flatterer of men, "becoming all things to all men,"

to make a party for himself, and so observing the law among the Jews

(for instance, circumcising Timothy), yet persuading the Gentiles to

renounce it

(Ga 5:11)

(in order to flatter those, really keeping them in a subordinate state,

not admitted to the full privileges which the circumcised alone

enjoyed). NEANDER explains the "now" thus: Once,

when a Pharisee, I was actuated only by a regard to human authority and

to please men

(Lu 16:15;

Joh 5:44),

but NOW I teach as responsible to God alone

(1Co 4:3).

or God?--Regard is to be had to God alone.

for if I yet pleased men--The oldest manuscripts omit "for." "If I

were still pleasing men," &c.

(Lu 6:26;

Joh 15:19;

1Th 2:4;

Jas 4:4;

1Jo 4:5).

On "yet," compare

Ga 5:11.

servant of Christ--and so pleasing Him in all things

(Tit 2:9;

Col 3:22).

11. certify--I made known to you as to the Gospel which was

preached by me, that it is not after man, that is, not of, by,

or from man

(Ga 1:1, 12).

It is not according to man; not influenced by mere human

considerations, as it would be, if it were of human origin.

brethren--He not till now calls them so.

12. Translate, "For not even did I myself

(any more than the other apostles)

receive it from man, nor was I taught it (by man)."

"Received it," implies the absence of labor in acquiring it. "Taught

it," implies the labor of learning.

[that is, from] Jesus Christ." By His revealing it to me. Probably this

took place during the three years, in part of which he sojourned in

Arabia

(Ga 1:17, 18),

in the vicinity of the scene of the giving of the law; a fit place for

such a revelation of the Gospel of grace, which supersedes the

ceremonial law

(Ga 4:25).

He, like other Pharisees who embraced Christianity, did not at first

recognize its independence of the Mosaic law, but combined both

together. Ananias, his first instructor, was universally esteemed for

his legal piety and so was not likely to have taught him to sever

Christianity from the law. This severance was partially recognized

after the martyrdom of Stephen. But Paul received it by special

revelation

(1Co 11:23; 15:3;

1Th 4:15).

A vision of the Lord Jesus is mentioned

(Ac 22:18),

at his first visit to Jerusalem

(Ga 1:18);

but this seems to have been subsequent to the revelation here meant

(compare

Ga 1:15-18),

and to have been confined to giving a particular command. The vision

"fourteen years before"

(2Co 12:1)

was in A.D. 43, still later, six years after his

conversion. Thus Paul is an independent witness to the Gospel. Though

he had received no instruction from the apostles, but from the Holy

Ghost, yet when he met them his Gospel exactly agreed with theirs.

13. heard--even before I came among you.

conversation--"my former way of life."

Jews' religion--The term, "Hebrew," expresses the language; "Jew," the nationality, as distinguished from the Gentiles;

"Israelite," the highest title, the religious privileges, as a member of

the theocracy.

the church--Here singular, marking its unity, though constituted of

many particular churches, under the one Head, Christ.

of God--added to mark the greatness of his sinful alienation from

God

(1Co 15:19).

wasted--laid it waste: the opposite of "building it up."

14. profited--Greek, "I was becoming a proficient"; "I made

progress."

above--beyond.

my equals--Greek, "Of mine own age, among my countrymen."

traditions of my fathers--namely, those of the Pharisees, Paul being

"a Pharisee, and son of a Pharisee"

(Ac 23:6; 26:5).

"MY fathers," shows that it is not to be understood generally of the

traditions of the nation.

15. separated--"set me apart": in the purposes of His electing love

(compare

Ac 9:15; 22:14),

in order to show in me His "pleasure," which is the

farthest point that any can reach in inquiring the causes of his

salvation. The actual "separating" or "setting apart" to the work

marked out for him, is mentioned in

Ac 13:2;

Ro 1:1.

There is an allusion, perhaps, in the way of contrast, to the

derivation of Pharisee from Hebrew, "pharash,"

"separated." I was once a so-called Pharisee or Separatist, but

God had separated me to something far better.

from . . . womb--Thus merit in me was out of the

question, in assigning causes for His call from

Ac 9:11.

Grace is the sole cause

(Ps 22:9; 71:6;

Isa 49:1, 5;

Jer 1:5;

Lu 1:15).

called me--on the way to Damascus

(Ac 9:3-8).

16. reveal his Son in me--within me, in my inmost soul, by the Holy

Spirit

(Ga 2:20).

Compare

2Co 4:6,

"shined in our hearts." The revealing of His Son by me to the Gentiles

(so translate for "heathen") was impossible, unless He had first

revealed His Son in me; at first on my conversion, but

especially at the subsequent revelation from Jesus Christ

(Ga 1:12),

whereby I learned the Gospel's independence of the Mosaic law.

that I might preach--the present in the Greek, which includes

the idea "that I may preach Him," implying an office still

continuing. This was the main commission entrusted to him

(Ga 2:7, 9).

immediately--connected chiefly with "I went into Arabia"

(Ga 1:17).

It denotes the sudden fitness of the apostle. So

Ac 9:20,

"Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue."

I conferred not--Greek, "I had not further (namely, in addition

to revelation) recourse to . . . for the purpose of consulting." The

divine revelation was sufficient for me [BENGEL].

flesh and blood--

(Mt 16:17).

17. went I up--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "went away."

to Jerusalem--the seat of the apostles.

into Arabia--This journey (not recorded in Acts) was during the

whole period of his stay at Damascus, called by Luke

(Ac 9:23),

"many [Greek, a considerable number of] days." It is curiously

confirmatory of the legitimacy of taking "many days" to stand for

"three years," that the same phrase exactly occurs in the same sense in

1Ki 2:38, 39.

This was a country of the Gentiles; here doubtless he preached

as he did before and after

(Ac 9:20, 22)

at Damascus: thus he shows the independence of his apostolic

commission. He also here had that comparative retirement needed, after

the first fervor of his conversion, to prepare him for the great work

before him. Compare Moses

(Ac 7:29, 30).

His familiarity with the scene of the giving of the law, and the

meditations and revelations which he had there, appear in

Ga 4:24, 25;

Heb 12:18.

See on

Ga 1:12.

The Lord from heaven communed with him, as He on earth in the days of

His flesh communed with the other apostles.

returned--Greek "returned back again."

18. after three years--dating from my conversion, as appears by the

contrast to "immediately"

(Ga 1:16).

This is the same visit to Jerusalem as in

Ac 9:26,

and at this visit occurred the vision

(Ac 22:17, 18).

The incident which led to his leaving Damascus

(Ac 9:25;

2Co 11:33)

was not the main cause of his going to Jerusalem. So that

there is no discrepancy in the statement here that he went "to see

Peter"; or rather, as Greek, "to make the acquaintance of"; "to

become personally acquainted with." The two oldest manuscripts read,

"Cephas," the name given Peter elsewhere in the Epistle, the

Hebrew name; as Peter is the Greek

(Joh 1:42).

Appropriate to the view of him here as the apostle especially of the

Hebrews. It is remarkable that Peter himself, in his Epistles, uses the

Greek name Peter, perhaps to mark his antagonism to the

Judaizers who would cling to the Hebraic form. He was prominent among

the apostles, though James, as bishop of Jerusalem, had the chief

authority there

(Mt 16:18).

abode--or "tarried" [ELLICOTT].

fifteen days--only fifteen days; contrasting with the long period of

three years, during which, previously, he had exercised an independent

commission in preaching: a fact proving on the face of it, how little he

owed to Peter in regard to his apostolical authority or instruction.

The Greek for "to see," at the same time implies

visiting a person important to know, such as Peter was. The plots of

the Jews prevented him staying longer

(Ac 9:29).

Also, the vision directing him to depart to the Gentiles, for that the

people of Jerusalem would not receive his testimony

(Ac 22:17, 18).

19. Compare

Ac 9:27, 28,

wherein Luke, as an historian, describes more generally what Paul, the

subject of the history, himself details more particularly. The history

speaks of "apostles"; and Paul's mention of a second apostle,

besides Peter, reconciles the Epistle and the history. At Stephen's

martyrdom, and the consequent persecution, the other ten apostles,

agreeably to Christ's directions, seem to have soon (though not

immediately,

Ac 8:14)

left Jerusalem to preach elsewhere. James remained in charge of the

mother church, as its bishop. Peter, the apostle of the circumcision,

was present during Paul's fifteen days' stay; but he, too, presently

after

(Ac 9:32),

went on a circuit through Judea.

James, the Lord's brother--This designation, to distinguish him from

James the son of Zebedee, was appropriate while that apostle was alive.

But before Paul's second visit to Jerusalem

(Ga 2:1;

Ac 15:1-4),

he had been beheaded by Herod

(Ac 12:2).

Accordingly, in the subsequent mention of James here

(Ga 2:9, 12),

he is not designated by this distinctive epithet: a minute, undesigned

coincidence, and proof of genuineness. James was the Lord's brother,

not in our strict sense, but in the sense, "cousin," or "kinsman"

(Mt 28:10;

Joh 20:17).

His brethren are never called "sons of Joseph," which they would have

been had they been the Lord's brothers strictly. However, compare

Ps 69:8,

"I am an alien to my mother's children." In

Joh 7:3, 5,

the "brethren" who believed not in Him may mean His near

relations, not including the two of His brethren, that is,

relatives (James and Jude) who were among the Twelve apostles.

Ac 1:14,

"His brethren," refer to Simon and Joses, and others

(Mt 13:55)

of His kinsmen, who were not apostles. It is not likely there would be

two pairs of brothers named alike, of such eminence as James and Jude;

the likelihood is that the apostles James and Jude are also the writers

of the Epistles, and the brethren of Jesus. James and Joses were sons

of Alpheus and Mary, sister of the Virgin Mary.

20. Solemn asseveration that his statement is true that his visit was

but for fifteen days and that he saw no apostle save Peter and James.

Probably it had been reported by Judaizers that he had received a long

course of instruction from the apostles in Jerusalem from the first;

hence his earnestness in asserting the contrary facts.

21. I came into . . . Syria and Cilicia--"preaching

the faith"

(Ga 1:23),

and so, no doubt, founding the churches in Syria and Cilicia, which he

subsequently confirmed in the faith

(Ac 15:23, 41).

He probably went first to Cæsarea, the main seaport, and thence

(Ac 9:30),

and thence to Syria; Cilicia having its geographical affinities with

Syria, rather than with Asia Minor, as the Tarsus mountains separate it

from the latter. His placing "Syria" in the order of words before

"Cilicia," is due to Antioch being a more important city than Tarsus,

as also to his longer stay in the former city. Also "Syria and

Cilicia," from their close geographical connection, became a generic

geographical phrase, the more important district being placed first

[CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. This

sea journey accounts for his being "unknown by face to the churches of

Judea"

(Ga 1:22).

He passes by in silence his second visit, with alms, to Judea

and Jerusalem

(Ac 11:30);

doubtless because it was for a limited and special object, and would

occupy but a few days

(Ac 12:25),

as there raged at Jerusalem at the time a persecution in which James,

the brother of John, was martyred, and Peter was m prison, and James

seems to have been the only apostle present

(Ac 12:17);

so it was needless to mention this visit, seeing that he could not at

such a time have received the instructions which the Galatians alleged

he had derived from the primary fountains of authority, the

apostles.

22. So far was I from being a disciple of the apostles, that I was

even unknown in the churches of Judea (excepting Jerusalem,

Ac 9:26-29),

which were the chief scene of their labors.

23. Translate as Greek, "They were hearing": tidings were brought

them from time to time [CONYBEARE and

HOWSON].

he which persecuted us in times past--"our former persecutor"

[ALFORD].

The designation by which he was known among Christians still better than

destroyed--Greek, "was destroying."

24. in me--"in my case." "Having understood the entire change, and

that the former wolf is now acting the shepherd's part, they received

occasion for joyful thanksgiving to God in respect to me"

[THEODORET].

How different, he implies to the Galatians, their spirit from

yours!