Galatians 5:4

4. St Paul’s object here is partly to explain Galatians 5:2 further, and partly to turn them from their mistaken purpose by the sharpness of his language.

κατηργήθητε, Galatians 5:11; Galatians 3:17. St Paul could hardly have employed a stronger word. They would have existence, but existence that is useless, ἀπρακτός. On the difficulty of translating κατηργ. see Sauday-Headlam, Romans 7:6, where they paraphrase “we were struck with atrophy.”

ἀπὸ. For this pregnant use denoting complete separation as the result or cause of the state mentioned in the preceding verb see Romans 9:3; 2 Corinthians 11:3, besides the two passages κατηργ. ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμον, Romans 7:2; Romans 7:6.

ἐν νόμῳ (Galatians 2:16 note). δικαιοῦσθε, conative, “would be justified.” Blass, Gram. § 56. 3, who compares John 10:32; John 13:6.

τῆς χάριτος. The article is hardly generic, but rather the grace given by God (Galatians 1:15; Galatians 2:21), and received by you. Compare Romans 5:2.

ἐξεπέσατε. Figurative as in 2 Peter 3:17. Compare Sirach 31 (34):7 πολλοὺς ἐπλάνησεν τὰ ἐνύπνια, καὶ ἐξέπεσον ἑλπίζοντες ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς, where unfortunately the Hebrew is not extant; also Plato, Repub. VI. 496 c ἐκπεσεῖν φιλοσοφίας.

Lightfoot suggests that it = were driven forth; as the correlative of ἐκβάλλω Galatians 4:30, quoting Thuc. Galatians 6:4 αὐτοὶ μὲν ὑπὸ Σαμίων … ἐκπίπτουσιν … τοὺς δὲ Σαμίους Ἀναξίλας Ῥηγίνων τύραννος … ἐκβαλών. But the words are so far apart in our Epistle that the correlation is forced. On -ατε see Helbing, Gr. d. LXX. p. 62, Winer-Schm. § 13. 13. The tense of ἐξεπ. and κατηργήθητε was probably chosen for vividness, suggesting both the completeness and the immediateness of the effect of seeking to be justified elsewhere than in Christ.