Galatians 1:4

περὶ τ. ἁμαρτιῶν. The sin offerings of the Law were designated περὶ ἁμαρτίας (cf. Hebrews 10:6; Hebrews 10:8), but περί and ὑπέρ were equally applicable with reference to Christ's offering of Himself for our sins; the former fixing attention on the effect of His sacrifice in doing away sin, the latter on the motive which prompted Him, viz., love for sinners. The two prepositions are combined in 1 Peter 3:18. It is often difficult to decide which is the genuine reading owing to the variation of MSS.: but here they are greatly in favour of περί, which is also more appropriate to the context: for in this clause a comparison is intended between the sin-offerings of Christ and the typical sin-offerings of the Law; while the next expresses the motive of the Saviour by the addition ὅπως ἐξέληται … αἰῶνος. In early Greek this word denoted the appointed lifetime of man, and so combined the thought of an overruling destiny with the course of human life. From the conception of individual life was developed that of corporate life, whether of families, nations or societies, and the idea of divine appointment was more distinctly fastened on the word in Scripture, so that every successive dispensation of God was designated as an αἰών. In this place αἰῶνος denotes the world which Jesus found existing at the time of His coming, out of which He chose His disciples. World is the nearest English equivalent to αἰών in this sense, if only it be understood to mean a particular phase of human society, as in the phrases religious world, scientific world, etc., and not the material universe. ἐνεστῶτος : existing. This participle is twice elsewhere applied to things existing by way of contrast to things future (μέλλοντα), in Romans 8:38 and 1 Corinthians 3:22. A similar contrast is here suggested between ὁ ἐνεστώς and ὁ μέλλων αἰών, i.e., between the world which Christ found existing on earth and the Messianic world whose coming Hebrew prophets had foretold. πονηροῦ. This sweeping condemnation of the existing world corresponds to the language of the Baptist and to Christ's own denunciations of the evil generation to which He came. In spite of all that revelation and conscience had done to leaven it, He found the faithful few in number, and evil predominant in the mass. ἐξέληται. Here, as in Acts 26:17, this verb coupled with ἐκ can only denote choice out of the world, not deliverance from it, which would require the addition of ἐκ χειρός, as in Acts 12:11, or some equivalent. The clause describes the process of selection begun by Christ on earth, and still continued by the risen Christ as He calls fresh disciples into His Church continually.