I. (1-5) It is no self-constituted teacher by whom the Galatians are addressed, but an Apostle who, like the chosen Twelve, had received his commission, not from any human source or through any human agency, but directly from God and Christ. As such, he and his companions that are with him give Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
AN APOSTLE. — This title is evidently to be taken here in its strictest sense, as St. Paul is insisting upon his equality in every respect with the Twelve. The word was also capable of a less exclusive use, in which the Apostle would seem to be distinguished from the Twelve (1 Corinthians 15:5; 1 Co... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE BRETHREN WHICH ARE WITH ME — _i.e.,_ all his travelling companions. We are unable to say exactly who these were, the more so as we do not know with any certainty the place from which St. Paul was writing. He may have had in his company most of those who are mentioned in Acts 20:4 as accompan... [ Continue Reading ]
GRACE... AND PEACE. — See Note on Romans 1:7. GOD THE FATHER. — We may see by this verse how the title “Father,” originally used in the present formula to distinguish between the Divine Persons, came gradually to contract a wider signification. God is, through Christ, the Father of all who by their... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO GAVE HIMSELF. — Surrendered Himself, of His own free act and will, to those who sought His death. The phrase has a parallel in Titus 2:14, and appears in its full and complete form in the Gospel saying (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45): “The Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many “; and in... [ Continue Reading ]
GLORY. — Perhaps, properly, _the glory_ — _i.e.,_ the divine glory: that pre-eminent glory with which no other can compare. If this is the case, then it would be better to supply “is” than “be.” His own peculiar glory _does_ belong to God, and therefore the Christian ascribes it to Him as that whic... [ Continue Reading ]
REMOVED. — The Greek word is one regularly used for a “deserter,” “turn-coat,” or “apostate,” either in war, politics, or religion. The tense is strictly present: “You are now, at this moment, in the act of falling away.” HIM THAT CALLED YOU. — The call of the Christian is attributed by St. Paul to... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO ANOTHER GOSPEL: WHICH IS NOT ANOTHER. — It is to be regretted that the English language hardly admits the fine shade of distinction which exists here in the Greek. The Greek has two words for “another:” one (the first of those which is here used) implying a difference in kind, the other implyin... [ Continue Reading ]
(6-10) The Apostle is surprised at their rapid defection. The doctrine to which they had at first given in their adhesion was a doctrine of salvation by grace: they now imagined that they were only hearing a different version of the same truths. A different version? How was that possible? There coul... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THERE BE SOME. — The force of the Greek, conjunction is, rather, _except that,_ as the word “only” is used idiomatically in English. So far from being a second gospel, it is really no gospel, “_only_ there are some...,” _i.e.,_ the only sense in which there can be any mention of a second gospel... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH. — The Greek is, strictly, _even though,_ marking an extreme and improbable supposition. WE. — It seems, perhaps, too much to say, in the face of 2 Thessalonians 2:2 (“by letter as from us”), that St. Paul never used the plural in speaking of himself alone. Still there may, both there and he... [ Continue Reading ]
AS WE SAID BEFORE. — Probably, upon his last (_i.e.,_ his second) visit, at the beginning of this, his third, great missionary journey (Acts 18:23). The germs of the apostasy in the Galatian Church would be already visible.... [ Continue Reading ]
You may take this vehemence of language as my answer to another charge that has been brought against me. I am accused of seeking popularity with men. Well, here at least is plainness of speech. If I seek to win favour with any one it is not with men, but God. The two things are really incompatible.... [ Continue Reading ]
(11, et _seq._) The Apostle now enters at length upon his personal defence against his opponents. He does this by means of an historical retrospect of his career, proving by an exhaustive process the thesis with which he starts that the doctrine taught by him comes from a divine source, and possesse... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I NEITHER RECEIVED IT. — The first “neither” in this verse does not answer to the second, but qualifies the pronoun “I.” The connection in the thought is perhaps something of this kind: “The gospel is not human as it comes to _you;_ neither was it human as it first came to me.” TAUGHT. — There... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAVE HEARD. — Rather, _ye heard._ It was indeed notorious; but the Apostle may be referring to the fact that he himself usually (see Acts 22:3; Acts 26:4; 1 Corinthians 15:8) brought his own career and experiences into his preaching, so that they may have heard it from his own lips. MY CONVERSAT... [ Continue Reading ]
Proof that the doctrine of the Apostle is derived from God and not from man, in that it could not be accounted for by his antecedents and education, all of which told _against,_ rather than _for,_ a Christian belief of any kind.... [ Continue Reading ]
PROFITED. — Made progress. The kind of progress would correspond to the width of the term “Judaism,” with which it is connected, and would imply, not merely proficiency in theological knowledge, but also increase in zeal and strictness of ritualistic observance. MY EQUALS. — Strictly, _my equals in... [ Continue Reading ]
In pursuance of his main argument, the Apostle lays stress upon the fact that his very conversion and mission to the Gentiles had been first predestinated in the divine counsels, and afterwards carried out through divine interposition: it was throughout the work of God, and not of man. PLEASED. — T... [ Continue Reading ]
TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME. — That is, probably, _in my mind,_ or _consciousness._ Before the Apostle could preach Christ to the Gentiles he needed to have first that intense inward conviction which was wrought in him during that sustained mental struggle which followed upon his conversion. It is possi... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT I UP. — The usual phrase is to go up to “Jerusalem,” from the fact that Jerusalem stood upon high ground, and was approached from all sides by an ascent. Here, however, the reading is doubtful between “went up” and “went away,” each of which is supported by nearly equally good authority. In so... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THREE YEARS. — This date is probably to be reckoned from the great turning-point in the Apostle’s career — his conversion. It need not necessarily mean three full years, just as the three days during which our Lord lay in the grave were not three full days. It may have been only one whole year... [ Continue Reading ]
(18-24) Nor did that consultation with the elder Apostles, which had hitherto been impossible, take place when, at last, after the lapse of three years, the Apostle did go up to Jerusalem. He saw indeed Peter and James, but for so short a time that he could have learnt nothing essential from them. T... [ Continue Reading ]
OTHER OF THE APOSTLES. — From the form of this phrase it would appear that James, the Lord’s brother, was considered to be an Apostle. In what sense he was an Apostle will depend very much upon who he was (see the next Note). If he was a cousin of our Lord, and identical with James the son of Alphæu... [ Continue Reading ]
A solemn asseveration of the truth of these statements as to the extent of the Apostle’s relation with the elder disciples.... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTERWARDS I CAME INTO THE REGIONS OF SYRIA AND CILICIA. — We gather from the parallel narrative in Acts 9:30; Acts 11:25, that the course which the Apostle followed was this: — He was first conveyed secretly by the disciples to the sea-port Cæsarea Stratonis; there he took ship and sailed for Tarsu... [ Continue Reading ]
WAS UNKNOWN BY FACE. — The Greek is a shade stronger: _I continued unknown._ If in Jerusalem itself the Apostle had not had time to receive instruction from any one, still less was this the case with the other Christian communities of Judæa. To these he was not known even by sight. At the same time,... [ Continue Reading ]
HAD HEARD. — Rather, _were hearing._ THE FAITH. — Not quite, as yet, “the body of Christian doctrine,” which was in process of forming rather than already formed, but the one cardinal doctrine of faith in Christ. (Comp. Romans 1:5, and Note there.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GLORIFIED GOD IN ME. — This verse represents the proper attitude of Christian hero-worship. An eminent Christian is like a “city set on a hill.” But the admiration which he attracts does not rest in him; it is made the occasion for giving praise to God.... [ Continue Reading ]