THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE GALATIANS. _Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle_. Usherian year of the world, 4056. -Alexandrian era of the world, 5554. -Antiochian era of the world, 5544. -Constantinopolitan era of the world, 5560. -Year of the Eusebian epocha of the Creation,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Galatians 1:2. _AND ALL THE BRETHREN WHICH ARE WITH ME_] It is very likely that this refers to those who were his _assistants_ in preaching the Gospel, and not to any _private members_ of the Church. _CHURCHES OF GALATIA_] Galatia was a _region_ or _province_ of Asia Minor; there was neither... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Galatians 1:3. _GRACE BE TO YOU_, c.] Romans 1:7, Romans 1:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Galatians 1:4. _WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR OUR SINS_] Who became a _sin-offering_ to God in behalf of mankind, that they might be saved from their sins. _DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD_] These words cannot mean _created nature_, or the _earth and its productions_, nor even _wicked men_. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Galatians 1:5. _TO WHOM_ BE _GLORY FOR EVER_] Let him have the glory to whom alone it is due, for having _delivered us from the present_ _evil world_, and from all bondage to Mosaic rites and ceremonies.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Galatians 1:6. _I MARVEL THAT YE ARE SO SOON REMOVED_] It was a matter of _wonder_ to the apostle that a people, so soundly converted to God, should have so soon made shipwreck of their faith. But _mutability_ itself has not a more apt subject to work upon than the _human heart_; the alternate... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _WHICH IS NOT ANOTHER_] It is called a _gospel_, but it differs most essentially from the _authentic narratives_ published by the _evangelists_. It is not _gospel_, i.e. _good tidings_, for it loads you again with the _burdens_ from which the _genuine Gospel_ has disencumbered you. Instead... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _BUT THOUGH WE, OR AN ANGEL_] That Gospel which I have already preached to you is the only true Gospel; were I to preach _any other_, I should incur the curse of God. If your false teachers pretend, as many in early times did, that they received their accounts by the _ministry of an angel_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _LET HIM BE ACCURSED._] Perhaps this is not designed as an _imprecation_, but a simple direction; for the word here may be understood as implying that such a person should, have no countenance in his bad work, but let him, as Theodoret expresses it, Αλλοτριος εστω του κοινου σωματος της εκκ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN, OR GOD?_] The words πειθειν τον θεον may be rendered _to court or solicit the favour of God_ as the after clause sufficiently proves. This acceptation of πειθειν is very common in Greek authors. While the apostle was a persecutor of the Christians, he was the _serva... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _BUT I CERTIFY YOU, BRETHREN_, c.] I wish you fully to comprehend that the Gospel which I preached to you is not after man there is not a spark of human invention in it, nor the slightest touch of human cunning.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _I NEITHER RECEIVED IT OF MAN_] By means of any _apostle_, as was remarked Galatians 1:1. No man taught me what I have preached to you. _BUT BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST._] Being commissioned by himself alone; receiving the knowledge of it from Christ crucified.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _YE HAVE HEARD OF MY CONVERSATION_] τηνεμην αναστροφην. My _manner of life_; the _mode_ in which I _conducted_ _myself_. _BEYOND MEASURE I PERSECUTED THE CHURCH_] For proofs of this the reader is referred to Acts 9:1 (note); Acts 22:4 (note), and the notes there. The apostle tells them th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _AND PROFITED IN THE JEWS' RELIGION_] The apostle does not mean that he became more exemplary in the _love_ and _practice_ of the _pure law_ of God than any of his countrymen, but that he was more profoundly skilled in the _traditions_ of the _fathers_ than most of his _fellow students_ we... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _WHO SEPARATED ME FROM MY MOTHER'S WOMB_] Him whom I acknowledge as the GOD of _nature_ and the GOD of _grace_; who _preserved_ me by his _providence_ when I was a _helpless infant_, and _saved_ me by his _grace_ when I was an _adult persecutor_. For some useful remarks on these passages s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME_] To make me know Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. _THAT I MIGHT PREACH HIM AMONG THE HEATHEN_] For it was to the _Gentiles_, and the _dispersed Jews among the Gentiles_, that St. Paul was especially sent. Peter was sent more particularly to the _J... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _NEITHER WENT I UP TO JERUSALEM_] The aim of the apostle is to show that he had his call so immediately and pointedly from God himself, that he had no need of the concurrence even of the apostles, being appointed by the same authority, and fitted to the work by the same grace and Spirit, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _AFTER THREE YEARS I WENT UP TO JERUSALEM TO SEE_ _Peter_] These three years may be reckoned either from the departure of Paul from Jerusalem, or from his return from Arabia to Damascus. _To see Peter_ - Ιστορησαι Πετρον, to become _personally acquainted_ with Peter; for this is the prope... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _JAMES THE LORD'S BROTHER._] Dr. Paley observes: There were at Jerusalem _two apostles_, or at least _two_ eminent members of the Church, of the name of _James_. This is distinctly inferred from the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 12:2, where the historian relates the death of _James_, the _bro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _BEFORE GOD I LIE NOT._] This he speaks in reference to having seen only _Peter_ and _James_ at Jerusalem; and consequently to prove that he had not learned the Gospel from the assembly of the apostles at Jerusalem, nor consequently received his commission from them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 21. _AFTERWARDS I CAME INTO THE REGIONS OF SYRIA_, c.] The course of the apostle's travels, after his conversion, was this: He went from Damascus to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem into Syria and Cilicia. "At Damascus the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _AND WAS UNKNOWN BY FACE_] I was not personally acquainted with any of the Churches of Judea; I was converted in another place, and had not preached the Gospel in any Christian congregation in that country; I knew only those at Jerusalem.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _THEY HAD HEARD ONLY_] As a _persecutor_ of the Church of Christ, I was well known; and as a _convert to Christ_ I was not less so. The fame of both was great, even where I was personally unknown.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Galatians 1:24. _THEY GLORIFIED GOD IN ME._] Hearing now that I preached that faith which before I had persecuted and endeavoured to destroy, they glorified God for the grace which had wrought my conversion. I owe nothing to them; I owe all to God; and they themselves acknowledge this. I recei... [ Continue Reading ]