Galatians 2
After fourteen years, up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas and Titus — by revelation — laying before those who seemed, privately, the gospel preached among the nations. Titus, a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised — to the false brothers who came in alongside we did not yield for an hour. Those who seemed contributed nothing; seeing that the gospel of the foreskin was entrusted to me as that of the circumcision to Peter, James, Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave the right hands of fellowship — only to remember the poor. When Cephas came to Antioch I withstood him face to face — he ate with the nations, then separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision, and even Barnabas went along with the hypocrisy. A Jew living like a gentile — how compel the nations to Judaize? A man is justified not from works of law but through the faith of Jesus Christ. I died to law and have been crucified with Christ — I no longer live, but Christ in me. If righteousness came through law, Christ died without cause.
Why this rendering
Gal.2.2 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἀνέβην δὲ κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν· καὶ ἀνεθέμην αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ κηρύσσω ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, κατ’ ἰδίαν δὲ τοῖς δοκοῦσιν … διὰ δὲ τοὺς παρεισάκτους ψευδαδέλφους, οἵτινες παρεισῆλθον κατασκοπῆσαι τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἡμῶν … οἷς οὐδὲ πρὸς ὥραν εἴξαμεν τῇ ὑποταγῇ — and I went up according to a revelation, and I laid before them the gospel … but privately, to those who seemed … but it was because of the false brothers brought in alongside, who came in alongside to spy out our freedom … to whom we did not yield in subjection even for an hour. οἱ δοκοῦντες four times in this chapter (v.2; v.6 twice; v.9) — what they seem to be is filled in only in v.6 (‘something’) and v.9 (‘pillars’). Verse 4 is an anacoluthon — it begins with διὰ δέ and has no main verb. παρείσακτος (once in the New Testament) · παρεισῆλθον (Rom 5:20 ‘the law came in alongside’) · κατασκοπέω (once) — three words of stealth. εἴκω (once) is the word of giving way. In v.6 πρόσωπον … οὐ λαμβάνει is the phrase of Luke 20:21, ‘does not take a face’. In v.6 προσανέθεντο is the verb of 1:16 ‘confer’ — here ‘contribute’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis τοῖς δοκοῦσιν in v.2 has no complement; what vv.6 and 9 fill in is not moved forward.
Basis The familiar rendering, supplying the complement.
Rejected It supplies what the text withholds until v.9 (‘pillars’).
Basis παρείσακτος built on παρεισέρχομαι, ‘come in alongside’, as fixed at Rom 5:20.
Lost in translation
οἱ δοκοῦντες ×4 — one ‘those who seemed’ for all four.
παρείσακτος / παρεισέρχομαι — ‘alongside’ carries the shared prefix.
The anacoluthon of vv.4-5 — verbless διὰ δέ stands up as ‘it was because of’.
Why this rendering
Gal.2.7 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἰδόντες ὅτι πεπίστευμαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς ἀκροβυστίας καθὼς Πέτρος τῆς περιτομῆς, ὁ γὰρ ἐνεργήσας Πέτρῳ εἰς ἀποστολὴν τῆς περιτομῆς ἐνήργησεν καὶ ἐμοὶ εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ γνόντες τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι, Ἰάκωβος καὶ Κηφᾶς καὶ Ἰωάννης, οἱ δοκοῦντες στῦλοι εἶναι, δεξιὰς ἔδωκαν ἐμοὶ καὶ Βαρναβᾷ κοινωνίας — but on the contrary, seeing that I have been entrusted with the gospel of the foreskin, as Peter with that of the circumcision … James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship. The base text has Πέτρος (Peter) twice in vv.7-8 and Κηφᾶς (Cephas) three times in vv.9, 11, 14 — two names for one man within one passage, and the Κηφᾶς of vv.11 and 14 carries ⸀ (the Received Text reads Peter throughout). πεπίστευμαι is the perfect passive of πιστεύω, ‘believe’ — ‘be entrusted’. εὐαγγέλιον τῆς ἀκροβυστίας / τῆς περιτομῆς — the two words of Rom 2:25, ‘foreskin / circumcision’, made genitives of the gospel. Verse 8 breaks in like a parenthesis. στῦλος (four places in the New Testament) ‘pillar’; δεξιὰς … κοινωνίας ‘right hands of fellowship’ — the ‘right hand’ of Matt 6:3, the ‘fellowship’ of Acts 2:42.
Rendering options · 3
Basis Πέτρος in vv.7-8, Κηφᾶς from v.9 — as fixed at 1 Cor 1:12 and Matt 4:18; one man is not made one name.
Basis The Received Text and the familiar name.
Rejected Not the base text, and the change of name within one passage disappears.
Basis The two words as fixed at Rom 2:25 and 1 Cor 7:19 — not paraphrased as ‘to the uncircumcised / to the Jews’.
Lost in translation
Πέτρος / Κηφᾶς — ‘Peter / Cephas’ keep the two names apart.
πεπίστευμαι ↔ πιστεύω (v.16 ‘believed’) — one verb, ‘entrusted / believe’.
ἀκροβυστία / περιτομή — ‘foreskin / circumcision’, two bodily words, as fixed.
Why this rendering
Gal.2.11 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν Κηφᾶς εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν, κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν … ὑπέστελλεν καὶ ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτόν … καὶ συνυπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ Ἰουδαῖοι … οὐκ ὀρθοποδοῦσιν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου … Εἰ σὺ Ἰουδαῖος ὑπάρχων ἐθνικῶς καὶ οὐκ Ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῇς, πῶς τὰ ἔθνη ἀναγκάζεις Ἰουδαΐζειν — But when Cephas came to Antioch, I withstood him face to face, because he was at fault … he was shrinking back and separating himself … the rest of the Jews joined him in the hypocrisy … not walking straight toward the truth of the gospel … “If you, being a Jew, live like a gentile and not like a Jew, how is it that you compel the nations to Judaize?” Three imperfects in v.12 (συνήσθιεν · ὑπέστελλεν · ἀφώριζεν) speak of habit and progress. ⸀ἦλθον is ‘when they came’ (the other reading is singular, ‘when he came’). Verse 14 holds four words that occur once in the New Testament — ὀρθοποδέω · ἐθνικῶς · Ἰουδαϊκῶς · ἰουδαΐζω — crowded into one verse. συνυπεκρίθησαν (once) is the verb of ὑπόκρισις, ‘hypocrisy’ (Luke 12:1), with συν-. Where the quotation of v.14 ends the text does not mark; this edition closes it at the end of v.14.
Rendering options · 3
Basis One verb for one verb; ‘to live like Jews’ would repeat the ‘live like a Jew’ of Ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῇς.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It merges ἰουδαΐζω with Ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῇς in the same sentence.
Basis ‘Condemned’ is κατακρίνω (Rom 2:1) and ‘blamed’ μωμάομαι (2 Cor 6:3); a third word keeps the third verb.
Lost in translation
Three imperfects in v.12 — ‘was eating · was drawing back · separating’ keep the progression.
συνυπεκρίθησαν ↔ ὑπόκρισις — ‘joined in the hypocrisy / hypocrisy’ keep the root.
The end of the quotation in v.14 — unmarked in the text; this edition closes it at v.14.
Why this rendering
Gal.2.16 Observation
Syntactic observation
εἰδότες δὲ ὅτι οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἵνα δικαιωθῶμεν ἐκ πίστεως Χριστοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σάρξ — knowing that a man is not justified from works of law but only through the faith of Jesus Christ, we also believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified from the faith of Christ … because from works of law no flesh will be justified. δικαιόω three times in one verse (present passive · aorist subjunctive passive · future passive), ἔργα νόμου three times, faith three times (διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ · εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐπιστεύσαμεν · ἐκ πίστεως Χριστοῦ). The genitive πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ / πίστις Χριστοῦ is the phrase of Rom 3:22 — faith in Christ or Christ’s faith, the text does not decide. Three prepositions — ἐξ (from) · διά (through) · εἰς (in). πᾶσα σάρξ is the Psalm quotation of Rom 3:20, ‘no flesh’. ⸀δέ · ⸂Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ⸃ (order) · ⸂ὅτι …⸃ (the Received Text διότι).
Rendering options · 3
Basis As fixed at Rom 3:22 — not closed to ‘faith in’. The same verse says ‘believed in Christ’ with εἰς, so the genitive need not be made to say it.
Basis The objective-genitive reading, familiar.
Rejected It decides what the text leaves open and merges with the εἰς clause.
Basis As fixed at Rom 3:20, 28 — anarthrous ‘law’ kept.
Lost in translation
The genitive of πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ — ‘the faith of Jesus Christ’ keeps both readings.
δικαιόω ×3 · ἔργα νόμου ×3 — the counts stand.
ἐξ / διά / εἰς — ‘from / through / in’ keep the three prepositions apart.
The three tense-moods of δικαιόω — ‘is justified / might be justified / will be justified’ keep three.
Why this rendering
Gal.2.19 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον ἵνα θεῷ ζήσω· Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι· ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ — For I through law died to law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified together with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and what I now live in flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me. Two datives (νόμῳ · θεῷ) as ‘to’ — the frame of Rom 6:10, ‘died to sin … lives to God’. συνεσταύρωμαι is a perfect — Rom 6:6 ‘was crucified together with’ (aorist) is here ‘have been crucified together with’. ζάω five times in vv.19-20. ⸂υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ⸃ — the other reading is ‘of God and Christ’. πίστις τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ is the same genitive as v.16. In v.21 δωρεάν is the word of Matt 10:8 ‘freely’ in the sense of John 15:25 ‘without cause’ — one rendering for the two places.
Rendering options · 3
Basis As fixed at Rom 6:10.
Basis Reading the dative as cause.
Rejected διὰ νόμου already gives the means; the dative νόμῳ pairs with θεῷ.
Basis A different tense from the aorist of Rom 6:6 — kept as a state.
Lost in translation
νόμῳ / θεῷ — ‘to law / to God’ stand as at Rom 6:10.
συνεσταύρωμαι (perfect) ↔ Rom 6:6 (aorist) — ‘have been crucified / was crucified’ keep the tenses apart.
ζάω ×5 — one ‘live’ for all five.
δωρεάν (v.21) — one word with ‘freely’ of Matt 10:8; here ‘without cause’.