Galatians 6
Make the one overtaken in a trespass complete in a spirit of gentleness — looking to yourself — and bear one another’s burdens, filling up the law of Christ; whoever thinks himself something deceives his mind — let each prove his own work and bear his own load. Share with the one who instructs. God is not sneered at — what is sown is reaped: corruption from flesh, eternal life from the Spirit; do not lose heart, the harvest comes in its own time — work good toward all, most of all the household of the faith. In large letters, with my own hand: those who compel circumcision want to escape persecution for the cross and boast in your flesh; I boast only in the cross — the world crucified to me, I to the world. Neither circumcision nor foreskin, but a new creation. Peace and mercy on those who keep in step by this rule, and on the Israel of God. I bear the marks of Jesus in my body. Grace be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Why this rendering
Gal.6.1 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐὰν καὶ προλημφθῇ ἄνθρωπος ἔν τινι παραπτώματι, ὑμεῖς οἱ πνευματικοὶ καταρτίζετε τὸν τοιοῦτον ἐν πνεύματι πραΰτητος, σκοπῶν σεαυτόν, μὴ καὶ σὺ πειρασθῇς. ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε … εἰ γὰρ δοκεῖ τις εἶναί τι μηδὲν ὤν, φρεναπατᾷ ἑαυτόν · τὸ δὲ ἔργον ἑαυτοῦ δοκιμαζέτω ἕκαστος … ἕκαστος γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον φορτίον βαστάσει — even if a man is overtaken in some trespass, you who are spiritual make such a one complete in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourself, lest you also be tested. Bear one another’s burdens … if anyone thinks he is something, being nothing, he deceives his own mind; let each one prove his own work … for each will bear his own load. Verse 1 moves from plural (you · καταρτίζετε) to singular (σκοπῶν σεαυτόν · σύ) — English keeps it (‘yourself’). προλαμβάνω is the verb of 1 Cor 11:21, ‘beforehand’ — here ‘overtaken’ (site-bound). καταρτίζω is the ‘mend’ of the nets in Matt 4:21 and the ‘be made complete’ of 1 Cor 1:10 — here applied to a person. βάρος in v.2 (Acts 15:28 ‘burden’) and φορτίον in v.5 (Matt 11:30 ‘burden’) are two words — English gives burden / load, Korean has one. ⸀ἀναπληρώσετε is future (the Received Text imperative). φρεναπατάω occurs once in the New Testament — φρήν (2 Cor 11:19 ‘mind’) compounded with ‘deceive’. δοκιμάζω is the ‘prove’ of 2 Cor 13:5; καύχημα the ‘boast’ of Rom 4:2.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The active of 1 Cor 1:10, 2 Cor 13:11 ‘be made complete’ — ‘restore’ and ‘correct’ belong to other words.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It cuts the one verb that runs through Matt 4:21 (nets), 1 Cor 1:10, 2 Cor 13:11 and here.
Basis Acts 15:28 βάρος ‘burden’ · Matt 11:30 φορτίον ‘burden’ as fixed; here English divides them with ‘load’ (site-bound), Korean cannot.
Lost in translation
Verse 1, plural to singular (σκοπῶν σεαυτόν · σύ) — ‘yourself … you’ keep the shift.
βάρος (v.2) / φορτίον (v.5) — ‘burdens / load’ keep two words.
βαστάζω ×2 (v.2, v.5; three with v.17) — one ‘bear’.
The φρήν of φρεναπατάω — ‘deceives his own mind’ keeps the word of 2 Cor 11:19.
Why this rendering
Gal.6.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
Κοινωνείτω δὲ ὁ κατηχούμενος τὸν λόγον τῷ κατηχοῦντι ἐν πᾶσιν ἀγαθοῖς. μὴ πλανᾶσθε, θεὸς οὐ μυκτηρίζεται· ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν σπείρῃ ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει· ὅτι ὁ σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς θερίσει φθοράν, ὁ δὲ σπείρων εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος θερίσει ζωὴν αἰώνιον. τὸ δὲ καλὸν ποιοῦντες μὴ ἐγκακῶμεν, καιρῷ γὰρ ἰδίῳ θερίσομεν μὴ ἐκλυόμενοι … μάλιστα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους τῆς πίστεως — Let the one who is instructed in the word share in all good things with the one who instructs. Do not be led astray: God is not sneered at; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap … the one who sows into his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows into the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. And let us not lose heart in doing what is good; for in its own time we will reap, if we do not give out … most of all toward the household of the faith. κατηχούμενος / κατηχοῦντι — one verb, passive and active, in one verse (Luke 1:4 · 1 Cor 14:19). μυκτηρίζω occurs once in the New Testament — the simple form of Luke 16:14 ἐκμυκτηρίζω (‘sneer’, a word of the nose). σπείρω three times, θερίζω four — the ‘sow / reap’ pair of 2 Cor 9:6 carries vv.7-9. εἰς τὴν σάρκα / εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα · ἐκ τῆς σαρκός / ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος — two prepositions, each twice, set against each other. φθορά (‘corruption’, Rom 8:21) and ζωὴ αἰώνιος are the two harvests. ἐγκακέω is the ‘lose heart’ of 2 Cor 4:1; ἐκλύομαι the ‘give out’ of Matt 15:32 (on the way). καιρός in v.9 and v.10 — ‘in its own time · as we have time’. οἰκεῖος, three places in the New Testament — ‘household’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The simple form of ἐκμυκτηρίζω, ‘sneer’, as fixed at Luke 16:14, 23:35 — ‘mock’ and ‘despise’ belong to other words.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected ‘Despise’ is καταφρονέω and ‘mock’ ἐμπαίζω — the word of the nose disappears.
Basis Luke 1:4 ‘be instructed’ · 1 Cor 14:19 ‘instruct’ as fixed — one root in English.
Lost in translation
κατηχούμενος / κατηχοῦντι — ‘instructed / instructs’ keep one verb.
σπείρω ×3 · θερίζω ×4 — ‘sow / reap’ carry all seven places.
εἰς / ἐκ — ‘into / from’ keep the direction of sowing and the source of reaping apart.
The nose in μυκτηρίζω — ‘sneer’ keeps the curled lip, not the nose.
Why this rendering
Gal.6.11 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἴδετε πηλίκοις ὑμῖν γράμμασιν ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμῇ χειρί. ὅσοι θέλουσιν εὐπροσωπῆσαι ἐν σαρκί, οὗτοι ἀναγκάζουσιν ὑμᾶς περιτέμνεσθαι … ἵνα ἐν τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ σαρκὶ καυχήσωνται. ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ … δι’ οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται κἀγὼ κόσμῳ. οὔτε γὰρ περιτομή τί ἐστιν οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, ἀλλὰ καινὴ κτίσις — See with how large letters I have written to you with my own hand. As many as want to make a good face in flesh, these compel you to be circumcised … so that they may boast in your flesh. But for me, may it not be to boast except in the cross … through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision is anything nor foreskin, but a new creation. In v.11 ἔγραψα is the epistolary aorist. γράμμα, the ‘writing’ of John 5:47 and 2 Cor 3:6, here in the sense of ‘letters’ (characters). εὐπροσωπέω occurs once in the New Testament — a verb from πρόσωπον (face). σάρξ in vv.12-13 — ‘in flesh … in your flesh’. καυχάομαι in v.13 (they) is answered in v.14 (I) — μὴ γένοιτο governs an infinitive only here (everywhere else it stands alone). ἐσταύρωται is perfect passive — the tense of 2:19 ‘have been crucified’; κἀγὼ κόσμῳ is a bare dative with no verb (⸀). Verse 15 brings back the sentence of 5:6 — οὔτε περιτομή … οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, there ‘faith’, here ‘a new creation’ (the phrase of 2 Cor 5:17). ⸂οὔτε γάρ⸃ · ⸀ἐστιν (the Received Text ἰσχύει — the word of 5:6).
Rendering options · 3
Basis Built on πρόσωπον ‘face’ — not ‘make a good showing’ or ‘be well thought of’.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected The face inside the word disappears, and the tie to 2:6 ‘take a face’ is cut.
Basis The same phrase, the same rendering — the openness of 5:17 (creature / creation) stays.
Lost in translation
6:15 = 5:6 — οὔτε περιτομή … οὔτε ἀκροβυστία returns in the same words.
ἐσταύρωται (6:14) ↔ συνεσταύρωμαι (2:19) — two perfects, ‘has been crucified / have been crucified’.
The verbless κἀγὼ κόσμῳ — ‘and I to the world’ leaves it verbless.
εὐπροσωπέω ↔ πρόσωπον (2:6, 2:11) — ‘face’ keeps the link.
Why this rendering
Gal.6.16 Observation
Syntactic observation
καὶ ὅσοι τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ στοιχήσουσιν, εἰρήνη ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔλεος, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ. Τοῦ λοιποῦ κόπους μοι μηδεὶς παρεχέτω, ἐγὼ γὰρ τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματί μου βαστάζω. Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί· ἀμήν — And as many as will keep in step by this rule — peace be upon them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Henceforth let no one give me troubles; for I bear the marks of Jesus in my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. κανών is the ‘rule’ of 2 Cor 10:13; στοιχέω the ‘keep in step’ of 5:25 — one root with συστοιχέω of 4:25. The last καί of v.16 — ‘and’ or ‘even’ — the text does not decide; whether ‘the Israel of God’ is the same as the foregoing or another hangs on that one word; this edition keeps ‘and … upon’. Τοῦ λοιποῦ is genitive — a different form from 2 Cor 13:11 Λοιπόν (‘for the rest’). κόπους παρέχω is the phrase of Matt 26:10, ‘trouble’. στίγμα occurs once in the New Testament — the brand on a slave or an animal; ⸀τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. βαστάζω makes three with vv.2 and 5. Verse 18 closes with ‘brothers’ and ‘Amen’ — among Paul’s letters only here does ἀδελφοί stand before the last word; μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν (‘with your spirit’) differs from 2 Cor 13:13 ‘with you all’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis What the text leaves undecided stays undecided — ‘even’ would close it to identity.
Basis Reading the two as the same group.
Rejected It chooses one of the two senses of καί; the choice belongs here, not in the text.
Basis The brand on slaves and beasts — ‘scars’ would lose the branding.
Lost in translation
The καί of v.16, ‘and / even’ — ‘and … upon’ keeps both.
στοιχέω (v.16) ↔ 5:25 · συστοιχέω (4:25) — ‘keep in step / stand in line’ share the line.
The branding of στίγμα — ‘marks’ carries the mark, not the brand.
Τοῦ λοιποῦ ↔ Λοιπόν (2 Cor 13:11) — ‘henceforth / for the rest’ keep the two forms apart.