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THE EPISTLE TO
THE GALATIANS

FD1TED BY"

E.H. PEROWNE, D.D.

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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

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THE EPISTLE TO THE
GALATIANS.

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%$t CamfrriUfle Mbit for ^c&ools
antr Colle^
General Editor:— J. J. S. PEROWNE, D.D.,
Bishop of Worcester.

THE EPISTLE TO THE
GALATIANS,
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES

BY

THE REV. E. H. PEROWNE, D.D.
MASTER OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;
PREBENDARY OF ST ASAPH.
;b;wIc. n.t. Grai^ums.g^usU . vm •
EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

CAMBRIDGE :
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESgj.
1894 f^^
[All Rights reservei§]ytiw>

CamirctBge:
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS,
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

PREFACE
BY THE GENERAL EDITOR.

The General Editor of The Cambridge Bible for
Schools thinks it right to say that he does not hold
himself responsible either for the interpretation of
particular passages which the Editors of the several
Books have adopted, or for any opinion on points of
doctrine that they may have expressed. In the New
Testament more especially questions arise of the
deepest theological import, on which the ablest and
most conscientious interpreters have differed and
always will differ. His aim has been in all such
cases to leave each Contributor to the unfettered
exercise of his own judgment, only taking care that
mere controversy should as far as possible be avoided.
He has contented himself chiefly with a careful
revision of the notes, with pointing out omissions, with

6 PREFACE.
suggesting occasionally a reconsideration of some
question, or a fuller treatment of difficult passages,
and the like.
Beyond this he has not attempted to interfere,
feeling it better that each Commentary should have
its own individual character, and being convinced
that freshness and variety of : treatment are more
than a, compensation for any lack of uniformity in
the Series.

Re&mmmrary

PAGES

Biblical Literature
. andthf feaUPfcVejISlty

I. Introduction. /. Galatiaand'!h'e"Gala>MPiy©IISityk,.... ix— xiv
II. St Paul's visit to Galatia  xv, xvi
III. The Date, Occasion, and Subject of the
Epistle  xvii — xxv
IV. The Authorship and Canonicity of the
Epistle  xxv — xxviii
II. Text and Notes  i — 82
III. Appendices  82 — 90
IV. Additional Note on c. ii. 20  90, 91

The Text adopted in this Edition is that of Dr Scrivener's
Cambridge Paragraph Bible. A few variations from the ordi
nary Text, chiefly in the spelling of certain words, and in the
use of italics, will be noticed. For the principles adopted by
Dr Scrivener as regards the printing of the Text see his In
troduction to the Paragraph Bible, published by the Cambridge
University Press.

The life which I now live In the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
St Paul.
Blessed for ever and ever be that mother's child whose
faith hath made him the child of God. Hooker.

INTRODUCTION.

I. Galatia and the Galatian Churches.
The term Galatia is used sometimes to designate the
Roman Province which was constituted by Augustus (B.C. 25),
sometimes a more limited tract of country, which was occupied
by, and took its name from the Celtic invaders, who early in
the third century before Christ over-ran Asia Minor and finally
settled in a central district of the Peninsula. In the New Testa
ment the term is probably employed in the latter sense ; and
we may understand by 'the Churches of Galatia' the bodies
of Christian converts established in the three principal cities
of Ancyra, Pessinus and Tavium; 'perhaps also at Juliopolis,
the ancient Gordium, formerly the capital of Phrygia, almost
equidistant from the three seas, and from its central position
a busy mart1'. It is essential to a right understanding of the
Epistle that we should ascertain all that can be known of the
history, condition, and character of the persons addressed.
Such an investigation will not only enable us to explain allu
sions otherwise obscure, but, by throwing light on the circum
stances and mutual relations of writer and readers, will confirm
our belief of the authenticity of the Epistle.
Of the original inhabitants of the district afterwards known
as Galatia, history tells us nothing. But in very early times
it was occupied by Phrygian settlers. Their first abode was
probably the high lands of Armenia, from which they descended
1 Lightfoot, p. 18. Livy, xxxvm. 18.

INTRODUCTION.

and gradually overspread the whole of Asia Minor. They were
governed by chiefs, who are called kings by Roman histo
rians. They were an unwarlike race, addicted to agriculture
and especially to the cultivation of the vine. This last par
ticular is not improbably closely connected with the cultus of
Sabazius or Bacchus. This deity, together with Cybele (or
Rhea), was held in high veneration among them, and wor
shipped with orgiastic rites, accompanied by wild music and
dancing. From the fact that St Paul wrote his Epistle in the Greek
language, we might infer not only the existence, but the pro
minence of a Greek element in the population of Galatia at the
commencement of the Christian era. The inference is con
firmed by the name Gallogrsecia given to the country by the
Romans, and by the testimony of monumental- inscriptions. It
is probable that after the death of Alexander the Great and the
disruption of his Empire, many European Greeks had settled
in various parts of the country under Antigonus and his suc
cessors. They would seem to have retained their distinct
nationality for several centuries, and not to have become fused
by intermarriage with the other races who occupied the terri
tory conjointly with them.
Early in the fourth century B.C., the Gauls invaded Italy
and sacked the city of Rome. These Gauls were a Celtic
people, inhabiting the northern and middle parts of what is
now called France. A century later another horde of the same
race poured into Northern Greece, and a division of the main
body crossed the Hellespont and overran Asia Minor. Here
however, after a time, they met with determined and successful
resistance. The tide of invasion was rolled back, and the
invaders gradually confined within the narrow limits of the
district to which they gave their name— Galatia, the settlement
of the Galatae, Keltas, or Galli. This district was about two
hundred miles in length, and "was parcelled out among the
three tribes of which the invading Gauls were composed " — the
Trocmi, Tolistobogii, and Tectosages. Each tribe had its
chief town— Tavium, Pessinus, and Ancyra respectively. The

INTRODUCTION.

restless spirit, characteristic of the Celtic race, which had im
pelled them to leave their distant home in Western Europe,
manifested itself in their new abode. Unable to conduct fresh
invasions, they hired themselves out as mercenaries to the
Satraps of Asia Minor, and were thus brought into collision
with the Roman legions under Manlius in the war with An-
tiochus the Great. The result was the subjugation of Galatia
to the Roman power (B.C. 189). For more than a century and
a half they continued nominally governed by native princes,
but really subject to the sway of Rome. At length the throne
becoming vacant by the death of Amyntas (B.C. 25), Augustus
constituted Galatia a Roman province.
It will be seen from this outline of the history of Galatia
that the population of the country, at the time when St Paul
wrote, consisted of four distinct nationalities, Phrygian, Greek,
Gallic and Roman. To these must be added a fifth — Jewish.
From the tenour of the Epistle itself we have a confirmation of
what might have seemed in the highest degree probable d
priori, — that a large number of Jews had established them
selves in the cities and towns of Galatia. The fertility of the
soil, the salubrity of the climate, the position of the district,
intersected as it was by the great caravan-road which con
nected Syria with the ^Egaan — all rendered it a tempting
spot for commercial enterprise. Ancyra may have been, like
its modern representative, Angora, the seat of an important
industry — the manufacture of cloth from the silky hair of the
goat. We know that a considerable trade in textile fabrics was
carried on there. Such a region would offer great attractions
to the Jewish settler who is always found in the marts of the
world, wherever money is made or is in demand. A monument
erected by the Emperor in the temple of Augustus at Ancyra
still exists, on which was recorded the grant of special privi
leges to the Jews, who must have formed in number and in
fluence a considerable element in the population of that city.
Such being the principal constituents of the Galatian people,
we have to consider the aspect which it presented to the
Christian Apostle as a field of missionary labour. In other
2 — 2

INTRODUCTION.

words, we have to find an answer to this question, Of what
materials were the Churches of Galatia composed ?
It is remarkable that there is nothing in the Epistle which
suggests the presence of a Roman element in these churches.
In Galatia, as in Jerusalem, there were doubtless to be found
not only "strangers of Rome1" (Acts ii. io) but Roman resi
dents. But their individuality seems to be merged in their
relation to the metropolis of the world. They were less the
members of a nation than the citizens of an Empire, and if
some Romans were to be found in the Churches of Galatia,
their cosmopolitan character seems to have prevented any
national impress being stamped by them on the Christian com
munity. With the other four nationalities which made up the popu
lation of Galatia the case is very different. Though we may
not be able always clearly to distinguish between the Phrygian
and Gallic elements in the Galatian Churches and the allusions
to them in the Epistle, yet both existed and both are occasion
ally brought into marked prominence. The worship of Cybele
and Dionysus, with its orgiastic rites and 'hideous mutilations'
must have been the expression of the popular temperament,
whether it had its origin in the country or was adopted and
perpetuated there. And the danger of converts regarding such
abominations with tolerance, and even of relapsing under the
influence of habit and early association, must have been as
great as that to which the converts from heathenism in our own
day are exposed. Hence we find St Paul including in a list of
the works of the flesh, "idolatry, witchcraft, drunkennesses,
revellings2". .The two latter sins are indeed contained in
a similar enumeration in the Epistle to the Romans3- But we
must remember that every form of foreign religion found a wel
come and a home in Rome. The allusion in ch. v. 12 is doubt
ful ; but if the view taken by most commentators is correct,
the reference must be to the practice of the priests of Cybele,
1 "Sojourners from Rome." R. V.
2 ch. v. 19. 3 Rom, xiii. 13.

INTRODUCTION.

and will justify the inference that the worship of the goddess
with its foul concomitants was still maintained in Galatia.
The presence of the Gaulish element in the population and
Churches of Galatia is more distinctly recognised in the Epi
stle. The abrupt remonstrance with which the Apostle follows
up his brief exordium points to that restless, impulsive fickle
ness1 which has been noticed by Caesar and Tacitus as a com
mon feature in the character of the Gallic tribes. The eager
ness with which they embraced Christianity2 ; the enthusiastic
welcome given to St Paul on his first visit ; the jealous parti
sanship, to which perhaps the only parallel in the Apostolic
Church manifested itself at Corinth ; the susceptibility to
personal influence ; the readiness to run after any new
teacher, to adopt any new doctrine on the score not of
its truth but its novelty— these are characteristics of the
Gallic race, depicted by ancient heathen writers, and illus
trated by many passages in the Epistle before us. Com
paring this letter with that to the Romans, while the doctrine
taught is the same, and the subject treated of remarkably
similar, we feel that the persons addressed are quite dissimilar,
and if the absence of national features (noticed above) is con
spicuous in the Roman Epistle, no less striking is the recogni
tion of such features in the Galatian Church — a recognition
wholly inartificial and undesigned, and which stamps the
Epistle with the clearest mark of authenticity.
If the presence of a Greek element in the Galatian Churches
is less sharply defined, yet from the fact that the vehicle em
ployed by St Paul for communicating his thoughts was the
Greek language, it is reasonable to conclude that it was a
language 'understanded' of the people, even if not generally
spoken by them. There is nothing however in the Epistle itself
to indicate the presence in Galatia of a large number of Greeks
of pure blood — indeed they were probably less numerous here
than on the western shores of Asia Minor.
But the most prominent among the nationalities which St
Paul encountered when he first visited Galatia was the Jewish.
1 ch. i. 6, see note. 2 ch. iv. 13—15.

INTRODUCTION.

Doubtless here, as elsewhere, he commenced his work as a
Christian Missionary in the local synagogue, to which, as a
Jew, he found ready admission. That which had been the
centre of his Divine Master's labours was the centre of his own
and of the labours of his fellow Apostles. But the circle was
enlarged with an ever increasing radius. Our Lord declared
that He in His own ministry was 'not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel;' and when the Apostles went forth
to preach the Gospel to every creature, not only did they begin
at Jerusalem, but they everywhere followed the same law, offer
ing the good tidings 'to the Jew first'. In Galatia, as at
Philippi and Thessalonica, St Paul's first converts would pro
bably be Jews, and Jews must have formed a large and im
portant element in the Churches of Galatia. If in his contro
versy with them he constantly appealed to the authority of their
own Scriptures1, the Gentile enquirers could not fail to be im
pressed with the high value which the Apostle set upon the Old
Testament, as God's revelation, and to become familiarised
with those portions of it by w'hich he confirmed his message.
In this way we can understand how we not only meet with
numerous references to and quotations from the Old Testa
ment in this Epistle, but how the Mosaic Scriptures are inter
woven with the whole texture of the Apostle's argument. Were
it possible to unravel and draw out those Jewish threads, the
fabric would be destroyed.
These considerations, while serving to elucidate the Epistle,
may confirm our belief of its genuineness as a. letter addressed
by a man such as we know from independent sources St Paul
to have been, to Churches constituted as we know that those of
Galatia were constituted.

Acts xvii. 2 — 4.

INTRODUCTION.

II. St Paul's Visits to Galatia.
The earliest mention of Galatia in the New Testament occurs
in Acts xvi. 6. After the conference at Antioch, recorded in
the xvth chapter, Paul, accompanied by Silas, started on his
second missionary journey. He ' went through Syria and Cili-
cia,' ' and came also to Derbe and to Lystra.' Here they were
joined by Timotheus, 'and they went through the region of
Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Ghost
to preach the word in (proconsular) Asia.' From a comparison
of this passage with the account of St Paul's second visit (xviii.
23), we might infer that he went to Phrygia first on this occasion
and then to Galatia, whereas the direction of his route was
reversed on the second occasion. But it is possible that St Luke
uses the expression, 'the region of Phrygia and Galatia,' to
denote a tract of country, not very accurately defined, which
embraced portions of both the districts of Galatia and of
Phrygia. The notice of this visit is cursory and meagre. The
inspired historian is silent as to the circumstances under which
St Paul became personally known to the Galatians, the nature
of his missionary work, and the duration of his stay among
them. From the Epistle we obtain little additional information
on these points, but that little is important. It would seem that
the Apostle had no intention of stopping on his journey through
Galatia to the Western provinces of the peninsula. But while
the Holy Ghost forbade him and his companions to speak the
word in Asia, God by His providence rendered it necessary for
him to linger awhile in Galatia. An attack of bodily illness, of
which we have no particulars, arrested his further progress. But
though too ill to pursue his journey, his heart was enlarged and
his mouth was open. He could not travel, but he could preach.
We know not whether Christianity had already found its way to
Galatia. Intersected by the great high road from the East to
Europe, it may have been visited by some of those who were
converted on the Day of Pentecost, and the good seed of the
Kingdom may have been dropped and sprung up and borne

INTRODUCTION.

fruit. But even were this the case, the Galatian Christians were
a small band in need of instruction and confirmation in the
faith. When St Paul proclaimed the Gospel in all its fulness and
purity as a Gospel of grace, mercy and peace, bringing pardon
to the guilty and salvation to the lost, he was enthusiastically
welcomed. So far from being repelled by the condition of weak
ness and disease in which the herald of the Gospel appeared
among them, the Galatian converts in the fervour of their new
faith received him ' as an Angel of God, even as Jesus Christ.'
As he set forth among them Christ crucified, they realised the
blessedness which comes to the sinner by faith, and with hearts
full of gratitude to the instrument of their conversion would have
plucked out their eyes and have given them to him. When the
Apostle left them they were running well the Christian race.
Three short years had not passed when a change had come over
the Galatian Christians. Eagerly as they embraced the Gospel,
so quickly were they prepared to abandon it for that which, if it
could be called a Gospel, was a different one from that which
they had received. The Jewish leaven acting on the fickle
temperament of the Gallic race had corrupted the simplicity of
their faith.
It seems from some expressions in this Epistle that this
defection had commenced at the time of St Paul's second visit to
Galatia1, which took place on his third great missionary journey.
St Luke's mention of this visit is limited to a notice of the
fact that after spending some time at Antioch ' he departed, and
went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, con
firming all the disciples.' From this statement we are warranted
in concluding that the seed sown by St Paul on his first visit
had sprung up with unexampled rapidity, and had not only pro
duced the full corn in the ear, but sheaves of grain. Individual
converts had multiplied, and had been gathered into Christian
congregations— ' the churches of Galatia'.

1 See note on ch. iv. io.

INTRODUCTION.

III. The date, occasion, and subject of the Epistle.
(a) Though we cannot prove with precision the time at
which the Epistle was written, yet certain limits can be assigned
within which the date of its composition must be placed. The
allusion to the Apostolic Council (ch. ii. i) shews that it must
have been written after that event, which occurred A.D. 50 ; and
the reference to St Paul's first ox former visit (c. iv. 13 see note)
points to a yet later date, a.d. 54 or 55; for the expression
implies that a second visit had been paid when St Paul wrote.
It is argued with great probability that this Epistle was
written about the same time as those to the Corinthians and
Romans. From two allusions ' which otherwise it is difficult to
account for1,' it may be inferred (in the absence of direct proof)
that the Epistle to the Galatians followed the 2nd Epistle to
the Corinthians at a very short interval ; while the striking re
semblance not only in words, phrases, and quotations, but in
trains of thought and argument, between Galatians and Romans
points to the conclusion that the two Epistles were written con
secutively, while the Apostle's circumstances were the same and
his thoughts flowing in the same channel.
It may be convenient to notice these coincidences separately :
(<?) The Second Epistle to the Corinthians contains directions
for the treatment of the incestuous person — a plea for his for
giveness and restoration. In our Epistle (ch. vi. 1) we read,
'Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any transgression,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.' This exhorta
tion, introduced without preface or connexion with the context,
is just what might have been expected if St Paul wrote while
the case of the Corinthian offender was fresh in his mind. And
the tenderness of his tone here is in deepest harmony with the
reason he assigns there for leniency, 'lest such an one be
swallowed up by over-much sorrow2.'
{b) Again, in ch. vi. 7 foil, we have an exhortation to liber
ality abruptly introduced with the words, 'Be not deceived;
1 Bp. Lightfoot, p. 53. s 2 Cor. ii. 7.

INTRODUCTION.

God is not mocked.' Now we learn from i Cor. xvi. I, that
St Paul had sent directions to the Churches of Galatia respecting
contributions for the relief of the poor saints in Jerusalem. He
had kept up communication by messengers with the Galatian
converts during the time which had elapsed since his last visit,
and it would seem that he had heard of their want of liberality,
as well as of their departure from the simplicity and purity of
the faith. How natural is the rebuke, when the circumstances
which provoked it are thus explained ! Such circumstances,
coincidental rather than accidental, corroborate the view which
has been adopted of the close connexion of the Epistles in order
of time1. (c) Many commentators have collected the parallel pas
sages2 which occur in the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans,
and to these the student is referred, as well-nigh forcing on the
mind the conclusion that the latter Epistle was composed very
shortly after that to the Galatians of which it is the outgrowth
and expansion. The brief, though pregnant, statement of doc
trine which arises in the one case out of the condition of
epistolary correspondence is developed in the later letter into a
treatise so full as to be well-nigh exhaustive. But it is not so
much by a comparison of detached passages — striking as is the
resemblance (in many cases the identity) of expression — as by a
careful study of the subject-matter of the two Epistles, that we
are led (in the absence of direct historical evidence), to place the
date of the Epistle to the Romans as the latest limit, subsequently
to which the letter to the Galatians could not have been written.
Now the time at which the Epistle to the Romans was written
can be fixed with certainty, viz. early in a.d. 58, during the
fourth year of the emperor Nero. And we may therefore assign
the year a.d. 57 as the date of the Epistle to the Galatians3.
1 For further instances see ' Epistle to the Romans ' in this Series,
by the Rev. H. C. G. Moule, Appendix K., p. 267.
s See Bp. Lightfoot, pp. 44 — 47 ; ' Romans ' by Rev. H. C. G.
Moule, pp. 29, 30, where the passages are 'arranged under doctrinal
heads. '
3 In determining the date of the Epistle no allusion has been made
to the expression " so soon " in ch. i. 6. Great stress has been laid on

INTRODUCTION.

(d) The place at which it was written cannot be assigned
with certainty. The subscription in the A. V., acording to which
it was ' written from Rome,' rests on no early MS. authority, and
is certainly wrong. We know that after his second visit to
Galatia St Paul went to Ephesus, and there abode for the space
of two years (Acts xix. I, io), i.e. from a.d. 54 to 56 or 57. Here
he would readily receive tidings of the Churches of Galatia, and
from Ephesus most probably he addressed his Epistle to them.
This is the view of Dean Alford, Dr Schaff and others. From
Ephesus, however, he went by Macedonia to Corinth, and it is
quite possible that the letter may have been sent from Corinth,
where he spent part of the winter of a.d. 57 — 58. This finds
favour with Conybeare and Howson (ii. p. 136), and was held by
Grotius. Or we may adopt the conclusion arrived at by Bp.
Lightfoot after a careful consideration of all the probabilities —
they amount to no more than probabilities — of the case, and
suppose it to have been written ' on the journey between Mace
donia and Achaia.' The question is one on which it is im
possible to pronounce with certainty, and, whatever interest
may attach to it, is one of minor importance.
(2) Our Lord declared that He came not to destroy the
Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them1 ; and the Gospel preach
ed by Himself and His Apostles was in perfect agreement with
the older Revelation, of which it was the spiritual explication.
Every Jew who was ' instructed unto2 the kingdom of heaven '
recognised this truth, and accepted the Apostolic teaching, not
as an addition to, much less as opposed to, the teaching of
Moses and the prophets, but as its development and accomplish
ment. Hence, as regards those Jews who embraced Christi
anity, we find no trace in the New Testament of any call to
leave the Church of their fathers or to abandon the ritual im-

this by some editors. But its importance disappears if the view taken
in the note on the passage is correct — that the adverb which is rendered
'soon' here, as in 2 Thess. ii. 2, is not a particle of time, but is equiva
lent to ' readily, hastily, or rashly.'
1 Matt. v. 17.
s Matt. xiii. 52. ' Made a disciple to.' R. V.

INTRODUCTION.

posed on them by God Himself1. But the case of the Gentile
converts was different. The Mosaic law had not been given to
them, and they were under no obligation to comply with its
precepts. Such compliance in itself might be harmless, but it
formed no part of that new Covenant into which they entered at
their Baptism — a new covenant as contrasted with the Mosaic,
but really the same covenant which God made with Abraham, a
covenant in which all nations were to be blessed, and which the
Law ' which came four hundred and thirty years after' could not
disannul. And if conformity to the ceremonial law was made
binding on them as a condition of salvation, it could only mean
that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was not sufficient, and so
virtually that human merit must be added to the efficacy of
Christ's death to make it complete as a satisfaction for human
sin. Now it was not unnatural that this recognised difference be
tween the position of the Jewish and Gentile converts should have
caused a feeling of jealousy in the minds of such of the former
as did not understand the spiritual unity which existed under the
apparent diversity. Zeal for the letter of the Old Testament
Scriptures, national prejudice and religious exclusiveness, the
fact that the Apostles were Jews — one ' a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee' — that they always appealed to the Old Testament as
the inspired and final authority in matters of religion, nay that
these Apostles themselves did in certain instances sanction the
compliance of Gentiles with the requirements of the ceremonial
law — all these things would combine, to produce the demand on
the part of Jewish converts that their Gentile brethren must
conform to the Mosaic ceremonial law, and in fact become pro
selytes as a condition of becoming Christians.
1 In Acts vi. 7 we read, that ' a great company of the priests were
obedient to the faith,' but neither here nor elsewhere is any hint given
that they were required to discontinue their priestly functions or to
cease from executing their office before God in the order of their course.
It was not until this became no longer possible, when the Temple was
destroyed and God by His Providence dispensed with obedience to the
Law by making obedience impossible — then and not till then was the
obligation relaxed by the same authority (though not by the same means)
by which it had been imposed.

INTRODUCTION.

This 'zeal1' which had manifested itself in Judaea2 and after
wards at Antioch was quite independent of local influences. It
made its appearance wherever there was a considerable Jewish
element in an infant Church, and soon began to show itself in
the Churches of Galatia. Here its error found a congenial soil
in which to strike root and spread. The impulsiveness of the
Gaul led him to accept without consideration the latest dogma,
if only it was propounded loudly and in a tone of authority ; and
while many were drifting without compunction from the truth
on which their souls had anchored under the pilotage of the
Apostles, the faith of the Church itself was in danger of being
fatally corrupted.
The Judaizing party in Galatia felt that one obstacle stood
in the way of the success at which they aimed — the personal
authority and influence of St Paul. The founder of the Christian
communities of Galatia had at his second visit repeated the clear
and explicit proclamation of salvation by faith in Christ apart
from the works of the law, and he had probably continued by
messages to shew his interest in their spiritual welfare and to be
a helper of their faith. Hence the Judaizers sought to weaken
his influence by disparaging his authority. They denied his
Apostolic calL He was not one of the Twelve, and might be
supposed to have learned the doctrines which he taught, and
even to have derived his commission from those who were the
personal companions of the Lord Jesus. If therefore the truth
of the Gospel were in question, the appeal would lie to Peter
and James and John, who were of reputation as pillars of the
Church. But not content with thus directly impugning St
Paul's authority, the Judaizing party insinuated that his own
conduct was inconsistent with his teaching. Had he not cir
cumcised Timothy at Lystra ' because of the Jews that were in
those parts3 ?' Had he not in compliance with the advice, if not
in obedience to the direction of James paid the expenses of four
1 Compare St Paul's language in reference to this feeling, ch. iv.
2 Acts xv. I foil.
3 Acts xvi. 3.

INTRODUCTION.

men which had a vow on them1? And was not this a recog
nition of the ceremonial law? Such insinuations were easily
made ; and while not denying the facts alleged, St Paul was
prepared with an answer to the conclusions which his opponents
drew from them. He devotes the first division of his Epistle to
the vindication of his Apostolic authority against those who
denied his Divine Commission and those who disparaged his
teaching on the score of personal inconsistency2. But this vin
dication of himself was only preliminary to the re-assertion and
complete vindication of the doctrine which he taught. He knew
that the real point at issue between him and his opponents was
not whether the rite of circumcision was or was not imperative
on Gentile converts. He did not mistake the symptom for the
disease, or lose sight of the great fundamental principle of the
Gospel, while considering its application to a particular case.
Nothing less was at stake than the 'truth of the Gospel'
(ii. 5). The question of questions, rising up from the heart of
man from the Fall onwards — the question which implies that
God is a righteous lawgiver and judge, and that man is a con
scious sinner — finding expression in the Old Testament in the
words, 'How can man be just with God?' and in the New Tes-
ment, 'What must I do to be saved?' has its answer complete,
certain, universal, ' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved.' This answer, though more definite as regards
the object was in principle the same in every age. In Patri
archal days, 'Abraham believed the Lord, and He counted it to
him for righteousness.' Under the Law it was declared that
' The just shall live by faith! The Law did not disannul the
earlier covenant. It was added because of transgressions to
^>ave the way for the revelation of Jesus Christ — the seed to
whom the promise had been made. In Christ all external dis-
1 Acts xxi. 20 — 26. The vow was that of the Nazarite (Numbers
vi.), and the 'charges' incurred were for the sacrifices (v. 14) which
had to be offered. These charges were often defrayed by rich Jews on
behalf of their poorer brethren.
a It is interesting to contrast St Paul's elaborate assertion and proof
of his authority with the tone of conscious Deity which pervades the
Great Master's discourses. ' He spake as one having authority.'

INTRODUCTION.

tinctions, whether of race or sex or social condition, disappear,
and they who are Christ's are Abraham's seed, and heirs accord
ing to the promise.
This assertion of the great doctrine (which Luther declared
to be the test of a standing or a falling Church), that man is
justified by faith apart from the works of the Law, has always
been liable to abuse. Indeed, while some have inferred from it
that the profession of a correct creed exempts a man from the
obligation of the moral law, some men of saintly spirit, longing
for deliverance from sin and earnestly striving after holiness,
have hesitated to accept a Gospel which makes faith alone the
condition of acceptance with God. Hence the Apostle con
cludes his letter with practical exhortations which shew the
absolute necessity of good works, not as antecedent to, but as
the fruit of faith. That which he commanded Titus to affirm
confidently, he confidently affirmed himself, 'that they which
have believed God may be careful to maintain good works1.'
A brief analysis of the contents of the Epistle will serve to
illustrate the foregoing general remarks. The train of thought
and argument cannot always be traced with certainty. The
style is rugged and abrupt, reflecting the strong emotion under
which St Paul wrote. An attempt has been made in the notes
to elucidate the connexion when it is obscure. Such obscurity
does not affect the scope of the reasoning or the force of the
appeals. The Epistle lends itself to a threefold division, each section
consisting of two chapters. The first of these sections is per
sonal and in part narrative, and contains a vindication of St
Paul's apostolic commission and authority. These established,
the writer proceeds in the second section, which is doctrinal and
argumentative, to deal with the main subject of the Epistle — the
doctrine of justification by faith. Having thus laid a broad and
strong foundation of Christian ethics, he devotes the third
section, which is mainly hortatory, to the inculcation of those
duties in which the Galatian converts were lacking and cautions

1 Titus iii. 8; comp. ii. ii — 14.

INTRODUCTION.

against dangers to which they were especially exposed. The
concluding verses of this section catch their tone from all that
is gone before. The writer re-asserts his authority, re-states his
doctrine, and reinforces his practical admonitions.
analysis of the contents of the epistle.
Chapters I. II. (First Section.) The assertion of St Paul's
Apostolical authority.
I. i — 5. Introduction. Salutation and ascription of praise.
6 — 10. The subject and occasion of the Epistle.
11 — 34. The Divine Commission and Apostolical authority of St
Paul. A statement of his claims, followed by a sketch
of his life.
II. 1 — 10. St Paul's visit to Jerusalem.
11 — 21. Visit to Antioch and Contention with St Peter.
Chapters III., IV. (Second Section.) The doctrine of Justifica
tion by Faith discussed and illustrated.
III. 1 — 9. Justification by faith, the Dispensation of the Spirit.
6 — 9. Exemplified by the case of Abraham.
10 — 14. The Curse of the Law. No deliverance except by Faith.
15 — 18. The Gospel a Covenant of Promise ; to which
19 — 29. The Law was at once subordinate and preparatory. The
purpose and use of the Law in relation to the Justifi
cation of the sinner.
IV. Continuation of the Argument.
I — 7. The Law a necessary preparation for the Gospel. Son-
ship through Redemption, attested by the Spirit.
8 — n. Danger of going back to the observance of the Legal
Ceremonial.
12 — 20. Personal appeal.
21 — 31. The Allegory of the two Covenants, pointing to Liberty
only in Christ.
Chapters V, VI. (Third Section.) Practical Exhortations based
on the preceding Doctrinal Teaching.
V. 1 — 12. Exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the Gospel.
13 — 15. Liberty must not be abused.

INTRODUCTION.

16 — 26. The spiritual life of Liberty inconsistent with the indul
gence of the works of the Flesh.
VI. 1 — 10. Exhortations to bear with an erring brother ; to cultivate
humility ; to exercise liberality.
11 — 13. Autograph conclusion. Summary of the Epistle and
Benediction.
It is evident from the circumstances of the case that St Paul,
while addressing all the professing Christians of Galatia, had
specially in his thoughts the Gentile converts. They were called
upon by the Judaizers to submit to circumcision and to keep the
law of Moses. To them therefore, in the present instance rather
than to the Jewish believers, must an appeal be made to stand
fast in the truth of the Gospel. This will serve to explain the
expression in ch. iv. 8, 'When ye knew not God, ye did
service to them which by nature are no gods.' But the fre
quent quotations from the Old Testament and the conclusive
reference to its authority clearly recognise the presence of a
numerous and influential Jewish element in the Churches of
Galatia.

IV. The Authorship and Canonicity of the Epistle.^
The title of the Epistle in the earliest MSS. is 'To the
Galatians,' without any mention of the name of the writer.
That St Paul was the author of it has been held by the general
consent of the Church, and admitted even by the most de
structive of modern critics. This conclusion has been based
on internal rather than on historic evidence. Even if no other
writing of the great Apostle had survived, and such notices of
his personal history as are preserved in St Luke's narrative had
perished, any intelligent and unprejudiced reader would have
recognised the Epistle as the original and genuine production
of a man named Paul. Every line bears the impress of truth
fulness. The whole style and tone of the letter, no less than
particular passages and turns of expression, rebut the suggestion
of forgery. And when the Epistle is compared with the other

INTRODUCTION.

writings attributed to St Paul, and with the independent account
contained in the Acts of the Apostles, the conviction is well-nigh
irresistible, that we have here an authentic letter written by
St Paul to his Galatian converts. This conviction is strength
ened, as we trace the suitability of the Epistle to what we know
from independent sources of the character and circumstances of
the persons addressed.
It is, however, noteworthy that while the internal evidence is
thus exceptionally strong, the notices of the Epistle in early
Christian writers are neither numerous nor direct — indeed, out
of some half-dozen supposed references in the Apostolical
Fathers, not more than two can be cited as altogether free from
uncertainty. In the Epistle of POLVCARP to the Philippians,
c. 3, we meet with this expression, ' Builded up unto the faith
given you, which is the mother of us all' Comp. Gal. iv. 26 ;
and in c. v., ' Knowing then that God is not mocked] &c. Comp.
Gal. vi. 7.
Justin Martyr (a.d. 150) in his Dialogue with Trypho,
ch. xcv., XCVL, after declaring that ' every race of man will be
found under a curse' (comp. Gal. iii. 10), quotes the two passages
from Deuteronomy1 which are quoted by St Paul, in such a way
as to shew that he had a knowledge of this Epistle. In his first
Apology, ch. LIII., he makes the same use of Isaiah liv. 1, ' Re
joice, thou barren, that bearest not,' &c, which St Paul makes
of it (comp. Gal. iv. 27).
Athenagoras (a.D. 176) employs this remarkable expression,
' The weak and beggarly elements ' {Embassy, ch. xvi.), which
he has evidently borrowed from Gal. iv. 9.
Several references to this Epistle are met with in the extracts
from the writings of Gnostics and other heretics of the second
century which have come down to us in various Apologies.
'The Epistle to the Galatians' is found in all the known
Canons of Scripture proceeding from the Catholic Church in
the second century. It is contained in the Syriac and OLD
Latin versions, completed, it would appear, early in the cen
tury. It is distinctly recognised also in the Canon of the Mura-
1 Deut. xxvii. 26, and xxi. 23.

INTRODUCTION.

TORIAN Fragment (probably not later than 170 a.d.)1.' From
the end of the second century onwards the Epistle is referred
to by name and commented on as the undoubted work of
St Paul, and of canonical authority.
Among the numerous commentaries on the Galatians three
may be named, representing three eras of the Church's history,
and while differing widely from one another, yet each marked
by a high degree of excellence and usefulness. Theodore,
bishop of Mopsuestia, early in the fifth century, Luther in the
sixteenth, Lightfoot in the nineteenth, have each in different
ways contributed important aid to the right understanding of
the Apostle's argument, and the elucidation of his train of
thought. Of the merits and the defects of Theodore as a
commentator a careful and judicious analysis is given in Dr
Swete's edition (pp. Ixv. — Ixxi.), 'He is unwearied in his efforts
to grasp the precise meaning of words and phrases.' But at the
same time 'his interest in the language is professedly sub
ordinate to his interest in the'thought which it enshrines. He
is never weary of pointing out to the reader the undercurrent
of cloSe reasoning which pervades St Paul's letters.' ' He is
practical as well as critical.' 'Theology in his eyes is para
mount; and if he pays close attention to grammar and sequence,
this is for the sake of the theological truths which he believes
himself thus better able to elicit.' Jn marked contrast to this
description stands the work of the great German reformer.
The cardinal truth of justification by faith was, in Luther's
estimation, the keystone of the whole Gospel edifice. He had
found the doctrine 'very full of comfort.1 It had saved him
from despair. And he devoted his life henceforth to the task
of asserting it in opposition to the current teaching of the day,
' He chose this Epistle as his most efficient engine in over
throwing the mass of errors which time had piled on the simple
foundations of the Gospel.' Such was his love for it that he
termed it, 'my own Epistle.' Hence, his Commentary, though
polemical in tone, is really rather a diffused and exhaustive
paraphrase, or a series of short expositions, than what is under-
1 Bp Lightfoot, p. 58. 3— 2

INTRODUCTION.

stood by a commentary. He takes occasion from St Paul's
words to assert and re-assert, to place in varied light and under
many aspects, and so to enforce the central truth alike of
Pauline theology and of the Gospel revelation, — that man is
justified by faith in Jesus Christ apart from the works of the
Law, and therefore in no degree by his own works or deservings.
Profoundly convinced of the vital importance of this doctrine,
he catches the fire which flashes forth from the impassioned
sentences of the Apostle — and while ' ruthlessly exposing and
condemning error, he proclaims liberty and salvation to troubled
consciences and sin-wearied souls.
Of the work of the late lamented Bishop of Durham it is
enough to say that it stands unrivalled in every quality that
goes to constitute a commentary for the use of scholars and the
more advanced students of Holy Scripture. Learning, candour,
judgment, lucidity of expression, deep piety and sympathy with
the inspired writer — these are its characteristics. They are a
measure of the loss which the Church of Christ has sustained,
as of the debt she owes to the deceased prelate.

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE

GALATIANS.

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by 1
Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from
Chapters I., II. (First Division of the Epistle).
The assertion of St Paul's Apostolical Authority.
For a general analysis of the Epistle see Introduction.
Chapter I.
1—5. Introduction. Salutation and ascription
of praise.
1. Paul, an apostle] In the opening of this Epistle, as of those to
the Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians and Timothy, St Paul desig
nates himself an Apostle. Elsewhere he either adds no descriptive
epithet to his name, or he is a bondservant of Christ Jesus (Phil. i. i),
or of God (Tit. i. i), or a prisoner of Christ Jesus (Philem. i).
In the present instance the addition is not without reference to the
circumstances under which he wrote. His authority had been impugned,
and a great fundamental doctrine of the Gospel perverted. The former
must be asserted, that the latter may be maintained.
an apostle"] Lit. 'a messenger'. The title was given by our
Lord Himself (Luke vi. 13) to twelve chosen by Himself out of the
number of His disciples. The qualifications for the office are (1)
a Divine call (Luke vi. 13; John xv. 16; Acts i. 2, 24); (2) a personal
knowledge of the Lord Jesus, as the Risen Saviour (Acts i. 21, 22;
1 Cor. ix. 6) ; (3) the inspiration and infallible teaching of the Holy
Ghost (John xiv. 26, xvi. 13); (4) a Divine commission (Acts xxii. 21,
xxvi. 16—18). On the wider use of the term see Bp. Lightfoot, Gal.
pp. 91—97-
not of men,... the dead] 'Not of men', rather, not from men.
Unlike the false apostles, he did not go forth commissioned by men,
as their messenger, or as deriving his authority from them ; nor again
was he sent 'by man' (abstract, not concrete; as in John ii. 25).

GALATIANS, I. [vv. 2, 3.

2 the dead ;) and all the brethren which are with me, unto the
3 churches of Galatia : grace be to you and peace from God
Paul commissioned others, because himself not commissioned by other
men. but by Jesus Christ] A clear proof of the proper Deity of the Lord
Jesus. As Jesus was the source from which, so was He also the channel
through which St Paul derived his authority. The occasion on which
he received this authority was doubtless his miraculous conversion.
It is however instructive to observe that even this Divine call and
appointment did not supersede the outward commission and 'investiture'
'through the medium of the Church' (Acts xiii. 2). The latter, while
owing all its value to the former, is distinctly stated to have taken place
by the express direction of the Holy Ghost.
"The Apostles are both 'from Christ' and 'through Christ;' their
disciples (and all regular teachers of the Church) are 'from Christ,' but
'through man;' the false teachers are 'from men' and 'through man.'
Paul's call was just as direct as that of the Twelve ; but the Judaizers, in
their tendency to overrate external forms and secondary causes, laid
great stress upon the personal intercourse with Christ in the days of
His flesh, and hence they were disposed either to declare Paul a pseudo-
apostle, or at least to subordinate him to the Twelve, especially to
Peter and James." Dr Schaff.
and God. the Father... dead] It may at first sight surprise us that St
Paul should thus closely unite God the Father with Jesus Christ, as the
channel or agency by which he received his commission. But the
difficulty is removed by the addition of the words, ' Who raised Him
from the dead.' Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with
power. ..by" i.e. as the result of "the resurrection from the dead".
The hypostatic union of the Father and the Son is presupposed (John
x. 30). "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." If then
St Paul had received his apostolic commission 'by' the Risen Christ
who "appeared to him on the way", he might truly be said to have
received it 'by' God the Father. Luther ascribes the addition of these
words to St Paul's "burning desire to set forth even in the very entry of
his epistle, the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to preach the righteous
ness of God ". "He was raised again for our justification," Rom. iv. i§.
2. all the brethren which are with me] It is impossible to say with
certainty who these brethren were. The expression, 'all the brethren'
and the omission of any names, render it improbable that reference is
intended only to Timothy and Titus. The words are intentionally
vague, and certainly do not lend support to the view that St Paul
"sought safety in numbers"- He knew that truth is generally with the
minority. But he never forgot that he was a member of the Church,
and not an isolated individual. The truth for which he contended was
the birthright of his brethren, dear to them as to himself.
unto the churches of Galatia] The abruptness of the address is
remarkable. No word of praise, no mention of privilege. Comp.
the opening words of the Epistles to the Thessalonians, Ephesians,'

4-] GALATIANS, I.

the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave him- 4
self for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
&c. Even the Corinthians receive a more kindly salutation. They
had not "erred concerning the faith" as had these Galatians.
The word 'Church' in the N.T. is used either (1) of the whole body
of believers, "the whole congregation of Christian people dispersed
throughout the whole world " (Canon LV.), (Matt. xvi. 18; Col. i. 24), or
(2) of a particular congregation, under the same ministry of the word
and sacraments. Thus we read of the Church in Cenchrete (1 Cor.
xvi. 1), of the Churches of Asia (1 Cor. xvi. 19; Rev. i. 4, &c), of the
Church in a particular house (Col. iv. 15 ; Philem. 2). (3) It is also used
of an assembly of believers gathered together for worship, as 1 Cor. xiv.
28. The Churches of the Thessalonians and Laodiceans are exceptions
to the usual form, in which the precise locality is designated. We may
assume that the Churches of Galatia were bodies of converts living in
the principal cities, Ancyra, Pessinus, &c. See Introduction, p. ix.
3. Grace be to you. ..Christ] "These two words, grace and peace,
comprehend in them whatsoever belongeth to Christianity. Grace
releaseth sin, and peace maketh the conscience quiet." Luther.
We have here another indirect, but clear proof of the Godhead of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He is with the Eternal Father the source and
giver of grace and peace, and therefore He is "the God of all grace"
(1 Pet. v. 10), and "the God of Peace" (Heb. xiii. 20).
A similar form of salutation occurs 1 Thess. i. 1, and elsewhere.
4. who gave himself... our Father] The Apostle here prepares the
way for the discussion of his great subject. He cannot think of the
Gospel — pardon, justification, acceptance with God, and eternal life —
apart from the atoning death of Christ. The efficacy of that "precious
death" depends on the voluntary surrender of Himself by our Blessed
Lord, "to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only
for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men." (Article II.)
who gave himself] The Father gave the Son. The Spn gave
Himself. for our sins] not merely to denounce sin — Moses and the prophets
had done this; not merely to set us a perfect example — this would
have been to mock the misery of unpardoned, unsanctified men and
women. His death -was for our sins. The exact force of the preposition
may fall short of asserting the vicarious nature of our Lord's sacrifice-
indeed the reading of the Original is not free from doubt. But the
Apostle's language is in entire accord with his teaching elsewhere, and
must be so explained. (Comp. Rom. iii. 25; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; Gal. iii. 13;
1 Tim. ii. 6.)
that he might deliver us] Rescue us from the thraldom of, &c.
The same word is used of the deliverance of Joseph (Acts vii. 10) and
by our Lord Himself in reference to St Paul (Acts xxvi. 17). Freedom
as the result of emancipation is the great blessing of the Gospel. See
v. 1, 13, and comp. John viii. 32 — 36. It is also "the keynote of
this Epistle"- ,
from this present evil world] World, lit. age. The Greek word

GALATIANS, I. [vv. 5, &

5 evil world, according to the will of God and our Father : to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that
signifies, the present state of things, the world's life, regarded in its
transitory nature, as a condition of existence, rather than the material
creation. Matter is not essentially evil. It becomes an instrument of
evil by reason -of man's transgression of the law of God. There is
a similar usage in the familiar expression of the Roman historian
'Corrumpere et corrumpi sseculum vocatur,' Tac. Germ. 17; compare
'fecunda culpa; ssecula,' of Horace. Two other renderings of the
phrase are admissible; (1) from the present (or besetting) evil of the
world; or (2) from the evil of the present world. Our Lord prayed
for His disciples, not that they should be taken out of the world, but
that they should be kept from the evil; and He has taught us to pray,
'Deliver us from the evil.' There is however a true sense in which
Christians are delivered, rescued from this present evil age or dispen
sation, from its power and its contamination — a dispensation so often
contrasted with " that world " (Luke xx. 35) into which sin and defile
ment cannot enter. Satan, who is the god of this present evil world,
will then be finally vanquished and "tormented day and night for ever
and ever" (Rev. xx. 10).
according to the will of God and our Father] Better, of God our
Father. That 'will' is the ultimate cause and law. Redemption is
its fulfilment. Hence our Lord declares that He came to do the will
of Him that sent Him. John iv. 34, v. 30, and espec. vi. 38—40;
comp. Heb. x. 7 — 10, "By which will we have been sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. " The will of the
Father and the will of the Son are distinct, but in perfect harmony.
The will is Divine, and therefore claims our submission. It is our
Father's will, and therefore appeals to our filial love and confidence.
This thought inspires the ascription,
5. to whom be glory... Amen] perh. 'the glory'. All the glory of
the great work of Redemption, in its design, in its process, in its results,
is His alone and shall be throughout eternity.
Amen] A Hebrew word, signifying 'truth,' used to express con
currence in the prayer or praise uttered by another, especially in public
worship. Deut. xxvii. 15; 1 Chron. xvi. 36. From the synagogue it
passed into the acts of worship of the Christian Church (1 Cor. xiv. 16).
Here it is employed as an emphatic affirmation of the ascription to
which it is appended. Comp. Psalm, lxxii. 19; Rev. i. 18, xxii. 20.
6—10. The subject and occasion of the Epistle.
6. / marvel... gospel] The contrast between the form of address
here adopted and that of other letters of St Paul is (as already noted)
remarkable. In writing to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians,
his opening words are expressive of thankfulness for the constancy of
their faith and the fervour of their love. Even for the Corinthians,
notwithstanding the party spirit which prevailed among them and the

vv. 7, 8.] GALATIANS, I.

called you into the grace of Christ unto another, gospel :
which is not another ; but there be some that trouble you, 7
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or 8
grievous sin which called for sharp rebuke, he has words of affection
and even thankfulness. But the case of the Galatians was different.
They had departed from the faith. Their error was fundamental, and
if persisted in, fatal.
so soon removed] rather, so quickly passing over, transferring your
allegiance. 'So quickly' is generally explained as, so soon after your conver
sion, or, after my recent visit. Commentators see an illustration of this
expression in the fickleness of the national character, mentioned by
Csesar and Tacitus, and the intellectual restlessness noticed by
Themistius, a writer of the 4th century a.d. But perhaps it only means
'so readily', with so little compunction, or resistance to the false
teachers. Comp. 2 Thess. ii. 2.
from him that called you. ..Christ] Luther renders, "From Christ
who called you in grace." If the word Christ (omitted by some
authorities) is to be retained, this is the best rendering of the passage
for the reasons which he assigns. "It liketh me, that even as Paul a
little before made Christ the Redeemer, who by His death delivereth us
from this present evil world ; also the giver of grace and peace equally
with God the Father ; so he should here make Him equally the caller
in grace ; for Paul's special purpose is to beat into our minds the benefit
of Christ, by whom we come unto the Father."
Our calling is in grace, i.e. in His free and unmerited favour and
goodness ; as opposed to all notion of salvation by moral or ceremonial
righteousness. "If it be by grace, then it is no more of works, other
wise grace ceases to be grace any longer." Rom. xi. 6.
unto another gospel] rather, 'a different ' or ' strange gospel ', a perverted
gospel. I do not call it 'another gospel', for that would be to admit
that there could be more than one.
This strange gospel appealed for authority to the other Apostles
rather than to St Paul ; and it insisted on the observance of the Jewish
ceremonial law as a condition of salvation, ch. iv. 10, 1 r, &c.
7. but there be some that trouble. ..Christ] Only so far can it be
called another gospel, as it is a perversion of the Gospel of Christ. It
does not profess to be a distinct revelation; it claims to be 'the Gospel',
Just as we might speak of spurious coin, though it was not issued from
the mint.
some that trouble you] The Judaizing teachers (ch. v. 10) who were
drawing them away from their allegiance, and raising factions among them.
and would pervert] ' Would ' is not a mere auxiliary. Their desire
and determination are to 'reverse, to change to the opposite, and so
stronger than to pervert or distort' (Lightfoot). St Paul regarded the
new doctrine as subversive of the truth and utterly incompatible with
the Gospel which he preached.
the gospel of Christ] Christ is at once its Author, its theme, its sub-

GALATIANS, I. [v. 9.

an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel untp you
than that which we have preached unto you, let him be ac-
9 cursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man
stance. Elsewhere it is termed the 'Gospel of God' (Rom. i. 1), and
the 'Gospel of His Son' (Rom. i. 9).
8. You have listened to these false teachers. But the Gospel is one
and unchangeable, admitting of no addition or modification. Even
though I, Paul, and those who, as Timothy, Titus and Silas, are like
minded with me — nay, even though an Angel from heaven should
preach anything as supplementary to that which I have preached, let
him be accursed.
any other gospel] It is impossible to translate this verse literally.
The passage implies the perfection of the Gospel which Paul had
preached. To add to it was to impugn this perfection. " If any man
preach to you as Gospel anything besides that which we have preached. "
Romanist writers contend for the rendering 'against'. But in this case
'besides' is 'against'.
accursed] lit. anathema, cut off, not from the Communion of the
Church (which could not apply to an angel), but from the favour of God.
It is instructive to notice that the Council of Trent pronounces anathema
against those who do not regard the Apocryphal books as sacred and
Canonical Scripture, or who knowingly and deliberately despise the
unwritten traditions of the Church. Cone. Trid. Sess. IV.
The word 'anathema', rendered by 'accursed' in the A.V. is the
Septuagint equivalent of the Hebrew COO (Deut. vii. 16 ; Josh. vi. 1 7,
18, &c. ), and is used to denote a person or thing devoted to destruction,
because accursed of God. The exact expression occurs in only one
other passage of the N.T., 1 Cor. xvi. 22, "If any man love not the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." How are we to under
stand these strong expressions? Surely St Paul is not imprecating
a curse on every man (or angel) who should propagate false doctrine,
and on every professing Christian who does not love the Lord Jesus.
He would have prayed for such an one, and have bidden his converts
pray that God would "bring into the way of truth all such as have erred
and are deceived". His meaning is, "Let such an one be regarded
by you as under wrath and curse of Almighty God." Solemn words,
so understood, and full of warning. This view of their force may be
illustrated by our Lord's language, "Let him be unto thee as a heathen
and a publican," Matt, xviii. 17.
9. He repeats his denunciation with slight differences. (1) He does
not mention 'an angel from heaven', (2) what in the preceding verse he
put hypothetically, "should any.. .preach", is now assumed to be the
fact, "if any is preaching"; (3) there, it was a Gospel which St Paul
had preached to them, here, it is a Gospel which they had 're
ceived'. This reception of the truth made its relinquishment more
perilous. As we said before] lit. as we have said before. The reference is not
to u. 8, but to the teaching of St Paul and his colleagues on the

vv. io— 12.] GALATIANS, I.

preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received,
let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God ? 10
or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I
should not be the servant of Christ.
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was n
preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it 12
of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
occasion of his second visit to them. They had drifted away from their
old position: St Paul's position is 'now' the same as 'before'.
10. For do I now. ..men, or God?] The particle ' for' connects this
verse with what precedes. ' I speak thus decisively and strongly, for in
the first place my motives are pure and cannot be impugned; and
secondly (vv. 11 foil.) the truths which I deliver are a revelation from
God.' nmu] ' at this stage of my ministry.' He could not be charged with a
desire for popularity, which leads men to sinful concessions. He may be
indirectly referring to the case of Peter, which is fully narrated, ch. ii.
11, &c.
persuade men, or God] The one word 'persuade', which cannot pro
perly be applied to God, is used with both nouns by the grammatical
figure Zeugma. "Can it be said of me now, that I am courting the
favour of men, or am I seeking the favour of God ? " The word rendered
'persuade' is translated "made.. .their friend", Acts xii. 20. For the
more common use of the verb, comp. 2 Cor. v. 1 1 ," we persuade men."
if I yet... of Christ] If I any longer acted as men act by nature,
before conversion to God. The ' men-pleaser ' (Eph. vi. 6 ; Col. iii. 22)
stands in strong contrast to the 'servant', the bondslave of Christ. "No
man can serve (be a slave to) two masters," Matt. vi. 24. The 'slave'
not only does the will of his master, he belongs to his master.
11—24. The Divine Commission and Apostolical Authority
of St Paul.
11, 12. A statement of St Paul's claims, followed by a sketch
of his life.
11. But I certify] Now I declare to you. The same verb is
used in 1 Cor. xv. 1 to introduce an emphatic statement.
not after man] i.e. not in accordance with human notions or con
ceptions, and therefore not such as could have been evolved out of
human consciousness. It was communicated to St Paul by direct
revelation from God.
12. For I neither received it of man] T is emphatic : I received
not the Gospel, any more than did the other Apostles, from man.
neither was I taught it] St Paul might have received the Gospel
from God, and yet have been more fully instructed by men. This was
not the case, comp. ch. ii. 6. He both received and was taught it
by direct revelation. The commission to Ananias (Acts ix. 10, &c.) is
not at variance with this declaration. It does not appear that he made
any communication of religious knowledge to St Paul (vv. 18, 19).

8 GALATIANS, I. [vv. 13, 14.
13 Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in
time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I
h persecuted the church of God, and wasted it : and profited
in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own
nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of
by the revelation of Jesus Christ] Rather, through the revelation.
'Jesus Christ' may be either the subject or the object, the Revealer or
the Revealed ; but probably the latter is primarily intended, see v. 16.
Different opinions are held as to the time when this revelation was
made. Certainly it took place at the time of his conversion, and
probably on other subsequent occasions. In 2 Cor. xii. 7 he speaks
of "the abundance of the revelations" which he had received; comp.
2 Cor. xii. 1.
13. Nothing short of a miracle could account for the change which
had taken place in the life and aims of St Paul (comp. Phil. iii. 4 — 10).
It was not likely that a man with such antecedents should have ac
cepted the Gospel with its consequences on merely human testimony.
ye have heard] Rather, Ye heard from myself when I was with
you, and (perhaps) from my colleagues.
my conversation] i.e. my manner of life, as Eph. iv. 22; Heb. xiii. 7;
James iii. 13, &c. In Phil. i. 27, iii. 20 the same English word
represents a different word in the original, and refers to civil and
political duties and privileges, rather than those which are personal
and social.
the Jews' religion] One word in the original, which does not occur
elsewhere in the N.T. except in v. 14. From the use of the correspond
ing verb, we may regard it as referring not to the religion revealed to
the Jews in the writings of Moses and the prophets, but that which was
its actual development in St Paul's day, when the word of God had
been overlaid and ' made of none effect ' by the traditions of the Scribes
and Pharisees, and the puerile conceits of the Rabbinic expositors.
I persecuted the church of God] The same sad confession is made
1 Cor. xv. 9. There is solemnity in the addition of the words "of
God ". The identical expression occurs in the Sept. version of Nehem.
xiii. 1.
wasted it] was laying waste, was sweeping it away, extermi
nating it.
14. St Paul was always in earnest. In the acquisition of Rabbinic
lore he outstripped most of those of his own age, not merely his fellow-
disciples at Tarsus, and in the school of Gamaliel at Jerusalem (Acts
xxii. 3), but in his own nation generally.
zealous] Lit. a zealot (Acts xxi. 20). St Paul by birth and by
early education was associated with the extreme party of the Pharisees,
who were marked by their bigoted adherence to the traditional interpre
tations of the Old Testament, as distinct from the written text.
traditions of my fathers] By 'traditions' we must understand religious
teaching and precept handed down orally from father to son, whether
ultimately committed to writing or not. The word occurs twelve times

vv. is, 16.] GALATIANS, I.

my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me 15
from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to is
reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the
heathen ; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood :
in the N.T. and is always used in the Gospels in a disparaging sense.
Compare for example Matt. xv. 6, 9 ; Mark vii. 9; so Col. ii. 8.
In 1 Cor. xi. 2 (where it is rendered 'ordinances') and in 2 Thess. ii.
15, iii. 6, it refers to oral directions given by St Paul, of which some
(as that contained in 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2) were temporary and special, others
subsequently embodied in writing.
Here St Paul is referring to the traditions which were held and
transmitted by the 'most straitest sect' of the Jewish religion (Acts
xxvi. 5). Similarly St Peter, addressing the Jews of the dispersion, who
had embraced Christianity, reminds them that they had been redeemed
from their vain manner of life, handed down by tradition from their
fathers (1 Pet. i. 18).
15, 16. But a wondrous change was effected in me. 'Old things
had passed away. Behold, they had become new.' The source of
this change was the purpose of God ; the means, His effectual calling :
the end, that St Paul might preach Christ to the Gentiles.
15. it pleased God] The commentary of Theodore of Mopsuestiaon this
expression is apt. "St Paul well refers it to the Divine foreknowledge,
so that before he himself had any being, this should appear the good
pleasure of God concerning him ; and that so his preaching might be
regarded as far enough removed from novelty or human invention."
In personal religion no less than in doctrinal theology we must humbly
recognise this good pleasure of God as the source of every blessing
which the Gospel conveys to us.
separated me... womb] 'Set me apart from my birth,' comp. Jer. i. 5.
The good pleasure was from all eternity, the setting apart was at "birth,
the call was on the road to Damascus, the revelation, then and sub
sequently. by. his grace] Comp. Art. xvii., "They be called according to God's
purpose by His Spirit working in due season ; they through grace obey
the calling. "
16. to reveal his Son in me] Christ had been revealed to St Paul when
He was seen by him in the flesh (1 Cor. ix. 1). But a more blessed
revelation was vouchsafed, when Christ was revealed within him.
Then the Light of the World lighted up the recesses of his soul, or
in his own words, "God who said the light shall shine out of darkness
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The construction is, "when
it pleased God. ..to reveal &c", the words "who separated... His
grace" being parenthetical.
the heathen] Rather, the Gentiles, as including the other, and as in
more marked contrast to the Jews.
immediately... blood] How natural it would have been to turn for
counsel and support in this great crisis of his life, to some of those in

GALATIANS, I. [vv. 17, 18.

17 neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles
before me : but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto
18 Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem
Damascus who were already 'disciples of the Lord'! (Acts ix. 1).
Instead however of thus conferring with flesh and blood, or going to
Jerusalem to consult the Apostles in that city, he went into Arabia.
with flesh and blood] i.e. with man, weak and fallible. A Hebraism.
Matt. xvi. 17 ; Eph. vi. 12 ; Heb. ii. 14.
17. neither went I up to Jerusalem] The situation of Jerusalem was
on a hill, and it was also the Jewish metropolis, the political centre
formerly, and still the religious centre of the nation. "Thither the
tribes went up, the tribes of Jehovah," Ps. cxxii. 4. We speak of
'going up! to London.
to them which were apostles before me] He admits the fact of their
priority in point of time, while repudiating the inference that they had
any claim to greater authority than himself. In like manner the
antiquity of the Roman Church is no argument for Papal supremacy,
much less for Papal infallibility. For the thought, we may compare
Rom. xvi. 7, " My fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the Apostles,
who also have been in Christ before me."
into Arabia. ..Damascus] "A thick veil", says Bp Lightfoot, "hangs
over St Paul's visit to Arabia." It is not mentioned in the narrative in
the Acts. The locality, the object, and the time of this visit are alike
uncertain. A full discussion of them must be reserved for an Appendix
(I. p. 83). In the interval between his conversion A.D. 37 and his
visit to Jerusalem A.D. 40, St Paul would seem to have sought retire
ment in the desert of Sinai, and there by prayer and meditation and
undistracted communion with God, to have equipped himself for the
warfare which only terminated with his life. How much of the three
years was thus spent, we are not told. At its expiration St Paul
returned to Damascus, and when at length the Jews conspired to take
away his life, he made his escape and fled to Jerusalem (Acts ix.
23 — 26). He refers to this incident, 2 Cor. xi. 32.
Damascus] One of the oldest cities in the world, first mentioned in
the history of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 15, xv. 2). It was conquered by
David (2 Sam. viii. 5, 6), but subsequently recovered by the Syrians.
After various vicissitudes it succumbed to the Assyrian arms. The city
was destroyed, and the people carried away captives to Assyria (2 Kings
xvi. 9). It subsequently fell under the Macedonian and the Roman
power, and in the time of St Paul it was included in the territory of
Aretas, an Arabian prince (2 Cor. xi. 32) who was father-in-law of Herod
Antipas, and who held his kingdom under the Romans. It is pleasantly
situated at the foot of the Anti-Libanus range of mountains, distant
133 miles north of Jerusalem and 60 miles from the Mediterranean
Sea, in a fertile district watered by the historic streams, Abana and
Pharpar. 18. It was not till three years after his conversion that St Paul went
up to Jerusalem to visit St Peter.

v. ig.] GALATIANS, I.

to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other 19
of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.
to see] to become personally acquainted with. The word in the
original is used of those who visit great and famous cities. He was
introduced to the Apostles by Barnabas (Acts ix. 27).
Peter] The more probable reading is ' Cephas ', the Aramaic equi
valent of the Greek 'Petros', the name given by our Lord to Simon
Bar-Jona (John i. 43 ; Matt. xvi. 18).
fifteen days] St Paul does not disguise the fact that he spent a
fortnight in the society, perhaps as the guest of Peter. But, as Bengel
observes, it was hardly long enough for him to have been made an
apostle by Cephas. Part too (perhaps a great part) of the time was
spent in disputation with the Grecian Jews. The visit was terminated
by their conspiring to take his life (Acts ix. 29, 30), and by a command
of the Lord in a vision to go unto the Gentiles (Acts xxii. 17 — 21).
19. "Other of the apostles I saw not, but James, the brother of the
Lord." The A.V. would lead to the conclusion that James was one of the
Apostles, in the same sense as Peter was an Apostle, i.e. one of the
Twelve. But it is almost certain that 'save' is an incorrect rendering, as
in Luke iv. 26, 27 (where indeed it makes nonsense of the passage).
See note on ch. ii. 16. St James may still have been spoken of as an
Apostle in the wider sense, in which it is now generally admitted the
term is used in N.T.
James, the Lords brother] How are we to identify this James ? And
what are we to understand by the designation 'the Lord's brother'?
(1) Two of the Twelve bore the name of James; one, the son of
Zebedee and brother of John, the other the son of Alphseus (or Cleopas).
It is agreed on all hands that the former is not the James here spoken
of. It is also highly improbable that he is identical with the son of
Alphseus, called 'James the less' (literally 'the Little') in Mark xv. 40.
If St Paul had conferred with two of the number of the Twelve, his
characteristic candour would have led him to state the fact distinctly.
He admits that James was one of the Apostolic body, but he was not,
like Cephas, one of the original Twelve. We therefore conclude that
this James was the president of the Church at Jerusalem (see Acts xv.
13, xxi. 18) and distinct both from the son of Zebedee, who fell by the
sword of Herod (Acts xii. 2), and from the son of Alphaeus 1. In the Book
of Common Prayer 'St James the Apostle 'is identified with the 'brother
of John', and the other St James (coupled with St Philip) with the
author of the Epistle, and brother of Jude.
(2) It would seem that whatever we understand by the 'Lord's
brethren', they were not of the number of the Twelve. For we are
expressly told that towards the close of our Lord's earthly ministry, His
brethren did not believe on Him (John vii. £).
Three views of the relationship here expressed have been held by ex
positors of Scripture, (a) Some contend that the expression 'brethren'
1 " I count it the more probable opinion that this James was not one of the
Twelve " Dr Salmon, Introduction to the New Testament, p. 478.

GALATIANS, I. [vv. 20—22.

20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God,
" I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and ;
" Cilicia ; and was unknown by face unto the churches of

is to be understood literally of sons of the Virgin Mary and Joseph,
born after the birth of our Lord. This opinion is maintained by Arch
deacon Farrar in Diet, of the Bible, Art. 'Brother'; but it is rejected by
all who with the chief Patristic writers insist on the perpetual virginity
of Mary, (b) Others regard these ' brethren ' as cousins of our Lord, the
sons of Mary (sister of the Virgin) and Cleopas. This may be dismissed
for the reason stated already — that one of them was of the number of the
Twelve, and therefore could not be described as not believing on Him.
(c) A third hypothesis is that they were sons of Joseph by a former
marriage, and therefore half-brothers of our Lord. (That they were the
offspring of a Levirate marriage of Joseph with Mary wife of Cleopas,
after the death of the latter, may be mentioned as an instance of ground
less assumption, only to be discarded.)
The choice then lies between the first and the third view. In a
case where the arguments are almost evenly balanced, it is not easy
to decide, but on the whole they seem to favour the conclusion that
the ' brethren ' were sons of Joseph by a former marriage, and therefore
'half-brothers' or step-brothers of our Lord. In support of this con
clusion we note that if Joseph is called the father of our Lord (Luke ii.
48), Joseph's sons may without great violence be called His brethren.
For a full discussion of the subject, see Diet, of the Bible, ut supra,
Bp Lightfoot, Dissertation II, Afford on Matt. xiii. 56.
The other Apostles were probably absent from Jerusalem at this
time, on a missionary tour, visiting and confirming the Churches of
Judaea and Galilee and Samaria.
20. Considering that the vital question of St Paul's credentials was
at stake, we need not wonder at this solemn asseveration and appeal to
the judgment of God.
21. In the Acts we are told that when the brethren knew of the plot
against St Paul's life, they "brought him down to Csesarea, and sent
him forth to Tarsus"- This is in agreement with the statement of the
text. Caesarea was the port from which in all probability St Paul
sailed to Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia. The expression " the regions of
Syria and Cilicia" must not be pressed as describing the order in which
he visited the two countries. We leam from Acts xi. 25 — 30 that
Barnabas went to Tarsus, and, having found Saul, brought him to
Antioch, the capital of Syria, where he continued teaching for a whole
year. 22. and was unknown] rather, and I continued unknown. So far
from his having learned the truths which he taught from the other
Apostles, the Churches of Judaea, to which they principally ministered
at this time, did not know him even by sight. It is not certain whether
the Church of Jerusalem is included among these. Bengel says, " out
side Jerusalem." But it is quite possible that during the fortnight spent

vv. 23, 24.J GALATIANS, I. 13
Judea which were in Christ : but they had heard only, That 23
he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the
faith wliich once he destroyed. And they glorified God in 24

in Jerusalem he had not become personally known to the brethren
there. which were in Christ] The word Church (=ecclesia, an assembly,
Acts xix. 32, 39, 41) had not yet acquired the exclusively restricted sense
of a Christian congregation. The Church of God (with its component
churches or congregations) had existed in the patriarchal age and in sub
sequent times (even in the dark days when "they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another"), until the coming of Christ. But they
were not 'in Christ', until they had believed in and confessed the faith
of Christ crucified.
23, 24. They only heard reports to the effect that, Our former
persecutor is now preaching the faith whiGh he once was seeking to
destroy. 23. the faith] Three principal senses attach to this word in the
N.T.: (1) Truth, or truthfulness, trustworthiness ; e.g. Rom. iii. 3, "the faith
ofGod." (2) Belief of, or confidence in a Person or thing. This is its most
common meaning.
(3) The revelation of the character, will and purpose of God ' who
cannot lie' — the only thing certain and permanent in a mutable and
transitory world, and therefore worthy of hearty belief and implicit con
fidence. So here, the Gospel of Christ as taught and accepted by
believers. 24. The conduct of the Judaaan Christians is noteworthy, not only as
in marked contrast with that of the Judaizing party in Galatia, but
as testifying to the soundness of the Apostle's teaching. The -Gospel
which he preached, though independent of them as to its source,
was identical with that which they had themselves welcomed. And
they ascribed the glory to God in the grace given to His servant.
This is a sure test of the reality of our faith and love : — when we read
or hear of men being raised up to "preach the faith" in days that are
past, or in distant lands (as, for example, in the great missionary work
of the Church), do we glorify God in them? This was well understood
by the English Reformers.
In the Commemoration Service (dating from the time of Q. Elizabeth,
and not improbably drawn up by Abp Parker) which is used in the
University, and some, if not all of the Colleges of Cambridge, there is a
prayer commencing, 'O Lord, we glorify ThSe in these Thy servants our
Benefactors departed out of this present life.' No better commentary
on the expression can be found than the Collect for the Conversion of St
Paul. Compare also our Lord's words, " All mine (neut. but including
masc. and fern.) are thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in
them." GAL. 4

H GALATIANS, II. [vv. i, 2.
2 me. Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jeru-
2 salem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I
went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that
Chapter II.
1 — 10. St Paul's visit to Jerusalem.
11—21. Visit to Antioch and disagreement with St Peter.
This chapter consists of two paragraphs. We have, first, an ac
count of a visit of St Paul to Jerusalem, and his conference with the
Apostles of the Circumcision (v. 1 — 10) ; and, secondly, a narrative of
his disagreement with Peter at Antioch and a conclusion upon the
question in debate (v. 11 — 21).
1. fourteen years after] This is not to be reckoned from the time of
the first visit, mentioned ch. i. 18, but from the date of St Paul's con
version; and this visit may therefore be assigned to a.d. 51. It was on
the occasion described in Acts xv.
St Paul had gone to Jerusalem once during the interval, to carry
relief to the poor brethren who were suffering from the famine, Acts xi.
30, xii. 25. But he does not here refer to that visit, because its object
and attendant circumstances are foreign to the purpose of his present
argument, and because he had probably no opportunity then of confer
ring with the Apostles. The visit was purely one of benevolence, and
may have been brief in duration. Calvin, however, and others identify
the visit of this verse with that of Acts xi. 30. Twice after this, St
Paul revisited the Holy City — in A.D. 54, of which visit a cursory men
tion is made Acts xviii. 21, 22, and finally in A.D. 58 (Acts xxi. 17).
with Barnabas] This name, which signifies ' the Son of Exhortation',
was given by the Apostles to an early convert, whose original name was
Joseph or Joses. He was a Levite of Cyprus, and was associated with
Paul in the commencement of his missionary work among the Gentiles.
He accompanied him on this occasion, as well as on the previous visit
to Jerusalem, recorded in Acts xi. 30. Like St Paul, though not of
the number of the Twelve, he was included in "the glorious company
of the Apostles"1 (see Lightfoot, p. 93).
At the conclusion of this visit, owing to a. dispute with St Paul,
Barnabas separated from him, and is not again mentioned in St Luke's
narrative. Titus also] He was one among the ' certain others' appointed by the
Church in Antioch to go up to Jerusalem with Paul and Barnabas (Acts
xv. 2). He is specially mentioned because of the incident narrated in
v. 2 foil.
2. by revelation] In the Acts no mention is made of this divine
intimation. It would seem to have been concurrent with the external
1 His festival is retained in the Calendar of the English Church, with special Col
lect, Epistle and Gospel. In the Collect he is termed 'thy holy Apostle Barnabas'.
Under June u, to the bare name Barnabas in the Calendar was prefixed in 1662
'S.', and added, 'Apost. and M.*

v. 3-] GALATIANS, II. 15
gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to
them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should
run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with 3
commission from the Church. The account of this visit is not contra
dictory to, or even inconsistent with St Luke's narrative in Acts xv.
They supplement one another. "The account of the Acts is fuller;
that of the Galatians only brings out the chief points. Luke, in keeping
with the documentary character of the Acts, gives us the public trans
actions of the Council at Jerusalem ; Paul taking a knowledge of these
for granted, shortly alludes to his private conference and agreement
with the Apostles. Both together give us a complete history of that
remarkable convention". Schaff.
The phrase 'by revelation' is used by St Paul (Eph. iii. 3) of the
means by which the will and purpose of God in the Gospel were com
municated to him. How this revelation is effected we know not. It
consists in the temporary uplifting of the veil which hides ' ' the things
not seen", and always implies the sure conviction of its reality and
Divine origin on the part of the recipient. Comp. i. 12.
communicated] not as a would-be disciple, but as one on a footing of
equality. to them] i.e. the Church at Jerusalem.
that Gospel which I preach] St Paul was still preaching the same
Gospel among the Gentiles. It was the same in principle and substance,
however varying in its application to the diverse characters and circum
stances of those to whom it came.
privately] Privately, not secretly. There is here no hint of any sup
pression of the truth. The object of this private consultation was to
prepare for the public conference, and was alike an act of respectful
courtesy towards the officers of the Church, and a wise precaution to
ensure orderly proceedings at the Council.
to them which were of reputation] Better, ' to those of high reputa
tion ', the leaders, pillars of the Church. The same expression occurs
with slight additions vv. 6, 9.
lest. ..in vain] It was very important that there should be unanimity
at the Council. If at the first synod of the Church, it should appear
that St Paul was preaching a different Gospel among the Gentiles from
that which was taught by the Apostles in Judaea, the result could not
fail to be distrust of the former (so prone are men to test truth by the
numbers and position of its advocates), and thus the success of his
labours would be impaired.
Most commentators suppose the Apostle to fear lest his work for the
future should be hindered, and that in the past undone. The construc
tion of the original is peculiar and difficult. The particle rendered 'or',
may mean 'than' or 'more than'. And so the sense would be, 'Lest I
should run less successfully than heretofore '. The metaphor of a ' race '
as descriptive of a course of life or of labour is a familiar one with St
Paul. Acts xx. 24 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7.
3 — 5. The construction of this passage is irregular and uncertain,
4—2

16 GALATIANS, II. [vv. 4, 5.
4 me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised : and
that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who
came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in
s Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage : to
and the meaning of several words and phrases obscure. But the general
argument would seem to be as follows : — ' I conferred indeed with the
Apostles at Jerusalem, but though I was quite ready to treat them with
courtesy and respect, I was not prepared to make to them any conces
sion of principle. That would have been to allow their authority as
superior to my own, and would also have been a betrayal of the Gospel.
An attempt was made to assert the necessity of obedience to the cere
monial law, as a condition of justification. This attempt took a prac
tical shape, when certain false brethren with sinister motives demanded
that Titus, a Gentile, should submit to circumcision. The Apostles
were for temporising, in the hope of conciliating these intruders,
who were really spies, feigning themselves to be true men and zealous
for the law. The question in itself might seem indifferent. [St Paul
had himself taken Timothy "and circumcised him on account of the
Jews", Acts xvi. 3. But then Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother.]
But when they tried compulsion, I at once made a stand and refused
compliance. What I might perhaps have conceded to love, was resisted
when it involved subjection to these false brethren : that the Gospel in
its purity and fulness might be preserved for you Gentiles. Of that
Gospel the observance of the ceremonial law is no condition. To insist
upon it, is to pervert the truth of the Gospel, and send men back for sal
vation to the "weak and beggarly elements" from which Christ by His
death hath for ever set us free '.
3. neither Titus] Better, not even Titus, who, as Paul's colleague,
might have thus had more ready access to the Jews.
being a Greek] unlike Timothy, Acts xvi. 1 — 3.
_ was compelled] Scholefield renders, "was under any necessity to be
circumcised, but only because, &c." i.e. there was no necessity for his
being circumcised, except that pretended necessity which was set
up by these false brethren. (Hints for an improved Translation of the
N. T.)
"Paul might have suffered Titus to be circumcised; but because he
saw they would compel him thereunto, he would not. For if they had
prevailed therein, by-and-by they would have gathered that it had been
necessary to justification, and so through this sufferance would have
triumphed against Paul." Luther.
4. and that, because] Better, but only, because. The pressure
would not have been put upon us, had it not been for false brethren, &c.
false brethren] Rather, 'pretended'. Venn.
unawares brought in] Rather, ' insidiously brought in '.
our freedom] Liberty (not license) is the watchword of the Gospel.
The truth alone — the truth as it is in Jesus makes man free — free alike
from the bondage of the law and the slavery of sin.
bring us into bondage] A strong expression = ' utterly enslave us '. For

w. 6, 7.] GALATIANS, II. 17
whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour ;
that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But s
of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they
were, it maketh no matter to me : God accepteth no man's
person :) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference
added nothing to me : but contrariwise, when they saw that 7

the thought, ever uppermost in St Paul's mind when writing this
Epistle, comp. ch. iv. 21 — v. 1.
5. To whom... an hour] In some early copies the negative seems to
have been omitted. "We yielded by a temporary concession"- This
would of course imply that Titus was circumcised. But the received
reading is not to be disturbed.
the truth of the Gospel] The truth which is indeed good tidings — that
man is justified for the merit's sake of Jesus Christ by faith, and not for
his own works or deservings.
with you] Galatians, and with all other Gentile converts.
6 — 9. The construction is again broken and irregular. The punc
tuation of the Rev. Vers, makes the sense clear. "But from those who
were reputed to bs somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no
matter to me : God accepteth not man's person) — they, I say, who were
of repute imparted nothing to me: but contrariwise, when they saw
that I had been intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, even
as Peter with the gospel of the circumcision (for He that wrought for
Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto
the Gentiles) ; and when they perceived the grace that was given unto
me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars,
gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should
go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision "-
6. But of these] Rather, "But from those". The sentence would
have run regularly — "From those of reputation... I gained no new en
lightenment ", but having been interrupted by a parenthesis (whatso
ever.. .person) the structure is changed. "To me, I say, these eminent
persons gave no new instruction ".
who seemed to be somewhat] nearly as in v. 2. 'Those of considerable
reputation', though here perhaps not without a shade of irony.
whatsoever they were] Rather, 'once were', i.e. as the chosen com
panions of Christ during His earthly ministry.
God accepteth no man's person] The force of this Hebraism is well
illustrated by its use, Acts x. 34. "God does not confine His favours to
those upon whom He has already bestowed them, however abun
dantly". for they who seemed] 'for' is here merely resumptive :— 'to me, I say,
those of reputation (is there not a tinge of irony in the repetition of the
phrase?) imparted nothing new'.
7  9. 'So far from their communicating any further revelation to
me, their conduct was the very opposite of this. They recognised the

18 GALATIANS, II. [vv. 8, 9.
the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me,
8 as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter ; (for he
that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the
circumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the Gen
tiles :) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to
9 be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they
completeness of the Gospel which I preach, by consenting to the
arrangement by which I was to go to the Gentiles and they to the
Jews'. Two causes combined to bring about this result — they 'saw' the
success of St Paul's missionary labours, 'the signs and wonders God had
wrought among the Gentiles' by Paul and Barnabas (Acts xv. 12); and
they recognised the cause of this success, the grace of God, which alone
can make a weak and sinful man to be an able minister of the new
covenant. 7. contrariwise] See 2 Cor. ii. 6, 7 ; 1 Peter iii. 9. In both these
passages the word expresses the strongest possible contrast. It is used
absolutely, 'The very reverse was the case — when they saw, &c.'
when they saw] 'They' is used with reference to 'those of reputa
tion', before mentioned, and is restricted (v. 9) to three Apostles speci
fied by name.
the gospel of the uncircumcision... to Peter] Clearly not two different
Gospels, as Jowett understands the passage. This would be to contra
dict what had been said ch. i. 6 — 9. It can only mean 'the work of
evangelising Gentiles and Jews'. So we read of "the beginning of the
Gospel" Phil. iv. 15, i.e. the early days of missionary effort. In the
Greek the word 'Gospel' is not repeated, but has been supplied (in
Italics) in both A.V. and R.V. A more exact rendering would be,
"I have been entrusted with the Gospel for the Gentiles, even as Peter
was for the Jews". The disease is one and the same, however the
symptoms may vary in different individuals or classes, Rom. iii. 9; Is.
liii. 6, and the remedy is one, Rom. i. 16, iii. 28 — 30.
was committed] Lit. 'has been entrusted', comp. 1 Thess. ii. 4; 1
Cor. iv. 1.
8. This verse is parenthetical. It expands and explains verse 7.
in Peter] Rather, 'for Peter' — so'/wme'.
9. In the Greek the order is, 'And when they perceived the grace
that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John &c." James
(see note i. 19) is named first, because the reference is to a special act
of the Church in Jerusalem, of which he was president or Bishop.
"When St Paul is speaking of the missionary office of the Church at
large, St Peter holds the foremost place". Lightfoot. Compare w. 7, 8
with Acts xii. 17, xv. 13, xxi. 18.
seemed to be pillars] Better, 'were in repute as pillars'. The meta
phor by which the Church is compared to a house or temple is frequent
both in the O. T. and N. T. See 2 Cor. vi. 16, and Rev. iii. 12, 'I
will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God'.

v. io.] GALATIANS, II. 19
gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that
we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circum
cision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; 10
the same which I also was forward to do.
the right hands of fellowship] as a pledge of fidelity to the same
truth, with a. view to the adoption of distinct spheres of missionary
labour. 10. One reservation was made which was in accordance with my
own earnest desire.
the poor] In the department of almsgiving no distinction was to be
made. On two recorded occasions, St Paul conveyed alms from the
Gentiles to the poor saints in Jerusalem, Acts' x. 29, 30; 1 Cor. xvi. 3.
He was not afraid of being charged with resorting to bribery for gaining
converts — a justification, if any be needed, of the action of Missionary
Societies in modern times. Our Lord Himself had set the example.
11 — 21. We learn from Acts xv. 22, foil, that when the Council
broke up, certain members of the Apostolic company were sent to
Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, to convey to the Churches of Syria
and Cilicia the determination of the Church in Jerusalem on the question
which had been submitted to them, as to the necessity of circumcision
in the case of Gentile converts. After the deputation had returned to
Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas "tarried in Antioch". It was during
their stay that the visit of St Peter took place, as to which St Luke is
silent. Various attempts were made in early times to explain away an inci
dent, which seemed to throw discredit on Peter or Paul or on both of
them. To some it appeared incredible that Peter, the Apostle of the
circumcision, should have been permitted to fall into grievous doctrinal
error; to others, that St Paul should have treated him with such seve
rity ; to a third class, that such a. dispute should have arisen in the
infancy of the Church between its two principal teachers, both being
inspired men. But we may note,
1 st, that the error of St Peter did not consist in preaching false doc
trine, but in a want of straightforwardness of conduct, by which the
'truth of the Gospel' was liable to be perverted.
2nd, that moral perfection is not to be looked for, even in an
Apostle. 3rd, that St Peter's conduct, as here described, is quite consistent
with that pourtrayed by the Evangelists. ' Boldness and timidity, first
boldness, then timidity, were the characteristics of his nature.
"It is remarkable, and may be considered as a proof of the truth of
the history, that this conduct, however unintelligible, is in keeping with
Peter's character. We recognise in it the lineaments of him who con
fessed Christ first, and first denied Him; who began by refusing that
Christ should wash his feet, and then said, 'not my feet only, but my
hands and my head'; who cut off the ear of the servant of the high-
priest, when they came to take Jesus, and then forsook Him and fled".
Jowett.

20 GALATIANS, II. [vv. n, 12.
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him
12 to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that
4th, that St Paul's rebuke, though unsparing, is free from any rudeness
of expression or personal animosity.
5th, that the record of this painful interview, while placing St Paul's
Apostolic authority in the strongest light, and therefore germane to his
purpose in the opening chapters of this Epistle, is a precious heritage of
the Church — an everlasting monument of the grace of God. For an
admirable summary of the instructive lessons which it contains, see Dr
Schaffs Commentary, p. 29. Appendix II. p. 84. That the two great
Apostles were at heart agreed, taught and influenced by the same Spirit,
and zealous for the same truth, is shewn by the touching allusion made
subsequently by Peter (2 Pet. iii. 15, 16) to the Epistles (including this
to the Galatians) of 'our beloved brother Paul'— an allusion the more
striking because the letter in which it occurs is probably addressed to
Galatian converts among others.
11. Peter] In the Greek, ' Cephas ', the Apostle Peter. The diffi
culty of accepting this narrative in its obvious sense, led some in early
times to suggest that not the Apostle, but one of the seventy disciples
of the same name, is here referred to.
withstood him to the face] Jerome's well-known solution of the diffi
culty — a solution which approved itself to Chrysostom — that the reproof
was only apparent, was refuted by Augustine and ultimately abandoned
by Jerome. It supposes a preconcerted plan for convincing, not Peter,
but the Jewish converts, that the obligation of the ceremonial law had
ceased, and leans for support on a mistranslation, 'in appearance', for
'to the face'. The exact expression is found in the LXX. Deut. vii.
24, ix. 2 ; Jud. ii. 14. At Jerusalem St Paul's authority had been con
firmed by the acquiescence of the Church ; here it must be asserted in
opposition to the temporising conduct of St Peter.
was to be blamed] Better, as R.V. stood condemned, convicted of
dissimulation by the very facts of the case.
12, 13. The decree of the Council of Jerusalem had virtually ex
empted Gentile converts from the observance of the Jewish ceremonial
law (see Acts xv. i. 5, 28, 29). It is probable that James, fearing lest
the Jewish Christians should be led to claim the same exemption, sent
delegates to Antioch to keep them steadfast in their adherence to it.
This would be quite in accordance with his conduct as recorded Acts
xxi. 20—25. St Peter had been taught by a heavenly vision not to call
any man common or unclean (Acts x. 28). Before the coming of these
delegates, he had boldly exercised his freedom in the Gospel, and had
eaten with Gentile believers, not only at the Holy Communion and the
Agapae, or love feasts, but perhaps in social life. The Pharisees regarded
such intercourse with abhorrence. They had murmured against our
Lord, saying, 'This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them'. [To
those murmurs the Church owes the three parables of Luke xv. ] But
on the arrival of the emissaries from James, Peter began to shew signs
of timidity and gradually withdrew from the company of the Gentile
Christians.

vv. 13, 14.] GALATIANS, II. 21
certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles : but
when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision. And, the '3
other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that
Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to 14
the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If
thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and

did eat] used to eat with.
withdrew] A word used of drawing off troops, and in nautical mat
ters of shortening sail. It describes conduct the reverse of that bold
ness and impetuosity which had marked St Peter's previous course.
fearing them which were of the circumcision] fearing to give offence
to the converts from Judaism. Not for the first time did Peter learn
by experience that "the fear of man bringeth a snare", Prov. xxix.
25- 13. dissembled likewise with him] Lit. practised like hypocrisy.
They believed and professed that they might eat with the Gentiles, they
acted as if it were unlawful to do so.
Barnabas also] or, 'even Barnabas', who as Paul's companion was
familiar with his clear and unreserved teaching on the great doctrine of
justification by faith — even he was swept away with the rising tide of
dissimulation. This may have been the commencement of the dissen
sion which took place so soon after between Paul and Barnabas,
resulting in their separation (Acts xv. 39).
14. This was not a case for private remonstrance. The conduct of
Peter and the rest was a practical denial of the truth of the Gospel, and,
as such, could not but do widespread mischief. St Paul therefore took
occasion to rebuke him in the presence of the whole company of
believers (comp. 'I withstood him to the face', v. n).
according to the truth] Lit. 'towards the truth,' i.e. with a view
to its maintenance and propagation.
If thou, being a Jew. ..Jews] Various opinions have been held with
regard to the limit of the address to Peter. Some suppose it to terminate
in this verse; others with v. 15 or 18; most, at the end of the chapter.
But a comparison of the abruptness of the opening words with the more
calm argumentative style of what follows, seems to confirm the view that
the actual words addressed to Peter are contained in verse 14, and that
Paul passes imperceptibly into a discussion of the great principle which
he felt to be at stake. It is possible that the later verses contain the
substance of the Apostle's remonstrance with Peter, as they certainly
contain the ground of the expostulation in v. 14. This is confirmed by
the expression "We, Jews by nature"; but the whole passage has
direct reference to the state and dangers of the Galatians.
being a Jew] a Jew by birth and education, not a Gentile prose
lyte.

GALATIANS, II. [vv. 15, 16.

not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to
is live as do the Jews ? We who are Jews by nature, and not
10 sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified

livest after... Gentiles] Ever since his visit to Cornelius, Peter had
associated freely and eaten with the Gentiles.
why compellest thou] How is it that now by your example you are
forcing" the Gentile converts to conform to the Jewish ceremonial? It
is of course moral compulsion that is meant, that kind of influence to
which new converts would be specially prone to yield.
to live as do the Jews] Lit. to Judaize, to observe the ceremonial
law, as necessary to salvation. That no less is intended appears from
v. 21.
15 — 18. Consider what is> involved in our having embraced Chris
tianity. We were Jews by birth, and not Gentiles, whom the Jews
look down upon as 'sinners'. We were convinced that man cannot be
accounted righteous before God on the score of a perfect obedience to
the law, but that he is so accounted for the merits' sake of Christ
through faith. We, I say, believed in Christ, that we might be justified
as the result of such faith and not of obedience to the law. We had
cast aside all trust in the law, and earnestly sought to be saved only by
Christ through faith. If we were mistaken, if instead of being justified
(i.e. perfectly righteous before God in the imputed righteousness of
Christ), we were found to be unjustified and therefore 'sinners', like
those Gentiles on whom we used to look down, Christ instead of being
"the end of the law for righteousness," would virtually be the minister
of sin — all His work having failed to justify us, He would have minis
tered to a state of sin. But such a thought is not to be entertained for a
moment. For to insist on the necessity of legal obedience for salvation
is to build up an edifice which I formerly overthrew, and to reduce
myself to the old position of a transgressor.
Jews by nature] by birth, not even proselytes.
sinners of the Gentiles] Rather, from among the Gentiles.
16. The force of the prepositions is obscured by the rendering of
A. V. Literally, ' Knowing that man is not justified from (i.e. as the
result of) works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ... even we
believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified from (i. e. as the result
of) faith in Christ, and not from works of the law ; for from works of
the law shall no flesh be justified.' In the language of St Paul man is
justified/?-u/» faith, and through faith and by faith (dative without pre
position expressed, Rom. iii. 28), never for or on the score of faith. In
Rom. iii. 30, God is said to justify "the circumcision from faith and the
uncircumcision through faith", where the emphasis is not on the prepo
sitions but on faith. This is clear from the fact that whereas in this pas
sage God is said to justify the Jews from faith, in Gal. iii. 8, He is said
to justify the Gentiles from faith, comp. Heb. x. 38, and Hab. ii. 4
LXX. Vers. In Phil. iii. 9, we meet with the expression 'the righte
ousness which is of God upon (condition of) faith'.

23

v. i6.] GALATIANS, II.
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the
law : for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
but by the faith] i.e. but only through faith in Jesus Christ. The ren
dering of the R.V. 'save' is grammatically possible, but logically
wrong, and, as a translation, not only incorrect, but misleading. The
declaration of St Paul has its counterpart in the utterance of the believ
ing heart — Nothing in my hand I bring;
Simply to Thy Cross I cling.
A shipwrecked sailor was trying to save his life by swimming, employ
ing one hand for that purpose, while with the other he clutched a bag
of provisions which he had rescued from the sinking ship. When his
strength was nearly exhausted, a vessel came in sight. He was descried
and a rope thrown to him. He seized it with one hand. 'Lay hold
with both hands, or we cannot save you'. He let go the bag of pro
visions and was hauled safely on board the friendly vessel. His life
was saved apart from his provisions. But he found that it could not be
\maintained without them. See Appendix III. p. 87.
of Jesus Christ] that faith which has Christ Jesus for its object, and
nearly = in Jesus Christ. It is explained by the words which follow
immediately, "We also ourselves believed in Christ Jesus". The trans
position of the names of our Blessed Lord in this verse is doubtless 'not
arbitrary', though it is not easy to explain its force. It must be remem
bered that Proper names which are now mere designations to distinguish
one person from another were originally descriptive. To those who
thus regarded the name Christ as meaning the Anointed or Messiah,
there would be conveyed a different thought according as it preceded or
followed the more personal name Jesus. Any one who will read the
passage aloud, substituting 'Messiah' or 'the Anointed' for 'Christ',
will perceive, if he does not fathom the difference.
even we] Better, we also, as well as Gentile converts.
for by the works... justified] This is a quotation, not quite literal,
from Psalm cxliii. 2. It is made also in Rom. iii. 20, being there intro
duced for a special purpose, as referring to Jews, by the words, "We
know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are
under the law". It is here used for a similar purpose, and as a decision
from which no appeal was possible. See note on c. iii. 22.
no flesh] a Hebraism = no human being.
17 — 21. The argument of these verses is somewhat obscure — an
obscurity due, partly to the inadequacy of language to express the
intensity of the Apostle's feelings, partly to the introduction of meta
phorical expressions, which elude the attempt to define them accurately.
St Paul, like other Jewish believers, earnestly desiring to escape the
penalty of conscious sin, had abandoned all trust in the law, and had
thrown himself entirely on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. If he is

24 GALATIANS, II. [vv. 17, 18.
i7 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves
also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of
18 sin ? God forbid. For if I build again the things which

now told that in doing this, he and they had foregone their privileges as
children of Abraham, and reduced themselves to the position of sinners
of the Gentiles (v. 15), it might be said that Christ is a minister of sin.
Away with such a false conclusion 1 St Paul had swept away all notion
of justification by obedience to the law, because he knew that a man is
justified by faith apart from such obedience, and to build up the edifice
which he had pulled down would be to stand self-convicted as a trans
gressor of the law. 'I', he says, 'for one, through the law, through
experience of its inability to give life, turned my back on it for ever
as a ground of justification before God. I died to the law. Thenceforth,
as a ground of justification, it was no more to me than to a dead man.
I did this, not that I might be free from the law, as a rule of life, but
that I should live the only life worth living — a life impossible to me so
long as I sought justification by the law — a life consecrated to God. I
have been speaking of dying. There is another sense in which I died.
I am crucified with Christ, a partaker of His death, a death issuing in
resurrection; and this resurrection life, which I share with and derive
from my Divine Lord, itself not natural but spiritual, transforms my
whole natural and earthly life, so that I live this latter in the faith of
Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not, like
the Judaizers, set at nought that grace of God to which I owe so much.
And yet to seek justification by works would be practically to nullify it :
for if by the law man obtains justification, Christ's death was purpose
less and superfluous'.
17. while we seek] Rather, while seeking, i.e. earnestly desiring.
The reference is to the time when they embraced the Gospel. Hence,
for 'are found', read, "were found", found ourselves in the same
position as those 'sinners' of the Gentiles, whom we had been accus
tomed to look down upon, and needing, like them, a free salvation.
we ourselves] not necessarily, 'I and Peter' (see note on v. 14), but
we who, as Jews, inherited the advantages of the chosen race.
is therefore... of sinf] Are we to accept the inference that Christ is
the minister of sin? The word 'sin' has direct reference to 'sinners' in
the former clause. The Judaizers might taunt the Apostle with the
suggestion, that, as faith in Christ had made them 'sinners', Christ had
become a minister to a state of sin.
minister of sin] The antithesis occurs 2 Cor. xi. 15, "ministers of
righteousness". Is Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith,
employed in a service, wliich so far from emancipating men from sin,
promotes sin?
God forbid] Lit. let it not come to pass! This formula is used by
St Paul fourteen times to express a strong denial and utter repudiation
of some proposition, either put forward by himself, or suggested by an
opponent, "Away with such a thought!" There is of course neither

vv. 19, 20.] GALATIANS, II. 25
I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through
the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, :

'God' nor 'forbid' in the Greek, but the English phrase is an excellent
idiomatic equivalent.
18. The edifice which St Paul had pulled down was not, as some
suppose, the Levitical law of meats, or the Mosaic ceremonial law, in
themselves considered. It was not, as a rule of life, but as a ground of
justification, that he utterly repudiated and swept them away.
/ make myself] Rather, I prove, I conclude myself to be ; nearly =
I convict myself.
a transgressor] nearly equivalent to 'sinner' above, which had primary
reference to the Gentiles. Sin is the transgression or violation of the
law. If I am now trying to build up again the system of justification by
legal obedience, I by that very attempt convict myself of having been
a transgressor, when instead of obeying the law, I sought to destroy its
obligation. 19. For it was through the law, through the conviction of its inabi
lity to give life, that I became dead to the law. The law demanded a
perfect obedience, as a condition of justification. This none can render;
and it was when I experienced its condemning power, that I fled to
Christ for salvation. "When the commandment came, sin revived,
and I died", Rom. vii. 9. Thus it was through the law that I died to
the law.
am dead to the law] Better, died to the law. The reference is to
the time when deeply convinced that he could not be justified by his
own obedience, he abandoned for ever all trust in his own "righteous
ness, which is of the law"; that he might "win Christ and be found in
Him", and might so possess the righteousness which is of God on the
condition of faith only, Phil. iii. 9. We observe that St Paul does not
regard faith and works, Christ and the sinner, as supplementing one
another. He is 'dead to the law', he has no more to do with it, as a
means of justification or ground of merit, than if he were dead. The same
expression occurs Rom. vii. 4, where the figure employed is that of the
marriage tie, which is entirely dissolved by death.
that I might live unto God] not, that I might live in sin or careless-
.ness. The Gospel which provides a perfect righteousness in Christ,
which is justification, provides also a fife of holiness by the Spirit, a life
unto God, which is sanctification. These are distinct, but inseparable —
nay, the latter is the end and the result of the former.
To live unto God, is to live with the eye of the soul ever turned
upward, to have the affection set on things above. Its motto is 'sursum
corda', its prayer 'fiat voluntas tua'. The same form of expression
occurs Rom. vi. n, 'Reckon ye yourselves dead unto sin, but living to
God in Christ Jesus'.
20. / am crucified] Better, I have been crucified. The mention
of death and life suggests the Death which bore fruit in Resurrection.

26 GALATIANS, II. [v. 21.
but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
21 me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace

The Christian is by faith 'incorporated into' Christ (Hooker). Of this
incorporation Baptism is the sign and the pledge. Hence the prayer
in the Office for Public Baptism, ' that he may crucify the old man, and
utterly abolish the whole body of sin ; and that as he is made partaker
of the death of Thy Son, he may also be partaker of His Resurrection'.
Crucifixion, though a lingering mode of death, is yet as certain in its
issue as that by the rope or the axe. Two robbers were ' crucified with
Christ', on separate crosses. One was with Him in His Cross, and
therefore with Him in Paradise.
nevertheless I live] more exactly, 'And it is no longer I that live'.
The 'old man' is crucified. The 'new man' which has put on the Lord
Jesus Christ, is clothed in Him, has Him as the principle of its life (ch.
iii. 27). Christ is now "our life" (Col. iii. 4), and 'He that keepeth
His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we
know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us',
1 John iii. 24.
the life which I now live in the flesh] my life as a man on earth, since
I became a believer. It is termed 'in the flesh', to shew that more is
meant than the life of the soul. St- Paul was no mystic. With him
Christianity was not abstraction from the duties of social life. It
elevated, purified, ennobled them. He claimed and used his rights as
a citizen of Rome, while living as a citizen of Heaven.
by the faith of the Son of God] Rather, 'in faith' — a faith which has
for its object the Son of God. The life in the flesh is lived in faith.
This is the sum of practical religion. What a perversion of the truth to
apply to those who withdraw from the world, with its duties, its trials,
its opportunities, the title of 'religious'!
The object of this faith is not termed, as usual, Jesus Christ. It is
"the Son of God"- But that is not all. He, in His uncreated Majesty,
as "the effulgence of the Father's glory and express image of His sub
stance", could not win the confidence of the conscious sinner. But His
eternal Sonship gave its value to His atoning sacrifice, and is "the
source of His life-giving power"
gave Himself for me] = delivered Himself up for me to anguish, and
shame and death. The same verb occurs in the passive Rom. iv. 25,
"who was delivered up"- Luther remarks on this passage, 'Here have
ye the true manner of justification set before your eyes, and a perfect
example of the assurance of faith. He that can with a firm and constant
faith say these words with Paul, is happy indeed. And with these
words Paul taketh away the whole righteousness of the law and works"-
See Additional Note, p. 90.
21. The word rendered 'frustrate' is used in reference both to per
sons and things, in the sense of setting at naught, treating with utter
disregard and contempt. In ch. iii. 15 it is used of setting aside o.

v. i.] GALATIANS, III. 27
of God : for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain.
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you 3
covenant. Our Lord speaks of those who despise, treat with neglect
His servants, as despising Him, Luke x. 16. In Heb. x. 28 it is used
of a presumptuous violation of the law of Moses.
I do not treat the grace of God with contempt, as if it were a thing of
nought, as do the Judaizers. It was that grace which prompted the
unspeakable gift, the all-sufficient sacrifice. And if man can be justified
by his own obedience, the death of Christ is unnecessary.
is dead in vain] Rather, "died without cause". Not, 'in vain',
but gratuitously, without any adequate purpose or result. Deny, or
ignore the atoning efficacy of that death, and it becomes aimless and
superfluous.

Chapters III., IV. (Second Division of the Epistle.)
The Doctrine of Justification by Faith discussed and
illustrated.
Ch. III. 1 — 9. Justification by Faith, the dispensation of
the Spirit.
1. In the concluding verses of the preceding chapter the Apostle
has not been directly addressing the Galatians. He has rather been
following up his rebuke to Peter by an argument — a soliloquy — ending
in a reductio ad absurdum. A doctrine which practically makes the
death of Christ superfluous is impious and revolting. ' And is this the
doctrine which you were lightly disposed to accept? O foolish Galatians,
to what spell of sorcery have you succumbed? Christ Crucified was
lifted up before you as the object of faith. Instead of looking away
(Heb. xii. 2) from all else to Jesus Christ alone, you allowed your eyes
to wander to the Law and your own works, and so yielded to the deadly
fascination of these Judaizing teachers.'
O foolish Galatians] The epithet 'foolish' does not refer to a national
characteristic. The Galatians, like other Keltic races, were quick-witted.
Their folly consisted in not seeing the inconsistency of the new teaching
with their own experience (v. 2) and the impious conclusion to which it
inevitably led, u. ii. 21. Our Lord addressed the two disciples at Emmaus
in the same terms — "O fools, &c." Luke xxiv. 25.
hath bewitched] Rather, 'bewitched', cast a spell over you, the allusion
being to the time when they 'so readily' (c. i. 6) transferred their al
legiance to the Judaizing teachers. The change so sudden, and so
senseless, seems like the effect supposed to be produced by magical
arts. This verb does not occur elsewhere in N.T., though not un
common in Classical Greek. It is used of the spell which was supposed
to be cast over persons, especially children, by the influence of the evil

28 GALATIANS, III. [v. 2.
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ
2 hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you ? This
eye — a superstition prevalent in ancient times, and still existing in the
East, in Italy and among the Kelts in Brittany. The word sometimes
expresses, as here, the baneful effect on the victim, sometimes the feeling
of envy or jealousy on the part of the agent. .There may be a combi
nation of these two ideas here; for St Paul alludes (c. iv. 17, vi. 12) to
the intense spirit of partisanship by which the Judaizers were actuated.
that ye should not obey the truth] Rightly omitted in the R.V. The
clause is not found in the best MSS., and has probably been inserted
fromch. v. 7.
before whose eyes] ' to whom, confronting you, Christ was set forth '.
hath been evidently set forth crucified] This of course does not imply
that they had actually witnessed His Crucifixion — indeed the tense of
the participle 'crucified' (better, 'as having been crucified') excludes
such an explanation. One verb in the original stands for 'hath been
evidently set forth'. Render, 'was set forth'. The same word occurs
Rom. xv. 4, where it is rightly translated "were written before". It is
not probable that this can be the sense in this passage, first, because
there is no specific mention of our Lord's death by Crucifixion in the
Messianic prophecies of the O.T. ; and secondly, because in such pro
phecies Christ could not be said to have been described as crucified
'before their eyes'. Two other explanations (both in a figurative sense)
have been adopted, (1) 'was described as in a picture, was pourtrayed,
or delineated'. This finds favour with Theod. Mops., Luther, Calvin,
and others; and (2) 'was publicly announced, proclaimed'. The latter
sense is preferred by Bp. Lightfoot, on the ground of its being "the
common word to describe all public notices or proclamations"- In
Jude 4 we have a similar thought — 'whose names have been posted up
as of men doomed to this condemnation'.
among you] Omitted in many MSS. and in R.V. If it is retained, it
may refer to the fact that the doctrine of the Cross, 'embracing the
whole mystery of redemption by grace and freedom from legal obliga
tion' (Alford), had been proclaimed without reserve among them, not
as a passing announcement, but in the systematic teaching of the Church.
2. Here the Apostle makes a personal appeal to their own ex-,
perience. He might have adduced other arguments to shew the
excellence of faith. But he confines himself to one question, which
they alone could answer, and the answer to which is decisive. 'Was it
from (as the fruit of) the works of the Law that ye received the Spirit,
or from the preaching of faith'? Luther shews at large, by reference to
the Acts of the Apostles, that 'the Holy Ghost is not given by the Law,
but by the hearing of the Gospel'. 'Hereby', he says, 'we may see
what is the difference between the Law and the Gospel. The Law
never bringeth the Holy Ghost, but only teacheth what we ought to do-
therefore it justifieth not. But the Gospel bringeth the Holy Ghost, be
cause it teacheth what we ought to receive. Therefore the Law and the
Gospel are two contrary doctrines. To put righteousness therefore in

3-] GALATIANS, III.

29

only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so 3
foolish ? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect

the Law, is nothing else but to fight against the Gospel. For Moses with
his Law is a severe exactor, requireth of us that we should work, and
that we should give; briefly, it requireth and exacteth. Contrariwise
the Gospel giveth freely and requireth of us nothing else, but to hold
out our hands, and to take that which is offered. Now to exact and
to give, to take and to offer, are clean contrary, and cannot stand
together'. Received ye the Spirit] Once only (in the Apostolic commission,
John xx. 22) does the expression, Receive the Holy Ghost occur in the
Gospels. The reason for this is given, John vii. 39. But when our
Lord had ascended into Heaven, He sent the promised Gift from the
Father to them which believed. Bp. Middleton classifies the uses of
the words, Spirit, or Holy Spirit, in N.T. (Doctrine of the Greek
Article, note on Matt. v. 18). The word 'spirit' is not employed here
in its personal sense, but refers to the gracious gifts and operations of the
Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. These gifts were
twofold, (a) extraordinary, miraculous and temporary; and (b) ordinary
and abiding, that 'fruit of the spirit' of which an enumeration is given,
t. v. 22, 23. The former were the credentials of the early Church,
attesting to the world her Divine mission ; the latter aYe a witness in
the heart of the believer both to the truth of the Gospel and to his own
share in its unspeakable blessings. But this distinction must not be
regarded as exclusive. Miracles serve to confirm the faith of believers,
and the holy lives of Christians are an evidence to the world of the
power of the Gospel, and so of its truth. Both kinds of gifts are pro
bably included here in the expression, 'the spirit'. Comp. Acts ii. 4,
x7> 18, 33, viii. 17, x. 44 — 46, xix. 2 — 6; Rom. viii. 9 — 11, 13 — 16, 23,
26; 1 Cor. xii. 4 — 13, xiv.
the hearing of faith] The word rendered literally 'hearing' has two
senses, 'the reception, or act of receiving by the ears', as in Luke vii. 1 ;
1 Cor. xii. 17; 2 Pet. ii. 8; and, the thing heard, or report or message,
as in Matt. xiv. 1 ; Rom. x. 16, 17 — in which latter passage it is
= preaching. On the whole it seems better to take it in the latter sense
here. Thus we have in strongest contrast the works of the Law and the
preaching of faith. The Law said, This do, and thou shalt live; the,
Gospel, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
3. The contrast is still maintained in other terms. Here the 'flesh'
is used for that which is external and material, compliance with outward
observances, as opposed to the spiritual principle of faith. These two
"are contrary the one to the other"- It is folly, having begun your
Christian life spiritually (v. 2), to finish it carnally — to descend from
the higher to the lower, from the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
to the law of sin and death. The same collocation oi the verbs 'begin'
and 'finish' is found, Phil. i. 6; comp. 2 Cor. viii. 6.

30 GALATIANS, III. [vv. 4— 6-
4 by the flesh ? Have ye suffered so many things in vain ? if
5 it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the
Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the
6 works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ? Even as
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to

4. Have ye suffered so many things in vain?] The reference is, as
in verse 2, to persecutions experienced by them at the time of their con
version. Though we have no record of these, yet, as Bp. Lightfoot re
marks, the history "is equally silent on all that relates to the condition
of the Galatian Churches ; and while the converts to the faith in Pisidia
and Lycaonia on the one side (Acts xiv. 2, 5, 19, 22), and in proconsular
Asia on the other (2 Cor. i. 8; Acts xix. 23, sqq.), were exposed to
suffering, it is improbable that the Galatians alone should have escaped ".
He adds, "If..., as is most likely, the Jews were the chief instigators in
these persecutions St. Paul's appeal becomes doubly significant"- Some
would render, 'Have ye experienced so many things?' i.e. (1) so many
spiritual blessings (which would make the question nearly a repetition
of v. 2) or (2) such trials and such mercies.
if it be yet in vain] 'if it be indeed in vain'. This is added in the
exercise of that charity which 'hopeth all things'.
5. He therefore] St Paul, after a digression in wliich he rebukes
their folly in reversing the true order of the soul's progress (v. 3) and in
relinquishing the truth which they had embraced at the cost even of per
secution (v. 4) resumes the appeal of v. 2 in another form. 'He then,
as I was saying, &c.'
The reference has hitherto been to the time when they first embraced
the Gospel. It is now directed to that continued supply of the spirit
which God graciously bestowed upon His Church, as combined with,
and manifested by the exercise of miraculous powers.
He... ministereth] 'He then (i.e. God) who graciously bestoweth on
you, &c.' The force of the word 'ministereth' (R.V. 'supplieth') may
be understood by reference to the use of it elsewhere, e.g. 2 Cor. ix. 10;
Phil. i. 19.
worketh miracles] For the different terms employed in N.T. to
designate the supernatural operations of the Holy Ghost through human
agency, see Trench On the Miracles, chap. I.; esp. p. 6 foi the term
'powers' used here.
among you] Perhaps, 'in you', both as more personal, and as
agreeing with 1 Cor. xii. 6; Phil. ii. 13. See also Matt. xiv. 2, R.V.
by the works. ..or by] Rather, 'from the works. ..or from' &c.
The preposition denotes rather the consequence or result, than the
means. 6 — 9. Exemplified by the case of Abraham.
6. We must supply the obvious answers to the question of v. 5.
Assuredly those miraculous powers followed the preaching oi faith;

vv. 7, 8.] GALATIANS, III. 31
him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they?
which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the s
(comp. Mark xvi. 20) and so it was with Abraham ; he believed and was
justified. The quotation is from the LXX. version of Gen. xv. 6. [The
Hebrew reads, 'and He counted it to him for righteousness'.] It
occurs also Rom. iv. 3; James ii. 23. From the appeal thus made
by St Paul and St James to the case of Abraham, it would seem
that they regarded the passage in Genesis as affording common
ground to themselves and all (whether Jews or converts) who acknow
ledged the authority of the O.T. Scriptures.
On the faith of Abraham, see Appendix IV. p. 88.
7. Know ye] Better indie. 'Ye know then'. So in Phil. iv. 15,
where the punctuation in some copies of A.V. perverts the sense.
they which are of faith] This form of expression is common in
Classical Greek. It means, ' they who come from, and so belong to ' ;
especially of persons who range themselves as members of a party or
adherents of a cause. The antithesis to 'those who are of faith' is
'those who are of the Law', Rom. ii. 8, or ' of the works of the Law',
v. 10.
the same] Rather, these, and none others.
the children of Abraham] This was the boast of the Jews, "We
have Abraham to our father", John viii. 39: comp. Matt. iii. 9.
St Paul here adopts the same argument which our Lord used, "If ye
were the children of Abraham, ye would do the works of Abraham'.
He exercised faith in the word and promise of God. They alone
' who have obtained like precious faith ' are the true sons of Abraham.
8. St Paul's appeal here and elsewhere to the authority of the O.T.
as the unerring, irreversible decision is very instructive. This authority
depends on an inspiration which is verbal, though not mechanical.
The quotation combines a reference to two distinct promises, that in
Gen. xii. 3, "And in thee shall the tribes of the earth be blessed"; and
in Gen. xviii. 18, "And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in
him". The true seed (children) of Abraham are 'they which are of
faith' — not his natural descendants, as such, but all who, whether Jews
or Gentiles, "walk in the footsteps of the faith which Abraham had in
uncircumcision "
the scripture, foreseeing] The Scripture is here personified, as in
v. 22. It of course means the Holy Ghost, by Whose inspiration the
passage was written. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the usual formula
is, 'As the Holy Ghost saith'. Such forms of expression as 'the Scrip
ture said', were common in the Rabbinic writers.
The connexion of this verse with what precedes is this : — Abraham
was justified by faith, and they who are of faith are his children. But
on the authority of the same Scripture we know that this filial relation
ship is not limited to his natural descendants, for it was promised that
in him all nations should be blessed.
5—2

32 GALATIANS, III. [v. io.
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
io Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse : for it is written, Cursed is every one
would justify] Pres. tense, 'justifleth', by an eternal law of His
moral government.
the heathen] Better, ' the Gentiles '.
preached before the gospel] Proclaimed the good tidings of justifica
tion by faith for all who believe. This announcement was made before,
' a Gospel before Gospel times ', Bengel. Others explain it a Gospel
antecedent not only to the Law, but to the institution of circumcision,
Rom. iv. ii.
in thee] This is supposed by some to mean "as their spiritual pro
genitor". Of course there is no reference to a transmitted and inherited
faith. Dr Jowett's explanation is undoubtedly right, "in thee, by
anticipation", that is, "as the progenitor of the Messiah" (Bengel).
The blessing (justification) comes to man only from the atoning death
and imputed merit of Christ. It was apprehended by faith in the case
of Abraham ; it is so apprehended by each one of his spiritual descend
ants. Thus, v. 9, they that are of faith (note v. 7) are blessed with
faithful Abraham.
9. faithful] The original word, like its English equivalent, may
mean either trustworthy or trusting, deserving confidence or exercising
it. In the former sense it occurs 1 Cor. i. 9, iv. 2. In the latter (which
is the sense here), John xx. 27, where it is rendered 'believing'. The
context will determine which meaning is to be assigned to it A
similar ambiguity attaches to such English words as pitiful, mournful,
hopeful. 10 — 14. The Curse of the Law. No deliverance except by
Faith.
10. The mention of the blessing which comes by faith suggests the
terrible alternative — the curse which the Law pronounces and from
which it provides no way of escape — a curse from which, because of
imperfect obedience, no man can possibly free himself.
as many as] Note the universality of the expression, 'All to a man
are here condemned'. Calvin.
of the works of the law] See note on v. 7.
are under the curse] i.e. condemnation, the opposite of the blessing,
which is justification. There is no middle state.
it is written] Deut. xxvii. 26. A quotation from the LXX. The
words are the conclusion of the curse uttered on Mount Ebal. Apply
ing primarily to the Jews, they apply to all who seek to be justified by
their obedience to the moral law, and not in God's own appointed way,
through faith. Bengel observes that the obedience which the Law

w. n, 12.] GALATIANS, III. 33
that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man «
is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident :
for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not 12
of faith : but, The man that doeth them shall live in

demands must be perfect ('in all things'), and unfailing (' continueth
not'). 11, 12. St Paul by reference to two other familiar passages of the
O.T. confirms his assertion that justification cannot be by the Law. He
has proved from Scripture that no man can be justified by a Law which
pronounces a curse on all who fail to render a perfect obedience to
its commands. He now from another Scripture shews that there is
a way, opened by God Himself, in which sinners have found, and may
find pardon and acceptance, yea, a perfect righteousness and the true
life. The prophet Habakkuk declares, "The just shall live by faith".
This cannot apply to those who seek life in the Law ; for its condition
is, 'Do this, and thou shalt live'. Entirely contrary and antagonistic
is the condition of the Gospel, 'Believe and live'. It is not a difference
on which St Paul insists. It is opposition between faith and works,
grace and merit, the Gospel and the Law. When God justifies a sinner
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no place left for human
merit If Christ's merit, appropriated by faith, is not sufficient to
justify us, we are lost. If it is sufficient, our imperfect, faltering, sin-
stained obedience can add nothing to that sufficiency.
11. in the sight of God] Better, before God, i.e. at His bar.
This forensic use of the preposition is common in Classical Greek.
Comp. 2 Thess. i. 6; James i. 27; 1 Pet. ii. 20.
The just shall live by faith] The quotation from Hab. ii. 4, is
also found, Rom. i. 17; Heb. x. 27. The literal rendering of the
Hebrew, as given by Bp. Lightfoot, is, ' Behold the proud man, his
soul is not upright; but the just man shall live by his faith '. In the
LXX. the verse runs, ' If one draw back, my soul hath no pleasure in
him; but the just shall live by faith in me (or, my faith)'. There
is also a reading, 'My just one shall live by faith'. Although the
Hebrew word, which is rendered 'faith', elsewhere means 'steadfast
ness', there is really no violence done to the original by St Paul's
manner of quotation. The Greek versions support his rendering.
And the expression 'faith in me', is equivalent to 'steadfast confidence
inme'^ or if we adopt the other rendering 'my faith = steadfastness',
we have that attribute of God ' who cannot lie', which is at once the
correlative and ground of man's trust in God. Comp. Isaiah vii. 9, ' If
ye hold not fast, verily ye shall not stand fast'. Dr Cheyne.
12. is not of faith] 'does not spring out of, or start from faith',
but its principle is performance. This is clearly laid down in Lev.
xviii. 5, 'He that doefh them &c.\ We observe that 'justification'
and 'life' are almost convertible terms. He who by faith is made one
with the Son of God, hath life — eternal life. _TJuis_in_Rom. v. 18

34

GALATIANS, III. tv- x3-

13 them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed ts
St Paul argues that as by Adam's transgression all his descendants
were involved in condemnation, so by the one righteous act, the
obedience unto death, of the second Adam, the blessing came to all
men unto justification of life — a justification resulting in and consti
tuting life.
13, 14. Reverting to what he said, v. io, the Apostle shews how
complete this justification is. The curse has been borne, and the Law
is silent. The curse has been removed, and the blessing remains; de
scending in all its fulness on the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, through
faith. 13. 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a
curse for us '. In v. io the Apostle has shewn that by the very terms
of the Law, all who are under the Law (i.e. all who seek to be justified
by their own obedience) are under the curse. To rescue us from that
terrible malediction, Christ submitted to an accursed death. He,
though sinless, bore, nay became the curse, that on us might come the
blessing. hath redeemed us] ' ransomed us', from the thraldom of the curse at
the cost of a death of shame and anguish unutterable.
a curse for us] 'Who', asks Bengel, 'would dare to use such an
expression without fear of uttering blasphemy, if we had not the
example of the Apostle?' Here, as in 2 Cor. v. 2r, we have the
abstract noun put for the concrete, to give force and comprehensiveness
to the statement. Our Divine Lord in human nature was made sin for
us — not a sinner, not even a sin-bearer, or sin-offering. He was
identified with that which is the cause of ruin and death to the whole
human race, ' that we might become in Him the righteousness of God.'
So, here, He is said to have become, not accursed, but 'a curse'. The
curse incurred by all, in consequence of sin, was borne by the sinless
One in His own Person. He, like the typical scape-goat (Levit. xvi.
5, &c.) was the representative at once of the sin and the curse which it
entailed. for us] 'on our behalf '. The preposition does not necessarily mean
'in our stead'. The great doctrine of our Blessed Lord's vicarious
sufferings and death does not rest on the narrow foundation of the exact
force of a particle. It is the doctrine of the types and prophecies of
the O.T. and of the teaching of our Lord Himself and His Apostles in
the N.T. To the passages already referred to may be added Is. liii. 5,
6; Matt. xx. 28; 1 Tim. ii. 6; Tit. ii. 14.
Light is thrown by this passage on the narrative of the Brazen Serpent
(Num. xxi. 7 — 9), which our Lord declares to be a type of His Cruci
fixion (John iii. 14). Why was the serpent chosen by God to be the
emblem and means of recovery to the Israelites ? One reason may be
that it was accursed of God (Gen. iii. 14), and so a fitting type of Him
Who on the Cross became a curse for us.
if is written] The Apostle makes good every step of his argument

v. 1 4-]  GALATIANS, III. 35
every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing x4
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
by an appeal to Scripture. By the Law of Moses (Deut. xxi. 23), it
was ordained that the body of a criminal, who, after being put to death,
was exposed on a tree, should not be suffered to remain all night ; and
the reason is assigned, "for he that is hanged is accursed of God".
The words, ' of God ', are omitted by St Paul, not as inconsistent with,
but as unnecessary for his purpose. Those who account for the
omission of the words by supposing them inconsistent with the accept
ance of our Lord's self-sacrifice by His Father ' as an odour of a sweet
smell' (Eph. v. 2; comp. Gen. viii. 21), seem to overlook the fact
that if in any true sense Christ became a curse for us, it was the curse of
God. It may be objected, that the curse to which our Blessed Lord sub
mitted was not the same curse as that to which all men became subject
by their failure to render perfect obedience to the moral law — that it
was, so to speak, technical, rather than moral. But a careful con
sideration of the passage in Deuteronomy will shew that the curse there
spoken of applied not to the mere impalement of the malefactor, but to
the violation of the Law, for which he had previously been put to death.
The body of one who had ' ' committed sin worthy of death " was not to
hang upon the gibbet after sunset, lest the land should be defiled, for
the curse of God rests upon it. "In the Scripture doctrine of the atone
ment, the believer is one with Christ, until at length Christ takes the
believer's place, and all that the Christian is, and all that he was, or
might have been, are transferred to Christ". Jowett.
14. The twofold result of our Lord's obedience unto death, the
justification of the Gentiles, and the gift of the Spirit, through faith.
Christ having satisfied the Law in its most minute demands, has
abolished it as a condition of salvation, and has thus removed the wall
of separation between Jew and Gentile. "They which are of faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham ", v. 9.
the blessing of Abraham] Justification by faith, v. 9.
the promise of the Spirit] This takes us back to the question of v. 2.
The 'promise' is of course not the promise spoken, but the promise
fulfilled. So in Acts i. 4, where to wait for the promise is to await its
fulfilment.
15 — 29. The Gospel a Covenant of Promise (15 — 18) ; to
which THE Law was at once subordinate and preparatory
(19—29). 16 — 18. The Gospel a covenant of Promise.
The Apostle proceeds to shew the certainly of the blessing, i.e. of
justification, to all who believe. It is secured by the promise of God
¦ — a promise which is an unconditional covenant, and which is not

36 GALATIANS, III. [vv. 15, 16.
is through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men ;
Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed,
16 no man disannuUeth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham
affected by the conditional covenant (the Law), given long subsequently.
Both were from God. But while the latter was of the nature of a
contract between God and the people of Israel, and required a mediator
and attesting witnesses, the latter is a transaction between God and
Christ, who are One, announced to Abraham long before the Law was
given, as a promise to him and to his seed.
15. Brethren] Commentators note the softened tone of this address,
as compared with the previous severity of rebuke. It is due to the
influence on the Apostle's mind of the thought expressed in v. 14.
Realising the share which the Gentiles enjoyed in Abraham's blessing
and in the promise of the Spirit, his heart is enlarged with tender com
passion, and with that love which is the first-fruit of the Spirit (c. v. 22).
after the manner of men] Lit. 'according to man', a familiar mode of
expression with St Paul. Rom. iii. 5 (vi. 19); 1 Cor. iii. 3, ix. 8,
xv. 32; Gal. i. 11. The plur. 'after the manner of men', occurs 1 Pet.
iv. 0. In all these passages the sense is "according to an ordinary
human standard, as men commonly judge, or speak, or act".
though it be but a man's covenant] The word here rendered ' covenant'
is used in the Sept. and N.T. of any settlement, agreement, or contract
between two parties ; or of an engagement by which one party makes
over certain privileges or property to another for his benefit. This may
take effect during the lifetime of the party so covenanting, or after his
death. In the latter case it has the sense of a will, or testament. [From
the fact that the Vulgate translates it by testamentum, the word testament
is used wrongly as its equivalent in A.V., Matt. xxv. 28 and other
passages, and also as the familiar title of the two portions of Holy
Scripture.] In every passage of the N.T. (probably not excepting Heb.
ix. 15 — 17, on which see Scholefield's Hints, pp. 100 — 104) the word
should be rendered 'covenant'. The mention of 'inheritance' (v. 18)
does not affect this statement, for the heirs of this covenant do not
succeed on the death of its Author.
if it be confirmed] In the general case, the confirmation of the agree
ment would be attended by certain formalities, such as the slaying of
animals (see Scholefield's Hints, referred to above), or, as in the
particular instance, by an oath. Comp. Heb. vi. 16, 17; Luke i. 73.
no man disannuUeth... thereto] When once it has been formally
ratified, no man cancels it, or supersedes it by making a new one.
addeth thereto] Of course fresh clauses may be added for the advantage
of the beneficiary. But no new conditions may be introduced. The
force of these words is more apparent as applied to the particular case,
than as a general proposition. The condition of obedience as a ground
of justification, introduced by the Law, is fatal to the covenant of free
promise made to Abraham. We cannot believe that God would have
acted in a manner from which men would shrink as inconsistent with
rectitude

v. i6.] GALATIANS, III. 37
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And
to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed,

In this verse St Paul lays down a broad principle of justice, recognised
by honourable men in their transactions with one another, and from it
he deduces the special inference.
16. ' Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed '.
and his seed] These words are emphatic. Had the promise been
made to Abraham only, it would have determined with his own life.
But it was the precious heritage of his descendants, not disannulled or
superseded by the law given on Mount Sinai.
the promises] Used, as in Rom. ix. 4, of that group of promises made
to the patriarchs, which were regarded by their descendants as their title-
deeds to the land of Israel and all the privileges of the chosen race.
But here with special reference to Gen. xiii. 15, xvii. 7, 8. At first
sight these two promises seem to refer only to the land. But they
include far more. The chief blessing promised is contained in the
words, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy
seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a
God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee... and I will be their God."
Comp. Heb. xi. 16. It is interesting to notice how this promise was
appropriated by THE seed. On the Cross He cried, 'My God, My
God.' After His resurrection He said, 'I ascend. ..to My God, and
your God'.
made] Lit. 'spoken', as in R.V. They were made orally, not, like
the law, written on tables of stone.
He saith not] Rather, 'it (the promise) saith not'. It does not run,
'And to thy seeds ', &c. This clause is parenthetical, illustrative of, but
not necessary to the argument.
Exception has been taken to the emphasis which St Paul attaches to
the use of the singular 'seed', on the ground thafin the Hebrew the
plural 'seeds' would not bear the sense which he seems to attribute to
it, viz. several lines of descent. The same may be said of our own
language, in which 'seeds' can only mean grains, or kinds of grain —
not lines of human descent. But, without insisting on the fact that in
Hellenistic Greek (which St Paul was writing), the plural, no less than
the singular, is employed in the sense here required, we may observe
that the import of the passage is not dependent on rigid conformity to
linguistic usage. The Apostle pauses to point out, that, though the
promise was given to Abraham's seed, yet it was restricted to one line.
The descendants of Hagar and Keturah and the posterity of Esau were
not included in the covenant.' Similarly in Rom. ix. 7, 8, we read,
"Neither because they are a seed (i.e. one of the lines of descendants)
of Abraham, are they all children, but (so ran the promise), In Isaac
shall thy seed be called", i.e. the title of 'seed' par excellence to thee
shall be in the line of Isaac.
but as of one] One line of descent, the spiritual seed, who are gathered
up into and blessed in their One Head and Representative.

GALATIANS, III. [vv. 17, 18.

17 which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that
was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was
four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it
18 should make the promise of none effect. For if the in
heritance be of the law, it is no more of promise : but God
gave it to Abraham by promise.
which is Christ] Which is Messiah. The seed to Whom the promise
was made is the seed of the woman (Gen. iii. 15), the second Adam,
Who is at once the Saviour and the Head of the body. It is only as
we are in Him, united to Him by living faith, that we are in the bond
of the covenant, the true seed of Abraham, heirs according to the
promise, partakers of the blessing — justification, life, glory.
17. And this I say] This is what I mean. St Paul here reverts to,
and continues the argument of v. 15, which had been interrupted by the
explanatory words, 'He saith not. ..is Christ'.
confirmed before of God] Confirmed by oath (see Heb. vi. 17, 18).
This does not refer to the repetition of the promise to Isaac and Jacob,
although by such repetition the promise may be regarded as extending
over the patriarchal period down to the going down into Egypt. This
makes the four hundred and thirty years agree with the duration of the
sojourn in Egypt, as recorded Exod. xii. 40. Into the difficulty of
reconciling this with the period arrived at by a calculation of the gene
alogies, it is not necessary to enter. (See Alford's and Lightfoot's notes.)
For St Paul's argument it is only necessary that the giving of the law
should have been long after the announcement of the covenant pro
mise. in Christ] These words are probably a gloss; and are properly
omitted in R.V. If retained, they should be rendered, "unto (i.e. with
a view to) Christ".
The covenant, ratified before by God, the law, having come into
existence after the lapse of 430 years, cannot cancel so as to invalidate
the promise.
18. The concluding words of the previous verse suggest the thought
— 'Yes, the promise would be at once invalidated, if the inheritance
were dependent on the law'. Law and promises, works and faith, axe
opposing principles, of which the antagonism is most clearly seen in
their issues — condemnation and justification. We have " parallel pas
sage in Rom. iv. 13; comp. also Rom. xi. 6.
God gave it] Has bestowed as a lree gift. ' The perfect tense marks
the permanence of its effects.' Bp. Lightfoot. All who enjoy it or
shall enjoy it, do so as the gift of God's sovereign mercy, unsolicited,
unmerited, unconditional. To see the force of the verb here rendered
'gave', we may compare Luke vii. 42, 'he frankly (freely) forgave
them', 'made them a present of the amount owed', Rom. viii. 32;
I Cor. ii. 12.

v. ig.] GALATIANS, III. 39
Wherefore then serveth the law ? It was added because '9
of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the
19 — 29. The Purpose and Use of the Law in relation to the
Justification of the Sinner.
19. If then the promise is not affected by the law, so that no new
condition of justification is imposed by it, the question naturally arises,
'Why was the law given?' To this the Apostle has an answer ready.
It was not given to limit, much less to supersede the promise. The
promise and the law are like two circles, which touch, but do not
intersect each other : each perfect of its kind, because both alike Divine
in their origin. But in answering the question which he has anti
cipated, St Paul shews the inferiority of the law in several particulars
to the earlier and 'better covenant' (Heb. viii. 6). (1) The law con
demns : it cannot give life, because no man can fulfil its conditions.
It provokes transgression, convinces of sin, and denounces punish
ment. (2) It was superadded as a parenthetical and temporary dis
pensation, commencing with the national life of the Jewish people, and
terminating with the Advent of the Seed to whom the promise was
given. (3) It was not delivered immediately, like the promises to Abra
ham, but mediately by Moses in the presence of Angels as attesting
witnesses. (4) It was a contract between God and man, life depending
on the fulfilment of its terms, and was therefore conditional, and not
absolute like the promise.
it was added] Yet not so as to interfere with the promise. If any
one man had succeeded in rendering perfect obedience to the law, he
would have been justified, no less than they to whom the righteousness
of Another was imputed by faith.
because of transgressions] Dismissing the explanations, 'to check' or
'to punish' transgressions, we may make St Paul his own interpreter.
In Rom. v. 20 he says that the law ' intervened that the offence might
abound'; in Rom. vii. 13, that the commandment was given in order
that sin 'might be shewn to be sin... that through the commandment
sin might become exceeding sinful.' Nay, he testifies that himself had
not known sin 'except through the law' (Rom. vii. 7), for 'through the
law is the knowledge of sin'. And yet further, 'the strength of sin is
the law' (1 Cor. xv. 56). From a comparison of these and other
passages we infer that the purpose for which the law was given was
not on the one hand the restraint or punishment of sin, nor on the
other the increase of evil in the world. The evil existed already and
was active. But its real nature, as an offence against God, rebellion
against His authority, was not felt until that authority was expressed
in the form of command and prohibition, that is, of law. The barrier
which obstructs the force of the stream does not add to its force ; it
reveals the force by the resistance which it offers.
till the seed should come] This marks the limits of its operation.
the seed] That is, Christ. Surely it was by no accident that the
term employed in the Abrahamic covenant is the same which is used

40 GALATIANS, III. [v. 20.
promise was made ; and it was ordained by angels in the
20 hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of
in the yet earlier gospel (Gen. iii. 15). The seed of Abraham is the
seed of the woman.
to whom the promise was made] Lit. has been made. The promise
was not annulled by the law. It continued in force, awaiting its fulfil
ment. This seems to be expressed by the perfect tense.
and was ordained by angels] 'having been enjoined, or enacted, by
means of angels'. In Deut. xxxiii. 2 we read, R.V. 'The Lord came
from Sinai, And rose from Seir unto them; He seined forth from
Mount Paran, And He came from the ten thousands of holy ones: At
His right hand was a fiery law unto them.' The expression, ' with ten
thousands of His saints' is, literally, 'from (amidst) myriads of holiness ',
or 'holy myriads.' The R.V. 'the ten thousands of holy ones' is not a
literal rendering, but a paraphrase denoting the angels; and though
the LXX. render the clause, 'with myriads of Kades', they add (appa
rently from a different Hebrew text), ' on His right angels (were) with
Him'. The older versions and 'expositors generally agree in the
common rendering'. Lightfoot. That angels were present as attesting
witnesses at the giving of the law was a common opinion among the
Rabbinic teachers, and allusion is made to it not only by St Paul in
this passage, but by St Stephen (Acts vii. 53), by the author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews (ch. ii. 2), and by Josephus (Anlt. XV. 5. 3).
Regarded as the retinue of the Supreme Lawgiver, the angels by their
presence added solemnity to the occasion. But that very presence
emphasized the fact that the law was of the nature of a contract, con
ditional, not absolute, a transaction between two parties, not the
spontaneous revelation of mercy by Him who 'is One'.
by the hand of] A Hebraism nearly equivalent to, 'by means of
or simply 'by'. It is so used frequently in the O.T., e.g. Num. iv. 37,
when Moses and Aaron are said to have numbered the people ' accord
ing to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses1'. See
Acts vii. 35.
a mediator] The noun thus rendered occurs in four other passages
of the N. T. (1 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. viii. 6, ix. 15, xii. 24), anddn all of
them refers to our Lord Jesus Christ. In the three latter He is
expressly termed the Mediator of the new or better covenant. Here
the mediator is associated with the first covenant. In the epistle to
Timothy our Lord is a mediator 'between God and man'. Here the
mediator is between God and the people of Israel, i.e. of course, Moses.
These considerations, together with a due regard to the general scope
of the passage, lead to the rejection of the view that in this passage
the Mediator is our Lord — indeed such a view may astonish us, though
supported by such eminent names as Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and
Chrysostom. Neither the noun nor the corresponding verb (see Heb.
vi. 17) is found in the LXX., though its reference to Moses in the
1 The LXX. translates, ' by the voice of the Lord in the hand of Moses,'

41

vv. 21, 22.] GALATIANS, III.
one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises =i
of God ? God forbid : for if there had been a law given
which could have given life, verily righteousness should
have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded n
passage before us is confirmed by his own declaration, 'The Lord our
God made a covenant with you in Horeb....I stood between the Lord
and you at that time to shew you the word of the Lord', Deut. v. t, 5.
The ' covenant ' was the law of the Ten Commandments.
20. Probably no verse of Scripture has more exercised the in
genuity of commentators. Certainly of none other can it be said that
it 'has received 430 interpretations' (Jowett), if by that expression
contrariant or different interpretations are meant. Some notice of
these is reserved for an Appendix (Appendix V. p. 89). The verse may
be paraphrased as follows : Now the very fact that at the giving of the
Law a Mediator was needed, marks the nature of the transaction as a
compact entered into between two parties. The very term Mediator
implies two parties between whom he intervenes. But the God of the
promise is One and One only. He reveals Himself as the bestower
of a free gift to the world. 'The Giver is everything, the recipient
nothing' (Lightfoot). Hence there was no place in the Gospel revela
tion for a mediator in the sense in which Moses was mediator between
God and the people of Israel. It may be observed that this view of
the scope of the passage (which is all that is necessary to its connexion
with the preceding and following context) does not militate against,
nor is it inconsistent with, the declaration that there is 'One Mediator
between God and man', (1 Tim. ii. 5). The young student of theology
needs to be cautioned against the too common mistake of treating a
verse of Scripture as if it were an isolated proposition, instead of re
garding it in its relation to the train of thought to the expression of
which it contributes.
21. Having thus sharply contrasted the two covenants, the Apostle
anticipates an objection — 'You say that God is One. He is the
Author both of the law and of the promises. How then can there be
the opposition between them which your argument would imply? ' To
this the answer is decisive. The difference is such as to display a
marked contrast, not such as to involve antagonism. Otherwise God
might seem in giving the law to have retracted the promises. Away
with such a supposition.
for if there had been a law given... by the law] Life had been for
feited by sin ; life must be recovered by righteousness. The promise
assured life to the believer through righteousness imputed; the law
offered life as the reward of a perfect obedience. Had the conditions of
the law been less strict, or had man been able to fulfil them, then
righteousness (and life) had come to men from the law. Hence there is
no antagonism between the two covenants. 'To give life' was the
end of both. The law failed to do this ; the promise succeeded. Man
could not obey perfectly : he could believe, and so obtain life.
22. But the Scripture, &c] The impossibility (Theod. Mops.) of

42 GALATIANS, III. [vv. 23, 24.
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ
23 might be given to them that believe. But before faith
came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith
24 which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might
obtaining righteousness by legal obedience is proved by the plain
testimony of Scripture. It is noteworthy that in this momentous
argument St Paul appeals not to conscience or experience, but to God's
Word written.
the Scripture hath concluded] Not the O. T. generally, but the par
ticular passage referred to in ch. ii. 16, viz. Psalm cxliii. 2. This view
is confirmed by the tense employed 'concluded', rather than the perfect
'hath concluded'. This personification of Scripture is remarkable,
investing it with the dignity and authority of a Divine utterance.
concluded] i.e. 'shut up', leaving no means of escape. The same
word occurs Rom. xi. 32, ' God shut up all men into disobedience, that
He might have mercy upon all '.
all] Lit. ' all things ', neuter. In the passage just quoted from
Romans we have ' all men '. This is more comprehensive, not because
' no exception is made, not even in favour of the Virgin Mary, as the
Vatican decree would require' (Dr Schaff) — though this is true, — but
because men's purest aims, and noblest efforts, and holiest achieve
ments are tainted witli sin.
that the promise... believe] The promise is here put for the thing
promised, justification, life. Bp. Lightfoot observes that the words,
'by faith in Jesus Christ' are not redundant. St Paul's opponents did
not deny that only believers could obtain the promise. They held that
it was obtained by works, and not by faith.
This verse reveals the end for which the law was given — not to
condemn, but to shew that by it was no escape, from it no escape,
except by faith in the promise — in the Person promising and the
Person promised. How beautifully Bunyan illustrates this great truth
when he makes the Pilgrims who were shut up in the Doubting Castle
of Giant Despair effect their escape by the Key of Promise, which
Christian found in his bosom !
23. But before faith came] Better, ' before this faith', i.e. in Jesus
Christ, ' came ' ; and so nearly = before Christ came.
we were kept] kept in ward. The same word occurs 1 Pet. i. 5.
shut up] The passive of the same verb which is rendered 'hath
concluded' in v. 22.
the faith which should afterwards be revealed] Here the word faith
seems to pass from the subjective to the objective sense. It means the
full Gospel revelation of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
24. Translate, so that the law has proved to us a tutor unto
Christ. our schoolmaster] The Greek word, 'paidagogos' (from which
Engl, pedagogue) does not mean a teacher, but a confidential slave,

vv. 25—27.] GALATIANS, III. 43
be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are 25
no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children 26
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as ,7

who had the general charge of boys, watching over their conduct and
exercising discipline — sometimes, though not always, attending them to
school. The sense is, that the legal dispensation, with its requirements
and restrictions, was a preparation for the liberty of the Gospel. But
while rejecting the narrow interpretation which would limit the office
of the law to the functions of a schoolmaster or teacher, we must not
(with some commentators) regard Christ as the Schoolmaster to Whose
school the law conducted us. The contrast is not between the ' tutor '
and the teacher, but between the state of tutelage and that of freedom
see v. 25.
25. But after that faith is come] See note on v. 23.
26 — 29. The selection of the metaphor of w. 24, 25 is by no means
accidental. It suggests and leads up to the grand revelation of Gospel
blessedness contained in the peroration to this chapter. The very fact
that we were under tutelage proves that our true relation to God is that
of sons, a relationship into which we all, both Jews and Gentiles, entered
by believing in Jesus Christ. Of this relationship our Baptism was the
sign and pledge and instrument. We therein became clothed with
Christ. Our nakedness was covered with the robe of His perfect
righteousness. He became the circumambient, enveloping element in
which our new life is lived and sustained. And here the external dis
tinctions, of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, nay, even that which has
so long separated the sexes, disappears. In Christ all are united who
by faith are united to Him. And if we belong to Christ, if we are part
of Him, who is the promised Seed, then we are the seed of Abraham,
we are heirs according to the promise.
26. Ye are] The change from the first person 'we are' v. 25 to
the second 'ye are' marks a transition from an argument to an appeal.
The converse is found 2 Cor. vi. 14, 16, vii. 1 ; 1 Thess. v. 6.
all] Both Jews and Gentiles — an indirect confirmation of the state
ment that the law is not against the promises of God.
the children] Better, sons. Comp. John i. 12 'As many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on His name. '
27. The connexion seems to be, 'I say, it is by faith in Christ,
that you are sons of God — a faith professed in your Baptism, by which
you put on Christ. In Him all the old distinctions of race, condition
and sex disappear, so far as the inheritance of the promise is concerned '.
The doctrine of Holy Baptism, as taught in this verse, has been the
subject of discussion among expositors, some affirming that every person
does in Baptism put on Christ, others denying that the Apostle is re
ferring to the rite of Baptism. But surely neither of these inferences is
warranted by the context. He is addressing those who by faith in
Christ are sons of God. The 'all' of v. 26, and the 'as many of you'

44 GALATIANS, III. [vv. 28, 29.
28 have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in Christ
29 Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise.
of this verse, have reference to those distinctions which were done away
in Christ.
have put on Christ] This and the preceding verb are aorists, and
should be rendered, were baptized, put on Christ. The two acts
were definite and contemporaneous.
The metaphor may be taken from the white robe in which persons
were clothed after submitting to the rite of Baptism. But St Paul uses
the expression to denote a change of character, by which the person
appears under a new aspect. 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creation. Old things have passed away; behold, they have become
new,' 2 Cor. vi. 17. The verb is of frequent occurrence in his writings,
and its full force can be best understood from a comparison of those
passages. Thus the things assumed or put on are, 'the armour (or
weapons) of light,' Rom. xiii. 12. 'The Lord Jesus Christ,' Rom. xiii.
14. 'Immortality,' 1 Cor. xv. 53, 54. 'The new man,' Eph. iv. 24;
Col. iii. 10. 'The whole armour of God,' Eph. vi. n (cf. v. 14 and
1 Thess. v. 8). 'Bowels of compassion, goodness, humility, gentle
ness, long-suffering) ' Col. iii. 12. In Luke xxiv. 49 it is rendered 'en
dued'. It is to be noted that in each of the offices for Holy Baptism
there is a prayer that 'those dedicated' to God by the office and minis
try of His Church 'may be endued with heavenly virtues'.
28. The unity here predicated results from the putting on of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Comp. Col. iii. 10, n, where the train of thought
is the same and the language very similar.
male nor female] Lit. 'male and female', possibly with reference to
Gen. i. 27. The rite of circumcision was limited to male children; the
Sacrament of Baptism is administered to both male and female. There
are here no injunctions as to slavery and the treatment of women. But
the principle laid down has by its application abolished the one and
ameliorated the other. The Talmud everywhere assumes and often
states the recognised inferiority of women to men.
ye are all one] 'ye' is emphatic, pointing to those who are 'sons of
God', a. 26. 'One person', or'one man'. Comp. Eph. ii. 15; Rom.
xii. 5; 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13.
29. If ye be Christ's] If ye are by faith incorporated into Christ,
the promised Seed, then by virtue of that living union ye are yourselves
Abraham's seed. The paraphrase of Theod. Mops, is remarkable: 'If
ye are Christ's by reason of regeneration in Baptism, typifying your
future likeness to Him, and if Christ is Abraham's seed, it follows of
necessity that you also, being His body, are the seed of the same
ancestor as He is, and consequently heirs too of the promise'.
Christ's] Our Lord Himself used this expression (Mark ix. 41) to

w. i, 2.J GALATIANS, IV. 45
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth 4
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all ; but is a
describe His disciples. The blessed privilege may be abused, and
vaunted in a spirit of sectarian rivalry (1 Cor. i, 12); but to 'belong to
Christ' is the high dignity and the eternal security of every believer (1
Cor. iii. 23). The Apostle has established the assertion of v. 7 that
believers are the true children of Abraham and heirs of the promise.
'Union with Christ constitutes the true spiritual descent from Abra
ham, and secures the inheritance of all the Messianic blessings by pro
mise, as against inheritance by law'- Dr Schaff.

CHAPTER IV.
Continuation of the argument, vv. 1 — 7. The Law a neces
sary preparation for the Gospel. Sonship through re
demption attested by the Spirit. 8 — 11. Danger of going
back to the observance of the legal ceremonial. 12 — 20.
Personal appeal. 21 — 31. The allegory of the two Cove
nants, pointing to liberty only in Christ.
1. The word 'heirs' at the end of the preceding chapter suggests
another illustration. In human affairs the condition of a minor is
antecedent to the enjoyment of the liberty and the civil rights which
accrue to him on coming of age. He is a son and an heir, but during
minority his position is that of a slave.
Now I say] This is my meaning, comp. ch. iii. 17.
a child] lit. 'an infant', the legal term to designate 'a minor'-
differeth nothing from a servant] rather, from a slave. It is
doubtful whether this description (continued in v. 2) applies to a minor
under Roman or Jewish or Colonial (Galatian) law. Caesar says that
among the Gallic tribes a father had power of life and death over
wife and children (B. G. vi. 9). It would seem from a passage in
Gaius (Inst. I. 55 J) that by a local law a Galatian father had this
exceptional power. We may however regard St Paul's description as
generally applicable to the condition of a minor without reference to
any particular code.
though he be lord of all] Though, unlike the slave, he is lord of all,
lord, by right of ultimate succession, whether his father be living or
dead. Our Lord uses a similar figure, John viii. 35, 'The slave
abideth not in the house for ever ; but the son abideth ever. If the
Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed'.
"He is the free man whom the truth makes free,
And all are slaves besides." Cowper.
1 Bp Lightfoot considers that ' this view seems to rest on a mistaken interpreta
tion ' of the words of Gaius. It is however maintained by an eminent living jurist.

46 GALATIANS, IV. [vv. 3, 4.
under tutors and governors until the time appointed of
3 the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in
4 bondage under the elements of the world : but when the
2. tutors and governors] guardians and stewards, the one having
the charge of his person, the other the management of his estate.
the time appointed of the father] the time fixed before by his father for
the coming of age. It is not necessary, as has been stated already, to refer
this to any special law or custom. It is clearly what might have often
happened ; and it is mentioned because of its typical import. The
'fulness of the time' is the antitype to 'the time appointed', and 'the
father' of the minor has his counterpart in Him to whom we cry,
'Abba, Father'.
3. Even so we] Both Jews and Gentiles, as such, i.e. before con
version to Christ.
children] minors, as in v. 1 .
the elements of the world] The exact meaning of this expression is
doubtful. The word rendered 'elements' is translated 'rudiments' in
Col. ii. 8, 20, and there, as in this passage, it has the qualifying
addition; 'of the world'. The senses assigned to the word are: (1) the'
material elements, which are supposed to constitute the physical uni
verse, such as earth, fire, water, air and the heavenly bodies; and
(2) rudimentary instruction, the alphabet of the human race, which
it was taught in times antecedent to the Gospel revelation — a system
of rites and ceremonies, the picture-lessons of its childhood.
It is used in the former sense in two passages of St Peter (2 Pet. iii.
10, 12) and is so understood in this place by most of the older com
mentators. Theod. Mops, explains it of the sun and moon, by which
months and years are measured, and refers it to that observance of days
and seasons and months, which the Apostle condemns v. 10. Others
see a reference to the worship of the great powers of nature among the
heathen, and the honours virtually paid to them by the Jews in their
observance of weeks and years.
Most modern expositors adopt the second explanation, and suppose
St Paul to represent- "the religion of the world before Christ, es
pecially the Jewish, as an elementary religion, or a religion of child
hood, full of external rites and ceremonies, all of which had a certain
educational significance, but pointed beyond themselves to an age of
manhood in Christ". These systems are characterised (v. 9)as'weakand
beggarly' (see note there). In Col. ii. 8 these 'rudiments of the world'
are placed in parallelism with 'the traditions of men', and are closely
associated with 'philosophy and vain deceit' which Clement of Alex
andria explains as referring to Greek philosophy. The expression here
seems to include all those systems of religion and philosophy which
prevailed in the world, prior and preparatory to the dispensation of
the Spirit, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Subservience to these was
slavery. Of the Jewish ceremonial we read that it consisted "only in
meats and drinks and divers washings and ordinances of the flesh im
posed, pressing heavily on them, until the time of reformation." Heb.

w. 5, 6.] GALATIANS, IV. 47
fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were 5
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of 6

ix. 10. Yet more burdensome were the requirements of Rabbinic
Judaism, and of most heathen systems of religion.
of the world] Not only sensuous, material,- as opposed to spiritual;
but as embracing under various systems the whole human race.
4. the fulness of the time] The completion of the time of the
world's nonage, corresponding to 'the time appointed by the father'
in v. 3. God's appointed time had come, and man's need of redemption
had been, proved to the full. Thus the eternal purpose of God and
the preparation of the world had their fulfilment in the Advent of the
Incarnate Son.
God sent forth his Son] In the Gospels, and especially in that of
St John, our Lord designates the Father by the expression, " Him that
sent me." It implies that our Lord existed before His incarnation,
that He 'was with God', John i. r.
made... the law] Translate, born of woman, born under the law.
The Son of God Most High thus became very man, the Seed of the
woman who should bruise the serpent's head (Gen. iii. 15) and also the
Seed of Abraham in whom all nations of the earth should be blessed
(Gen. xxii. 18).
5. Born under the law, our Blessed Lord not only in His most holy
life fulfilled all the commandments of the law, but in His death He
satisfied its conditions by bearing its penalty, and redeeming us from its
curse; born of a woman, He became the Head and representative of
the human race, that in Him we might become sons of God. Possibly
the wider rendering 'under law' may be correct, in which case the
redemption includes expressly what it does by implication — all man
kind. the adoption of sons] Men become sons of God by adoption ; Christ
is the Son of God by eternal generation.
6. In proof of this, as in ch. iii. 2, St Paul appeals to their own
experience. Man by nature does not regard God, much less does he
pray to Him, as a father. If the Galatians have "the earnest of the
Spirit" (2 Cor. i. 22, v. 5) in their hearts, it is a pledge of their in
heritance (Eph. i. 14), a proof that they are sons of God. Comp.
Rom. viii. 15, 16 (where the identity of the words employed is very
striking in the original) "For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage
again unto fear, but ye received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are children of God."
sent forth] the same verb which is used in v. 4. The Father sends
forth from Himself the Son and the Spirit.
the Spirit of his Son] 'A title more strictly adapted to this occasion
than any other that could have been employed. We are sons of God,
6-2

48 GALATIANS, IV.  [v- 7-
7 his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son ; and if a son, then

because we have received the same Spirit as His only Son'. Calvin.
He is the Spirit of Christ because given to Christ (John iii. 34), sent by
Christ (John xv. 26) witnessing to Christ (lb.).
crying] A word denoting intense earnestness of supplication. Here
it is the Holy Ghost who makes intercession in the believer's heart
(comp. Rom. viii. 26) ; in Romans (loc. cit.) the believer himself cries,
Abba, Father. There is no contradiction in this, any more than in our
Lord's promise, Matt. x. 20.
Abba, Father] The first word is Aramaic, and means 'Father.' In
two other passages the same combination is found. From its use in
one of these (Rom. viii. 15) which is parallel to the verse before us,
nothing can be inferred as to its origin. But from the other (Mark xiv.
36) , we learn that our Blessed Lord in His agony in Gethsemane used
this form of invocation. Why He used it, we cannot say. Certainly
the second word was not added by Him (or by the Evangelist)
as explanatory of the first. In the repetition of the word, which
expressed at once His faith and His filial .submission, we have an
utterance which baffles our finite exegesis. The anguish of that spotless
soul, in the near prospect of the Cross and bowing beneath the load of
a world's sin, found vent in words, the most fitting, yet (as language
ever must be) inadequate fully to convey the deepest feelings of the
heart. But we observe, 1st, that it was in deep suffering that these
words were spoken. Suffering is a mark of Sonship. Comp. Heb. v.
7, 8 ' Who in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and sup
plications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save
Him from death.. .though He was a Son, yet learned He obedience by
the things which He suffered,' with Heb. xii. 7 ' If ye endure chasten
ing, God dealeth with you as with sons : for what son is there whom
his father chasteneth not?' And, 2ndly, the use of a Jewish and a
Gentile word in that mysterious and awful cry reminds and assures us
that in Him and by His Passion we both, Jews and Gentiles, have
access as children unto the Father.
7. The conclusion of the argument is not stated didactically, but
made emphatic by its personal form, passing from 'we' to 'ye', from
'ye' to 'thou'.
no more a servant] rather no longer in bondage (v. 4).
then an heir] By the Roman law all the children whether sons or
daughters inherited equally, whereas by the Jewish law females suc
ceeded only in default of heirs male. Comp. Rom. viii. 17.
of God through Christ] The reading which has most authority is
' through God '. It is unlikely that any transcriber would have adopted
this reading, which is less usual, if he had had the received text before
him. The expression ' through God ' has the same sense as in ch. i. 1 .
It stands in antithesis to all human effort or merit, by the appointment
and grace of God.

vv. 8— io. GALATIANS, IV. 49
an heir of God through Christ. Howbeit then, when ye 8
knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature
are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or 9
rather are known of God, how turn ye again- to the weak
and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in
bondage ? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and io

Danger of going back to the observance of the legal
ceremonial. 8 — 11.
8. Notwithstanding, is it so that you who once were idolaters and
ignorant of God, yet after having been brought to the knowledge of the
true God, are turning back to a system of ceremonial observances ? If
this be so, I fear the labour I have bestowed on you is thrown away.
The emphatic words in w. 8, 9 are ' did service', ' to be in bondage'.
The verb is the same in the original. The tense is different. ' Before
your conversion you were in slavery — will you go back to a state of
slavery? Then you served demons — will you now submit to the bond
age of weak and beggarly elements ? '
knew not God] Comp. 1 Thess. iv. 5 'The Gentiles, which know
not God'. They might have known something of Him from the universe
or from tradition or intuitively, but ' they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge', Rom. i. 28.
them which by nature are no gods] The order of these words, so
far as the position of the negative particle is concerned, is uncertain in
the original. Adopting the A.V. we explain, 'which by nature (in
reality) are not gods, but demons'. If however the negative stand
earlier in the sentence, the rendering will be, ' which are not by nature,
(not really, but only by repute) gods '. If the former be retained, comp.
1 Cor. x. 20, " The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice
to demons and not to God." If the latter order be adopted, we may
compare 1 Cor. viii. 5, " there be that are called gods."
9. now, after that ye have known. ..are known] The word rendered
'known' is different in the original from that so rendered in v. 8. It here
denotes more than the acknowledgment of God's existence — a discern
ment of His character and recognition of His authority, on the part of
man ; approval on the part of God. The same English word is used in
1 Cor. xiii. 12 to render a still stronger verb in the Greek of which the
margin of R. V. gives ' fully know ' as the equivalent.
or rather] God knows man before man knows God — an humbling
thought. weak and beggarly elements] See note on v. 3. They are 'weak',
powerless to give life (Heb. vii. 18); 'beggarly' (rather, 'poor') as
contrasted with 'the unsearchable riches of Christ', the riches of that
grace which came by Jesus Christ.
10. Perhaps this verse should be read interrogatively, ' Do ye
observe &c.?' or the construction may be carried on from the preceding
verse, ' How is it that ye are turning,  that ye are observing &c.?'

So GALATIANS, IV. [v. ii.
11 years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you
labour in vain.
Ye observe] The whole meaning of the verse depends on the sense
attached to this word. It is compounded of a verb wliich means to
observe and a preposition which implies that either the purpose or the
method of observation is bad. The simple verb and corresponding
noun are commonly used in N.T. in a good sense, e.g. "He that hath
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me".
John xiv. 21, 'Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing;
but the keeping oi the commandments of God." i Cor. vii. 19. But
the compound is never so used. Mark iii. 2; Luke vi. 7, xvi. 1, xx.
20; Acts ix. 24. Comp. for the noun, Luke xvii. 20. St Paul is
not condemning the observance of 'days and months and times and
years' but their zre/.r-observance. Jewish Christians might continue to
keep them as hallowed customs of divine origin, but not as grounds
of justification. These were not to be sharers with Christ in the great
work of salvation. Bondage to these rudiments forfeited the liberty
of the Gospel. Gentile believers were never bound to such observances,
and if they yielded to the Judaizing teachers and submitted to the
yoke of the Jewish ceremonial, they were no longer partakers of the
liberty of Christ.
Compare Col. ii. 16, where not the simple observance is condemned,
but the slavery which is involved in its being required for salvation,
and the dishonour which is done to Christ by adding to His perfect
righteousness. See note on ch. v. 2.
days] 'sabbaths and fasts'. There is clearly no exemption here
from the obligation of the observance of ' the seventh day '. 'The law
of the Sabbath, i.e. of one weekly day of holy rest in God (the seventh
in the Jewish, the first in the Christian Church) is as old as the
Creation, it is founded on the moral and physical constitution of man,
it was instituted in Paradise, incorporated in the Decalogue on Mount
Sinai, put on a new foundation by the Resurrection of Christ, and
is an absolute necessity for public worship and the welfare of man'.
Dr Schaff. What St Paul condemns is the observance of the day
in a legal spirit, in compliance with the minute and childish prohi
bitions of the Rabbinic system and as a matter of merit with God.
months] As marked by the 'new moons'. Comp. Isaiah i. 13;
Num. xxviii. 11 &c, or possibly the 'seventh month', Lev. xxiii.
24 foil.
times] Better, seasons, the great annual festivals, which lasted
several days, as the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, &c.
years] Every seventh year was a sabbatical year and every fiftieth
year a Jubilee. See Levit. xxv. 2 — 17.
11. / am afraid of you] Sad thought, that all the toil which he
had undergone on their behalf might prove to have been in vain I The
possibility of such a result softens his tone, and as he thinks of his own
labours, he will appeal to them by their memory of the past — of their
reception of him and of his message ' at the first '.

w. 12, 13.] GALATIANS, IV. 51
Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am ; for I am as ye are : «
ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through in- 13
firmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the
The thought of having bestowed labour in vain has always been one
of the trials of the faithful messenger of God. It was so in the case
of Elijah (1 Kings xix. 10, 14), of Isaiah, (Isaiah liii. 1). It finds
frequent expression in the Epistles of St Paul (1 Cor. xv. 14; Gal.
ii. 2 ; Phil. ii. 16; 1 Thess. iii. 5)- The assurance given long ago (Is.
Iv. 1 1) is still needed and still in force.
12—20. Personal Appeal.
The Apostle now makes a personal appeal, marked by deep affection
and earnestness. "Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, free
yourselves from the trammels of the ceremonial law and of the Ju
daizing teachers, for I became as you were. To you who were Gentiles
and 'without law, I became as without law' (1 Cor. ix. 21) that I
might gain you to Christ. Copy then my example "
for I am} Better, I became as you. I gave up much that was
dear to me for your sake.
ye have not injured me at all] The exact meaning of these words
is doubtful. Perhaps we should refer them to what immediately
precedes. 'I ask you now to make a return for my self-sacrifice. I
am not complaining of your conduct in past time. That was deserving
of praise, not of reproach '.
13. through infirmity of the flesh] Rather, as R.V. 'because of
an infirmity of the flesh', owing to bodily sickness.
What was this infirmity? Most commentators identify it with the
'thorn in the flesh', 2 Cor. xii. 7. Bp Lightfoot (p. 169 foil.) enu
merates in chronological order the different conjectures which have
been put forward in early and more modem times. They are (1)
some bodily ailment, (2) persecution, (3) fleshly desires, (4) spiritual
trials, such as temptations to despair, blasphemous suggestions of the
Devil. The most recent expositors recur to the earliest view of this
infirmity — that it was some bodily ailment. Bp Lightfoot conjectures
that it was 'of the nature of epilepsy'. Between this suggestion and
that of some defect of eye-sight, perhaps acute ophthalmia, it is not
easy to choose. The passages adduced in support of this latter con
jecture are not conclusive in its favour, though their cumulative evi
dence is strong. They are discussed in an interesting note by Bp.
Lightfoot, p. 174, note 1.
at the first] Probably, 'on the former occasion', i.e. on the earlier
of my two visits, mentioned Acts xvi. 6. The second or later visit
is named Acts xviii. 23. We may fairly infer from the Apostle's lan
guage that on the former occasion he had not intended to preach the
Gospel in Galatia, but that sickness of some kind (probably acute
disorder) detained him there, and that notwithstanding weakness and
pain — distress to himself, and disadvantage to the reception of his
message — he proclaimed the Gospel of his Lord.

52 GALATIANS, IV. [vv. 14— '7-
m first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised
not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even
15 as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness you spake
of? for I bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye
would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given
16 them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because
17 I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not

14. And my temptation] The true reading is probably 'your
temptation'. The Apostle's sickness was a trial of their faith. Like
his Divine Master, he had no natural 'form nor comeliness' (2 Cor.
x. 10), and when to this natural disqualification bodily disorder was
added, they might well have asked if such a teacher had any claim
on their acceptance,
ye despised not nor rejected] Very strong expressions, implying that
there was something repulsive in the character of the disease.
rejected] Nearly= 'loathed'. The construction is simple, the 'temp
tation' being put for the 'sickness' which constituted it, and which
they might have regarded with contempt and disgust.
even as Christ Jesus] An unconscious fulfilment on the part of
the Galatians of our Lord's words, ' He that receiveth you, receiveth
me', Matt. x. 40.
15. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of] The last three words
are not in the original. They are a paraphrase (and so an interpre
tation) of the genitive of the 2nd personal pronoun. Does this genitive
express the object or the subject of the noun rendered 'blessedness'?
This noun occurs Rom. iv. 6. Here it may either mean 'your blessed
ness' (as A.V.), the blessedness which you experienced in embracing
the Gospel of justification by faith apart from the works of the law.
Or it may mean, your applause of me. On the whole the former is
to be preferred, as bearing on the general argument of the Epistle.
The latter is however in full accordance with the immediate context.
your own eyes] Rather, your eyes. Some have inferred from
the A.V. that St Paul was suffering from loss of eyesight. But the
emphasis is not on 'your' but on 'eyes'. 'There is no sacrifice which
you were not ready to make to shew your zeal and affection towards
me'. 16. Am I therefore] 'So that I am become  truth?' The tone
of the sentence is interrogative, rather than the form.
/ tell you the truth] The reference is probably to the second visit
to Galatia, when the Judaizers had begun to sow seeds of error and
discord among St Paul's converts. He says 'I tell', not 'I told',
because he has made no change in his teaching. Truth is ever one
and the same.
17, 18. In contrast to the simplicity of his own teaching, St Paul
exposes the party spirit by which the false teachers were actuated.
They zealously affect you] The sentence is abrupt, no persons' being

w. 18, 19.] GALATIANS, IV. S3
well; yea, they would exclude you, that you might affect
them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a 18
good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My 19
little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ

named; though St Paul evidently had in his mind those alluded to
ch. i. 7. The expression 'zealously affect' is not very intelligible to the
ordinary reader. The verb, which is rendered 'affect' in this same
verse, is used frequently in N.T. with reference to both persons and
things. Originally it meant to feel or shew zeal, jealousy or envy.
From this sense the transition was easy to that of 'desire earnestly',
'pay court to', 'seek to win or win over'. The word is used in a good
and a bad sense by St Paul, e.g. 1 Cor. xii. 31 where it is rendered
'covet', i.e. desire, and 1 Cor. xiii. 4 'Love envieth not'. Here the
meaning is 'They seek to win you over to their own party'. Error
must be maintained and propagated by proselytising and partisanship.
The whole passage may be paraphrased — 'They seek to gain you to
their own party, but not with right motives, nay, they would exclude
you from my influence, in the hope of your reciprocating their desire for
your adhesion. But let me remind you that a desire of this kind is only
to be approved when the motives are pure and the object good. Under
such conditions it is always good. Such were the conditions under
.which I sought to win you to Christ when I was present with you ;
such is still the case now that we are separated '. This leads up to the
tender yet sad remonstrance which follows. In support of this view of
the connexion and train of thought we may compare St Paul's words,
2 Cor. xi. 2 "I am jealous over you (I would fain win you, not from
party spirit or for personal ends, but) with a Godly jealousy (or longing
desire)". True love is always jealous.
they would exclude you] Some copies read 'us' for 'you'. The
sense is the same. There seems to be an allusion to some attempt
on the part of the Judaizers to induce the Galatian converts formally to
renounce their allegiance to St Paul.
19. In the preceding verse the metaphor seems to be taken from
the affection of husband and wife (see i Cor. xi. t, 3). Now it is
changed to that from a mother in travail.
My little children] A form of address expressive of great tenderness,
common with St John, but used only here by St Paul. This verse may
be a continuation of the preceding. But it is better to take it as an
apostrophe, and to regard the particle 'but' (see note) at the beginning
of verse 20 as resumptive of the train of thought from v. 18.
again] This had first taken place at their conversion.
until Christ be formed in you] The indwelling of Christ in the believer's
soul is the principle of his new life. To restore this after a relapse is a
task of deep anxiety to the Apostle. Calvin sees here an illustration of
the efficacy of the Christian ministry. God ascribes to His ministers
that work which He Himself performs through the power oi His Spirit,
acting by human instruments.

54 GALATIANS, IV. [w. 20—22.
— ^  '
20 be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and
to change my voice ; for I stand in doubt of you.
21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not
22 hear the law ? For it is written, that Abraham had two
20. I desire] Rather, " But, speaking of being present, I could wish
to be present with you now". The 'but' which is not expressed in the
A.V. connects this verse with v. 18 in which he had referred to his
presence in Galatia.
to change my voice] Most commentators understand this to mean
either (1) to accommodate my speech to your requirements which I could
do, were I on the spot; or (2) to change my tone from severity to
gentleness. Mr Wood contends for a different explanation. He con
siders that St Paul's intention in writing this Epistle, was that 'by
another's voice he might speak to them without delay'- He under
stands the presence to be 'a presence in spirit' as in 1 Cor. v. 3. The
choice lies between the 1st and 2nd interpretation, of which perhaps the
first is preferable.
/ stand in doubt of you] Rather, I am perplexed about you,
as R.V.
21 — 31. The Allegory of the two Covenants, pointing
to liberty only in Christ.
21. The final argument is an appeal to Scripture, to that very law to
which the Galatians were desiring to subject themselves. If they would
but listen to the teaching of the law they would hear it declaring its own
inferiority to the Gospel, the bondage of its children as compared with
the liberty of those who are the children of God through faith in Jesus
Christ and heirs of the promise. Calvin says that St Paul in these
verses employs a very beautiful illustration of the doctrine on which he
has been insisting, but that viewed merely as an argument it has no
great force. But he seems to forget that the cogency of an argument is
relative to the habits of thought of the persons addressed. Some of
those employed by our Lord seem to us inconclusive, because we find it
difficult to put ourselves in the place of the Jews who heard Him. To
them His words carried conviction or at least provoked no answer, e.g.
Lukexi. 47, 48; Matt. xxii. 31 — 33, 41 — 46.
under the law] perhaps 'under (i.e. subject to) law', legal obser
vances, used in a wider and less definite sense than 'the law' which
here refers to the Pentateuch. St Paul adopts the well-known Jewish
division of the O.T. Scriptures, the Law (or Pentateuch), the Prophets,
the Hagiographa (or rest of the sacred writings).
do ye not hear] Either 'do ye not listen to its teaching?' or 'is it not
read in your hearing?' Acts xv. 21. Some copies have 'do ye not
read the law', i.e. aloud in the Synagogues? Comp. Luke iv. 16, 17.
The first is probably the meaning.
22. it is written] This is not a quotation of any particular passage.
'It is recorded in Scripture'.

vv. 23, 24.] GALATIANS, IV. 55
sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh ; 23
but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things h
are an allegory : for these are the two covenants ; the one
from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which
a bondmaid] Lit. 'the bondmaid', Hagar; so 'the free woman',
Sarah. Hagar was an Egyptian slave in the house of Abraham. God
having promised to Abraham that in his seed all nations should be
blessed, Sarah, becoming impatient because the fulfilment of the
promise was delayed, gave Hagar as a concubine to her husband. This
resulted in the birth of Ishmael (Gen. xvi. 1 — 3, 15.) Thirteen years
later the Lord promised that Abraham should have a son by Sarah
when she was past the age of child-bearing. This was fulfilled in the
birth of Isaac.
The marked features of contrast in this narrative, which have their
counterparts in the antitype are :

The bond maid and her son.
Birth in the ordinary course of
nature ('after the flesh').
Ishmael, born a slave.
Hagar and her son driven forth
into the desert.

The free woman and her son.
Birth out of the course of na
ture, ' through the promise '.
Isaac, born free.
Sarah and her son abiding in
the home.'

The New Covenant, the Gospel.
The Heavenly Jerusalem.
Spiritual birth to freedom.
Persecuted.Inheritance.

To these correspond
The Old Covenant (or dispen
sation) given on Mt Sinai.
The earthly Jerusalem.
Natural birth into bondage.
Persecuting.
Expulsion. 24. which things are an allegory] Rather, 'Now all these things
may be regarded as an allegory '. The facts are historical, but they are
types (1 Cor. x. 11) calculated and intended to teach great spiritual
truths, and they have their counterparts in the facts (equally historical)
of the Gospel dispensation. We generally regard an allegory as a
fictitious narrative. It may be so, as Bunyan's Pilgrims' Progress ; but
there is no indication in St Paul's language that he dissented from the
common belief among the Jews that the narrative in Genesis was his
torical1. for these are the two covenants] Rather, 'for these (women) are two
covenants (or dispensations) '.
the one from the mount Sinai] 'one from Mount Sinai'. We should
have expected, 'and the other from Mount Sion, answering to the
1 Dr Johnson defines an allegory as 'a figurative discourse in which something
other is intended than is contained in the words literally taken '. By the examples
which he gives he seems to confound it with 'a metaphor'.

56 GALATIANS, IV. [vv. 25—27.
25 is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and
answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage
2s with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free,
27 which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice,
thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry,
heavenly Jerusalem, bearing children into liberty, and this is Sara' ; but
the explanatory clauses which follow interrupt the construction, which
is resumed in v. 26, 'but Jerusalem which is above &c.'
which gendereth to bondage] Better, bearing children into bondage.
which is Agar] 'and this is (typified by) Hagar'.
25. The reading, the construction and the meaning of the first clause
of this verse are uncertain, and have afforded matter for considerable
discussion. The genuineness of the word 'Hagar' is doubtful. If it
is retained, the sense will be, 'For (or, as some copies read, 'now') this
term Hagar is the name by which Mount Sinai is called in Arabia', it
therefore represents Mount Sinai, which is in Arabia, the country to
which Hagar fled and which her descendants inhabit. 'The word Hagar
in Arabic means "a rock", and some authorities tell us that Mount
Sinai is so called by the Arabs'. Conybeare and Howson. But.it is
better to omit it, and the sense will then be, 'For Mount Sinai is in
Arabia', the country of Ishmael's descendants, the offspring of the
bondwoman. In any case the clause is parenthetical, and the following
words refer to Hagar in the preceding verse: — 'and this is Hagar (for
Mount Sinai is situated in Arabia — the country of the Ishmaelites) and
it (the covenant) corresponds to Jerusalem &c.'
and answereth] 'belongs to the same row or category, corresponds
to', see note v. 22.
Jerusalem which now is] Here, from the addition of the phrase
'with her children' (comp. Matt, xxiii. 37), it is evident that Jerusalem
stands for the whole Jewish people, nationally considered. It is con
trasted not, as might have been expected, with 'Jerusalem which shall
be', but with 'Jerusalem which is from above'; but the antithesis is not
weakened. The Heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. xii. 2) is the same as the
'new Jerusalem' (Rev. xxi. 2) of the prophetic vision, which is even now
the city and the home of every true believer (Phil. iii. 20). It is in
heaven (or above) until the number of God's elect shall be accomplished,
and then it will 'come down from God out of heaven', not like a bond
woman and an outcast, but 'as a bride adorned for her husband'.
and is in bondage] The reference is probably to the legal bondage to
which every Jew, as such, was subject. But Jerusalem was at this time
literally a conquered city, subject to the Imperial power of Rome.
26. the mother of us all] Probably we should read with R.V. our
mother, where of course 'our' is emphatic. Comp. v. 31.
27. For it is written] The quotation is taken exactly from the
Septuagint version of Isaiah liv. 1 .
By the 'barren' we must understand Sarah, who was a type of the
Gospel dispensation. Small and persecuted in its early days, the Church

w. 28-30.] GALATIANS, IV. 57
thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many
more children than she which hath a husband. Now 28
we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him 29
that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Neverthe- 30
of Christ has now "many more children' than the Jewish Church could
ever boast of. 'She which hath an husband' (rather, 'the husband') is
Hagar, who took the place of Sarah in the conjugal society of the
husband. She represents the Jewish people, nationally and ecclesias
tically, and for a time enjoyed the peculiar favour of her God — a rela
tion to Him which in the O.T. is frequently described as that between
husband and wife. St Paul's use of this passage of Isaiah in no wise
interferes with its primary reference to the promised deliverance of
Israel from exile and oppression. Those who overlook or deny a
primary and literal fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament
unconsciously weaken the foundation on which the hope (or the belief)
of a spiritual and ultimate accomplishment of them rests.
28. The previous verse is introduced parenthetically. The connexion
is, 'Jerusalem from above is our mother.. .and we, brethren, as Isaac
was, are children, not according to the flesh, but of promise'. The
same conclusion as that arrived at ch. iii. 29.
29. In Gen. xxi. 9, 10, we read, 'And Sarah saw the son of Hagar
the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Where
fore she said, Cast out the bondwoman and her son : for the son of this
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac'. There is
no specific mention here 01 persecution. But apart from the fact that
insult is one form of persecution — a form in which the spirit of hatred
finds expression when prevented by law or lack of opportunity from
open violence — according to the Jewish tradition, Ishmael actually
assaulted Isaac. And this hostility was perpetuated by their descen
dants. The Hagarenes or Hagarites are thrice mentioned among the
enemies of Israel, 1 Chron. v. 10, 19; Psalm lxviii. 7.
even so it is now] Compare our Lord's words (John xv. 20), 'If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you'. St Paul could say
this from his own experience. See 2 Tim. iii. 11, where after speaking
of the persecutions which he had endured, he adds, ' Yea, and all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution'. From the Acts
of the Apostles we learn that the chief originators of these persecutions
were the Jews whose bigoted attachment to the Rabbinic system in
spired them with a. bitter hatred of the Gospel and those who pro
claimed it. In the subsequent history of the Church the illustrations of
St Paul's words are written in letters of blood. But to those who suffer
for the truth these persecutions are an evident token of salvation, and
that of God, Phil. i. 28. They are 'the marks of the Lord Jesus',
proofs of sonship, badges of freedom, pledges of inheritance.
30. There is nothing here to lend colour to the Rabbinic notion that
Sarah was a prophetess. The Scripture simply records her words and

58 GALATIANS, IV. [v. 31.
less what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman
and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall
31 not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then,
brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of
the free.
tells us how Abraham was bidden by God to comply with her demand,
Gen. xxi. 12.
shall not be heir] 'shall in no wise inherit'. Utterly and for ever
irreconcilable are Judaism and Christianity — salvation by works and
justification by faith — the Law and the Gospel.
31. So then] Better, wherefore. The conclusion is drawn from
the whole preceding argument. It is the assertion of our liberty in the
Gospel of Christ — freedom from the curse of the law, from the yoke of
ritual observances, from the bondage of sin and Satan, from the burden
of an evil conscience — an earnest of " the glorious liberty of the children
ofGod"- Chapters V. VI. (Third Division of the Epistle).
Practical Exhortations based on the preceding Doctrinal
Teaching.
V. 1 — 12. Exhortation to stand fast in the Liberty of
the Gospel.
1. Many editors place this verse at the end of ch. iv., connecting
it immediately with v. 31 of that chapter; 'we are not children of
a bondwoman, but of her who is free with that freedom wherewith
Christ hath emancipated us. Stand fast therefore and be not again
entangled with a yoke of bondage'.
But the received arrangement of the chapters is better. Chapter
iv. is didactic; chapter v. is hortatory, and therefore properly begins
with the injunction 'stand fast'.
It is however interesting to note that in the original the last word
of ch. iv. is 'free', and 'the freedom' are the opening words of
ch. v. We have a similar instance of the repetition of a word in
juxtaposition in Rom. xv. 12, 13, 'In Him shall the Gentiles hope.
Now the God oi hope fill you  that ye may abound in hope'.
Here we may render, In the freedom then wherewith Christ
made us free stand fast &c. The freedom thus bestowed is spiri
tual liberty which is quite independent of outward circumstances.
St Paul in chains, a prisoner in Rome, exulted in it. Nero on his
throne, the master of the world, with thirty legions at his back, was
the miserable slave of his lusts. Luther beautifully remarks: 'Let
us learn to count this our freedom most noble, exalted, and precious,
which no emperor, no prophet nor patriarch, no angel from heaven,
but Christ, God's Son, hath obtained for us; not that He might
relieve us from a. bodily and temporal subjection, but from a spiritual

vv. i—3.] GALATIANS, V. 59
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath 5
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be cir- 2
cumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify 3
again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor
and eternal imprisonment of the cruelest tyrants, namely the law,
sin, death, the Devil';
Stand fast] perhaps, 'stand upright', not bowing your neck to the
yoke of legal observances.
again] They who had escaped from the thraldom of heathenism
were not to submit to the slavery of Judaism. They who had once
tasted freedom in Christ were not to be again entangled in the bondage
of the law.
_ 2. St Paul here speaks with the Apostolic authority which he had
vindicated at the opening of the Epistle, but which he has hitherto
kept in abeyance while using argument, and remonstrance, and en
treaty. if ye be circumcised] St Paul and the other Apostles, and indeed
every convert from Judaism, were circumcised. It is clear therefore
that this expression (repeated in v. 3) must mean not the fact of being
circumcised, but the deliberate submission of Gentiles to the rite by
which proselytes were admitted to the Jewish Church, as if it were
necessary to salvation. A better rendering would be, if ye submit
to be circumcised. The act of such submission implied that a
man sought salvation in and by the law, of which circumcision
is the seal. But to such a man Christ and His righteousness bring
no advantage. 'He who submits to circumcision does so because
he stands in fear of the law, and he who so stands in fear distrusts
the power of grace, and he who distrusts gains no advantage from
that which is so distrusted '. Chrys.
St Paul, though as 'touching the righteousness which is in the law,'
he was found blameless before his conversion, yet turned his back on
it all that he might win Christ and be found in Him, not haying a
righteousness of his own, even that which is of the law, but that
which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith. Phil. iii. 6 — 9.
3. By receiving circumcision a man voluntarily put himself under
the conditions of the law, which were, ' fulfil perfectly and live : fail
and die'. The tremendous responsibility thus incurred may have been
disguised by the false Apostles: or the Galatians may have been
slow to realise it. St Paul's appeal is to the individual conscience.
'Warning every man and teaching every man' (Col. i. 28) was his
maxim as a minister of the Gospel, and it ought to be the maxim
of all who claim to be successors of the Apostles.
4. The same great and solemn truth is repeated in different terms.
"Christ shall profit you nothing"="a debtor to do the whole law"
(and therefore under a curse in consequence of failure) = " Christ is
of no effect unto you" = "ye are fallen from grace". Similarly, "if

60 GALATIANS, V. [vv. 4, 5-
4 to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto
you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are fallen
5 from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of
ye become circumcised" = "every man that submits to circumcision''
= " justified by the law".
Christ is become of no effect] Lit. 'ye were cut off from Christ',
brought to nought as regards any benefit accruing to you from Him.
are justified by the law] i.e. seek to be justified by the law.
ye are fallen] Probably, 'ye are cast forth' (like Hagar and her
son), banished from grace. The Apostle is not here stating anything
as to the possibility of recovery after such a relapse. His object is
to make it quite clear that if righteousness (or justification) is sought
in the law (i.e. by works) it involves the forfeiture of grace, and the
forfeiture of grace is ruin.
6. 'For we on the contrary, we who are Christ's, through the
Spirit are waiting for the hope of righteousness from faith'. The
connecting particle 'for' has reference to the falling from grace. The
gospel is a gospel of grace (Acts xx. 24). The Spirit is the Spirit
of grace (Heb. x. 29). We have a good hope through grace (2 Thess.
ii. 16). Righteousness (justification) is of faith that it might be by
grace (Rom. iv. 16).
the hope of righteousness] This does not mean the righteousness
hoped for. We who believe are now perfectly righteous, 'being
made', as the Apostle says, 'the righteousness of God in Him'.
It may refer to that sanctifying righteousness which is progressive,
'inherent in us but not perfect' (as Hooker says), the perfection
of which is the aim and end of our earthly discipline. Luther under
stands the expression to refer either to the hope of a full assurance
of justifying faith, or to the hope of complete deliverance from
sin. Writing out of the fulness of his own spiritual experience he
adds: 'Either sense may well stand; but the first, touching the inward
desire and affection of hoping, bringeth more plentiful consolation,
for my righteousness is not yet perfect, it cannot yet be felt: yet I
do not despair; for faith sheweth unto me Christ, in whom I trust,
and when I have laid hold of Him by faith, I wrestle against the
fiery darts of the devil, and I take a good heart through hope against
the feeling of sin, assuring myself that I have a perfect righteousness
prepared for me in heaven. So both these sayings are true; that I
am made righteous already by that righteousness which is begun in
me; and also I am raised up in the same hope against sin, and wait
for the full consummation of perfect righteousness in heaven. These
things are not rightly understood, but when they be put in practice'.
But it is better to understand it of that object of hope which belongs
to and arises out of our justification. By the faith which appropriates
the righteousness of Christ we become sons of God and heirs of His
everlasting kingdom. The inheritance is 'that blessed hope and mani
festation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ' (Titus ii. 13).

w. 6—8.] GALATIANS, V. 61
righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circum- 6
cision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision ; but faith
which worketh by love. Ye did run well ; who did hinder 7
you that ye should not obey the truth ? This persuasion 8
6. Anxious to remove all possibility of a misconstruction of his
meaning, St Paul gives a reason for thus connecting the inheritance
with faith. The fact of being circumcised or of being uncircumcised
in itself is of no avail to a man's salvation. If he is 'in Christ Jesus'
he is safe ; and he is in Christ by faith — a faith working through love.
We have a repetition of this statement in ch. vi. 15 with the substitution
of 'a new creature' for 'faith working through love'.
Abraham believed before he was circumcised, St Paul was circumcised
before he believed. Therefore the being circumcised or uncircumcised
in itself availeth nothing.
but faith which worketh by love] better, working by love. Most
commentators regard this statement as reconciling the language of St Paul
with that of St James concerning justification. But it maybe observed
that St Paul nowhere teaches that the faith which is without works
justifies. He does assert (and St James does not contradict him), that
man is justiBed by faith without works. Neither works, nor love, nor
any other Christian graces, cooperate with faith in the justification of
the sinner. They are the necessary fruits of a living faith.
The addition of the words, 'working through love', is an answer by
anticipation to the charges of Antinomianism, so constantly brought
against those who maintain the doctrine of justification by faith only.
7. The abruptness of thought and style is a marked feature of these
two chapters. It is not always possible to trace the connexion with
certainty. Ye did run well] ' You were running nobly'. The metaphor is taken
from the stadium — a favourite one with St Paul, c. ii. 2; 1 Cor. ix.
24 — 27, &c.
who did hinder you] who was it that threw obstacles in your way?
There may be a covert allusion here to some particular individual, pro
minent among the false teachers, to whom reference is again made v. 10.
that ye should not obey the truth] The truth personified, and here
equivalent to the Gospel which Paul had preached to them. These
words have been transferred from this place to ch. iii. 1 ; see note there.
The verb 'obey' has the same root as the noun rendered 'persuasion'
in the next verse, and they are in juxtaposition in the Greek. We have
another instance of the Pauline usage pointed out in the note on v. 1.
It is not easy to preserve the play on the words. It may be indicated
by translating, 'that from the truth you should withhold obedience.
The obedience which you are rendering cometh not from him who
calleth you '.
8. This persuasion] nearly equivalent to 'submission, obedience'.
Others take it in an active sense 'this suasion on the part of the false
teachers, to which you are yielding'. The objection to this view is that
'persuasion' is a weak term to apply to those who had hindered them
gal. 1

62 GALATIANS, V. [vv. 9, 10.
9 cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth
10 the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the
Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded : but he that
by throwing obstacles in their way. The word translated hindered
is a military term, and denotes the obstructions thrown in the way of an
advancing army, by opening trenches, erecting barricades, &c. — a very
cogent kind oi persuasion.
him that calleth you] i.e. God the Father. The present participle is
used here, instead of the past (c. i. 6), because the reference is not to
the particular case of those addressed, but to that never-failing grace of
God to which all 'effectual calling' is owing, Rom. ix. 11.
9. Leaven is that small portion of fermented dough which is intro
duced into the fresh lump of dough, and communicates lightness to the
whole mass. It is employed figuratively in Scripture to denote the
working of both good and bad influences, and is used both of persons
and of principles or teaching — comp. Matt. xvi. 12; Luke xiii. 21.
There is a reference, sometimes tacit, sometimes express (1 Cor. v. 8), to
the typical prohibition of the use of leaven in the law of Moses, Exod.
xii. 15 — 20, 34. This verse, which occurs again, 1 Cor. v. 6, seems to
have passed into a proverb. There the Apostle is condemning the
toleration of a single act of open immorality in a member of the Church
of Christ. It was the concession of a principle, and whether-it be
followed by other similar acts or not, the standard of Christian morality
will be lowered, and a laxity of tone will gradually pervade the spirit,
and degrade the practice, of those who are called ' not unto uncleanness
but unto holiness '. Here the warning is against the insidious nature of
the false teaching of the Judaizing leaders. The difference between that
teaching and ' the truth of the Gospel ' may appear inconsiderable, and
the teachers themselves may be insignificant in numbers or in authority.
But error, once admitted, is a virus which will gradually spread and
poison the whole system of doctrine, or the whole spiritual life of the
individual or of the Church.
10. An abrupt return to a more favourable judgment of the Galatian
converts, while strongly noting the guilt of those who sought to unsettle
their faith.
/ have confidence. ..the Lord] T (emphatic) have confidence with
respect to you in the Lord'. The words 'in the Lord' are rightly
explained by Jowett — 'all acts of the Christian being described as being
done in God and Christ'. Comp. 2 Thess. iii. 4, 'We have in the Lord
confidence concerning you, that what we enjoin, ye both do and will do*.
be none otherwise minded] The verb here used denotes sometimes
the exercise of the judgment, sometimes the bent of the affections — the
whole mental and moral disposition in reference to an object. Its force
will be best understood by reference to some of the passages in which
it occurs. Matt. xvi. 23; Rom. viii. 5; Phil. ii. 5, iii. 19. In the last
of these passages they 'who mind earthly things' are in contrast with
those who 'set their affections on the things that are above' Col. iii. 2.
The same verb in the Greek.

v. u.] GALATIANS, V. 63
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I u
yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross
Here, as in Phil. iii. 15, the meaning appears to be, 'ye will adopt
no new principles other than ye were taught by me'.
he that troubleth you] In c. i. 7 St Paul used the plural. Here by the
use of the singular number he seems to have some individual in his
mind. We may certainly reject the suggestion of Jerome that St Peter
is alluded to. It is hardly likely that after mentioning him by name
(c. ii. 11) St Paul would thus obscurely denounce him. Besides, though
St Peter had by cowardly concession encouraged the Judaizing party,
he held the same truth as St Paul and was not a 'troubler of Israel'.
shall bear his judgment] lit. '//^sentence'. More than ecclesiastical
censure is meant. Used thus absolutely, the word must refer to the
judgment of God, which the Apostle regards as a crushing burden.
We are reminded of the words of Joshua to Achan, 'Why hast thou
troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day'. Josh. vii. 25.
11. Another abrupt transition of thought, rendering the connexion
obscure and uncertain. It is however evident either that a charge
of inconsistency had been brought against St Paul, or that the pos
sibility of such a charge flashed across his mind. He could find no
language too strong to condemn those who submitted to circumcision,
and yet it was an admitted fact that he had himself circumcised
Timothy. Did he not 'yet' (still) virtually preach circumcision, as he
had insisted on it before his conversion? This was a specious, and if
unrefuted, a fatal objection. Based on a fact, it must be met by an
appeal to fact — the fact of persecution. 'If I still Judaize, why do
the Judaizers still persecute me ?'
then is the offence of the cross ceased] This is ironical, ' I suppose
then the doctrine of the cross has utterly ceased to be a stumbling-
block ; so that there really is no reason why I should suffer persecution '.
the offence of the cross] The fact that Jesus died on the cross does
not in itself constitute ' the offence of the cross '. It is accepted by
many who deny its atoning efficacy. ' The offence of the cross ' in every
age consists in this, that it cuts at the root of human merit in the
matter of justification, whether in the form of legal observance, or holy
dispositions, or good works. The Jews (as Chrysostom points out)
accused Stephen not of worshipping or preaching Christ crucified, but
of speaking against the law and the holy place. And if St Paul had
preached Christ's death upon the cross as a pattern of humility and
submission, he would have escaped persecution. But he preached
righteousness by the cross alone through faith, and they were offended.
No more striking commentary on these words can be adduced than
St Paul's language, Rom. ix. 31 — 33, 'Israel following after a law of
righteousness, did not attain to a law of righteousness. Why? because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They
stumbled at the stone of stumbling (were offended at the rock of
offence); even as it is written (Is. xxviii. 16), Behold I lay in Zion a
7 — 2

64 GALATIANS, V. [v. 12.
12 ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble
you. stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, and he that believeth on him
shall not be put to shame'. It is interesting to note that St Peter
quotes the same passage of Isaiah in a letter addressed to the strangers
of Galatia (1 Pet. ii. 6—8).
ceased] entirely done away with. The same word which is rendered
'is become of no effect' v. 4. Comp. Rom. iv. 14; vii. 2.
12. The Apostle gives vent to his righteous indignation.
they were even cut off] Two explanations of this expression are
given. All expositors however agree in translating the verb as a
middle, not as, passive.
(1) 'I would that they who are such advocates for circumcision
would go further and practise self-mutilation, like the priests of Cy
bele'. This is the view of Chrysostom and has the support of the
most eminent commentators, ancient and modern. Bp. Lightfoot
remarks, that 'by glorying in the flesh' the Galatians were returning
in a very marked way to the bondage of their former heathenism;
and Dr Jowett considers that 'the common interpretation of the
Fathers, confirmed by the use of language in the Septuagint, is not
to be rejected only because it is displeasing to the delicacy of modern
times '.
(2) 'I would that they who are not merely teaching error, but
stirring up sedition among you, would go further and- even cut them
selves off from you', i.e. that instead of remaining as a disturbing
element in the Church, they would openly secede and sever themselves.
In favour of this interpretation (which seems to be adopted by the
R.V. 'even cut themselves off'1) the following considerations are of
weight: (a) The word occurs three times (exclusive of repetitions)
in the active voice in the N. T. and always in the physical sense
= 'amputate' or cut through. It occurs nowhere else in the middle.
And it is common for a verb to undergo a change from the physical
to the ethical sense with the change of voice, (b) It is not met
with in the middle in the LXX. The passive participle occurs once
in the sense of 'mutilated', (c) The word rendered 'trouble' you,
is not the same as that used in v. 10, but a term descriptive of the
action of those leaders who stirred up a body of disaffected citizens,
inducing them to abandon their homes and live by warfare or depre- .
dation, comp. Acts xxi. 38. What wish more natural than that men
with such sectarian aims should sever themselves wholly from the
company of believers ? (d) The coarseness of the former explanation
is heightened by the abruptness of the wish. There is moreover no
other allusion in St Paul's writings to the practice in question.
Between the two interpretations the student must choose that which
approves itself to his judgment.
1 With the alternative in the Margin, 'Mutilate themselves'.

vv. 13—15.] GALATIANS, V. 65
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only use 13
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve
one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even n
in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed ye be not 15
13 — 15. Liberty must not be abused.
13. St Paul seems to be recurring to what he had said in v. 7, the
intermediate verses being a sort of parenthesis in which he wanders from
the main line of thought. ' This submission cometh not from Him that
calleth you — a little leaven, &c. — for ye were called unto freedom
brethren'. unto liberty] lit. 'on condition of freedom.' The terms (and so the
object) of your calling were freedom.
an occasion to the flesh] By the word 'flesh' we must understand not
merely sensual indulgence, but that natural selfishness which finds ex
pression in the disregard of other people's rights and interests, 'hatred,
variance, emulations', and the like. Patristic expositors take occasion
to point out that 'the flesh' does not mean 'the material body', for
many of the sins enumerated below as 'works of the flesh' have their
seat in the soul. The effects of the Fall have extended to the whole
man, that unrenewed nature which 'is become corrupt in accordance
with the lusts of deceit' (Eph. iv. 22) and 'which is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be', see Rom. viii. 5 — 7.
by love serve one another] The service of God, and of man for His
sake, is alone perfect freedom. Too much stress cannot be laid on the
expression, 'serve one another'. Act as the slaves of your fellow-men.
This is true Christian liberty.
14. 'You would go back to bondage; there is a servitude which
constitutes liberty. You desire to be under the law; there is a law
— the law of love — to which ye will do well to submit yourselves; for
all the requirements of the law are met by the fulfilment of one pre
cept — Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' Similarly in Rom.
xiii. 8 — 10, 'He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law... Whatever
other commandments there are, all are summed up in this precept,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. . .love is the fulfilling of the law.'
thy neighbour] This term in the original precept (Lev. xix. 18) had
reference only to the Jewish people, but our Lord enlarged its scope so
as to include everyone whom it is in our power to benefit or injure, i. e.
all men. It is so explained in the Church Catechism — 'My duty towards
my neighbour is to love him as myself, to do unto all men &c.'
15. To bite and to devour is to act like wild beasts. The words
are of course used figuratively to denote attacks made under the influence
of evil passions, and especially through the rancour of party spirit.
These attacks would consist of abuse or slander, invective or innuendo,
followed up perhaps by fraud or violence.
The result can only be mutual destruction — the ruin of both parties in
the conflict.

66 GALATIANS, V. [vv. 16—19.
16 consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the
i7 Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other : so that
18 ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of
lg the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the
16—26. The spiritual life of liberty inconsistent with the
indulgence of the works of the flesh.
16. This I say then] After affirming the great law of Christian per
fection in v. 14 and pointing out the effects of its violation, St Paul
proceeds to shew how alone the former may be obeyed and the latter
escaped. The controversies and heartburnings from which the Galatian
Church was suffering were due to the lusts of the flesh (comp. James
iv. 1, 2). There was only one means by which the tyranny of these
lusts could be resisted and broken — by the guidance and power of Him
Who is the Spirit both of love and of liberty.
Walk in the Spirit] R.V. 'Walk by the Spirit.' This is differently
explained, (1) by, or according to the rule of the Spirit, comp. v. 18, 25;
vi. 16; (2) by the guidance of the Spirit; (3) by the help of the Spirit;
(4) spiritually. For each view something is to be said grammatically.
All together do not exhaust the fulness of the expression. The points
to be noted are (a) The antagonism between the Spirit — the Holy Ghost
in all that He is, and works and produces, and the flesh with its appetites
and works, (b) The absolute certainty of victory over the flesh to all
those who walk in or by the Spirit. Unspeakably great as is the blessing
of pardon and justification by faith, it would be an incomplete blessing
but for the assurance of this verse. Freedom from condemnation can
not satisfy the conscience which God's Spirit has touched without the
assured hope of victory over the lust of the flesh. Walking denotes
activity. The metaphor is very common in St Paul and in St John. To
walk in truth, in darkness, according to the flesh, &c, are familiar
instances. The word in the original is not the same as in v. 25, where
not mere activity, but deliberate movement is intended.
ye shall not fulfil] The strongest negation possible. ' Ye shall in no
wise fulfil.' Blessed assurance !
17, 18. I say 'fulfil' — for I well know that the spiritual life is, and
must be, one of conflict — you must fight manfully under Christ's banner
and continue His faithful soldiers unto your life's end. The flesh, 'the
old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ', is in deadly
antagonism to the Spirit — to the new and Divine nature, and to the
Holy Ghost its Author. These stand eternally opposed to one another;
and as both exist in you, ye cannot always do such things as ye would;
comp. Rom. vii. 15—25. But if ye are led by the Spirit, this conflict
implies not bondage but freedom — the freedom of sons; "for as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Rom. viii. 14.
19—23. St Paul supplies a test whereby men may ascertain whether
they are under the curse of the law or heirs of the promise.

vv. 20, 21.3 GALATIANS, V. 67
flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,'
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 20
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envy- 21
First, the Apostle gives a list of the works of the flesh — not complete
but comprehensive — the commission of which excludes men from the
inheritance. They cannot plead the promise. It is not for such as they.
They shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Then follows, not an
enumeration of the works of the Spirit, but a statement of its fruit.
Vital Christianity is not a set of acts — a list of good deeds — it is a dis
position of the heart — a character. If the tree is good, the fruit will be
good ; and by its effects ' a lively faith may be as evidently known as a
tree discerned by the fruit', Art. xn.
19. ..21. A fourfold classification of the sins here mentioned has been
suggested; (1) sins of sensuality; (2) sins connected with heathenism as
a religion (idolatry and sorcery) ; (3) violations of the law of love, in
feeling and in act ; (4) sins of intemperance.
which are these] 'such as, for example.' The catalogue does not pre
tend to be complete.
adultery] Omitted in the best MSS. Jerome, after observing that in
the Latin copies 'adulteries' and 'murders' are contained in St Paul's
catalogue, adds, 'but it should be known that only fifteen works of the
flesh are specified'. It is included in the general term 'fornication',
which here denotes all improper relations between the sexes, married or
single. (Matt. v. 32.)
uncleanness] Impurity generally, but with special reference to those
unnnatural vices to which many heathen were addicted.
lasciviousness] Rather, 'open, shameless profligacy'.
20, 21. The second class of sins are those which concern religion —
idolatry and sorcery, or witchcraft. The word 'idolatry' is probably
to be understood here in its literal sense, the worship of false deities,
and not in the metaphorical and wider sense in which it is employed
by St Paul, e.g. Eph. v. 5, a passage which is, however, strikingly
parallel to this. Comp. Col. iii. 5; 1 Cor. v. n. The connexion with
'sorceries', as in Rev. xxi. 8, seems to limit the meaning to the
superstitious worship of the heathen.
The word rendered 'witchcraft' originally meant 'the use of drugs',
then, in a bad sense, 'poisoning'. Those who 'used curious arts'
(Acts xix. 19) combined demonology or witchcraft with the use of
drugs as philtres, &c. For an illustration of this compare the well-
known 5th Epode of Horace.
The next eight 'works of the flesh' are those which are directly
opposed to love of our neighbour or Christian charity. Translate,
'enmities, strife, rivalry, angers, factions, divisions, sects, envyings'.
The first four of these are enumerated in the same order, 2 Cor. xii. 20.
heresies] Rendered rightly 'sects' by Wiclif, Tyndale, and Cranmer,
and also in the Rhemish N.T. The Vulgate has 'sectae'. It means
the formation of 'distinct and organized parties' — a further develop
ment of 'divisions'; see 1 Cor. xi. 18. It is applied to the Sadducees,
Acts v. 17; to the Pharisees, xv. 5; to the Nazarenes, xxiv. 5.

68 GALATIANS, V. [v. 21.

ings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like : of
the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
murders] Possibly this should be omitted with R.V. There is
an alliteration between the Greek words rendered 'envyings, murders',
which is lost in a translation. They occur together Rom. i. 29.
See the reference to Jerome in note on w. 19 — 21.
-drunkenness, revellings] Probably no better rendering can be found
for the latter of these words. In Classical Greek it is used of those
nightly revellings in which the wealthier young men indulged, when
after an evening spent in debauchery they disturbed the quiet of the
¦ streets by ribald songs and noisy violence. Readers of the Spectator
will remember that such ' revellings ' were common enough in London
at the beginning of the last century to provoke the rebuke of the
moralist : Spectator, No. 324 ; Macaulay, Hist. c. III. p. 360.
Drunkenness may be secret, or it may result in orgies or riot. Eph.
v. 18. and such like] = ' such things ' in the following clause. The catalogue,
terribly large as it is, does not specify every form of working under
which the flesh manifests itself. 'Man is very far gone from original
righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the
flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit'. Art. IX.
/ tell you before... in time past] In respect of which I forewarn
you, even as I forewarned you, when I was present with you.
they which do] R.V. who practise. Exclusion from the Kingdom
of Heaven is denounced not against all who have at any time com
mitted any of these sins (for who then can be saved?) but against
all who remain impenitent, and who do not 'through the Spirit
mortify the deeds of the body'. In two other Epistles (1 Cor. vi. 9,
10; Eph. v. 5), St Paul uses nearly the same terms as to the sins
which disinherit a man from 'the Kingdom of God'. The Kingdom
is not the visible Church, in which the tares and the wheat grow
together: neither is it the Gospel dispensation — a sense in which it
is sometimes used, e.g. Matt. iii. 2; Luke vii. 28 — but that Kingdom
for whose Advent we pray in the Lord's Prayer, which has been
the hope of loyal hearts from early days, the theme of Psalmist and
Prophet, the vision of the beloved disciple in Patmos — not heaven,
though 'of heaven', not earth, though 'on the earth' — the Kingdom
prepared from the foundation of the world for the beloved of the
Father, the adopted 'sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty'.
22, 23. The works of the flesh are many, the fruit of the Spirit
is one, yet manifold. The works of the flesh are in a measure inde
pendent of each other. It cannot be said that every unregenerate
man commits all of them. But he who has the Spirit of Christ has
in him the root of all Christian graces. The ' fruit of the Spirit ' is de
scribed elsewhere as consisting in ' all goodness and righteousness and
truth '. Eph. v. 9.
It is possible, though not necessary, to group these graces in three

w. 22—24.] GALATIANS, V. 69
kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, „
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 23
temperance : against such there is no law. And they that 24
triads. In any such artificial arrangement, there is a danger of
limiting or torturing the several terms to make them fall in with a
preconceived scheme.
love] This stands first, not as distinct from, but as including all
the rest.
joy] 'joy in the Holy Ghost' (Rom. xiv. 17), manifesting itself in
cheerfulness of demeanour, and so recommending the religion of
which it is the fruit — not a selfish emotion, but a sun whose rays warm
and gladden all within the sphere of its influence. The people of
God are frequently exhorted to rejoice, e.g. Ps. xxxiii. 1, xcvii. 12;
Phil. iv. 4, &c.
peace] In the conscience, pervading the soul, calming the passions,
manifested in the disposition and conduct.
longsuffering] An attribute of God, 1 Tim. i. 12; 1 Pet. iii. 20;
a Pet. iii. 15. Here it means, patience sustained under injuries and
provocation. gentleness] Rather, kindliness. A term frequently applied to God,
e.g. Tit. iii. 4, where it is rendered by both A.V. and R.V. ' kindness'.
So in the LXX. version of Psalm xxiv. 9 ; xxxiii. 8, &c.
goodness] 'beneficence'.
faith] Either 'fidelity', 'trustworthiness'; or 'trustfulness' as
opposed to distrust in dealings with others. It may include both.
The latter is the consequence of the former. The heart which is
conscious of integrity is ever least prone to entertain suspicion.
meekness] A grace of the soul which consists in habitual submission
to the dealings of God, arising from a sense of His greatness, and the
man's own littleness and sin. Hence the meek will regard all the
insults and wrongs inflicted by men as permitted by God and a
part of His discipline. This word is coupled with 'longsuffering',
Col. iii. 12, with 'lowliness', Eph. iv. 2. For a critical distinction
between them see Trench On N. T. Synonyms, pp. 142 — 148.
temperance] 'self-mastery', not to be limited, with some of the
Fathers, to continence in the sense of virginity, or with many moderns,
to abstinence from fermented drinks. The Christian, like the ancient
athlete, 'exercises self-control in all respects'. 1 Cor. ix. 25.
against such there is no law] There is a recurrence to what the
Apostle had said above, v. 18. 'If ye are led by the Spirit' (i.e. if
ye bring forth the fruits of the Spirit) 'ye are not under the law',
for there is no law to prohibit or condemn such things as these. It is,
however, possible to understand 'such', as masculine, such characters
or persons. Comp. 1 Tim. i. 9, 10 where the law is described as
aimed not at crimes but at those who commit them. Jowett observes
that the law 'neither prohibits nor enjoins Christian graces, which
belong to a different sphere.'
24. they that are Christ's] They who belong to Christ, who are His

70 GALATIANS, V. v [vv. 25, 26.
are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and
25 lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another,
envying one another.
by redemption — or perhaps as in iii. 29, who are part of Christ. The
same expression occ. 1 Cor. xv. 23. The R.V. reads 'They that are of
Christ Jesus' , which has the support of the earlier MSS.
have crucified] The aorist may be rendered strictly — 'crucified'; in
which case the reference will be to their conversion and baptism. But
in many passages of the N.T. this tense must be represented in trans
lation by the English perfect as its true equivalent. Crucifixion is a
lingering mode of death; and though the reception of Baptism was an
overt and initial act by which the deeds of the body were mortified, yet
such mortification is continued daily through the whole of the believer's
earthly life. It only ceases when he is 'delivered from the burden of
the flesh'. Compare the prayer for the newly baptized in the Office
for Baptism: 'that he being dead unto sin... may crucify the old man,
and utterly abolish the whole body of sin'.
the affections and lusts] 'its passions and appetites'. See Trench,
N.T. Syn. p. 311, foil.
25. The mention of crucifixion suggests death — the death of ' the old
man', which is the condition and birth of the new life in Christ. Very
similar is the train of thought in Col. ii. 3. foil.
If we live in the Spirit, &c] The word 'Spirit' in the Greek is
a simple dative in both clauses of the verse. Of course it can be under
stood as such in the former, though hardly in the latter. Lightfoot
renders, 'If we live to the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit', support
ing the rendering in the former clause by the well-known phraseology
of St Paul, 'to live to God or to the Lord', Rom. vi. 11, xiv. 6", 8;
2 Cor. v. 15, and in the latter by the similar expressions in v. 16 and
ch. vi. 16.
Other commentators adopt either the reading of the A.V., or that of
R. V. which has 'by the Spirit' in both clauses.
The sense of the passage is— ' If we are partakers of a new life of which
the Holy Spirit is the Author, let it be manifested by our submission to
His guidance in all our proceedings and actions' — or, more simply, 'if
we really have spiritual life, let its activities be spiritual too.'
let us also walk] The word rendered 'walk' here and in ch. vi. 16, is
not the same in the original as in v. 16. It occurs Acts xxi. 24; Rom.
iv. 12; Phil. iii. 16, and denotes the careful direction of the footsteps —
a measured walk — in contrast to mere locomotion. The same distinction
is marked in French between marcher and promener.
26. To soften the rebuke, St Paul uses the 1st pers. plur., including
himself with those by whom the warning is needed. A walk directed
by the Spirit of God will not lead to the display of strife and vain-glory
or the indulgence of envy, all which are works of the flesh. Compare
Eph. iv. 1, a, 'I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, &c.'

V. I.] GALATIANS, VI. 71
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are 6
Let us not be] Rather, 'let us not become, or appear.'
vainglory] The true Christian ought to regard all glory as vain and
empty save that which cometh from Him who alone is God. John iv. 44.
provoking.. .envying...] To provoke or challenge is the act of the
stronger party. Where this is impossible, the heart-sin of envy may be
indulged by those who lack power or opportunity of active aggression.
Ch. VI. 1 — 10. Exhortations to bear with an erring bro
ther, to cultivate humility, to exercise liberality.
11 — 18. Autograph conclusion. Summary of the Epistle
and Benediction.
1. Brethren] The force of this word of appeal (as well as the
general connexion) is weakened by the division of the Epistle into
chapters. The previous chapter concludes with a warning against
provocation and envy — sins utterly inconsistent with Christian brother
hood. We are reminded of the remonstrance of Moses, ' Sirs, ye are
brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?' Acts vii. 26. The train
of thought seems to be: "I have condemned the unchristian spirit and
conduct which you exhibit in cases where it is possible that you may be
mistaken as to the gravity or the reality of the fault which you attack.
I go further. Suppose a man to be detected in an overt violation of
the law of God, a 'manifest' sin (v. 19) : you are not even then justi
fied in trying to crush the offender. He is your brother. You share
his fallen nature; you are exposed to the same temptations as he. Let
this thought lead to the exercise of a spirit of gentleness, and seek to
restore such an one, to repair his fault, to recover him to the position he
had forfeited ".
if a man. ..fault] In the Gk. 'even though a man be.'
overtaken] 'surprised, detected'. It has been suggested that the
reference is to some previous offence, the repetition of which would of
course aggravate the guilt of the individual and might seem to justify
harsh treatment of him. That such is the literal sense of the word
rendered 'be overtaken', and that it is so used in Classical Greek, is
true. But there is authority for the other rendering which better suits
the context. The reference is not to the habitual or repeated offender,
but to the case of one who by reason of the frailty of human nature had
fallen into the commission of open sin. Such an one was the incestuous
person at Corinth. The incident had recently occurred, when this
Epistle was written, and could not fail to be in the thoughts of the
Apostle. The language used by him in reference to it (2 Cor. ii. 6 — 8)
should be compared with that of this verse. Paley (Hora- Paulines)
sees here an undesigned coincidence, confirming the genuineness of
both Epistles. He does not, however, notice the application of the
expression 'in a spirit of meekness' both here and in 1 Cor. iv. 21, to
the treatment of an offender.
ye which are spiritual] Surely there is no irony here, as some sug
gest. St Paul is full of the great distinction — not always discernible

72 GALATIANS, VI. [vv. 2, 3.
spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness ; con-
2 sidering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one
3 another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if
by human eyes — between those who are carnal and those who are
spiritual — a distinction based on the contrariety (ch. v. 17) between the
spirit and the flesh. There is a very solemn question suggested by it —
Were they what they professed to be ? If they possessed the spirit of
Christ, they could not but produce the fruit of the Spirit — of which
gentleness, or meekness, is one.
restore] The original of this word is used in a physical sense of
repairing broken nets, Matt. iv. 21, of the gradual completion or fur
nishing of the material creation, Heb. xi. 3. But it is more commonly
employed in N.T. in a figurative sense, see Luke vi. 14, where it is
rendered "when he is perfected" R.V., and Heb. xiii. 21; 1 Pet. v.
10. In this last passage, as elsewhere, God is the author of this
work of spiritual restoration and perfecting : but He employs human
agency for its accomplishment — the agency of His Church, ministers
and laymen.
such a one] not the habitual offender, but the fallen brother.
Evangelical ethics lend no countenance to sin: they teach us to
prevent further evil by the restoration of the offender. This cannot be
effected by harshness of speech or bitterness of tone.
in thespirit of meekness] Contrasted by St Paul in 1 Cor. iv. 21, with
the 'rod'; the spirit which should animate every Christian as dis
tinguished from the judicial authority vested by Christ in the Apostles
and rulers of the Church. This spirit is produced by the Holy Ghost,
but the word is not used here in a, personal sense.
considering thyself] The transition from the plural, 'ye which are
spiritual', to the singular, 'thyself, 'thou', gives point to the admo
nition. The possibility of a similar temptation and a similar fall, may
well temper their judgment with self-distrust, and so, with charity.
There is, however, a distinct injunction to 'consider themselves', to
observe carefully their own spirit and conduct, lest if their eyes be fixed
not on their own goings, but exclusively on those of their brother, the
Tempter seize the occasion to attack and overthrow them. Some ex
positors make these words, 'considering thyself, &c.' the commence
ment of v. 2. The received arrangement is preferable.
2. one another's burdens] Brotherhood is a mutual relationship, and
entails mutual good offices.
burdens] This is not the same word in the Greek which is rendered
'burden' in v. 5. It denotes any weight which presses heavily on the
body or the mind, as toil, suffering, responsibility, anxiety. In v. 5
the reference is to the burden assigned to man or beast, to a ship or
other vehicle, to carry, corresponding to the English 'load'.
and so fulfil] The other reading, 'and so ye will fulfil' has about
equal authority.
the law of Christ] 'He calls love the law of Christ', Thdt., with
reference to the new Commandment of John xiii. 34. The law of

vv. 4, 5-] GALATIANS, VI. 73
a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing,
he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own 4
work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and
not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. 5
Christ is the law given by Christ and exemplified in His most holy life.
The nature and the measure of its fulfilment are stated in the Divine
Commentary: 'as I have loved you, that ye also love one another'. It
involves sympathy always, active sympathy (i. e. help) when possible.
Of our Lord it was foretold (Is. liii. 4), 'Surely He hath bome our
griefs (Heb. sicknesses) and carried our sorrows'. This is quoted by St
Matthew (ch. viii. 17), 'Himself took our infirmities and bare our
diseases'; while the Septuagint version gives, 'Himself bears our sins
and for us He is in anguish'. With the injunction compare Rom. xv.
I, 'We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak '. Here,
however, mutual sympathy is enjoined.
3. The connexion seems to be: Christ by precept and by example
bade you bear one another's burdens. To neglect this duty is to set up
yourselves above Christ. He 'humbled Himself for us. You will not
stoop to comfort and help your brethren. This must arise from pride —
from a fancy that you are something exceptionally exalted, whereas
such notions arise from self-deception — a phantom which represents
nothingness. 4. This is an individual matter — 'Let every man', lit. 'let each
one'. prove his own work] 'test his own conduct'. Self-examination will
lead to a true estimate of self, ascertained by comparison, not with the
attainments of others, but with the requirements of the law of Christ.
The result may be humiliation, self-abasement, shame ; but the ground
of boasting will not be that of the Pharisee, ' God, I thank thee that I
am not as other men are', but of that other Pharisee, 'By the grace of
God I am what I am'.
5. For every man. ..burden] For no man can escape from his own
moral responsibility. The verse reads like a proverb. The 'burden'
is the 'load' of accoutrements and provisions assigned to each soldier to
carry on a march. Others regard the metaphor as taken from shipping
affairs, and render the word 'freight'. This is quite admissible as a
verbal translation; but the phrase, 'each man shall carry his own
cargo' may appear less satisfactory. There is no paradox or contra
diction to the precept of v. 2 except in the English version which ren
ders two distinct words in the original by the same English word
'burden'. 6 — 10. These verses, which are an exhortation to the exercise of
liberality towards the Teachers of the Church, do not seem to have any
obvious connexion with what has gone before. They may have been
suggested as a particular application of the general principle, 'bear ye
one another's burdens'. But we so often meet with a number of dis
connected injunctions at the end of St Paul's Epistles, that this abrupt
introduction of this paragraph need cause no difficulty. The connecting

74 GALATIANS, VI. [vv. 6—8.
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him
7 that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived ; God is
not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
8 also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh
particle, 'but' or 'moreover', omitted in A.V. is restored in R.V.
The duty here enjoined is frequently insisted upon by St Paul, i Cor.
ix. ii — 14; Phil. iv. 10, 17; 1 Tim. v. 17, 18. He had already urged
it upon the Galatian converts, as we learn from 1 Cor. xvi. 1. That he
insists upon it again in such forcible terms would seem to shew that
they were not prone to the exercise of liberality.
6. him that is taught] Lit. 'the catechumen'; one who is under
going instruction. When we consider that most of the instruction in
the Word (i.e. the Gospel revelation) was oral, and that it was not
limited to preaching in the assemblies of the Church, but extended to
households and individuals, the work of the teacher must have been
very arduous, demanding all his time and energies. Hence the neces
sity of proper provision being made for his maintenance. Exhortations
to this effect are found in the 'Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,' a
document of the sub- Apostolic age.
in all good things] Those earthly things which men generally covet
are designated 'goods' or 'good things', Luke xii. 18, 19; xvi. 25. In
all of these, whether money, or food, or clothing or the like, the taught
is to 'communicate' with the teacher, share them with him.
7. Men who, like Ananias and Sapphira, seek to obtain credit for
liberality, while keeping back that which is due to the Church and
cause of God, may impose on their fellow-men, and may fancy that they
can impose upon God. But they are themselves the victims of self-
deception. They are moreover treating God with contempt. Yet He
is not deceived, nor will He relax in their favour the universal law of
His moral government, that as is the sowing, so also will be the
reaping. mocked] There is a terrible rebuke implied in the choice of this
word. It is far stronger than 'deceived'. The word means 'to sneer
at ', and here denotes not merely the attempt to impose a cheat upon
another, but the open gesture of contempt for one who is an easy dupe.
for whatsoever... reap] A proverb found in Classical writers, and
used by St Paul with verbal variations, 2 Cor. ix. 6. See some striking
observations in F. W. Robertson's Sermon on this text.
8. A particular application of the general truth just stated. True in
the material world, it is equally so in the moral and spiritual. Em
bracing the whole sphere of human action, it includes the special case
under consideration. Such as is the seed sown, such will be the harvest
garnered. To hoard earthly 'good things', is one form of sowing to
the flesh, and silver and gold are 'corruptible things'. To give liberally
is to lay up treasure in heaven, "where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt". soweth to his flesh] Some expositors regard the flesh as the ground
into which, metaphorically, the seed is cast. It is perhaps better to

v. 9-] GALATIANS, VI. 75
reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in 9
well doing : for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

take it as that for the purpose of which — its indulgence and the gratifi
cation of its desires, men live and act. The word is used here, as else
where in this Epistle, of the unrenewed nature of man, in strong contrast
to the spirit — the 'new man', the 'new creation'.
to his flesh] Gr. 'to Ms own flesh'.
corruption] That which he has saved and that which he has gained
will turn to decay. But from the corresponding expression in the second
clause, 'life everlasting', we must regard the 'corruption' as affecting
the man himself, as well as his possessions and enjoyments. A course.
of self-indulgence corrupts the moral nature and ends in destruction.
The sowing here spoken of represents the thoughts, desires, words, and
deeds which go to make up the active side of a human life.
life everlasting] This life, like the corruption to which it is anti
thetical, is begun now (John iii. 36), although its full development is
future ; for ' the harvest is the end of the world.'
9. The metaphor which runs through these verses suggests a caution.
The husbandman after committing the seed to the ground, 'waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it. ..Be ye also
patient,' James v. 7, 8. The mention of ' life everlasting ' might seem
to make the time of reaping so distant as to grow dim to the eye
of hope. It is difficult to go on sowing in faith and hope, but we must
not lose heart, in doing that which is right in the sight of God (comp.
2 Thess. iii. 13).
It is not easy to express in English the verbal antithesis of the
original : ' in fair doing let us not shew faint heart. '
for in due season] This promise is an encouragement to persevere.
The phrase itself occurs 1 Tim. ii. 6; vi. 15; Tit. i. 3. Though here its
chief reference is to the final award, yet God may see fit to grant
to His servants in this life a kind of firstfruits or earnest of the great
harvest in store for them hereafter. Even now they see in the good
which they effect — in the mitigation of evil, moral and physical, the
reclamation and conversion of souls to Christ — a proof that their labour
is not in vain in the Lord. 'In due season' is 'in God's own ap
pointed season,' whether sooner or later.
if we faint not] The same word is used, Matt. xv. 32, of the
physical exhaustion produced by long abstinence from food. It differs
from being ' weary,' which here denotes loss of spirit, relaxation of the
will, and so discouragement.
10. A noble practical conclusion from what precedes.
The time of reaping is 'God's own' — the season of sowing, ours.
But that season is presented to us as 'opportunity.' If we ask how we
are to recognise and so improve it, the answer is given by St Paul
(2 Tim. iv. 2) ' In season, out of season ' — not waiting for occasions,
but making them.

76 GALATIANS, VI. [w. io, n.
, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all
men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with
As we have] This maybe rendered with equal correctness, 'while,
so long as, we have.' It is so rendered in the Offertory sentence in the
Book of Common Prayer, ' while we have time.' But the A.V. gives
a good sense — ' according as we have opportunity.'
unto all men] Though in the immediately preceding context St Paul
has been enjoining liberality towards teachers, he feels that his premisses
are wide enough to bear this conclusion. He here passes from in
culcating charity towards all men to a special regard for members of
the family of God. St Peter adopts the reverse order, when he ex-
hurts Christians to add to 'brotherly kindness, love.' 2 Pet. i. 7.
of the household of faith] As the Church is frequently designated the
house or family of God (1 Tim. iii. 15; 1 Pet. ii. 5; Heb. iii. 6), so
in Eph. ii. 19 believers are spoken of as the members of the house
hold of God. Here the form of the expression is varied. 'The faith'
is rightly explained by Bp Lightfoot to be here nearly equivalent to
'the Gospel.' The bond of a common faith constitutes a new family
tie. It united, and still unites men to one another, as children of
the same Father, with a common home.
11 — 18. Autograph postscript and Benediction.
11. Ye see] Better, imperative, 'see'.
how large a letter] Lit. 'in how large letters'. Many ancient and
most modern expositors take this to refer not to the length of the
Epistle — which is certainly not 'large' as compared with those to the
Romans and Corinthians — but to the nature of the characters em
ployed. It is curious that the exact meaning of this word rendered
' how large ' should have been so far overlooked as to suggest the ex
planation, 'in how rude characters,' as though the Apostle called
attention to his want of skill in writing Greek. This view might have
been left unnoticed, but for the distinguished name of Chrysostom,
who among others maintains it. A second explanation supposes that
St Paul, in calling attention to the large characters which he used,
intended to hint at the cause, either general bodily ill-health, or local
infirmity, such as weak eyesight. If this latter suggestion be adopted,
it will confirm the hypothesis mentioned in the note on ch. iv. 13.
But it is on the whole more probable that the largeness of the letters
was intended to express the importance of the message to be conveyed.
To those who have studied carefully the character of the great Apostle
this view, suggested by the ablest of his early commentators and adopted
by the greatest of modern expositors of his Epistles, will commend
itself as in keeping with what we know of the man, and as congruous
with any just estimate of the scope of the Epistle itself. In the verses
which follow St Paul sums up the whole argument of the Epistle, a
weighty argument on a cardinal doctrine, gathered up in a summary

v. 12.] GALATIANS, VI. 77
mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair shew in "
the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest
weighty and powerful, and emphasised by the very characters in which
it was written, ' Golden words, proportionately transcribed.'
But do the words, 'See in what large letters I write unto you
with mine own hand,' apply to the whole Epistle, or only to this con
cluding paragraph? It may be admitted that so far as the words em
ployed in this verse are concerned, either alternative may be adopted.
Afford is of opinion that ' on account of the peculiar character of this
Epistle, St Paul wrote it all with his own hand, — as he did the
Pastoral Epistles,' and he finds 'confirmation of this, in the partial
resemblance of its style to those Epistles.' Others with more pro
bability regard the Apostle as having employed an amanuensis thus
far, and at this verse to have taken the pen into his own hand. The
reasons assigned for this conclusion are drawn from what we know of
his practice in other Epistles. It seems from an expression in 2 Thess.
ii. 2, where he cautions his converts against being unsettled ' by epistle
as from us,' that letters had been forged purporting to have been
written by him — such forgeries were not uncommon in the subsequent
history of the early Church — and as a mark of genuineness he adopted
the practice of adding at the end of his Epistles a few lines in his own
hand, the rest having been written by Tertius, or some other amanu
ensis. Thus, 2 Thess. iii. 17, 'The salutation of me Paul with mine
own hand, which is the token in every Epistle : so I write. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.' Comp. Rom. xvi. 22 foil. ;
1 Cor. xvi. 21 — 24; Col. iv. 18.
12. Reverting to the error which had perhaps suggested, and which
certainly occupies so prominent a place in the Epistle, St Paul un
masks those who were its authors and propagators ; contrasting their
conduct and motives with his own.
All who desire to make a fair shew in externals, these it is who
constrain you to submit to the external rite of circumcision — and this,
not because they are zealous for the law, but only that they may escape
persecution for the Cross of Christ.
to make u fair shew] 'to present a fair outside to the world ', like
the scribes and Pharisees, who were compared by our Lord to 'whited
sepulchres, which outwardly are fair to look upon, but within are full
of dead men's bones and all uncleanness,' Matt, xxiii. 27.
in the flesh] in that which is simply external, with close reference
to the rite of circumcision, and in sharp contrast to that principle of
faith of which a Crucified Saviour is the object and 'a new creature'
the result. A careful consideration of Phil. iii. 3 — 5, will help to the
understanding of St Paul's use of this phrase. "We are the circum
cision, who worship God in Spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have
no confidence in the flesh : though I myself might even have confidence
in the flesh... circumcised the eighth day, &c." Comp. Rom. ii. 28, a9
where 'circumcision in the flesh', the material rite, is contrasted with
' circumcision of the heart, in spirit &c.'
constrain you] Make it morally obligatory on you. Comp.ch. ii. 14.
GAL. 8

78 GALATIANS, VI. [vv. I3> '4-
13 they should suffer persecution for the cross of Chiist. For
neither they themselves who aire circumcised keep the law ;
but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory m
¦4 your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the
only lest] Not because they care for the Law, but solely because they
lack courage to face the persecution which attends the doctrine of the
Cross. for the cross of Christ] Lit. 'by' i.e. because of the Cross of Christ.
If the false teachers constrain you to be, 'make it necessary' that you
be circumcised, it implies that Christ's death on the Cross is not
sufficient for your salvation. To believe in, and to proclaim that
sufficiency, has in all ages constituted 'the offence of the Cross,' and
has~brought obloquy and ill-usage on those who so believe and confess
it. This is to suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ.
13. He justifies the imputation of a bad motive, by a fact which
cannot be denied. The Judaizers could not pretend that they so com
plied with the terms of the Law as perfectly to fulfil its requirements.
They could not be justified by the Law. They acknowledged in some
sense their need of Christ. And if so, why impose one of the legal
ceremonies as necessary to salvation? Their real object is to gain a
party triumph, that they may make Christian converts into Jewish
proselytes. neither they themselves] Better, 'not even they themselves'.
who are circumcised] Lit. 'the circumcised', those on whom the rite
is imposed as a condition of salvation, and therefore of course those
also who imposed it. Another rendering, for which there is consider
able authority, is, ' who have been circumcised '. It does not, however,
suit the argument so well as the present participle.
keep the law] This does not refer, as some suppose, to the im
possibility of keeping strictly the ceremonial law, owing to the distance
of many from Jerusalem and similar causes, nor to the insincerity
of the men themselves, who were not enough in earnest to observe
it rigorously; but, as explained above, to the moral impossibility of
fulfilling the Law, on which St Paul so frequently insists, owing to the
fallen nature of man.
glory in your flesh] boast in your submission to an outward ordi
nance. See note on v. 12. In the later history of the Church there
have been instances of the same tendency on the part of those who have
gloried in the number of converts admitted to Baptism, without regard
to the spiritual change of which it is the token and pledge.
14. We might have expected that St Paul would have named 'the
Spirit' or 'the new creature' as the object of his boasting, in immediate
contrast with ' the flesh ', the seat of the outward rite, in which the
false teachers gloried. He does mention it at the end of v. 15. But
he here names that which is the root and source of 'peace and mercy'
in this present life and of eternal salvation in the life to come. There
is nearly the same contrast in Phil. iii. 3 with the verbal substitution
of ' Christ Jesus ' for the ' Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ '.

v. 15.] GALATIANS, VI. 79
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world. For in Chiist Jesus neither is
but God forbid that T] The personal pronoun stands first in the
Greek and is emphatic. 'Others would find cause for boasting in a
fleshly rite : but for my part, God forbid that I should glory &c.' See
ch. ii. 17, note.
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ] ' in the atoning death, as my
means of reconcilement with God ' Alford. ' Not in my suffering for
Christ, but in His sufferings for me '. Lightfoot. Compare the well-
known hymn, 'When I survey the wondrous Cross &c.'. It is a death
of shame and ignominy, pronounced to be accursed of God, in which
St Paul will glory — nay, he rejects every other ground of boasting but
this alone. Such a declaration would be the raving of a maniac,
unless Jesus were the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
by whom] R.V., 'through which'. Commentators are not agreed
"as to the antecedent to the relative pronoun. Is it the Cross, or Christ
Himself? The Greek admits of either. We have few data by which
to decide. But practically it matters little. The Cross does not,
it cannot mean the material Cross on which our Saviour died. That
has long ago ceased to exist in its original form, even if the tra
dition of its discovery could be historically established. (See an in
teresting Article by the Rev. R. Sinker in Smith's Dictionary of Chris
tian Antiquities, on the Finding of the Cross. ) If we read ' by which ',
the reference is not to a cross, but to the Cross, i. e. the atoning
death of Christ; if 'by whom', it is not Christ as the glorified Son
of Man, but Christ crucified that is referred to.
the world is crucified] Lit., 'has been crucified'. It is not easy to
define exactly the meaning of the term 'world'. Alford explains it
as 'the whole system of unspiritual and unchristian men and things'.
Its force may be inferred from St Paul's use of it elsewhere, e.g. 1 Cor.
ii. 12; Eph. ii. 1. Comp. James i. 27, iv. 4; 1 John ii. 15, 16,
v. 19.
The world with its passing interests, its narrowly limited aims, its
sordid gains, its perishable treasure, its hollow show, its mockery of
satisfaction — is to me like yon felon slave, nailed to the cross dying by
a certain and shameful, if a lingering death. And I too am so regarded
by the world. It is an object of contempt and relinquishment to me,
and I to it. We seem to hear the echo of our Saviour's own words,
words so hard to understand, so much harder to act upon, Luke xiv. 26.
15. See note on ch. v. 6. There the ail- important thing is ' faith
working by love'; here 'a new creature ' ; in 1 Cor. vii. 19, 'the keeping
of God's commandments'. All these are essential — the being circum
cised or not is in itself a matter of indifference. Why ? Because the
latter is an outward rite. It may be nothing more. But faith, regene
ration, obedience — these are spiritual — and they are everything.
The words 'in Christ Jesus' are omitted in R.V., and for 'availeth'
we have 'is'. The change, for which there is ample authority, does
not affect the sense.
8—2

80 GALATIANS, VI. [v. 16.
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a
16 new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God,
a new creature] The word so rendered here and in 2 Cor. v. 17
originally had the abstract sense of 'creation', 'the act of creating' —
and from that, the concrete, 'that which is created', including the
individual, and so = ' creature '. It is to be observed that the same word
is used of the calling into being of the material universe which is here
(and elsewhere) used of the change which is produced in the individual
soul by the operation of the Holy Ghost, when a man is brought out of
a state of nature into a state of grace. Compare Mark x. 6; xiii. 19;
Rom. i. 20: and especially Rev. iv. n with Eph. ii. 10; iv. 24.
16. as many as walk] See note on ch. v. 25. Some commentators
attach to this verb a different sense, 'as many as conform to this rule'.
But the A.V. gives what is probably a correct rendering. The reading
'shall walk', adopted by R.V. is on the whole preferable on MSS. au
thority. At the time when the Epistle was written believers were
comparatively few in number, but the blessing was a prophecy extend
ing to all who in the long series of centuries, even to the end of the
dispensation, should walk, that is, live by the same rule.
this rule] This word originally meant a carpenter's rod or rule for
guiding and testing his work, or the tongue of a balance. Then, any
standard by which to regulate procedure or conduct. The transition to
the sense of a model or pattern was not difficult. It is of frequent
occurrence in different applications in ecclesiastical literature. See
Article 'Canon' in Diet, of Christian Antiquities, and Westcott On the
Canon, App. A.
Here 'this rule' is the principle of justification through faith in the
Atoning Blood, and the renewal of man's nature by the Holy Ghost.
'As many as walk by it' — whether circumcised or not — in every age, in
every clime — male or female — slave or free, without distinction of
visible Church or sect. Surely this must be that 'great multitude
which no man can number', of whom it is written 'they washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb', Rev. vii. 13.
peace be on them, and mercy] This is probably a prayer, ' May peace
be on them ' ; though the original allows us to render, ' Peace rests on
them'. Peace in the soul, because of reconciliation with God. Peace
with man through Him Who is 'our peace'. But mercy also, as
needed by sinners.
and upon the Israel of God] Are 'the Israel of God' distinct from
those who walk according to the Apostle's rule, or are we to regard the
particle 'and' as epexegetical, and equivalent to 'yea, upon &c.'? The
answer will depend on the exact meaning which is attached to the
expression, 'the Israel of God'. If it means those 'who are not of the
circumcision only, but who walk in the steps' of Abraham's faith, i.e.
Jews who have been really converted to Christianity, we must suppose
St Paul to have had Gentile converts in his mind in the preceding
verses. It seems better, however, to regard the expression as intended

w. 17, 18.] GALATIANS, VI. 81
From henceforth let no man trouble me : for I bear in my 1?
body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of 18
our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
IT Unto the Galatians written from Rome.
to sum up the ' as many as' in a phrase which is closely identified with
the whole argument of the Epistle, 'If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abra
ham's seed and heirs according to the promise'. These are 'the Israel
of God', whether Jews or Gentiles, for 'the Jew is he who is one
inwardly in the spirit, not in the letter'. Rom. ii. 29. So that the
blessing is invoked on all who walk according to the rule enunciated,
and so in fact on the true Israel, not Israel after the flesh, but the
Israel of the promise and of God.
17. As at the opening, so at the close of the Epistle, St Paul asserts
his authority. Then it was as a duly commissioned Apostle, here it is
as a tried and tested servant of his Heavenly Master. He has fully
discussed the question at issue. He has said his last word upon it.
From henceforth he claims exemption from the worry and distraction of
controversy. As he said elsewhere, ' If any man be ignorant, let him
be ignorant' (1 Cor. xiv. 38).
for I bear... the Lord Jesus] All commentators agree in regarding
- this as having reference to St Paul's suffering for Christ. 'I, unlike
these false teachers, can appeal to the marks of persecution which I
have undergone as proofs of the depth of my convictions, the sincerity
of my faith . But the particular expression, ' the marks of the Lord
Jesus', may either mean the 'wounds of Christ' or the marks of
ownership branded on the Apostle's body, which proved him to be
the 'slave of Christ'. Certain marks (stigmata) were affixed by means
of a hot iron on two classes of slaves, (1) those who had run away
from their masters or had otherwise misconducted themselves, in
which case they were a badge of disgrace; and (2) on slaves attached
to particular temples, as the property of the deity worshipped there.
Of course St Paul cannot allude to the former of these cases. He may
speak figuratively of the scars which he bore on his body, from wounds
received at Lystra and elsewhere, as the proofs of his devotion to the
service of Christ. Bp. Lightfoot adopts this view as most appro
priate. "Such arpractice at all events cannot have been unknown in
a country which was the home of the worship of Cybele. A 'sacred
slave' is mentioned in a Galatian inscription". There is however, some
thing to be said for the other explanation which makes the marks of
the Lord Jesus to be the wheal of the stripes inflicted on His sacred
body — the print of the nails and of the spear. In confirmation of this
view passages are adduced in which St Paul speaks of himself as a
partaker of the sufferings of Christ, of bearing about in his body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, of filling up in his flesh the sufferings of
Christ, 2 Cor.' i. 5, iv. 10; Col. i. 24; nay more, of being crucified
with Christ, Rom. vi. 6 ; Gal, ii. 20. On the whole, however, the
former account of the phrase seems preferable. Most modern ex-

82 GALATIANS. VI. [v. 18.
positors notice the alleged 'stigmata' of St Francis of Assisi. The
connexion is limited to the identity of the term, which has been
adopted by Romish hagiologists from the Latin Vulgate. The stigmata
of the Saint were not marks of persecution.
18. The Epistle commenced with expostulation and rebuke. It
closes with benediction. Grace is the key-note of the Apostle's argu
ment. Grace — the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ — the blessing he
invokes on their behalf. It is the farewell prayer of a brother for his
'brethren', and it breathes the spirit of His Divine Master, of Whom
we read, 'And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted
from them'.
H Unto the Galatians. ..Rome] The Subscription in the earliest MSS.
is simply, 'To Galatians'. The additional words 'written from Rome'
appear first in a correction of the Vatican MS. of uncertain date, and
in two of the later Uncials. It has been shewn in the Introduction
that the statement, which rests on no sufficient authority, is clearly
incorrect.

APPENDIX.

St Paul's Visit to Arabia.
It may be well to consider this incident under the three heads indi
cated in the note to ch. i. 17. The notices are slight, and though
insufficient to enable us to construct a narrative of the events with
definiteness or with certainty, supply material for a probable and
consistent account of them.
(1) The locality. The term Arabia has been taken by some com
mentators in its widest signification, as extending from the Sinaitic
peninsula on the south to the neighbourhood of Damascus on the
north; and expressions in Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. p. 305, A.) and
Tertullian (Adv. Jud. t. 9; Adv. Marc. iii. 13) are adduced in support
of this view. It is argued from the silence of St Luke (Acts ix. 19 — 25)
that St Paul did not withdraw to any great distance from the city, so
that though he actually went into Arabia for a time — how long, is not
stated — he is regarded by the narrator as still at Damascus. The
objections to this view are concisely stated by Bp Lightfoot. "It
gives to 'Arabia' an extension, which at all events seems not to have
been common, and which even the passage of Justin shews to have
required some sort of justification. It separates the Arabia of the
first chapters from the Arabia of the fourth. And lastly, it deprives
this visit of a significance which, on a more probable hypothesis, it
possesses in relation to this crisis of St Paul's life." By ' Arabia ' then
we understand (as in ch. iv. 25) the Sinaitic peninsula.
(2) The object. Of this two accounts are given. Patristic com
mentators suppose that St Paul went into Arabia, as the Apostle of
the Gentiles, to commence his great missionary work. No doubt
'Arabians' were among those who were present at the great Pente
costal miracle (Acts ii. 11), and it may have been for the purpose of
expounding unto them the way of God more perfectly that this journey
was undertaken. But it is not likely that so marked a commencement
of his labours as a missionary to the Gentiles would have been un
recorded by St Luke, especially as he is careful to tell us that St Paul
"preached Christ in the synagogues", and "how at Damascus he had
preached boldly in the name of Jesus " (Acts ix. 20, 27).
If however we adopt the other explanation, and regard the object of
St Paul's visit as of a private and personal nature — that he might in

84 APPENDIX.

solitude commune with his own heart and listen to the "still small
voice" of God — then we can understand why, like Elijah of old, he
should have journeyed 'unto Horeb, the mount of God'. There, on
the very spot where the Law was given, he was taught the use of the
Law — that "by the deeds of the Law no flesh shall be justified"; that
while "the Law made nothing perfect", there was brought in "a better
hope"; that "though the Law worketh wrath", "Christ hath redeemed
us from the Curse of the Law, being made a Curse for us."
(3) The time. We do not know at wThat period of the ' three years' the
journey was made, nor how long St Paul's sojourn in Arabia continued.
St Luke's language is somewhat vague, but not at all inconsistent with
the view here adopted. It is possible that after essaying to preach to
the Jews in Damascus 'the faith which once he destroyed', St Paul
found it needful to seek fresh supplies of grace and strength for a work
so difficult and so discouraging. He may have heard his Master's call,
bidding him ' come apart into a desert place, and rest awhile '- His
stay in Horeb may have lasted, like that of Moses, for forty days and
forty nights — the period of time spent by Elijah in his journey from
Beer-sheba to Horeb, and by the great Antitype in the wilderness.
These are, it is true, only conjectures. But while they are not incon
sistent with the narrative of the Acts, they are in full accord with what
we know of the nature and the needs of man, and with the dealings of
God with the objects of His love and the instruments of His purposes.
We may long for certainty. But where Scripture is silent, we are sure
that more accurate knowledge is not needed, because it is not vouch
safed.

II.
The following is the summary referred to on ch. ii. 11 — 21:
" We take the record in its natural, historical sense, and derive from
it the following instructive lessons : —
1. The right and duty of protest against ecclesiastical authority,
even the highest, when Christian truth and principle are endangered.
The protest should be manly, yet respectful. Paul was no doubt severe,
but yet he recognised Peter expressly as a 'pillar' of the Church and
a brother in Christ (Gal. i. 18, -ii. 9). There was no personal bitter
ness and rudeness, as we find, alas, in the controversial writings of
St Jerome (against Rufinus), St Bernard (against Abelard), Luther
(against Erasmus and Zwingli), Bossuet (against Fenelon), and other
great divines.,
a. The duty to subordinate expediency to principle, the favour of
man to the truth of God. Paul himself recommended and practised
charity to the weak; but here a fundamental right, the freedom in
Christ, was at stake, which Peter compromised by his conduct, after he
himself had manfully stood up for the true principle at the Council of
Jerusalem, and for the liberal practice at Antioch before the arrival of
the Judaizers.

APPENDIX. 85

3. The moral imperfection of the Apostles. They remained even
after the Pentecostal illumination frail human beings, carrying the
heavenly treasure in earthen vessels, and stood in daily need of forgive
ness (2 Cor. iv. 7; Phil. iii. 12; James iii. a; 1 John i. 8, ii. 2). The
weakness of Peter is here recorded, as his greater sin of denying his
Lord is recorded in the Gospels, both for the warning and for the
comfort of believers. If the chief of the Apostles was led astray,
how much more should ordinary Christians be on their guard against
temptation ! But if Peter found remission, we may confidently expect
the same on the same condition of hearty repentance. ' The dissension —
if dissension it could be called — between the two great Apostles will
shock those only who, in defiance of all Scripture, persist in regarding
the Apostles as specimens of supernatural perfection.' (Farrar, Life
and Work of St Paul, i. 444.)
4. The collision does not justify any unfavourable conclusion against
the inspiration of the Apostles and the infallibility of their teaching.
For Paul charges his colleague with hypocrisy or dissimulation, that is,
with acting against his own better conviction. We have here a fault
of conduct, a temporary inconsistency, not a permanent error of
doctrine. A man may know and teach the truth, and yet go astray
occasionally in practice. Peter had the right view of the relation
of the gospel to the Gentiles ever since the conversion of Cornelius ;
he openly defended it at the Apostolic Council (Acts xv. 7; comp.
Gal. ii. 1 — 9), and never renounced it in theory; on the contrary,
his own Epistles agree fully with those of Paul, and are in part
addressed to the same Galatians with a. view to confirm them in
their Pauline faith ; but he suffered himself to be influenced by some
scrupulous and contracted Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. By
trying to please one party he offended the other, and endangered for
a moment the sound doctrine itself.
5. The inconsistency here rebuked quite agrees with Peter's cha
racter as it appears in the Gospels. The same impulsiveness and in
consistency of temper, the same mixture of boldness and timidity, made
him the first to confess, and the first to deny Christ, the strongest and
the weakest among the Twelve. He refused that Christ should wash
his feet, and then by a sudden change he wished not his feet only, but
his hands and head to be washed ; he cut off the ear of Malchus, and in
a few minutes afterwards he forsook his Master and fled ; he solemnly
promised to be faithful to Him, though all should forsake Him, and
yet in the same night he denied Him thrice.
6. It should be remembered, however, on the other hand, first, that
the question concerning the significance of the Mosaic law, and es
pecially of the propriety of eating meat offered to idols, was a very
difficult one, and continued to be agitated in the Apostolic Church
(cf. 1 Cor. viii. — x. ; Rom. xiv.). The decree of the Council at Jeru
salem (Acts xv. 20, 29), after all, stated simply the duties of the Gentile
converts, strictly prohibiting them the use of meat offered to idols, but
it said nothing on the duties of the Jewish Christians to the former,
thus leaving some room for a milder and stricter view on the subject.
We should also remember that the temptation on the occasion referred

86 APPENDIX.

to was very great, since even Barnabas, the Gentile missionary, was
overcome by it.
7. Much as we may deplore and censure the weakness of Peter and
admire the boldness and consistency of Paul, the humility and meekness
with which Peter, the oldest and most eminent of the twelve Apostles,
seems to have borne the public rebuke of a younger colleague, are
deserving of high praise. How touching is his subsequent allusion in
a Pet. iii. 15, 16, which is addressed to the Galatians among others, to
the very Epistles of his 'beloved brother Paul', in one of which his
own conduct is so sharply condemned. This required a rare degree of
Divine grace, which did its full work in him through much suffering and
humiliation, as the humble, meek, gentle, and graceful spirit of his
Epistles abundantly prove.
8. The conduct of Paul supplies a conclusive argument in favour of
the equality of the Apostles and against the papal view of the supremacy
of Peter. No pope would or could allow any Catholic bishop or arch
bishop to call him to an account and to talk to him in that style of
manly independence. The conduct of Peter is also fatal to the claim
of papal infallibility, as far as morals or discipline is concerned; for
Peter acted here officially with all the power of his Apostolic example,
and however correct in doctrine, he erred very seriously in practice, and
endangered the great principle of Christian freedom, as the popes have
done ever since. No wonder that the story was offensive to some of the
Fathers and Roman commentators and gave rise to most unnatural
explanations. We may add that the account of the Council in Jerusalem in Acts xv.
likewise contradicts the Vatican system, which would have required
a reference of the great controversy on circumcision to the Apostle
Peter rather than to a council under the presidency of James.
9. The Apostolic Church is typical, and foreshadows the whole
course of the history of Christendom. Peter, Paul and John represent
as many ages and phases of the Church. Peter is the rock of Catholicism,
Paul the rock of evangelical Protestantism. Their temporary collision
at Antioch anticipates the world-historical antagonism of Romanism
and Protestantism, which continues to this day. It is an antagonism
between legal bondage and evangelical freedom, between Judaizing
conservatism and Christian progress. Let us hope also for a future
reconciliation in the ideal Church of harmony and peace which is
symbolized by John, the bosom friend of Christ, the seer of the heavenly
Jerusalem. Paul and Peter, as far as we know from the New Testament, never
met again after this scene in Antioch. But ecclesiastical tradition
reports that they were tried and condemned together in Rome, and
executed on the same day (the a9th of June), Peter, the Galilaean
disciple, on the hill of the Janiculum, where he was crucified; Paul,
the Roman citizen, on the Ostian road at the Tre Fontane, where he
was beheaded. Their martyr blood thus mingled is still a fountain of
life to the church of God." — Abridged from Dr Schaff's Commentary
on the Epistle to the Galatians.

APPENDIX. 87

III.
Note on Ch. ii. 16.
The Revised Version renders, 'knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, save through faith in Jesus Christ', giving in the
margin 'but only', as an alternative of 'save'. Alford translates 'ex
cept'. Though a full discussion of the use of the Greek particles here
employed is beyond the scope of this work, yet the question involved
is of such momentous issues, that the correct rendering of the passage
must be not only stated, but maintained. Two particles, of which the
literal English equivalent is 'if not', occur in combination about 150
times in the New Testament. In the large majority of passages in
which they are found, there can be no difference of opinion as to their
force or proper translation, viz. 'if not', 'unless', 'except'. In a few
passages, however, it is impossible to adopt one of these renderings
without sacrificing either sense or truth, and reducing the statement to
an absurdity. To the instances quoted in the note on ch. i. 19 (Luke
iv. 26, 27, where the A.V. is of course wrong), may be added Matt. xii.
4, and Rev. xxi. 27, where it is right in rendering 'but only' and
'but'. It may be observed that the question is not whether these
particles ever lose their exceptive force (see Bp Lightfoot, note on ch. i.
19, and Prof. Scholefield, Preface to 3rd edition of Sermons on Justifica
tion by Faith, pp. 35 — 37). Nor again is it here necessary to explain the
refinements of Greek idiom by reference to the subtleties of Greek
thought. The transition from the exceptive, 'save', to the exclusive,
'but only', is in certain passages undoubted and may be logically de
duced. It is clear that for the purposes of correct translation (i.e. if
we would convey to an English reader the true sense of the original),
we must employ 'but', or 'but only' in certain passages as the equiva
lent of particles which are elsewhere rendered by 'save' or 'except'.
It remains to determine which is the just rendering in the passage under
consideration. Now, if words have any meaning, the R.V. (which is
ex hypothesi a correction of the A.V.) teaches what has been termed
"a mixed justification by faith and works", the efficacy of works for
justification being conditional on the addition or admixture of faith.
This, however, is in direct contradiction of what immediately follows —
"we believed Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not
by the works of the law". Had the Apostle allowed works any place
as a ground of the justification of a sinner, he would either have omitted
the last clause or have written, "and (or, together with) the works of
the law". But this would have been to contradict his plainest assertions
in another Epistle. In Rom. iii. 21 we read, "But now apart from law
the righteousness of God has been manifested, even the righteousness of
God through faith in Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that
believe" ; and, v. 28, "We reckon then that a man is justified by faith
apart from the works of the law (perhaps, works of law, i.e. acts of
obedience to any law, ceremonial or moral) ". Compare Rom. iv. 4 — 6.
In all these passages St Paul uses an adverb which means 'apart from',

88 APPENDIX.

'independently of, rather than 'without'. The sinner is justified
through faith only, apart from any works of his own. Christ's fulfil
ment of the law — His perfect obedience and His atoning death—needs
not and admits not any supplement on the part of the sinner to satisfy the v
righteousness of God. We who believe "are accounted righteous before
God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith,
and not for our own works or deservings", Art. xi. But though "the
works of the law" have absolutely no part in our justification, because
the faith through which we are justified is 'apart from' them, yet St
Paul nowhere asserts that we are justified without works. That would
be sheer antinomianism. Good works are ' ' the fruits of faith ", and ' ' by
them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by
the fruit", Art. xii. For a further illustration of St Paul's teaching on
the relation of faith and works, compare Eph. ii. 8 — io, and for his
doctrine of justification by faith 'apart from' works, Phil. iii. 9.
It is certain then, that the true rendering is, 'not justified by the
works of the law, but (or, but only) through faith in Jesus Christ.'

IV.
On the Faith of Abraham.
No one can read the Epistle to the Galatians attentively and dispas
sionately without being struck by the manner in which St Paul refers to
the Old Testament Scriptures. It is not merely that he recognises
and defers to their authority. He assumes that the Gospel of Jesus
Christ was not a new Revelation, but the crowning stage in a progres
sive development of the Divine purposes of mercy to man, of which the
germ was the promise made to Eve that her Seed should bruise the
serpent's headl. On the part of God this development, though con
tinuous, was not uniform2. But as regards man, the terms and condi
tions of acceptance were the same. Death had entered into the world
by sin. The promise (nay, the command) repeated all through the ages,
now in words expressly, now by type and ceremonial, was one and the
same, 'Believe and live.' There is no exception in the command,
Divine as it was, 'Do this and thou shalt live.' Repeated by our Lord
Himself3, it was not propounded as a Gospel : but, like the Law,
designed to convince of sin, and so to drive men back on the Gospel, to
'shut them up4' to accept God's mercy on God's own terms.
But while the universality of this principle of faith is admitted, it may
seem that the object, and so the quality oi faith is different in the case of
Abraham and others who lived under the old dispensation from that
which is exercised by Christians. To the latter the command is, 'Be-
1 See Archdeacon Perowne's Essential Coherence of the Old and New Testaments
p. 15. '
2 God had spoken to the fathers by the prophets from Moses onwards 'in sundry
portions and in divers manners,' Heb. 1. 1.
3 Luke x. 28. * Gal. iii, 23.

APPENDIX. 89

lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ.' It might seem that to the former the
object of faith was not the same. In the case of many of the heroes of
faith, of whom we have a list in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to
the Hebrews, there is no reference to any belief in a Saviour from sin,
much less to faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To this objection it
may be sufficient to reply that the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews
is not speaking oi justifying faith, but of faith generally, trust in the
unseen, of which it is the text, and so to the individual the proof or
conviction of things not seen. This faith was the mainspring of the
religious life and action of 'the elders1.' But as regards Abraham, at
any rate, although the promise (Gen. xv. 5) might seem to be only
temporal — the promise of a posterity countless as the stars of heaven
— yet 'it contained in it the promise of Christ.' It must be borne in
mind that Abraham had already exercised faith in the word and pro
mise of God (Gen. xii. 1 — 4, 7, 8, xiii. 14 — 18, xv. 1). But at length a
special demand is made upon his faith: God sees fit on a particular
occasion and in a special form to renew to him the promise, preceded
by the assurance, 'Fear not Abraham, I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward.' And when the promise was given, the
patriarch 'believed the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteous
ness.' With what degree of clearness Abraham was permitted to
foresee the future Reconciler, by whom and in whom alone God is
reconciled to man and man to God, we know not. But we have our
Lord's own declaration, 'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day;
and he saw it and was glad.' Bp. O'Brien, On the Nature, and Effects
of Faith, Sermon I. pp. 15 — 19. V.
On Chapter iii. 20.
' Of the many explanations which have been given of this passage a
few of the most important may be noticed. They may be classified
in three divisions, according to the supposed reference in the term
Mediator: —
1. The earlier expositors understood the term Mediator in the
passage before us to refer to Christ. In favour of this view it may of
course be urged that in all other passages of the N. T. (see note on v.
19) where the word occurs it refers to our Lord Jesus Christ. But it
no more follows that the word thus applied to our Lord so loses its
1 See Bp. Westcott on Heb. xi. 1 : "The writer first marks the characteristics of
Faith generally (v. 1) and its application to the elementary conceptions of religion
(w 3 comp. v. 6)). He then shews that the spiritual history of the world is a history
of the victories of Faith. This is indicated by the fragmentary records of the old
world (4—7), and more particularly by the records of the growth of the Divine Society
(the Church). This was founded in the Faith of obedience and patience of the
patriarchs (8—16); and built up in the Faith of sacrifice, sustained against natural
judgment (17—22); and carried to victory by the Faith of conquest (23— 31). . . .All
these preliminary victories of Faith await their consummation from the Faith of
Christians (39, 40)."

90 APPENDIX.

primary meaning as to be appropriated exclusively to Him, than that
the words 'shepherd' and 'bishop' must necessarily refer to Him in
every passage where they occur, because He is 'the Shepherd and
Bishop' of our souls. Even if the reference to Christ could be esta
blished as a simple and natural explanation of the passage, taken by
itself, the connexion with the context is obscured or lost, and the force
of the Apostle's argument impaired thereby.
2. More probable is the opinion that in v. 20, as in v. 19, the
Mediator is Moses. (The definite article in the Greek may lend equal
support to this and to the next explanation.) This opinion, entertained
by eminent commentators, both ancient and modem, is in full accord
with the scope of the passage. But the reference, though suggested by,
is not therefore limited to the giving of the Law. 'The mediator,' just
spoken of (v. 19), is undoubtedly Moses, but what was true of him in
that capacity is also true of every other human mediator.
3. Lastly, we may regard the first portion of the verse as laying
down a general proposition. Those who hold this view adopt the ren
dering of the English Bible, both A.V. and R.V. alike, as correct, and
understand it to express 'the idea, the specific type,' and to state a
characteristic of the Mediator, as such. The very idea of mediation
implies a transaction involving the existence of at least two parties, and
mutual conditions. But the Gospel is a promise, the gift of grace. God
alone is its author, and its fulfilment depends on His faithfulness — on
Himself alone.
Under each of these general divisions (especially the last) a great
many explanations, differing in some particulars, are found. Many of
these, so far from being destructive of one another, are not inconsistent
or irreconcilable with one another. The slighter differences help to
illustrate and confirm the great truth which St Paul is enforcing,
rather than to obscure his meaning or render it uncertain. A more
detailed account of these, with the names of their principal authors, may
be found in Dr Schaffe's Commentary, Excursus, p. 38, who gives the
following extract from Reuss's French Commentary, which clearly
expresses one, and perhaps the best-supported, view of tie passage under
consideration : "A mediator implies two contracting parties, conse
quently two wills, which may be united, but may also disagree; a law
therefore given by mediation is conditional and imperfect : but the
promise, emanating from God alone, and having His will for its sole
source and guarantee, is infinitely more sure and more elevated. The
law, then, cannot set aside the promise, its aim can only be secondary."

ADDITIONAL NOTE ON CH. ii. 20.
This verse strikes the key-note of the Epistle, and is a summary of
the whole Christian revelation subjectively considered. St Paul here
discloses to our view the secret of his life as a Christian and as an
Apostle, the mainspring of his wonderful activity, the source and the
object of the enthusiasm by which he was inspired. We know some
thing of his life and his labours. Here he tells us hmo that life was

APPENDIX. 91

lived, and why those labours were undergone. A full record of his
teaching has been preserved to us. Here is a summary of it all.
A comparison of two other passages of the N. T. will serve to throw
light on this verse. In Eph. ii. 4 St Paul speaks of that ' great love
wherewith God loved us, and even when we were dead in sins quickened
ns together with Christ'. In Rev. i. 5 St John ascribes praise 'to Him
that loveth us and released us from our sins in His own blood'. In the
former of these passages, the love displayed is that of God the Father ',
Here it is the Lord Jesus Christ who loved the Apostle. In the latter pass
age, the love of Christ is regarded as still exercised, unchanged, towards
those who are its objects2. (Comp. John xiii. 1.) But in both passages
it is the love of the Church collectively, not of the individual Christian,
which is affirmed. In the verse before us St Paul appropriates this love.
His language is intensely personal. ' Who loved me'. He claims as
his own the assurance made long before to the prophet Jeremiah (ch.
xxxi. 3), 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love'. Of this love the
proof and pledge was the great Sacrifice of the Cross. He 'gave Him
self for me'. There is no boasting here, save that which the Apostle
avows when he says (Gal. vi. 14) 'God forbid that I should glory save in
the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ '. Such boasting is the confidence of
true humility, the faith which constitutes personal Christianity.
1 This love of God is ' in Christ Jesus our Lord '. Rom. viii. 39. Comp. v. 35.
2 The present tense, 'loveth us', has the support of the best MSS., and is adopted
in the R. V.

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Legend of Montrose
A Midsummer-Night's Dream
Twelfth Night
Julius Caesar
Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen
An Apologie for Poetrie

3/64/6 3/-4/-

Tovey In Preparation

Lumby

3/6

M

3/6

Verity

3/"

m

a/6

»

2/6

»>

a/-

>>

a/-

>>

a/-

>»

a/-

„ In Preparation

>j

2-

West In the Press

Masterman

2/6

jj

a/6

Flather

a/6

Simpson

Verity

i/6

SkeatShuckburgh

i/6i/6
3/6 3/-

West ii
Carlos
MillBartholomew

Elements of English Grammar
English Grammar for Beginners
Short History of British India
Elementary Commercial Geography
Atlas of Commercial Geography

a/6 I it-

Robinson

Church Catechism Explained

a/-

THE PITT PRESS SERIES.

6. EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE.

Author Work Editor
Colbeck Lectures on the Teaching of Modern
Languages
Comenius Life and Educational Works Laurie
Three Lectures on the Practice of
Education
Eve I. On Marking
Sidgwick II. On Stimulus
Abbott III. On the teaching of Latin |
Verse Composition
Farrar General Aims of the Teacher)
Poole Form Management )
Locke Thoughts on Education Quick
Milton Tractate on Education Browning
Sidgwick On Stimulus
Thring Theory and Practice of Teaching

tin[

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Vol.

3/6

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i/6
3/6 2/-
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7. MATHEMATICS.

Ball Elementary Algebra 4/6
Euclid Books 1 — vi, xi, xii Taylor 5/-
„ Books 1 — vi „ 4/-
Books 1— iv „ 3/-
Also separately
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THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.
General Editors:
J. J. S. Perowne, Bishop of Worcester.
A. F. Kirkpatrick, D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew.
tiPpfniom? oi tfoe $ro.ss,
"It is difficult to commend too highly this excellent series." — Guardian.
" The modesty of the general title of this series has, we believe, led
many to misunderstand its character and underrate its value. The books
are well suited for study in the upper forms of our best schools, but not
the less are they adapted to the wants of all Bible students who are not
specialists. We doubt, indeed, whether any of the numerous popular
commentaries recently issued in this country will be found more service
able for general use."— Academy.
" One of the most popular and useful literary enterprises of the
nineteenth century." — Baptist Magazine.
" Of great value. The whole series of comments for schools is highly
esteemed by students capable of forming a judgment. The books are
scholarly without being pretentious : and information is so given as to be
easily understood." — Sword and Trowel.
" The notes possess a rare advantage of being scholarly, and at the same
time within the comprehension of the average reader. For the Sunday-
School Teacher we do not know of a more valuable work." — Sunday-
School Chronicle.
The Book of Judges. J. J. Lias, M.A. " His introduction is clear
and concise, full of the information which young students require." —
Baptist Magazine.
IX Samuel. A. F. Kirkpatrick, D.D. " Small as this work is
in mere dimensions, it is every way the best on its subject and for its
purpose that we know of. The opening sections at once prove the
thorough competence of the writer for dealing with questions of criti
cism in an earnest, faithful and devout spirit ; and the appendices discuss
a few special difficulties with a full knowledge of the data, and a judicial
reserve, which contrast most favourably with the superficial dogmatism
which has too often made the exegesis of the Old Testament a field for
the play of unlimited paradox and the ostentation of personal infalli
bility. The notes are always clear and suggestive; never trifling or
irrelevant; and they everywhere demonstrate the great difference in
value between the work of a commentator who is also a Hebraist, and
that of one who has to depend for his Hebrew upon secondhand
sources." — Academy.
I. Sings and Ephesians. " With great heartiness we commend
these most valuable little commentaries. We had rather purchase
these than nine out of ten of the big blown up expositions. Quality is
far better than quantity, and we have it here." — Sword and Trowel.
n. Sings. "The Introduction is scholarly and wholly admirable,
the notes must be of incalculable value to students."— Glasgow Herald.
"It would be difficult to find a commentary better suited for general
use. " — Academy.
zo,ooo
21/11/95

i CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS &= COLLEGES.
The Book of Job. " Able and scholarly as the Introduction is, it is
far surpassed by the detailed exegesis of the book. In this Dr Davidson's
strength is at its greatest. His linguistic knowledge, his artistic habit,
his scientific insight, and his literary power have full scope when he
comes to exegesis  " — The Spectator.
" In the course of a long introduction, Dr Davidson has presented
us with a very able and very interesting criticism of this wonderful
book. Its contents, the nature of its composition, its idea and purpose,
its integrity, and its age are all exhaustively treated of.. ..We have not
space to examine fully the text and notes before us, but we can, and do
heartily, recommend the book, not only for the upper forms in schools,
but to Bible students and teachers generally. As we wrote of a previous
volume in the same series, this one leaves nothing to be desired. The
notes are full and suggestive, without being too long, and, in itself, the
introduction forms a valuable addition to modern Bible literature." — The
Educational Times.
"Already we have frequently called attention to this exceedingly
valuable work as its volumes have successively appeared. But we have
never done so with greater pleasure, very seldom with so great pleasure,
as we now refer to the last published volume, that on the Book of Job,
by Dr Davidson, of Edinburgh. . . .We cordially commend the volume to
all our readers. The least instructed will understand and enjoy it ;
and mature scholars will learn from it." — Methodist Recorder.
Psalms. Book I. "It is full of instruction and interest, bringing
within easy reach of the English reader the results of the latest scholar
ship bearing upon the study of this ever new book of the Bible. The
Introduction of eighty pages is a repertory of information, not drily but
interestingly given." — Methodist Recorder.
"It seems in every way a most valuable little book, containing a
mass of information, well-assorted, and well-digested, and will be useful
not only to students preparing for examinations, but to many who want
a handy volume of explanation to much that is difficult in the Psalter.
 We owe a great debt of gratitude to Professor Kirkpatrick for his
scholarly and interesting volume. " — Church Times.
"In this volume thoughtful exegesis founded on nice critical scholar
ship and due regard for the opinions of various writers, combine, under
the influence of a devout spirit, to render this commentary a source of
much valuable assistance. The notes are 'though deep yet clear,' for
they seem to put in a concentrated form the very pith and marrow of all
the best that has been hitherto said on the subject, with striking freedom
from anything like pressure of personal views. Throughout the work care
and pains are as conspicuous as scholarship." — Literary Churchman.
Psalms. Books n. and HI. "This second portion of the Psalter
maintains all the excellencies of the earlier volume. It is scholarly and
sympathetic, and, let us add, it is deeply interesting. The introduction
on the whole of the Psalter is prefixed to the present volume, and is a
triumph of comprehensiveness and clearness. Its learning is adequate,
and its attitude on disputed points at once reasonable and reverent. " 
Independent.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" The second volume of Professor Kirkpatrick's Commentary on
the Book of Psalms has all the excellent qualities which characterised
the first. ..It gives what is best in the philology of the subject. Its notes
furnish what is most needed and most useful. Its literary style is at
tractive. It furnishes all that is of real value in the form of introduction,
and it has a studious regard for the devout as well as intelligent under
standing of the Psalms." — Critical Review.
"This volume of the Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges is a
very valuable contribution to the expository literature of the Old Testa
ment. The introduction, which occupies some 70 pages, is a compact
compendium of explanatory and critical information upon the whole
Psalter. The notes are brief, but full, and very suggestive." — Baptist.
JOD — Hosea. " It is difficult to commend too highly this excellent
series, the volumes of which are now becoming numerous. The two
books before us, small as they are in size, comprise almost everything
that the young student can reasonably expect to find in the way of helps
towards such general knowledge of their subjects as may be gained
without an attempt to grapple with the Hebrew ; and even the learned
scholar can hardly read without interest and benefit the very able intro
ductory matter which both these commentators have prefixed to their
volumes." — Guardian.
Ecclesiastes ; or, the Preacher. — "Of the Notes, it is sufficient to
say that they are in every respect worthy of Dr Plumptre's high repu
tation as a scholar and a critic, being at once learned, sensible, and
practical  Commentaries are seldom attractive reading. This little
volume is a notable exception." — The Scotsman.
Jeremiah, by A. W. Streane, D.D. "The arrangement of the book
is well treated on pp. xxx., 396, and the question of Baruch's relations
with its composition on pp. xxvii., xxxiv., 317. The illustrations from
English literature, history, monuments, works on botany, fopography,
etc., are good and plentiful, as indeed they are in other volumes of this
series." — Church Quarterly Review.
Malachi. " Archdeacon Perowne has already edited Jonah and
Zechariah for this series. Malachi presents comparatively few difficulties
and the Editor's treatment leaves nothing to be desired. His introduction
is clear and scholarly and his commentary sufficient. We may instance
the notes on ii. 15 and iv. 2 as examples of careful arrangement,
clear exposition and graceful expression." — Academy.
" The Gospel according to St Matthew, by the Rev. A. Carr. The
introduction is able, scholarly, and eminently practical, as it bears
on the authorship and contents of the Gospel, and the original form
in which it is supposed to have been written. It is well illustrated by
two excellent maps of the Holy Land and of the Sea of Galilee." —
English Churchman.
"St Mark, with Notes by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D. Into
this small volume Dr Maclear, besides a clear and able Introduc
tion to the Gospel, and the text of St Mark, has compressed many

4 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS &> COLLEGES.
hundreds of valuable and helpful notes. In short, he has given us
a capital manual of the kind required — containing all that is needed to
illustrate the text, i. e. all that can be drawn from the history, geography,
customs, and manners of the time. But as a handbook, giving in a
clear and succinct form the information which a lad requires in order
to stand an examination in the Gospel, it is admirable  I can very
heartily commend it, not only to the senior boys and girls in our High
Schools, but also to Sunday-school teachers, who may get from it the
very kind of knowledge they often find it hardest to get." — Expositor.
' ' With the help ot a book like this, an intelligent teacher may make
'Divinity' as interesting a lesson as any in the school course. The
notes are of a kind that will be, for the most part, intelligible to boys
of the lower forms of our public schools ; but they may be read with
greater profit by the fifth and sixth, in conjunction with the original
text." — The Academy.
' ' St Luke. Canon Farrar has supplied students of the Gospel
with an admirable manual in this volume. It has all that copious
variety of illustration, ingenuity of suggestion, and general soundness of
interpretation which readers are accustomed to expect from the learned
and eloquent editor. Anyone who has been accustomed to associate
the idea of 'dryness' with a commentary, should go to Canon Farrar's
St Luke for a more correct impression. He will find that a commen
tary may be made interesting in the highest degree, and that without
losing anything of its solid value.... But, so to speak, it is too good for
some of the readers for whom it is intended." — The Spectator.
The Gospel according to St John. "The notes are extremely
scholarly and valuable, and in most cases exhaustive, bringing to the
elucidation of the text all that is best in commentaries, ancient and
modern." — The English Churchman and Clerical Journal.
"(i) The Acts of the Apostles. By J. Rawson Lumby, D.D.
(2) The Second Epistle of the Corinthians, edited by Professor Lias.
The introduction is pithy, and contains a mass of carefully-selected
information on the authorship of the Acts, its designs, and its sources.
 The Second Epistle of the Corinthians is a manual beyond all praise,
for the excellence of its pithy and pointed annotations, its analysis of the
contents, and the fulness and value of its introduction." — Examiner.
" The Rev. H. C. G. Moule, D.D., has made a valuable addition
to The Cambridge Bible for Schools in his brief commentary on
the Epistle to the Romans. The 'Notes' are very good, and lean,
as the notes of a School Bible should, to the most commonly ac
cepted and orthodox view of the inspired author's meaning ; while the
Introduction, and especially the Sketch of the Life of St Paul, is a model
of condensation. It is as lively and pleasant to read as if two or three
facts had not been crowded into well-nigh every sentence." — Expositor,
"The Epistle to the Romans. It is seldom we have met with a
work so remarkable for the compression and condensation of all that
is valuable in the smallest possible space as in the volume before us.
Within its limited pages we have ' a sketch of the Life of St Paul '
we have further a critical account of the date of the Epistle to the
Romans, of its language, and of its genuineness. The notes are

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

numerous, full of matter, to the point, and leave no real difficulty
or obscurity unexplained." — The Examiner.
"The First Epistle to the Corinthians. Edited by Professor Lias.
Every fresh instalment of this annotated edition of the Bible for Schools
confirms the favourable opinion we formed of its value from the exami
nation of its first number. The origin and plan of the Epistle are
discussed with its character and genuineness." — The Nonconformist.
Galatians. "Dr Perowne deals throughout in a very thorough
manner with every real difficulty in the text, and in this respect he has
faithfully followed the noble example set him in the exegetical master
piece, his indebtedness to which he frankly acknowledges." — Modern
Church. "The introductory matter is very full and informing, whilst the
Notes are admirable. They combine the scholarly and the practical in
an unusual degree  It is not the young students in 'schools and
colleges' alone who will find this Commentary helpful on every
page. "• — Record.
"This little work, like all of the series, is a scholarly production;
but we can also unreservedly recommend it from a doctrinal standpoint ;
Dr E. H. Perowne is one who has grasped the distinctive teaching of
the Epistle, and expounds it with clearness and definiteness. In an
appendix, he ably maintains the correctness of the A. V. as against the
R. V. in the translation of II. 16, a point of no small importance."—
English Churchman.
The Epistle to the Ephesians. By Rev. H. C. G. Moule, D.D.
" It seems to us the model of a School and College Commentary —
comprehensive, but not cumbersome; scholarly, but not pedantic." —
Baptist Magazine.
The Epistle to the Philippians. "There are few series more valued
by theological students than ' The Cambridge Bible for Schools and
Colleges,' and there will be no number of it more esteemed than that
by Mr H. C. G. Moule on the Epistle to the Philippians." — Record.
Thessalonians. "It will stand the severest scrutiny, for no volume
in this admirable series exhibits more careful work, and Mr Findlay is
a true expositor, who keeps in mind what he is expounding, and for
whom he is expounding it." — Expository Times.
"Mr Findlay maintains the high level of the series to which he has
become contributor. Some parts of his introduction to the Epistles to
the Thessalonians could scarcely be bettered. The account of Thessa-
lonica, the description of the style and character of the Epistles, and the
analysis of them are excellent in style and scholarly care. The notes
are possibly too voluminous ; but there is so much matter in them, and '
the matter is arranged and handled so ably, that we are ready to forgive
their fulness. ...Mr Findlay's commentary is a valuable addition to
what has been written on the letters to the Thessalonian Church."—
Academy. "Of all the volumes of this most excellent series, none is better
done, and few are so well done as this small volume.... From begin
ning to end the volume is marked by accurate grammatical scholarship,
delicate appreciation of the apostle's meaning, thorough investigation

6 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS & COLLEGES.
of all matters open to doubt, extensive reading, and deep sympathy
with the spiritual aim of these epistles. It is, on the whole, the best
commentary on the Thessalonians which has yet appeared, and its
small price puts it within reach of all. We heartily recommend it." —
Methodist Recorder.
"Mr Findlay has fulfilled in this volume a task which Dr Moulton
was compelled to decline, though he has rendered valuable aid in its pre
paration. The commentary is in its own way a model — clear, forceful,
scholarly — such as young students will welcome as a really useful guide,
and old ones will acknowledge as giving in brief space the substance of
all that they knew." — Baptist Magazine.
Hebrews. " Like his (Canon Farrar's) commentary on Luke it
possesses all the best characteristics of his writing. It is a work not
only of an accomplished scholar, but of a skilled teacher." — Baptist
Magazine. The Epistles of St John. By the Rev. A. Plummer, D.D.
"This forms an admirable companion to the 'Commentary on the
Gospel according to St John, ' which was reviewed in The Churchman
as soon as it appeared. Dr Plummer has some of the highest qualifica
tions for such a task ; and these two volumes, their size being considered,
will bear comparison with the best Commentaries of the time." — The
Churchman. Revelation. "This volume contains evidence of much careful
labour. It is a scholarly production, as might be expected from the pen
of the late Mr W. H. Simcox. ...The notes throw light upon many
passages of this difficult book, and are extremely suggestive. It is an
advantage that they sometimes set before the student various interpre
tations without exactly guiding him to a choice." — Guardian.
"Mr Simcox has treated his very difficult subject with that con
scious care, grasp and lucidity which characterises everything he
wrote." — Modern Church.
Wbi Smaller ©amtmtrge 33tble for gbdjools.
' ' We can only repeat what we have already said of this admirable
series, containing, as it does, the scholarship of the larger work. For
scholars in our elder classes, and for those preparing for Scripture exami
nations, no better commentaries can be put into their hands." — Sunday-
School Chronicle.
"Despite their small size, these volumes give the substance of the
admirable pieces of work on which they are founded. We can only hope
that in many schools the class-teaching will proceed on the lines these com
mentators suggest." — Record.
" We should be glad to hear that this series has been introduced into
many of our Sunday-Schools, for which it is so admirably adapted." —
Christian Leader.
"All that is necessary to be known and learned by pupils in junior
and elementary schools is to be found in this series. Indeed, much more
is provided than should be required by the examiners. We do not know
what more could be done to provide sensible, interesting, and solid Scrip
tural instruction for boys and girls. The Syndics of the Cambridge

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

University Press are rendering great services both to teachers and to
scholars by the publication of such a valuable series of books, in which
slipshod work could not have a place." — Literary World.
"For the student of the sacred oracles who utilizes hours of travel or
moments of waiting in the perusal of the Bible there is nothing so handy,
and, at the same time, so satisfying as these little books  Nor let anyone
suppose that, because these are school-books, therefore they are beneath
the adult reader. They contain the very ripest results of the best Biblical
scholarship, and that in the very simplest form." — Christian Leader.
" Altogether one of the most perfect examples of a Shilling New Tes
tament commentary which even this age of cheapness is likely to produce."
— Bookseller.

Samuel L and II. ' ' Professor Ki rkpatrick's two tiny volumes on
the First and Second Books of Samuel are quite model school-books ;
the notes elucidate every possible difficulty with scholarly brevity and
clearness and a perfect knowledge of the subject." — Saturday Review.
"They consist of an introduction full of matter, clearly and succinctly
given, and of notes which appear to us to be admirable, at once full and
brief."— Church Times.
Kings I. " We can cordially recommend this little book. The Intro
duction discusses the question of authorship and date in a plain but
scholarly fashion, while the footnotes throughout are brief, pointed, and
helpful." — Review of Reviews.
St Matthew. "The notes are terse, clear, and helpful, and teachers
and students cannot fail to find the volume of great service." —
Publishers' Circular.
St Mark. St Luke. "We have received the volumes of St Mark
and St Luke in this series.. ..The two volumes seem, on the whole, well
adapted for school use, are well and carefully printed, and have maps
and good, though necessarily brief, introductions. There is little doubt
that this series will be found as popular and useful as the well-known
larger series, of which they are abbreviated editions." — Guardian.
St Luke. " We cannot too highly commend this handy little book
to all teachers." — Wesleyan Methodist Sunday-School Record.
St John. "We have been especially interested in Mr Plummer's
treatment of the Gospel which has been entrusted to his charge. He is con
cise, comprehensive, interesting, and simple. Youngstudents of this inim
itable book, as well as elder students, even ministers and teachers, may
use it with advantage as a very serviceable handbook. " — Literary World.
"A model of condensation, losing nothing of its clearness and force
from its condensation into a small compass. Many who have long since
completed their college curriculum will find it an invaluable handbook."
— Methodist Times.
Acts. "The notes are very brief, but exceedingly comprehensive,
comprising as much detail in the way of explanation as would be needed
by young students of the Scriptures preparing for examination. We
again give the opinion that this series furnishes as much real help as
would usually satisfy students for the Christian ministry, or even minis
ters themselves." — Literary World.

THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT
FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
with a Revised Text, based on the most recent critical authorities,
and English Notes.
" Has achieved an excellence which puts it above criticism." — Expositor.
St Matthew. " Copious illustrations, gathered from a great variety
of sources, make his notes a very valuable aid to the student. They
are indeed remarkably interesting, while all explanations on meanings,
applications, and the like are distinguished by their lucidity and good
sense. " — Pall Mall Gazette.
St Mark. " Dr M aclear's introduction contains all that is known
of St Mark's life; an account of the circumstances in which the Gospel
was composed, with an estimate of the influence of St Peter's teaching
upon St Mark ; an excellent sketch of the special characteristics of this
Gospel ; an analysis, and a chapter on the text of the New Testament
generally. " — Saturday Review.
St Luke. "Of this second series we have a new volume by
Archdeacon Farrar on St Luke, completing the four Gospels. ... It
gives us in clear and beautiful language the best results of modern
scholarship. We have a most attractive Introduction. Then follows
a sort of composite Greek text, representing fairly and in very beautiful
type the consensus of modern textual critics. At the beginning of the
exposition of each chapter of the Gospel are a few short critical notes
giving the manuscript evidence for such various readings as seem to
deserve mention. The expository notes are short, but clear and helpful.
For young students and those who are not disposed to buy or to study
the much more costly work of Godet, this seems to us to be the best
book on the Greek Text of the Third Gospel."— Methodist Recorder.
St John. "We take this opportunity of recommending to ministers
on probation, the very excellent volume of the same series on this part
of the New Testament. We hope that most or all of our young ministers
will prefer to study the volume in the Cambridge Greek Testament for
Schools." — Methodist Recorder.
The Acts of the Apostles. "Professor Lumby has performed his
laborious task well, and supplied us with a commentary the fulness and
freshness of which Bible students will not be slow to appreciate. The
volume is enriched with the usual copious indexes and four coloured
maps."— Glasgow Herald.
I. Corinthians. "Mr Lias is no novice in New Testament exposi
tion, and the present series of essays and notes is an able and helpful
addition to the existing books." — Guardian.
The Epistles of St John. " In the very useful and well annotated
series of the Cambridge Greek Testament the volume on the Epistles
of St John must hold a high position.... The notes are brief, well
informed and intelligent." — Scotsman.
CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY J. AND C e. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.