Galatians 2:20-3:14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Galatians 2:20 tn The NA²⁸ Greek text, NRSV, NJB, TEV, HCSB, and a few others place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.
2. Galatians 2:20 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.
3. Galatians 2:20 tn Grk “flesh.”
4. Galatians 2:20 tc A number of significant witnesses (P⁴⁶ B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (theou kai Christou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (huiou tou theou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of mss, including several important ones (א A C D¹ Ψ 0278 33 1175 1241 1739 1881 2464 M lat sy co). The construction “of God and Christ” appears to be motivated as a more explicit affirmation of the deity of Christ (following as it apparently does the Granville Sharp rule). Although Paul certainly has an elevated Christology, explicit “God-talk” with reference to Jesus does not normally appear until the later books (cf., e.g., Titus 2:13, Phil 2:10-11, and probably Rom 9:5). For different arguments but the same textual conclusions, see TCGNT 524.tn Or “I live by faith in the Son of God.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 16 for the rationale behind the translation “the faithfulness of the Son of God.”sn On the phrase because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ExSyn 116, which notes that the grammar is not decisive, nevertheless suggests that “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept (for the idea is expressed in many of the same contexts, only with the verb πιστεύω rather than the noun), but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful.” Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.
5. Galatians 2:21 tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”
6. Galatians 2:21 tn Or “justification.”
7. Galatians 2:21 tn Or “without cause,” “for no purpose.”
8. Galatians 3:1 tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.
9. Galatians 3:1 tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainō) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).
10. Galatians 3:1 tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).
11. Galatians 3:2 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.
12. Galatians 3:2 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.” Because the genitive noun πίστεως (pisteōs, “of faith”) is impersonal here, an objective genitive was preferred rather than a subjective genitive. See also v. 5.
13. Galatians 3:3 tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.
14. Galatians 3:3 tn Or “by the Spirit.”
15. Galatians 3:3 tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisthe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.
16. Galatians 3:3 tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”
17. Galatians 3:5 tn Or “provide.”
18. Galatians 3:5 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
19. Galatians 3:5 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
20. Galatians 3:6 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
21. Galatians 3:7 tn Grk “know.”
22. Galatians 3:7 tn The phrase “sons of Abraham” is used here in a figurative sense to describe people who are connected to a personality, Abraham, by close nonmaterial ties. It is this personality that has defined the relationship and its characteristics (BDAG 1024-25 s.v. υἱός 2.c.α).
23. Galatians 3:8 tn For the Greek verb προευαγγελίζομαι (proeuangelizomai) translated as “proclaim the gospel ahead of time,” compare L&N 33.216.
24. Galatians 3:8 tn The same plural Greek word, τὰ ἔθνη (ta ethnē), can be translated as “nations” or “Gentiles.”
25. Galatians 3:8 sn A quotation from Gen 12:3; 18:18.
26. Galatians 3:9 tn Grk “those who are by faith,” with the Greek expression “by faith” (ἐκ πίστεως, ek pisteōs) the same as the expression in v. 8.
27. Galatians 3:10 tn Grk “For as many as.”
28. Galatians 3:10 tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”sn A quotation from Deut 27:26.
29. Galatians 3:11 tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).
30. Galatians 3:12 tn Grk “is not from faith.”
31. Galatians 3:12 tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32. Galatians 3:12 sn A quotation from Lev 18:5. The phrase the works of the law is an editorial expansion on the Greek text (see previous note); it has been left as normal typeface to indicate it is not part of the OT text.
33. Galatians 3:13 tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.
34. Galatians 3:13 sn A quotation from Deut 21:23. By figurative extension the Greek word translated tree (ζύλον, zulon) can also be used to refer to a cross (L&N 6.28), the Roman instrument of execution.
35. Galatians 3:14 tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”