The Letter to the Galatians

David A. deSilva

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780802830555
• eBook ISBN: 9781467450447
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

New volume in a favorite Bible commentary series

Writing a commentary on Galatians is a daunting task. Despite its relative brevity, this Pauline letter raises a number of foundational theological issues, and it has played a vital role in shaping Christian thought and practice over the centuries.

In this replacement of Ronald Y. K. Fung's 1988 New International Commentary volume, David deSilva ably rises to the challenge, providing a coherent account of Galatians as a piece of strategically crafted communication that addresses both the immediate pastoral challenges facing Paul's converts in Galatia and the underlying questions that gave rise to them.

Paying careful attention to the history, philology, and theology of the letter, and interacting with a wealth of secondary literature on both Galatians and the rest of the Pauline corpus, deSilva's exegetically sound commentary will serve as an essential resource for pastors and theological students.

Text and Commentary

I. PAUL’S OPENING GREETING (1:1–5)

¹ Paul, an apostle not sent out from human beings nor through a human being’s agency, but through Messiah Jesus and Father God, who raised him from among the dead, ² and all the brothers who are with me, to the congregations of Galatia: ³ May generous kindness and peace be yours from God our^a Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for^b our sins in order that he might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ whose is the glory into the ages of ages. Amen!

a. There is some disagreement among early witnesses concerning whether the pronoun “our” qualifies “Father” or “Lord Jesus Christ.” א and A support the former reading (“our Father”) and are followed by the NASB, NRSV, NIV, ESV, and NLT. 𝔓^{46, 51}, B, D, and 𝔐 support the latter reading and are followed by the KJV, RSV, NEB, NJB, and NET. Pauline usage favors the reading “our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (see Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Phlm 3; contrast Eph 1:3; 2 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4; Metzger, Textual Commentary, 520).

b. Both ὑπέρ (𝔓⁵¹ א^c B H 33) and περί (“for,” 𝔓⁴⁶ א* A D G K P Ψ 𝔐) have strong external support. The former accords more fully with Paul’s typical expression (e.g., see Gal 3:13; Das, 71).

Letters in the ancient world tended to use a standard formula (1) identifying the sender and the intended recipient or recipients and (2) adding a word of greeting.¹ We find a good example of this formula in Acts 23:26: “Claudius Lysias to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.”² The basic framework of this formula remains intact in all of Paul’s letter openings, though he exhibits the freedom to expand and modify it in several ways. In some instances, he expands upon his own self-identification (most notably in Rom 1:1–7, where vv. 1–6B represent such an expansion). In some, he expands slightly upon the identification of the recipients (as in 1 Cor 1:2; 1 Tim 1:2a; Titus 1:4a). In his greetings, he consistently replaces the standard word “greeting” with a wish that the recipients will experience “grace” and “peace” from God. Paul effects a bit of a pun here, replacing the expected “greetings” (chairein) with “grace” (charis). The addition of the wish for “peace” recalls the typical Hebrew greeting (“shalom”).

In Galatians, as in a number of his other letters, Paul’s expansions contribute to fulfilling the typical goals for the opening of an address, namely, establishing credibility and sounding the keynotes of the address, though 1:6–9 will attend to these tasks more directly and forcefully.³ Here Paul’s claim that his apostleship is one that was given by divine rather than human commission, and that he is therefore an envoy of God rather than of some human authority or body, anticipates the fuller demonstration of the fact in 1:11–2:10, as well as the theme of whom to trust, which runs throughout the letter (2:11–14; 4:12–20; 5:7–12; 6:11–17). His identification of Jesus as “the one who gave himself on behalf of our sins in order that he might rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father” succinctly presents the seeds of the Christological and soteriological themes that will germinate throughout the remainder of the letter. Particularly noteworthy are the following:

1. Jesus endured death in order to benefit us; it was an act of grace that we must honor and to which we must respond appropriately (2:19–21; 3:13–14; 4:4–5; 5:2–4).
2. This benefit consisted in rescue from the present ordering of the cosmos, with its oppressive powers and constraints, so that we might enjoy the new order that God is bringing about (3:10–14, 23–25; 4:1–11, 21–31; 5:13–26; 6:14–15).
3. This rescue was all an outworking of the good and longstanding purposes of God (3:7–9, 15–22; 4:4–5),
4. whom we now know as Father (3:26–29; 4:6–7).

1One of the goals a speaker would seek to achieve from the outset of a speech was to establish his or her credibility, often by demonstrating his or her authority to address a particular issue and commitment to the well-being of the audience whom the speaker was trying to lead toward making a particular decision. Paul addresses the issue of his authority head-on and up front as he expands his self-designation as the sender of the letter. He emphasizes his direct authorization by God to act as an apostle of the gospel, denying that he relies on any human authorization: “Paul, an apostle not sent out from human beings nor through a human being’s agency, but through Messiah Jesus and Father God, who raised him from among the dead.”⁴

The only name by which the apostle is known in his letters is “Paul,” though Acts reports that he was known as Saul up to the time of his mission to Pisidian Antioch (the transition occurs at Acts 13:9). It is clear that his change of name was not connected to his change of religious allegiance (i.e., his encounter with the glorified Christ). As he moved further into gentile lands, he may have moved away from the Hebrew name “Saul” on account of the unfortunate meaning that saulos has in Greek (“prancing,” “waddling,” or perhaps even “effeminate,” “affected”).⁵ If Acts preserves an accurate historical memory of Paul as a Roman citizen (16:37–38; 22:25–29), as seems likely, Paul would have had three Latin names: a praenomen, a nomen (family name), and a cognomen (the name by which he would have been typically called). Paulus, rendered in Greek as Paulos, would have been a typical enough cognomen. Saul would then have been a fourth name, a name given to him as a member of the Jewish community and people of Israel, a kind of second cognomen within a particular circle. Given his Benjaminite heritage (Phil 3:5), it is not at all surprising that his parents would have chosen for him the name of the first king of Israel, himself a Benjaminite (1 Sam 9:1–2).

The term “apostle” refers to an envoy or delegate who is sent to carry a message or enact a commission on behalf of another.⁶ The term calls immediate attention to an awareness of a sender. Paul claims this sender to be none other than the glorified Christ and the God who had previously sent the Christ,⁷ but not before he emphatically denies that he is acting on behalf of any human sender: “not sent out from human beings nor through a human being’s agency.” Paul doubly underscores this correction of a possible misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) of the source of his apostleship prior to presenting the positive statement of the same.

The two phrases “not from human beings” and “not through a human being’s agency” are mutually reinforcing but not entirely redundant. With the first, Paul denies that human beings are the point of origin of his apostolic mission;⁸ with the second, that any human being was instrumental in sending him out on this mission. James might have commissioned other Jewish Christian teachers to go out from Jerusalem to check on daughter churches in the nearby provinces (Gal 2:12); others might be commissioned as messengers or apostles on behalf of particular churches (see 2 Cor 8:23); James and his fellow apostles might select and commission people like Judas and Silas to represent them, distributing and explaining the apostolic decree among the churches (Acts 15:22–27). Paul, however, claims that his own commission to represent God and God’s Messiah in the proclamation of the gospel came directly “through Jesus Christ and the Father God” (Gal 1:1).⁹ “Through Jesus Christ” stands in explicit contrast only with “through a human being,” though Paul would no doubt affirm Jesus and the Father to be the source of his apostleship, as well as the agents of his commission.¹⁰

Ultimately, Paul is answerable, then, to God, not to the Jerusalem apostles and, if not them, certainly not to the rival teachers who have come to Galatia claiming, perhaps, the authority of the Jerusalem church for their own message and mission. It is highly likely, given Paul’s extended treatment of his own commission and his careful delineation of his relationship with the Jerusalem apostles in Gal 1:11–2:10, that Paul is already working from the first lines of this letter to destroy prejudice aroused against him by the rival teachers.¹¹

“Christ” is not yet here conceived of as a personal name, as is evident from the fact that Paul can write “Jesus [the] Christ” or “Christ Jesus.” Ancient names did not admit of such changes in the order.¹² “Christ” is best heard as a title. The process of proclaiming the gospel and giving gentile converts preliminary instruction in their new faith and its obligations would have given Paul ample opportunity to inculcate in them a new understanding of the Greek word christos when applied to Jesus.¹³ The resurrection of Jesus from among the dead is, of course, a core conviction within the early Christian movement, but Paul may also name it here at the outset because of its implications, which his converts are in danger of forgetting as they listen to the persuasive speech of Paul’s rivals. It not merely marks God’s vindication of Jesus and endorsement of the way Jesus taught but also inaugurates the end times, presaging the general resurrection from the dead at the end of days. It is a decisive sign that the boundaries of the ages are even now grating against one another as one passes away and another comes into being. It sounds a death knell for the powers of the present age, which have held humanity in bondage to the “elementary principles of the world” (the stoicheia tou kosmou; see commentary on 4:3 and excursus on pp. 348–53), about which Paul will speak in 4:1–11 and among which he will locate the Torah itself.

2Paul often names a coworker as a cosender of an epistle (1 Corinthians: Sosthenes; 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon: Timothy; 1 and 2 Thessalonians: Silvanus and Timothy; Romans, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus: none). Uniquely here he creates a picture not just of a single teammate but of “all the brothers and sisters who are with me” standing beside Paul in solidarity, addressing their fellow Christians in Galatia. In part, this wording could be explained by the likelihood that Paul does not have a teammate at present, since Galatians may have been written in the narrow window between his falling out with Barnabas in Antioch and their reconciliation before testifying together at the Jerusalem Conference. However, it is also a rhetorically effective way to remind the Galatians that his message is not his own idiosyncratic invention, but the shared testimony of Christian community.¹⁴

Paul’s use of kinship language at the outset of this letter is significant; it sounds a theme that will dominate Galatians. God is the “father” of this vastly extended household (1:1, 3); the believers in Christ are “sisters and brothers” (1:2) to one another, even across great distances. The Christian movement constitutes thus a global “household of faith” (6:10). Paul, like other early Christian leaders, uses the language of family to speak of the relationships between Christians throughout the evangelized world, inviting believers to accept not only a new relationship in regard to the one God (sons and daughters) but a new relationship with one another (brothers and sisters). Those who are, by birth, “outsiders” to one another in terms of blood relations are called upon to accept one another, to look out for one another, and to invest in one another as the closest of “insiders.” They are called upon to give one another the gifts that accompany being siblings—cooperation, sharing of material resources and other advantages, truth-telling and faithfulness, the nurturing of harmony and unity, investing in advancing one another’s interests—and to approach one another from this vantage point. As people who have been brought together into a single family, they are called upon to banish all those things that would be unseemly within a natural family—competition, looking out for one’s own interests at the expense of another, manipulation and withholding truth and true intentions, and th...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Excursuses
• General Editor’s Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography
• INTRODUCTION
• TEXT AND COMMENTARY
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Authors
• Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Texts