Galatians 2

Fourteen years later I went up to Jerusalem again, along with Barnabas. I took Titus with me as well.

1Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

Note"Went up" was the ordinary way of speaking about travel to Jerusalem, which stands on high ground, no matter which direction you came from. Barnabas was a Jewish believer from Cyprus who had vouched for Paul early on and traveled with him; Titus was a Greek convert, not a Jew by birth, which is why bringing him to this meeting mattered. The fourteen years are counted either from Paul's conversion or from the earlier visit he has just described; the Greek does not settle which.

2I went because God showed me I should go. I laid out for them the good news that I preach among the non-Jewish nations, though I did this privately, with the men who were recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure that my work, then and earlier, was not running out to nothing.

2And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that 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.

NoteThe King James "lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain" uses a footrace image, which Paul applies to his work repeatedly. The worry is not about his message being wrong but about the effort coming to nothing if the Jerusalem leaders repudiated it.

3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

3But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

NoteCircumcision was the surgical removal of the foreskin, performed on Jewish baby boys on the eighth day. It was the physical mark of the covenant made with Abraham and so the sign of belonging to the Jewish people. The dispute running through this letter is whether non-Jews who joined the movement had to undergo it, which in practice meant becoming Jews. "A Greek" here means simply a non-Jew, an uncircumcised outsider; it is not primarily about nationality.

4This came up because some false brothers had been slipped in among us. They came in secretly to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so they could bring us into slavery.

4And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

NoteThe King James "privily" means secretly, and "unawares brought in" means smuggled in without anyone realizing. "Liberty" and "bondage" are the vocabulary of slavery: in the Roman world the line between a free person and a slave was the sharpest legal division there was, so the words carry more force than "freedom" and "restriction" do for us.

5We did not give in to them, not for a moment, so that the truth of the good news would stay with you.

5To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

6As for the men who seemed to be important (whatever they were makes no difference to me, since God does not judge people by their standing) those men added nothing to me in our meeting.

6But 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:

NoteIn 1611 English, "seemed to be somewhat" means "were reckoned to be something," that is, were held in high regard. It does not imply they only appeared important and were not. "God accepteth no man's person" translates a Greek idiom that is literally "God does not receive the face": he does not decide in someone's favor on the basis of rank or reputation. The English word "person" once carried that sense of outward standing.

7Just the opposite: they saw that God had trusted me with the good news for people who are not circumcised, just as he had trusted Peter with the good news for those who are circumcised.

7But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

Note"The gospel of the uncircumcision" and "the gospel of the circumcision" name two audiences, not two different messages. "The circumcision" is a standard shorthand for Jews, "the uncircumcision" for everyone else. The division being described is a division of labor.

8God worked powerfully in Peter to make him an apostle to the circumcised. The same God worked powerfully in me for the non-Jewish nations.

8(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

NoteAn apostle is a person sent out with a commission, an authorized envoy. The word itself means "one who is sent," and Paul's argument here turns on his having the same commission Peter had, aimed at a different set of people.

9James, Cephas, and John, the men regarded as pillars, saw the kindness God had shown me. So they gave me and Barnabas their right hands as a sign of partnership: we would go to the non-Jewish nations, and they would go to the circumcised.

9And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

NoteCephas is the Aramaic word for rock, and Peter is the Greek translation of it. They are two names for the same man, and Paul uses both in this chapter. "Pillars" pictures the community as a building held up by these three. Offering the right hand was the recognized gesture for sealing an agreement or a partnership, much as a handshake is now. The King James "heathen" translates the same word rendered "Gentiles" elsewhere in the chapter: the nations, meaning everyone who is not Jewish.

10They asked only one thing, that we keep remembering the poor, which was the very thing I was already eager to do.

10Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Note"Remember the poor" almost certainly refers to material support for the impoverished believers in Jerusalem, a collection Paul organized among his non-Jewish congregations for years afterward. The King James "forward to do" means eager to do, not "forward" in the modern sense of presumptuous.

11But when Peter came to Antioch, I stood up to him face to face, because he was clearly in the wrong.

11But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

NoteAntioch in Syria was one of the largest cities of the empire and the base from which Paul worked; its community of believers included both Jews and non-Jews, which is what made the table question there so sharp. "He was to be blamed" means he stood condemned, that is, he was self-evidently in the wrong, not that someone had accused him.

12Before certain men arrived from James, Peter used to eat with the non-Jewish believers. But when those men came, he began to pull back and keep himself apart, because he was afraid of the men from the circumcision group.

12For before that 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.

NoteEating together was the issue, not food alone. Jewish law restricted which foods could be eaten and how they were prepared, and sharing a table with non-Jews risked ritual impurity and, in most Jewish opinion of the time, compromised a Jew's standing as an observant member of the people. To stop eating with the non-Jewish believers was to treat them as second class. "Them which were of the circumcision" refers to a particular group of Jewish believers who held that non-Jews must be circumcised to belong.

13The rest of the Jewish believers acted with the same pretense as Peter. Even Barnabas was carried along by their pretending.

13And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

NoteThe King James "dissembled" and "dissimulation" translate the Greek word for playing a part on stage, the root behind our word hypocrisy. The charge is not that Peter and the others changed their minds but that their behavior no longer matched what they actually believed.

14When I saw that they were not walking straight in line with the truth of the good news, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a non-Jew and not like a Jew. So why do you force non-Jews to live like Jews?"

14But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

Note"Walked not uprightly" renders a single Greek word meaning to walk a straight line, as toward a fixed mark; the picture is of people veering off course. "To live as do the Jews" is also one Greek verb, sometimes transliterated as "judaize," meaning to take up Jewish practice: circumcision, food laws, festivals, sabbath.

15We ourselves are Jews by birth. We are not part of the non-Jewish nations, whom Jews call sinners.

15We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

Note"Sinners of the Gentiles" reflects a standard Jewish way of speaking, in which non-Jews were called sinners by definition because they lived outside the law given at Sinai. Paul is quoting that conventional label rather than endorsing it, and the next verse turns it against the people who use it.

16Even so, we know that no one is counted right with God by keeping the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our trust in Christ Jesus, in order to be counted right with God by faith in Christ and not by keeping the law. By keeping the law no human being will ever be counted right with God.

16Knowing that a man is not justified 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.

Note"Justified" is a courtroom word: to be declared in the right, acquitted, given a favorable verdict. It is not about being made morally better but about how the verdict falls. "The works of the law" means the things the law of Moses requires a person to do, with circumcision, food rules and calendar observance especially in view here, since those are the practices under dispute. The King James "the faith of Jesus Christ" reproduces a Greek construction that can mean either faith directed toward Christ or the faithfulness Christ himself showed; the question has been argued for centuries and the grammar does not decide it. "No flesh shall be justified" uses a Hebrew turn of phrase in which "flesh" stands for a living human being: no one at all.

17Now suppose that, while we look to Christ to be counted right with God, we ourselves turn out to be sinners too. Does that make Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not.

17But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Note"God forbid" is the King James translators' way of rendering a short, emphatic Greek expression that contains no word for God and means roughly "may it never happen." A "minister" in 1611 English is a servant or agent, someone who carries out another's business, so the question is whether Christ turns out to be working on sin's behalf.

18For if I build up again the very things I tore down, I show that I am a lawbreaker.

18For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

NoteA "transgressor" is literally someone who steps across a line, a lawbreaker. The image of building again what you tore down is a builder's image: putting back the very structure you demolished proves that demolishing it was the offense.

19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God.

19For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

Note"Dead to the law" uses a legal commonplace: death ends a person's obligations, since the dead are beyond the reach of claims against them. Paul is saying his relationship to the law has been terminated in that sense, and terminated by the law's own working.

20I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. Yet I am alive; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, 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 me, and gave himself for me.

NoteCrucifixion was a Roman public execution, reserved chiefly for slaves, rebels and the lowest criminals, and considered the most shameful way to die. Saying "I am crucified with Christ" borrows that specific, degrading death as the image for what has happened to the speaker's old self. "The life which I now live in the flesh" means life in the body, ordinary daily existence; "flesh" in the King James often carries that neutral sense of physical human life.

21I do not push aside God's undeserved kindness. For if being right with God could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Note"Frustrate" in 1611 English means to nullify or set aside, to make something void, not to annoy or thwart in the modern sense. "Grace" is favor freely given to someone who has no claim on it. "Christ is dead in vain" means Christ died for nothing, to no purpose.