/^ 
 
/^ 
 
 %^t Cam^jiitise Bible for ^t|)ooIs 
 antJ ColUfles. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 GALATIANS, 
 
HonUon: C. J. CLAY and SONS, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
 
 AVE MARIA LANE. 
 
 Cambtrtge: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO, 
 ILeipjifl: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 
 
W^t Camiritrse Btile for ^tt)00ls 
 anti Colleges* 
 
 General Editor:— J. J. S. PEROWNE, 
 Dean of Peterborough. 
 
 MAY 18 1955 , 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO TF^^S^^JCAL Si^ 
 
 GALATIANS, 
 
 WITIf INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 
 THE REV. E. H. PEROWNE, P.P. 
 
 MASTER OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; 
 PREBENDARY OF ST ASAPH. 
 
 EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
 CAMBRIPGE: 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 1890 
 
 \All Rights reserved,^ 
 
Cambritige 
 
 PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY M.A. AND SONS 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
PREFACE 
 BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. 
 
 The General Editor of TJte 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 
 
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. 
 
 Deanery, Peterborough. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 I. Introduction. 
 
 /. Galatia and the Galatian Churches ix — xiv 
 
 //. St Paul's visit to Galatia xv, xvi 
 
 ///. 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 
 Cajubridge 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 m 
 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 mart^'. 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 obscurej 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 
 
 ^ Lightfoot, p. 18. Livy, xxxvili. 18. 
 GAL. 2 
 
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 Gallograecia 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, Keltae, 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. xi 
 
 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 a 
 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 iEgasan — all rendered it a tempting 
 spot for commercial enterprise. Ancyra may have been, like 
 its modern representative, Angora, the scat 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 Rome^" (Acts ii. lo) 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, 
 revellings^". The two latter sins are indeed contained in 
 a similar enumeration in the Epistle to the Romans ^ 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, 
 
 "Sojourners from Rome." R. V. 
 ch. V. 19. '^ 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- 
 ness^ 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 Christianity ^ ; 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. ^ 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 Scriptures^, 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 which 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 
 Galatia*, 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'. 
 
 ^ See note on ch. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 III. The date, occasion, and subject of the Epistle. 
 
 (a) Though we cannot prove with precision the tijne 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 or former visit (c. iv. 1 3 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 forV 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 : 
 {a) 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. i) 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 wiih the 
 reason he assigns there for leniency, 'lest such an one be 
 swallowed up by over-much sorrow 2.' 
 
 ip) 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. 2-2 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 time^. 
 
 (c) Many commentators have collected the parallel pas- 
 sages^ 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 Galatians^. 
 
 1 For further instances see * Epistle to the Romans ' in this Series, 
 by the Rev. H. C. G. Moule, Appendix K., p. 267. 
 
 ^ 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. xix 
 
 {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, lo), 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 them^ ; 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 unto^ 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. 
 
 2 Matt, xiii." 52. 'Made a disciple to.' R. V. 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 posed on them by God Himself i. 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 «^w 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 'zeaP' which had manifested itself in Judaea^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 stoodTl 
 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 theieifire^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 
 co nduct w as inrnngjsf^fl^ w jth his teach ing. Had he not cir- 
 cumcised Timothy at Lystra * because of the Jews that were in 
 those parts^ ?' Had he not in comphance 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. 
 
 17- 
 
 2 Acts XV. I foil. 
 
 3 Acts xvi. 3. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 men which had a vow on themi? 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 
 
 I 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 inconsistency^. 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' 
 
 P (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 hy faith. ^ The Law did not disannul the 
 earlier covenant. It was added because of transgressions to 
 pave the way for the revelation of Jesus Christ — the seed to 
 whom the promise had been made. In Christ all external dis- 
 
 ^ 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. 
 
 '^ 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. 
 
 linctions, 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 works ^.' 
 
 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 
 
 ^ 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. 1—5. Introduction. Salutation and ascription of praise. 
 6 — 10. The subject and occasion of the Epistle. 
 
 II — 34. The Divine Commission and Apostolical authority of St 
 Paul. A statement of his claims, followed by a sketch 
 of his life. 
 
 II. I — 10. St Paul's visit to Jerusalem. 
 
 I r — 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. I — 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— ij 
 
 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. 
 
 1 — 7. The Law a necessary preparation for the Gospel. Son- 
 ship through Redemption, attested by the Spirit. 
 8— II. Danger of going back to the observance of the Legal 
 
 Ceremonial. 
 1 2 — 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. I — 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. I — 10. Exhortations to bear with an erring brother ; to cultivate 
 humility ; to exercise liberality. 
 II — 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 
 
 GAL. 3 
 
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 Polycarp to the Philippians, 
 c. 3, we meet with this expression, ' Builded up unto the faith 
 given you, which is the 7nother of us alV Comp. Gal. iv. 26 ; 
 and in c. v., ' Knowing then that God is not mocked^ S:c. Comp. 
 Gal. vi. 7. 
 
 Justin Martyr (a.d. 150) in his Dialogue with Tjypho, 
 ch. XCV., xcvi., after declaring that ' every race of man will be 
 found under a curse'' (comp. Gal. iii. 10), quotes the two passages 
 from Deuteronomy^ 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. i, '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- 
 
 ^ Deut. xxvii. 26, and xxi. 23. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 TORIAN Fragiment (probably not later than 170 a.d.)^' 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.' In marked contrast to this 
 description stands the work of the great German reiormer. 
 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.' 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- 
 ^ Bp Lightfoot, p. 58. 
 
 3—2 
 
xxviii 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. Patil^ 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 ont of the 
 number of His disciples. The qualifications for the office are (i) 
 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, 32; 
 I 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. 10—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. 
 
 3 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. 1). 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 Fat her... 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 
 difiiculty 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. 25. 
 2. all the brethren which are with me] It is impossible to say with 
 certainty zuho 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 dehver 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 (i) of the whole body 
 of believers, "the whole congregation of Christian people dispersed 
 throughout the whole world " (Canon L v.), (Matt. xvi. 18; Col. i. 24), or 
 (a) of a particular congregation, under the same ministry of the word 
 and sacraments. Thus we read of the Church in Cenchrece (i Cor. 
 xvi. i), of the Churches of Asia (i 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 i 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" 
 (i Pet. V. 10), and "the God of Peace" (Heb. xiii. 20). 
 
 A similar form of salutation occurs i Thess. i. i, 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 Son 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 wz-sfor 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; 
 I 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. I, 13, and comp. John viii. 32—36. It is also "the keynote of 
 this Epistle ". 
 
 from this present evil ivorld] World, lit. age. The Greek word 
 
GALATIANS, I. [vv. 5, 6. 
 
 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 saeculum vocatur,' Tac. Gert/i. 17; compare 
 •fecunda culpse ssecula,' of Horace. Two other renderings of the 
 phrase are admissible; (i) 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, 
 
 6. to ivhom be glory... Amenl 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; i Chron. xvi. 36. From the synagogue it 
 passed into the acts of worship of the Christian Church (i Cor. xiv. 16). 
 Here it is employed as an emphatic affirmation of the ascription to 
 which it is appended. Comp. Psalm, Ixxii. 19; Rev. i. 18, xxii. 20. 
 
 6—10. The subject and occasion of the Epistle. 
 
 6. / marvel .. .gosper\ 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, 8.1 GALATIANS, I. 5 
 
 called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel : 
 which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, ^ 
 and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or 8 
 
 grievous sin ^^'hich 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 removedl 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 
 Caesar 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. 1 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, i 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- 
 
6 GALATIANS, I. [v. 9. 
 
 an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you 
 
 than thai 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 gospelX 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 
 timoritten traditions of the Church. Cone. Trid. Sess. I v. 
 
 The word 'anathema', rendered by 'accursed' in the A.V. is the 
 Septuagint equivalent of the Plebrew W\X\ (Deut. vii. 26; Josh. vi. 17, 
 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., i Cor. xvi. 22, "If any man love not the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, let hirii 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, (i) 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 V. 8, but to the teaching of St Paul and his colleagues on the 
 
vv. lo— 12.] GALATIANS, I. 7 
 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, 
 let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God ? 1 
 or do I seek to please men? for if 1 yet pleased men, I 
 should not be the servant of Christ. 
 
 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was i 
 preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it i 
 of man, neither was I taught //, 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 noiv...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. 1 1 foil. ) the truths which I deliver are a revelation from 
 God.' 
 
 now'\ * 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. 
 II, &c. 
 
 persuade nien, 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. 11, "we persuade men." 
 
 if I yet... of Christ] If I any longer acted as men act by nature, 
 before conversion to God. The 'm.en-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 Pauts claims, followed by a sketch 
 of his life. 
 
 11. But I certify] Now I declare to you. The same verb is 
 used in i Cor. xv. i to introduce an emphatic statement. 
 
 7tot 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] */' is emphatic : I received 
 not the Gospel, any more than did the other Apostles, from man. 
 
 neither was I taught ii] 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. [w. 13, 14. 
 
 13 Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in 
 time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I 
 
 14 persecuted the church of God, and wasted it : and profited 
 in the Jews' reUgion 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. I. 
 
 13. Nothing short of a miracle could account for the change which 
 had taken place in the life and aims of vSt Paul (comp. Phil. iii. 4 — 10). 
 It was not likely that a man with such antecedents should have ac- 
 cepted the Gospel 7vith its consequences on merely human testimony. 
 
 ye have heard'] Rather, Ye heard from myself when I was with 
 you, and (perhaps) from my colleagues. 
 
 jny 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 Je^vs^ 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 
 I Cor. XV. 9. There is solemnity in the addition of the words "ol 
 God ". The identical expression occurs in the Sept. version of Nehem. 
 xiii. I. 
 
 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 
 
5, i6.J GALATIANS, I. 
 
 my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me 15 
 from my mother's womb, and called 7ne by his grace, to 16 
 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 I Cor. xi. 1 (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 i Cor. xvi. i, 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 efifected 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 Mopsuestia on 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 (i 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 
 
lo GALATIANS, 1. [vv. 17, 1 8. 
 
 neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles 
 before me : but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto 
 Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem 
 
 Damascus who were already 'disciples of the Lord'! (Acts ix. i). 
 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 tip to Jei-usalcni] 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 7vhich were apostles before mel 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. 19.1 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 sce\ 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). 
 
 ffteen 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 Lord's brother\ How are we to identify this James ? And 
 what are we to understand by the designation 'the Lord's brother'? 
 
 (i) Two of the Twelve bore the name of James; one, the son of 
 Zebedee and brother of John, the other the son of Alphoeus (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 
 Alphgeus, 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 ^. 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. 5). 
 
 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, 
 
 21 I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and 
 
 22 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. ((J) 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 Lightfopt, Dissertation II, Alford 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 Caesarea, 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 learn 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 unkfiowti] 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 which 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, 
 Actsxix. 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 beHeved 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 which 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 
 of God." 
 
 (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 Judsean 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 ser^'^ant. 
 
 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 Thee 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 fem.) are thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in 
 them." 
 
14 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 td 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 (z*. i — 10) ; and, secondly, a narrative of 
 his disagreement with Peter at Antioch and a conclusion upon the 
 question in debate (z^. ir — 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 Cypnis, 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"^ (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 
 
 ' 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 ii, to the bare name Barnabas in the Calendar was prefixed in 1662 
 'S.', and added, 'Apost. and M.' 
 
V. 3.] GALATIANS, il. 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 Gaiatians 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. Ho%v 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. 
 
 commnnicated'\ not as a would-be disciple, but as one on a footing of 
 equality. 
 
 to theni] 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 w. 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 — 6. The construction of this passage is irregular and uncertain, 
 
i6 GALATIANS, 11. [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 
 
 5 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 concihating 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 wlien 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 Tiius\ 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 
 
vv. 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 6 
 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. i. 
 
 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 be 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...! 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 vav. 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 
 
GALATIANS, II. [w. 8, 9. 
 
 tlie 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 ; i 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 sa7v\ '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 Petcr'\ 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 onCy Rom. i. 16, iii. 28 — 30. 
 
 was coviviitted] Lit. 'has been entrusted', comp. i Thess. ii. 4; i 
 Cor. iv. I. 
 
 8. This verse is parenthetical. It expands and explains verse 7. 
 in Peter] Rather, '■for Peter' — so '/^/'ine'. 
 
 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 ofiice of the Church at 
 lai-ge, St Peter holds the foremost place". Lightfoot. Compare z/z/. 7, 8 
 with Acts xii. 17, xv. 13, xxi. 18. 
 
 seemed to he 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, '1 
 will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God'. 
 
V. lo.J 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; i 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 Missionaiy 
 Societies in modern times. Our Lord Himself had set the example. 
 
 11 — 21. We learn from Acts xv. 12, 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, 
 
 I 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". 
 Jowctt. 
 
20 GALATIANS, II. [vv. ii, 12. 
 
 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him 
 
 12 to the face, because he was to he 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 
 Schaff s 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 hint 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 prol)able 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 
 Agapse, 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 gpradually 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 
 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 
 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. 
 
 withdrewl 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. 
 
 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 docti-ine 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. 11). 
 
 according to the truth] Lit. 'towards the truth,' i.e. with a view 
 to its maintenance and propagation. 
 
 If thou, being a y ew . . .J eivs] 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 z;. 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 
 sitbstance 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 yezu] 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 
 
 15 live as do the Jews? We 7vho are Jews by nature, and not 
 
 16 sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified 
 
 livest after... Gentilcs\ 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 ^ews] Lit. to Judaize, to observe the ceremonial 
 law, as necessary to salvation. That no less is intended appears from 
 V. 21. 
 
 16 — 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. 
 
 ^ews by nattire] by birtli, 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 /;w« faith, and through faith and by faith (dative without pre- 
 position expressed, Rom. iii. 28), never /t?r 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 oxi faith. This is clear from the fact that whereas in this pas- 
 sage God is said to justify the ]e\\sfrom faith, in Gal. iii. 8, He is said 
 to justify the Gentiles /;'<?w 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 oi God upon (condition of) laith'. 
 
V. i6.] GALATIANS, II. 23 
 
 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 luithotit them. See Appendix III. p. 87. 
 
 of fesus 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 loorks... justified] This is a quotation, not quite literal, 
 from Psalm cxliii. 1. 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 oi God in Jesus Christ. If he is 
 
24 GALATIANS, II. [vv. 17, 18. 
 
 17 But if, while \Ye 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 thifigs 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! 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 woith 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 puipose- 
 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, z.free salvation. 
 
 we otirselves'l not necessarily, 'I and Peter' (see note on t/. 14), but 
 we who, as Jews, inherited the advantages of the chosen race. 
 
 is therefore,.. of sin?] Are we to accept the inference that Christ is 
 the minister of sin? The word 'sin' has direct reference to 'sinners' in 
 the foraier clause. The Judaizers might taunt the Apostle \\'ith 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 7. Cor. xi. 15, "ministers of 
 righteousness". Is Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith, 
 employed in a service, which 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 19 
 the law am dead to the law, that I might live imto God. 
 I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, 20 
 
 *God' nar '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 
 them.selves considered. It was not, as a rule of life, but as a ground of 
 justification, that he utterly repudiated and swept them away. 
 
 I 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 {^justification, provides also a life of holiness by the Spirit, a life 
 unto God, which is sanctif cation . 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. i r, '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 
 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 Ungering 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. 
 
 nevei-theless 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', 
 I John iii. 24. 
 
 the life which I nozv 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 w^] = 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 a 
 
V. I.] GALATIANS, III. 27 
 
 of God : for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is 
 dead in vain. 
 
 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. 
 
 1 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 redtictio ad absnrdian. 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 
 (Hell. xii. 2) from all else to Jesus Christ alone, you allowed your eyes 
 to wander to the I^aw 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, c. 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 
 from ch. v. 7. 
 
 before zvhose 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, (i) 'was described as in a picture, was pourtrayed, 
 or delineated'. This finds favour with Theod. Mops., Luther, Calvin, 
 and others; and (2) 'was pubUcly 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 
 
V. 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 {jb) ordinary 
 and abiding, that 'fruit of the spirit' of which an enumeration is given, 
 c. v. 22, 23. The former were the credentials of the early Church, 
 attesting to the world her Divine mission ; the latter are 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, 
 i7> 18, 33, viii. 17, x. 44—46, xix. 2—6; Rom. viii.g — n, 13—16, 23, 
 26; I 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. i ; 
 I Cor. xii. 17; 2 Pet. ii. 8; and, the thing heard, or report or message, 
 as in Matt. xiv. i; 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 ot the verbs 'begin* 
 and 'finish' is found, Phil. i. 6; comp. 2 Cor. viii. 6. 
 
30 GALATIANS, III. [w. 4— 6. 
 
 4 by the flesh ? Have ye suffered so raany things in vain ? if 
 
 5 // 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 
 suflfering, 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. (i) so many 
 spiritual blessings (which would make the question nearly a repetition 
 oiv. 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 which 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 (z/. 4) resumes the appeal of v. 2 in another form, 'lie 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 i Cor. xii. 6; Phil. ii. 13. See also Matt. xiv. 2, R.V. 
 
 dy 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; 
 
w. 7, 8.] GALATIANS, III. 31 
 
 him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they 7 
 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. 11. 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. 
 
32 GAL ATI AN S, III. [v. lo. 
 
 heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto 
 
 Abraham, sayings In thee shall all nations be blessed. 
 
 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful 
 
 lo 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 jusiify] Pres. tense, 'justifleth', by an eternal law of His 
 moral government. 
 
 the heatheti] Better, 'the GentUes'. 
 
 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 i Cor. i. 9, iv. a. 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, vioumful, 
 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 
 
vv. II, 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 n 
 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 « 
 of iaith : 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; i 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 
 in me' : 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 doeth 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. Thus in Rom. v. 18 
 
34 GALATIANS, III. [v. 13. 
 
 13 them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
 being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed t's 
 
 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. 10, 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. 10 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 hs\ ' 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. 21, 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 Mj] *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; i 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. 
 
 it is wriUen} The Apostle makes good every step of his argument 
 
V. u.] GALATIANS, III. 35 
 
 every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing 14 
 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 
 smeir (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 Abrahami Justification by faith, v. 9. 
 
 the promise of the Spirit\ This takes us back to the question of v. 1. 
 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 PREPARATO8.Y 
 
 (19—29). 
 
 15—18. The Gospel a covenant of Promise. 
 
 The Apostle proceeds to shew the certainty 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. 
 
 15 through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men ; 
 
 Though // be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, 
 
 i6 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. Brethreft] 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 0/ nieti] Lit. 'according to man', a familiar mode of 
 expression with St Paul. Rom. iii. 5 (vi. 19); i Cor. iii, 3, ix. 8, 
 XV. 32; Gal. i. II. The plur. 'after the manner of men', occurs i Pet. 
 iv. 6. 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 covena7it\ 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 testamentutUj 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 \n%i2ince, 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'. 
 
 niade\ 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 that in 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. 
 
38 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 // 
 
 18 should make the promise of none effect. For if the in- 
 heritance be of the law, // is no more of promise : but God 
 gave it to Abraham by promise. 
 
 which is Christ\ Which is Messiah. The seed to \VhoTn 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. 1 5, 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 iht 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'. Lazv dcnd. projuises, xvorks zw^ faith, are 
 opposing principles, of which the antagonism is most clearly seen in 
 their issues — condemnation and justification. We have a parallel pas- 
 sage in Rom. iv. 13; comp. also Rom. xi. 6. 
 
 God gave it] Has bestowed as a free 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 ot the amount owed', Rom. viii. 32; 
 I Cor. ii. 12. 
 
V. 19.] GALATIANS, III. 39 
 
 Wherefore then serveth the law ? It was added because 19 
 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 aflfected 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 laAv in several particulars 
 to the earlier and 'better covenant' (Heb. viii. 6). (i) 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 knov/n 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' (i 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 
 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 ^uhom the promise tuas 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 shined 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 Moses ^'. See 
 Acts vii. 35. 
 
 a mediator] The noun thus rendered occurs in four other passages 
 of the N. T. (i Tim. ii. 5; Heb. viii. 6, ix. 15, xii. 24), and in 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 
 
 > The LXX. translates, ' by the voice of the Lord in the hand of Moses.' 
 
vv. 21, 22.] GALATIANS, III. 41 
 
 one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises 21 
 of God ? God forbid : for if there had been a law given 
 which could have given Hfe, verily righteousness should 
 have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded 22 
 
 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. 2, 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 hvo 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', (i 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 la'w\ 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 Schaflf) — though this is true, — but 
 because men's purest aims, and noblest efforts, and holiest achieve- 
 ments are tainted with 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, fro7n 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 i Pet. i. 5. 
 
 shut up] The passive of the same verb which is rendered 'hath 
 concluded' in z/. 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 27 
 
 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. Biit after that faith is come] See note on v. ■23. 
 
 26 — 29, The selection of the metaphor of tw. ■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. i ; i 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. 1 2 ' 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 'a//' 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,' i Cor. xv. 53, 54. 'The new man,' Eph. iv. 24; 
 Col. iii. 10. 'The whole armour of God,' Eph. vi. 11 (cf. v. 14 and 
 I 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 vf'ith. heavenly virtues'. 
 
 28. The unity here predicated results from the putting on of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Comp. Col. iii. 10, 11, 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', V. 26. 'One person', or 'one man'. Comp. Eph. ii. 15; Rom. 
 xii. 5; I 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'. 
 
 Clirist's] Our Lord Himself used this expression (Mark ix. 41) to 
 
w. I, 2.] 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 j but is 2 
 
 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 behever (i 
 Cor. iii. 23). Ihe 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, w. 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 /say] This is my meaning, comp, eh. 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 z;, 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 
 Gains {Inst. I, 55 1) 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 gver. 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. 
 
 ' 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. 
 
 GAL. 6 
 
46 GALATIANS, IV. [w. 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 t/. i. 
 
 the elements of the 7vorld] 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 : (i) 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. 
 to, 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 (z/. 9) as ' wealc and 
 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 s 
 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. lo. 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 timel 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 Sonl 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. i. 
 
 made... the /azu] Translate, born of -woman, bom 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. 1, 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 {/d.). 
 
 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, ist, 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. i . 
 It stands in antithesis to all human effort or merit, by the appointment 
 and grace of God. 
 
vv. 8— lo. 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 10 
 
 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. i 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. 
 I 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 i Cor. viii. 5, " there be that are called gods." 
 
 9. now, after that ye have kno%un...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 
 I 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 z/. 3. They are 'weak', 
 powerless to give life (Heb. vii. 18); 'beggarly' (rather, 'poor') as 
 contrasted with 'the unsearchable riches of Christ 't 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. ?' 
 
50 GALATIANS, IV. [v. ii. 
 
 [I years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you 
 labour in vain. 
 
 Ve observe] The whole meaning of the verse depends on the sense 
 attached to this word. It is compounded of a verb which 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. i, 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 w/j-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'. 
 
vv. 12, 13.] GALATIANS, IV. 51 
 
 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am ; for I am as ye are : 12 
 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 (i Kings xix. 10, •14), of Isaiah, (Isaiah liii. i). It finds 
 frequent expression in the Epistles of St Paul (i Cor. xv. 14; Gal. 
 ii. 2 ; Phil. ii. 16; i 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' (i 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 (i) 
 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 i. 
 
 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—17. 
 
 14 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 1 tell you the truth ? They zealously affect you, but not 
 
 14. And ?ny temptation] The true reading is probably *y(mr 
 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. i8, 19.] GALATIANS, IV. 53 
 
 well; yea, they would exclude you, that you might affect 
 them. But // is good to be zealously affected always in a 18 
 good things 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, vi^hich 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. i Cor. xii. 31 where it is rendered 
 'covet', i.e. desire, and i 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, 
 1 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 yoit\ 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. 2, 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 of 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 (i) 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 i Cor. v. 3. The 
 choice lies between the ist 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 /aw] 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 7vas by promise. Which thi?igs 24 
 are an allegory : for these are the two covenants ; the one 
 from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which 
 
 a bondmaid^ Lit. Uhe 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. i — 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 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 To these correspond 
 The Old Covenant (or dispen- 
 sation) given on Mt Sinai. 
 The earthly Jerusalem. 
 Natural birth into bondage. 
 Persecuting. 
 Expulsion. 
 
 24. %vhich things are an allegory*] Rather, 'Now all these things 
 may be regarded as an allegory '. The facts are historical, but they are 
 types (i 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 
 Jictitiotis 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- 
 toricaP. 
 
 for these are the two covenajits] Rather, ' for these (women) are two 
 covenants (or dispensations) '. 
 
 the one from the nioutit Sinai\ 'one from Mount Sinai'. We should 
 have expected, 'and the other from Mount Sion, answering to the 
 
 ^ 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 
 
 26 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 Jerasalem, 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.' 
 
 zvhich 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 
 bondzvoman. 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 «S:c.' 
 
 a7id afiszoereih] '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 
 ^7tew 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'. 
 
 a7id is in bondage] The reference is probably to the legal bondage to 
 which every Jew, as stuh, 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. OUT 
 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. i. 
 
 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 // 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 oi 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, i Chron. v. 10, 19; Psalm Ixviii. 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 sufifer 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 Sci'ipture 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 
 of God". 
 
 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 
 
w. 1—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 ciracmcised] 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 having 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 
 
6o GALATIANS, V. [w. 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 lav'] 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 ns 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). 
 
vv. 6— 8.] GALATIANS, V. 6i 
 
 righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circum- 6 
 cision availeth any things nor uncircumcision ; but faith 
 which worketh by love. Ye did run well ; who did hinder ^ 
 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. 1 5 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 ?Vj^^ availeth nothing. 
 
 hut 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 may be 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 justified 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 niaintain 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 wdl'\ 'You were running nobly'. The metaphor is taken 
 from the stadium — a favourite one with St Paul, c. ii. 2; i Cor. ix. 
 24 — 27, &c. 
 
 %uho did hinder yoti\ 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 tr^th personified, and here 
 equivalent to the Gospel which Paul had preached to them. These 
 words have been transferred from this place to ch. iii. i ; 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. i. 
 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 perstiasion] 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 
 'persunsion' is a weak term to apply to those who had hindered them 
 
62 GALATIANS, V. [vv. 9, 10. 
 
 9 Cometh not of hiih 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 nevef -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 (i 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, i 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'. J/ere 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"] */' (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 othei-tvise 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. II.] GALATIANS, V. 63 
 
 troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 
 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do 1 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 Juiigment] lit. 'M^ 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 acioss 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 o( 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 
 oj Galatia (i 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 evefi ctct off] Two explanations of this expression are 
 given. All expositors however agree in translating the verb as a 
 tniddle, not z.s passive. 
 
 (r) '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'^) 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'. (<r) The word rendered 'trouble' you, 
 is not the same as that used in v. lo, 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. 
 
 • 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 14 
 in this ; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed ye be not is 
 
 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 Avhole 
 man, that unrenewed nature which 'is become corrupt in accordance 
 with the lusts of deceit' (Eph. iv. ii) 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 m the 
 
 17 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 
 
 i3 ye cannot do the Ihings that ye would. But if ye be led of 
 19 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 theft] 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 sulTering were due to the lusts of the flesh (comp. James 
 iv. I, 1). 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, (i) 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 gramitiatically. 
 All together do not exhaust the fulness of the expression. The points 
 to be noted are {a) The antagonism between the iipirit — the Holy Ghost 
 in all that He is, and works and produces, and the flesh with its appetites 
 and works. (/») 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.] 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 zuorks 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. XII. 
 
 19... 21. A fourfold classification of the sins here mentioned has been 
 suggested; (i) 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 
 (lesh 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. 11. 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, ike. 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 i 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, retellings] Probably no better rendering can be found 
 for the latter of these words. In Classical Greek it is used of those 
 nightly revelHngs 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 tivie 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 (i 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 '^heaven', not earth, though 'on the earth' — the Kingdom 
 ])repared 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, 22 
 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. i, xcvii. 12 ; 
 Phil. iv. 4, t\:c. 
 
 peace] In the conscience, pervading the soul, calming the passions, 
 manifested in the disposition and conduct. 
 
 longsuffering] An attribute of God, i Tim. i. 12; r Pet. iii. 20; 
 1 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 ' longsuflFering ', 
 Col. iii. 1-2, with 'lowliness', Eph. iv. 1. 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 \ i 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 'j?^c/i', as masculine, such characters 
 or persons. Comp. i Tim. i. 9, lo 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 Chrisfs] They who belong to Christ, who are His 
 
70 _ GAL ATI AN S, 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. i Cor. xv. 2^. The R. V. reads 'They that are of 
 Christ Jesus\ which has the support of the earlier MSS. 
 
 have crucified^ The aoHst tnay 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.Hyn.^. 311, foil. 
 
 25. The mention of crucifixion suggests death — the death of ' the old 
 man', which is the condition and birtli 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 z;. 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 ist 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. I, 2, '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. 
 
 proz'oking... 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 maybe 
 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 v/ritten, 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 [Horce Paulina) 
 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 i 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 ihe 
 spirit and \}cv^ flesh. There is a very solemn question suggested by it — 
 Were they wjiat 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; i 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 i 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 of^ces. 
 
 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: *aj 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 borne 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 t/iat other Pharisee, 'By the grace of 
 God I am what I am'. 
 
 5. For every 7nan...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. 1 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. [w. 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; I Tim. v. 17, 18. He had already urged 
 it upon the Galatian converts, as we learn from i Cor. xvi. i. 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'X 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. 
 
 viocked] 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 hai-vest 
 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 hve 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 fiesKl Gr. 'to Ms own flesli'. 
 
 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. ' 
 
 Jor in due season'\ This promise is an encouragement to persevere. 
 The phrase itself occurs i 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 occasion-, 
 but making them. 
 
76 GALATIANS, VI. [vv. lo, ii. 
 
 TO As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all 
 
 vieti, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. 
 
 II 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.' 
 
 tinto all tnen] 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 ox family oi God (i Tim. iii. 15; i 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 ho?ne. 
 
 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. ^^ 
 
 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. 
 Alford is of opinion that 'on account of the peculiar character of this 
 Papistic, St Paul wrote it all with his own hand, — as he did the 
 I'astoral 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 liaving 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 a fair skew] *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 i\iQ flesh... circumcised the eighth day, &c." Comp. Rom. ii. 28, 29 
 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. 13, 14. 
 
 13 they should suffer persecution for the cross of Chiist For 
 neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law ; 
 but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in 
 
 14 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 impHes 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 ciraimcised] 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 sujipose, 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 Christ Jesus neither 15 
 
 but God forbid that /] 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 whovi] R.V., 'tlirougli wMcli'. 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. i Cor. 
 ii. 12; Eph. ii. 2. Comp. James i. 27, iv. 4; i John ii. 15, j6, 
 V. 19. 
 
 1 jie 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 all- important thing is 'faith 
 working by love'; here 'a new creature ' ; in i 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 
 
8o GALATIANS, VI. [v. 16. 
 
 circumcision availeth any tilings 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 )ic7v crcatiire\ The word so rendered here and in 1 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 ivord 
 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. 11 with Eph. ii. ro; 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 diflferent applications in ecclesiastical literature. See 
 Article 'Canon' in Diet. 0/ 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 arc 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, 18.1 GALATIANS, VI. 81 
 
 From henceforth let no man trouble me : for I bear in my 17 
 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' (i Cor. xiv. 38). 
 
 for I bear... the Lord JesusX 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, (i) 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 a practice 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. i8. 
 
 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'. 
 
 •[[ 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. 
 
 (i) The locality. The term Arabia has been taken by some coni- 
 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. c. 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 iu 
 
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." 
 
 (5) The time. We do not know at what 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. 
 
 IL 
 
 The following is the summary referred to on ch. ii. 11 — 1\\ 
 
 " We take the record in its natural, historical sense, and derive from 
 it the following instructive lessons : — 
 
 I. The right and duty of protest against ecclesiastical authority, 
 even the highest, when Christian tmth 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. 
 
 1. 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 Antjoch 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. 2; i 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, Li/e 
 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 incotisistency, 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. I — 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 s-gnificance 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. I 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 ot 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 
 2 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 29th 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 Schaft's Commentary, 
 on the Epistle to the Galatians. 
 
APPENDIX. S7 
 
 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 y^r 
 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 
 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 — lo, 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 head^. On the part of God this development, though con- 
 tinuous, was not uniform^. 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 
 Himself^, it was not propounded as a Gospel : Ijut, like the Law, 
 designed to convince of sin, and so to drive men back on the Gospel, to 
 'shut them up"*' 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 of 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. IS- 
 
 2 God had spoken to the fathers by the prophets from Moses onwards 'in sundry 
 portions and in divers manners,' Heb. 1. i. 
 
 •1 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, tmst 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 elders \' 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. i — 4, 7, 8, xiii. 14 — 18, xv. i). 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 tJie 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: — 
 
 I. 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 
 
 _* See Bp. Wesfcotton Heb. xi. i: "The writer first marks the characteristics of 
 Faith generally (z/. i) 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 the 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 hcnv that life was 
 
APPENDIX. 9t 
 
 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 
 us 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 objects 2. (Comp. John xiii. i.) 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. 
 
 * 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 
 intheR.V. 
 
 cambkiuce: printed by c. j. clay, m.a. and sons, at the university press. 
 
THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 General Editor, The Very Rev. J. J. S. Perowne, 
 Dean of Peterborough. 
 
 **// is difficult to commend too highly this excellent series ^"^ — Guardian. 
 
 **The modesty of the general title of this series has, we believe, led 
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 specialists. We doubt, indeed, whether any of the numerous popular 
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 able for general iise." — 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 
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 ectsily understood." — Sword and Trowel. 
 
 ** The value of the work as an aid to Biblical study, not merely in 
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 The Book of Judges. J. J. Lias, M. A. *• His introduction is clear 
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 Book of Judges may be solved." — Baptist Magazine. 
 
 1 Samuel, by A. F. Kirkpatrick. "Remembering the interest 
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 "To the valuable series of Scriptural expositions and elementary 
 commentaries which is being issued at the Cambridge University Press, 
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 "The Rev. A. F. Kirkpatrick has now completed his commentary 
 on the two books of Samuel. This second volume, like the first, is 
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 Obadiali and Jonali. " This number of the admirable series of 
 Scriptural expositions issued by the Syndics of the Cambridge Uni- 
 versity Press is well up to the mark. The numerous notes are 
 excellent. No difficulty is shirked, and. much light is thrown on the 
 contents both of Obadiah and Jonah. Scholars and students of to-day 
 are to be congratulated on having so large an amount of information on 
 Biblical subjects, so clearly and ably put together, placed within their 
 reach in such small bulk. To all Biblical students the series will be 
 acceptable, and for the use of Sabbath-school teachers will prove 
 invaluable." — North British Daily Mail. 
 
 " It is a very useful and sensible exposition of these two Minor 
 Prophets, and deals very thoroughly and honestly with the immense 
 difficulties of the later-named of the two, from the orthodox point of 
 vie w . ' ' — Expositor. 
 
 " Haggai and Zechariali. This interesting little volume is of great 
 value. It is one of the best books in that well-known series of 
 scholarly and popular commentaries, ' the Cambridge Bible for Schools 
 and Colleges ' of which Dean Perowne is the General Editor. In the 
 expositions of Archdeacon Perowne we are always sure to notice 
 learning, ability, judgment and reverence .... The notes are terse 
 and pointed, but full and reliable." — Churchman, 
 
 '• 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 Matthew, edited by A. Carr, M.A. The Book of Joshua, 
 edited by G. F. Maclear, D.D. The General Epistle of St James, 
 edited by E. H. Plumptre, D.D. The introductions and notes are 
 scholarly, and generally such as young readers need and can appre- 
 ciate. The maps in both Joshua and Matthew are very good, and all 
 matters of editing are faultless. Professor Plumptre's notes on 'The 
 Epistle of St James' are models of terse, exact, and elegant renderings 
 of the original, which is too often obscured in the authorised version." — 
 Nonconformist. 
 
 "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 
 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. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "With the help of 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. Any one 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. 
 
 "Canon Farrar's contribution to The Cambridge School Bible 
 is one of the most valuable yet made. His annotations on The Gospel 
 according to St Luke, while they display a scholarship at least as sound, 
 and an erudition at least as wide and varied as those of the editors of 
 St Matthew and St Mark, are rendered telling and attractive by a 
 more lively imagination, a keener intellectual and spiritual insight, a 
 more incisive and picturesque style. His St Luke is worthy to be ranked 
 with Professor Plumptre's St James, than which no higher commend- 
 ation can well be given." — The Expositor. 
 
 ■"St Luke. Edited by Canon Farrar, D.D. We have received with 
 pleasure this edition of the Gospel by St Luke, by Canon Farrar. It is 
 another instalment of the best school commentary of the Bible we pos- 
 sess. Of the expository part of the work we cannot speak too highly. 
 It is admirable in every way, and contains just the sort of informa- 
 tion needed for Students of the English text unable to make use of the 
 original Greek for themselves." — The Nonconformist and Independent. 
 
 "As a handbook to the third gospel, this small work is invaluable. 
 The author has compressed into little space a vast mass of scholarly in- 
 formation. . . The notes are pithy, vigorous, and suggestive, abounding 
 in pertinent illustrations from general literature, and aiding the youngest 
 leader to an intelligent appreciation of the text. A finer contribution to 
 *The Cambridge Bible for Schools' has not yet been made." — Baptist 
 Magazine. 
 
 "We were quite prepared to find in Canon Farrar's St Luke a 
 masterpiece of Biblical criticism and comment, and we are not dis- 
 appointed by our examination of the volume before us. It reflects very 
 faithfully the learning and critical insight of the Canon's greatest works, 
 his 'Life of Christ' and his 'Life of St Paul', but differs widely from 
 both in the terseness and condensation of its style. What Canon Farrar 
 has evidently aimed at is to place before students as much information 
 as possible within the limits of the smallest possible space, and 
 in this aim he has hit the mark to perfection.'' — The Examiner. 
 
6 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS & COLLEGES. 
 
 The Gospel according- to St John. ' ' Of the notes we can say with 
 confidence that they are useful, necessary, learned, and brief. To 
 Divinity students, to teachers, and for private use, this compact 
 Commentary will be found a valuable aid to the better understanding 
 of the Sacred Text." — School Guardian. 
 
 "The new volume of the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools' — the 
 Gospel according to St John, by the Rev. A. Plummer — shows as 
 careful and thorough work as either of its predecessors. The intro- 
 duction concisely yet fully describes the life of St John, the authenticity 
 of the Gospel, its characteristics, its relation to the Synoptic Gospels, 
 and to the Apostle's First Epistle, and the usual subjects referred to in 
 an 'introduction'." — The Christian Church. 
 
 "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 jfournal. 
 
 "(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 allpraise^ 
 
 for the excellence of its pithy and pointed annotations, its analysis of the 
 contents, and the fulness and value of its introduction." — Examiner. 
 
 "The concluding portion of the Acts of the Apostles, under the very 
 competent editorship of Dr LuMBY, is a valuable addition to our 
 school-books on that subject. Detailed criticism is impossible within 
 the space at our command, but we may say that the ample notes touch 
 with much exactness the very points on which most readers of the text 
 desire information. Due reference is made, where necessary, to the 
 Revised Version ; the maps are excellent ; and we do not know of any 
 other volume where so much help is given to the complete understand- 
 ing of one of the most important and, in many respects, difficult books- 
 of the New Testament." — School Guardian. 
 
 "The Rev. H. C. G. Moule, M.A., 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 gecuinsness. The notes are 
 numerous, full of matter, to the point, and leave no real difficulty 
 or obscurity unexplained."- - The Examiner. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "The First Epistle to tlie 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. 
 
 "The Second Epistle to the Corinthians. By Professor Lias. The 
 General Epistles of St Peter and St Jude. By E. H. Plumptre, D.D. 
 We welcome these additions to the valuable series of the Cambridge 
 Bible. We have nothing to add to the commendation which we 
 have from the first publication given to this edition of the Bible. It is 
 enough to say that Professor Lias has completed his work on the two 
 Epistles to the Corinthians in the same admirable manner as at first 
 Dr Plumptre has also completed the Catholic Epistles. " — Nonconformist. 
 
 The Epistle to the Ephesians. By Rev. H. C. G. Moule, M.A. 
 *• 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. 
 
 " Another capital volume of 'The Cambridge Bible for Schools and 
 Colleges.' The notes are a model of scholarly, lucid, and compact 
 criti cism . ' ' — 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. 
 
 " We heartily commend this volume of this excellent work." — 
 Sunday School Chronicle. 
 
 "The General Epistle of St James, by Professor Plumptre, D.D. 
 Nevertheless it is, so far as I know, by far the best exposition of the 
 Epistle of St James in the English language. Not Schoolboys or 
 Students going in for an examination alone, but Ministers and Preachers 
 of the Word, may get more real help from it than from the most costly 
 and elaborate commentaries." — Expositor. 
 
 The Epistles of St John. By the Rev. A. Plummer, M.A., 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. 
 
 " Dr Plummer's edition of the Epistles of St John is worthy of its 
 companions in the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools' Series. The 
 subject, though not apparently extensive, is really one not easy to 
 treat, and requiring to be treated at length, owing to the constant 
 reference to obscure heresies in the Johannine writings. Dr Plummer 
 has done his exegetical task well." — The Saturday Review. 
 
THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT 
 
 FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 
 
 with a Revised Text, based on the most recent critical authorities, and 
 
 English Notes, prepared under the direction of the General Editor, 
 
 The Very Reverend J. J. S. PEROWNE, D.D. 
 
 ** Has achieved an excelletue 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."— /'fl// Mall Gazette. 
 
 St Mark. "The Cambridge Greek Testament of which Dr Maclear's 
 edition of the Gospel according to St Mark is a volume, certainly 
 supplies a want. Without pretending to compete with the leading 
 commentaries, or to. embody very much original research, it forms a 
 most satisfactory introduction to the study of the New Testament in 
 the original.... Dr Maclear'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 modem textual critics. At the beginning of the 
 exposition of each chapter of the Gospel are a few short critical note& 
 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 Gos'^&V^ — 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 Testanunt 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: PRINTKD BY C J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS, AT THE UNIVERSITY FRESS. 
 
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