Galatians 1 is the first chapter of the

Epistle to the Galatians The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in southe ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

. It is authored by

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

for the churches in

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...

, written between 49 and 58 CE. This chapter contains Paul's significant exposition concerning the significance of God's revelation of Jesus Christ.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 24 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Papyrus 46 Papyrus 46 (''P. Chester Beatty II''), designated by siglum (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri. Manuscripts among ...

(~AD 200) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330-360) * Papyrus 51 (~400; extant verses 2–10, 13, 16–20) * Papyrus 99 (~400; extant verses 4–11, 18–24) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450; extant verses 21–24) * Codex Freerianus (~450; extant verses 1–3, 11–13, 22–24) *

Codex Claromontanus Codex Claromontanus, symbolized by Dp, D2 or 06 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1026 ( von Soden), is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the New Testament, written in an uncial hand on vellum. The Greek and Latin texts are on facing ...

(~550)

Opening Greetings (1:1–5)

The form of the opening words follows the custom in the era 'writer to addresses; greetings' found in other New Testament and early Christian letters. Only elaborates the greetings at a greater length than in this epistle.

Verse 1

: '' Paul, an

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

(not from men nor through man, but through

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

and God the Father who raised Him from the dead),'' *"

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

": translated from Greek word ἀπόστολος, ''apostolos'', which generally means 'one who is sent' (as in ), but in the New Testament is more specifically applied to those specially commissioned by

. Paul's striking comment on his apostleship ("not from men" etc.) emphasizes his ministry in Galatia under the commission by Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Verse 2

: ''and all the brethren who are with me,'' ::''To the churches of Galatia:'' *"All the brethren" (NRSV: "all the members of God’s family"): Unlike the other epistles that name individual co-workers (such as

Sosthenes Sosthenes (Greek: Σωσθένης, ''Sōsthénēs'', "safe in strength") was the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was seized and beaten by the mob in the presence of Gallio, the Roman governor ...

in 1 Corinthians 1:1, Timothy in 2 Corinthians 1:1), Paul alludes to 'God's family' consisting of men and women, using the word ''adelphoi'', literally 'brothers' (or 'brethren'), which can also include 'sisters'.

Rebuke (1:6–9)

Instead of the usual note of thanksgiving following the greetings, Paul criticizes the Galatians for deserting his teaching of God's grace and turning to a different gospel, while there is no other gospel, and calls those who spread the fake gospel as ''anathema''.

Proclamation of the Gospel (1:10–12)

Paul claims that his proclamation of the gospel is not of human origin but directly from the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul's Pre-Christian Life and Conversion (1:13–17)

The clarifying account of Paul's pre-Christian life may be a response to an effort by his opponents to use it to undermine his authority. The word 'Judaism' in verses 13 and 14 are the only two references in the whole New Testament, and not until half a century later in the writings of Ignatius, 'Judaism' and 'Christianity' are considered two 'religions'.

Contacts at Jerusalem (1:18–24)

In this part, Paul recounts his interaction with the leaders in Jerusalem, but maintains his independence of the Jerusalem authorities.

Verse 18

: ''Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.'' *"After three years": This is after Paul's conversion, not after his return to Damascus. Paul wanted to join the church in Jerusalem, but the members doubted and avoided him, until Barnabas brought him to

Simon Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

and James (the brother of Jesus), informing the conversion and his eagerness to preach the Gospel in Damascus. *"Peter": Several Alexandrian and Ethiopia copies read "Cephas", which is another name of the same Simon Peter.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'', - Galatians 1:18
/ref>

Verse 19

: ''But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.'' KJV * "James the Lord's brother" refers to " James the brother of Jesus Christ", a distinguished member of the church in Jerusalem ( Acts 12:17; 1 Corinthians 9:5), although not one of the

Twelve Apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

, but is named an

in the wider sense (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:7; 1 Corinthians 9:5);Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm (1880)
''Commentary on the New Testament.'' "Galatians 1"
Translation by Peter Christie from Meyer's sixth edition. Accessed February 14, 2019. see the note in Galatians 1:1.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle to the Galatians 01 James, brother of Jesus Saint Peter