Galatians 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians 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 Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. It is authored by Paul the Apostle for the churches in Galatia, written between 49 and 58 CE. This chapter contains the meeting account of Paul, Barnabas and Christians in Jerusalem, considered "one of the most momentous events in the earliest Christianity", and the dispute between Paul and Peter.

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 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 46 (~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 99 Papyrus 99 (Gregory-Aland), designated by 𝔓99, is an early papyrus manuscript with quotations from the Pauline epistles of the New Testament in Greek-Latin. Four leaves have survived. K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack''Kurzgefasste Lis ...

(~400) *

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 (~450; complete) *

Codex Freerianus Codex Freerianus, designated by I or 016 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1041 ( von Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Pauline Epistles'', is a 5th-century manuscript in an uncial hand on vellum in Greek. It is named afte ...

(~450; extant verses 1, 8–9, 16–17) * Codex Claromontanus (~550)

Conference in Jerusalem (2:1–10)

Scholars generally connect the meeting described in this part with the accounts in and/or , although the details are unclear.

Verse 1

: ''Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.'' *"After 14 years" most likely refers to "Paul's call" (), not to his visit to Cephas ().

Verse 9

:''and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.'' *"James, Cephas, and John":

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

was a brother of Jesus Christ, attributed to the

Epistle of James The Epistle of James). is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles ( didactic letters) in the New Testament. James 1:1 identifies the author as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" who is writing to "the twelve tribes ...

, gave the famous speech in the synod at Jerusalem ( Acts 15:13), presided in the church in Jerusalem, was a man of great holiness, and much esteemed by the followers of

Jesus 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 religiou ...

. Cephas is the name that was given by Christ 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 in the Syriac language signifies a "stone", as the word "Peter" does in the Greek, to which Jesus alludes, ().

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

was the evangelist, and the same that wrote the epistles, was the beloved disciple, and who outlived all the rest. *"Who seemed to be pillars" (pillars: Greek στῦλοι, 'Galatians 2:9 in Greek
- Biblehub.com): they were considered "the very chief of the apostles" (cf. ; ). *"The right hand of fellowship": a token of a covenant or agreement between them, taking them into partnership with them, admitted them as apostles into their society, and gave their full consent, to show their joint agreement, used the above rite; which was used among other nations, also among the Jews, when covenants were made, or partnership was entered into; see () where the phrase "in putting of the hand", both by Onkelos, and Jonathan ben Uzziel, is rendered "in fellowship of the hand", or "by the right hand of fellowship". *"The circumcised": that is among the Jews.
/ref>

Incident at Antioch (2:11–14)

The disagreement between Paul and Peter recorded in this part is a contrast to their amicable meeting in Jerusalem. The absence of the outcome report indicates that this issue has influenced the tensions in the Galatians churches, which is addressed in this epistle.

Verse 11

: ''Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;'' This serves as a summary of the confrontation between Paul and Peter, which leads to the discussion of the main issue in 2:15–21.

Works of Law or Faith? (2:15–21)

In this part, Paul details the theological reasons of his dispute with Peter. In verse 17 Paul uses the word 'we'/'our' to show that both he and Peter actually agreed about the justification by faith only, and based on this mutual conviction Paul confronted Peter when Peter became inconsistent.

Verse 16

:''knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.'' *"Justified": "declared righteous".

Verse 20

:''I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.'' In Paul's belief, a believer 'dies to the law' through the crucifixion and death of Christ, and has the new life that is "no longer self-centered, but

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 religious ...

-centered", the resurrection life where the risen Christ lives in.

Verse 21

:''I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.'' HCSB *"Set aside (NASB: "nullifying") the grace of God": that is "by receiving it and then going on as though it made no difference", either by "continuing to live under the law" or by "continuing to sin".

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 02 James, brother of Jesus