Humanitext Reader

New Testament · Galatians §2.1-2.21

Apostolic Agreement and Justification by Faith

Passage 2 of 6 · Greek

Summary

Paul describes his journey to Jerusalem where his mission to the Gentiles was recognized by the pillars of the church, details his subsequent confrontation with Cephas in Antioch, and argues that justification comes through faith in Christ rather than works of the law.

§2.1Ἔπειτα διὰ δεκατεσσάρων ἐτῶν πάλιν ἀνέβην εἰς Ἰεροσόλυμα μετὰ Βαρνάβα, συνπαραλαβὼν καὶ Τίτον·
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
ἀνέβην δὲ κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν· §2.2καὶ ἀνεθέμην αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ κηρύσσω ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, κατʼ ἰδίαν δὲ τοῖς δοκοῦσιν, μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχω ἢ ἔδραμον.
I went up because of a revelation, and I set before them the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, but privately before those who seemed influential, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain.
§2.3ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ Τίτος ὁ σὺν ἐμοί, Ἕλλην ὤν, ἠναγκάσθη περιτμηθῆναι·
But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
§2.4διὰ δὲ τοὺς παρεισάκτους ψευδαδέλφους, οἵτινες παρεισῆλθον κατασκοπῆσαι τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἡμῶν ἣν ἔχομεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἵνα ἡμᾶς καταδουλώσουσιν, §2.5— οἷς οὐδὲ πρὸς ὥραν εἴξαμεν τῇ ὑποταγῇ, ἵνα ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου διαμείνῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
§2.6ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν δοκούντων εἶναί τι — ὁποῖοί ποτε ἦσαν οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει — πρόσωπον [ὁ] θεὸς ἀνθρώπου οὐ λαμβάνει — ἐμοὶ γὰρ οἱ δοκοῦντες οὐδὲν προσανέθεντο,
And from those who seemed to be influential (what they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
§2.7ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἰδόντες ὅτι πεπίστευμαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς ἀκροβυστίας καθὼς Πέτρος τῆς περιτομῆς, §2.8ὁ γὰρ ἐνεργήσας Πέτρῳ εἰς ἀποστολὴν τῆς περιτομῆς ἐνήργησεν καὶ ἐμοὶ εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, §2.9καὶ γνόντες τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι, Ἰάκωβος καὶ Κηφᾶς καὶ Ἰωάνης, οἱ δοκοῦντες στύλοι εἶναι, δεξιὰς ἔδωκαν ἐμοὶ καὶ Βαρνάβᾳ κοινωνίας, ἵνα ἡμεῖς εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, αὐτοὶ δὲ εἰς τὴν περιτομήν·
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
§2.10μόνον τῶν πτωχῶν ἵνα μνημονεύωμεν, ὃ καὶ ἐσπούδασα αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι.
Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
§2.11Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν Κηφᾶς εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν, κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν·
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
§2.12πρὸ τοῦ γὰρ ἐλθεῖν τινὰς ἀπὸ Ἰακώβου μετὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν συνήσθιεν· ὅτε δὲ ἦλθον, ὑπέστελλεν καὶ ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτόν, φοβούμενος τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς.
For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.
§2.13καὶ συνυπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ [καὶ] οἱ λοιποὶ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὥστε καὶ Βαρνάβας συναπήχθη αὐτῶν τῇ ὑποκρίσει.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
§2.14ἀλλʼ ὅτε εἶδον ὅτι οὐκ ὀρθοποδοῦσιν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, εἶπον τῷ Κηφᾷ ἔμπροσθεν πάντων Εἰ σὺ Ἰουδαῖος ὑπάρχων ἐθνικῶς καὶ οὐκ Ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῇς, πῶς τὰ ἔθνη ἀναγκάζεις Ἰουδαΐζειν; §2.15Ἡμεῖς φύσει Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἁμαρτωλοί, §2.16εἰδότες δὲ ὅτι οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἵνα δικαιωθῶμεν ἐκ πίστεως Χριστοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου "οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σάρξ. " §2.17εἰ δὲ ζητοῦντες δικαιωθῆναι ἐν Χριστῷ εὑρέθημεν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἁμαρτωλοί, ἆρα Χριστὸς ἁμαρτίας διάκονος;
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law "no flesh will be justified." But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?
μὴ γένοιτο·
Certainly not!
§2.18εἰ γὰρ ἃ κατέλυσα ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ, παραβάτην ἐμαυτὸν συνιστάνω.
For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
§2.19ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον ἵνα θεῷ ζήσω·
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι·
I have been crucified with Christ.
§2.20ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός·
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
§2.21Οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ· εἰ γὰρ διὰ νόμου δικαιοσύνη, ἄρα Χριστὸς δωρεὰν ἀπέθανεν.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Notes

  1. §2.2μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχω ἢ ἔδραμον — After the conjunction μή πως ("lest somehow"), the present subjunctive τρέχω (though morphologically it could be indicative, it is widely taken as subjunctive) is paired with the aorist indicative ἔδραμον. The subjunctive points to the ongoing possibility of running in vain, while the indicative expresses a concern about a past, completed event (having already run) being in vain.
  2. §2.4διὰ δὲ τοὺς παρεισάκτους ψευδαδέλφους — This verse presents a grammatical anacoluthon (lack of a main verb). It must either be linked back to §2.3 ("Titus was not forced to be circumcised... but [it was nearly forced] because of false brothers") or understood as introducing the main clause in §2.5 ("but because of false brothers... we did not yield to them").
  3. §2.16ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως — The conditional phrase ἐὰν μὴ ("except", "but only") modifies the preceding negative clause "a person is not justified by works of the law." It functions as an adversative/exceptive construction, meaning "not by works of the law, but only through faith."
  4. §2.19ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον — The dative νόμῳ ("to the law") is a dative of reference or disadvantage, modifying the verb ἀπέθανον ("I died"). Conversely, the prepositional phrase διὰ νόμου ("through the law") denotes the means or agency, expressing the paradoxical reality that it was through the agency of the law itself that the speaker died to its claims.

Cite this passage

New Testament, Galatians §2.1-2.21. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg009.humanitext-grc2:2.1-2.21

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