Several reasons converged to urge me on towards this translation. The two most proximate are that I wanted to give my students something that might helpfully un-familiarize them with the text and I wanted to study it anew. Most of my translation projects, even those destined for publication, are opportunities to teach myself how to think the world of some text or author. And since I’m to teach Galatians within a single day of my Christian Doctrine course here at Belmont—tomorrow, in fact—I translated it to think that text’s world anew. Below sits the fruit. Perhaps it might somehow help you too.
No versification, just chapter divisions. Footnotes are sparse; only scriptural references and “notes to self” populate them.
To the Galatians
Chapter 1
Paul, an apostle neither from human beings nor through any human being but through Jesus Christ and through God the Father who raised him from the dead; and all the brothers and sisters with me, to the churches of Galatia: to you be grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gifted himself for our sins so that he might deliver us from the aeon of looming evil, according to what is willed by God our Father, to whom be glory into the aeons of aeons. Amen.
I marvel at how quickly you’re turning from the one who called you by Christ’s grace and going over to another “gospel,” which is no alternative gospel. Except certain people are beguiling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim a gospel contrary to that which we once proclaimed to you, let such a one be anathema! As we have said, once more I now say: if anyone is announcing to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let such a one be anathema! So now, am I obeying human beings or God? Or am I seeking to cajole human beings? If I were still cajoling human beings, I wouldn’t be a slave of Christ.
For I reveal to you, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I proclaimed is not according to man. For I received it from no human being, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. You’ve heard, after all, of my erstwhile form of life in Judaism, how I was vigorously persecuting and wreaking havoc on the church of God, and how I was advancing in Judaism beyond many peers of my kin, since I was exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who marked me out from my mother’s womb was delighted to call me through his grace to make known his Son in me, that I might proclaim this Son among the nations, I did not straightaway consult with flesh and blood. Nor did I go to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me. I went instead to Arabia and then returned to Damascus. After three years I went to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles save James, the brother of the Lord. Look now: I’m writing these things to you before God; I do not lie. I then went into the districts of Syria and Cilicia. But my face was unknown to those churches of Judea who are in Christ. They just heard, “The one who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the faith he once ransacked”—and they glorified the God in me.
Chapter 2
After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I brought Titus along too. And I went because of a revelation. In private I set forth for them—for those of high repute—the gospel I herald among the nations, to see that I was not in any way running (or had not run) for naught. Now my companion, Titus, since he is a Greek, had no need to be circumcised. But certain surreptitious pseudo-brethren crept in to spy on our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us—to whom we yielded not a single hour in such subjugation, that the truth of the gospel might live on with you…. [Anyway,] from those who seemed to be of repute (to what extent they were once reputable makes no difference to me; God doesn’t receive a man’s face)— to me, these reputable ones added nothing. On the contrary, they perceived that I had been entrusted the gospel for those of the foreskin, just as Peter for those of the circumcised. For he who worked through Peter for the apostolate of the circumcised worked also through me for the nations. James, Cephas, and John (who seemed to be pillars), because they recognized the grace given me, gave the right hand of koinonia to me and to Barnabas, so that we might go to the nations and they to the circumcised. They urged only that we should mind the poor—the very thing I was alacritous to do.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I confronted him to his face because he was obviously wrong. Before certain people came from James, you see, Cephas would eat with the nations. But when they came, he withdrew and excluded himself for fear of those of the circumcision. And the other Jews joined him in this pretense so that even Barnabas was borne away with them in hypocrisy. But when I saw that they did not walk rightly towards the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of everyone: “If you, a Jew by birth, are not also a Jew by lifestyle, how can you force the nations to live like Jews?” We ourselves are Jews by nature and not from the sinful nations. But since we know that a person is not rectified from works of law unless through the faith of Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have put faith in Christ Jesus, so that we might be rectified from the faith of Christ and not from works of law—because from works of law no flesh at all will be rectified. And if we’ve sought to be rectified in Christ but have been found sinners all the same, is Christ therefore a servant of sin? May it not be! For if I construct once more those things I destroyed, I only establish myself a violator. For I, through law, died in law that I might live in God. I have been crucified with Christ; I no longer live but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and handed himself over on behalf of me. I’m not disregarding the grace of God. For if rectitude is through law, then Christ died gratuitously.
Chapter 3
Oh mindless Galatians! Who has bewitched you—you, before whose eyes Christ Jesus was depicted as crucified? I want to learn from you just this one thing: Did you receive the Spirit from works of law or from the hearing of faith? Are you then so mindless? Having taken your origin in spirit, do you now come to completion in flesh? 1 Did you experience all these things for nothing (if indeed really for nothing)? So he who nourishes you with spirit and works wonders among you—does he do so from works of law or from the hearing of faith? It’s just as it was when “Abraham had faith in God and it was credited to him for rectitude.”2
Know, then, that the children of Abraham are those from faith. And since scripture foresaw that the nations are rectified from faith, God announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed in you.”3 Just so, those from faith are blessed with Abraham’s faith. For as many as there are who are from works of law—this same number are under a curse. For it has been written, “Accursed is anyone who does not persevere in all the things to be done that are written in the book of the Law.”4 And clearly no one in law is rectified before God because, “The rectified one will live from faith.”5 But the Law is not from faith. Rather, “The one who has done all these things will live in them.”6 Christ delivered us from the curse of the Law, having become for us a curse—since it was written, “Accursed is anyone hanged on a tree”7—so that Abraham’s blessing might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through the faith.
Brothers and sisters, I speak in human terms. Still, when a human covenant has been ratified, no one invalidates or adds to it. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed. It does not say “and to your seeds,” as though addressed to many, but rather to one, “and to your Seed.”8 This is Christ. And I’ll say this: the Law that came 430 years later does not undo a covenant previously made by God, thus nullifying the promise. For if the inheritance were from law, it would no longer be from promise. But God has given grace to Abraham through promise.
So why the Law? It was added as a grace for betrayals until the Seed came to whom the promise was made, and it was established through angels at the hand of a mediator. But there is no mediator of one, and of course God is one. So is the Law contrary to God’s promises? May it not be! For if a law had been given capable of making things live, then truly rectitude would have been from law. But scripture bound together all things under sin so that the promise from the faith of Jesus Christ might be gifted to those who have faith.
Now, before the faith came, we were bound together under law’s guardianship in view of the faith which was to be revealed [apokalyphthēnai]. Thus the Law became our pedagogue in view of Christ, so that we might be rectified from faith. But after the faith arrived, we are under a pedagogue no more. For you are all children of God through the faith, in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ—you were enveloped in Christ. In that One there is neither Jew nor Greek. In that One there is neither slave nor free person. In that One there is not male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are the Seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.
Chapter 4
I mean that for as long as the heir is a young child he doesn’t differ from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and housemasters until the date set by the father. Likewise with us: when we were young children, we were subjected to the elements of the cosmos. But when came the fullness of time, God sent his Son, who came to be from a woman and came to be under law, so that he might deliver those under law, so that we might recover sonship. And since you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who cries out, “Abba, Father!” So no longer are you [sg.] a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir through God.
But back then, since you did not know God, you were enslaved to those beings who are not gods by nature. Now, though, since you know God—or rather, since you have been known by God—how are you turning once more to the weak and impoverished elements, to whom you want to be enslaved yet again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that I might have struggled for you for naught.
Become like me, since I am like you, brothers and sisters—I beg of you! You did me no harm. Now, you know that it was initially due to an illness of the flesh that I announced the gospel to you. And despite this trial of yours, occasioned by my flesh, you neither despised nor disdained me. Instead, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. So where is this blessing of yours? For I testify to you that if you had been able, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Yet now I’ve become your enemy by speaking truth to you? They’re zealous for you, but not in a good way. They want instead to imprison you so that you might be zealous for them. Now, it’s always good to be zealous in good, not just when I’m present with you—you, my little children, for whom I’m in labor once more until Christ be formed in you. I’d like to be with you right now and change my tone, since I am at a loss over you.
Tell me, you who want to be under law: Do you not listen to the Law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one from the slave woman and one from the free. But while the one from the slave was born according to flesh, that of the freewoman through promise. These things are allegories, for these are two covenants: one from Mount Sinai born into slavery, which is Hagar (that is, Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia), and this corresponds to contemporary Jerusalem, for she is a slave along with her children; but the Jerusalem from above, who is our mother, is free. For it is written, “Be glad, barren one who bears no children! Break forth and shout, one labors not! For more numerous are the offspring of the deserted one than of the one who has a husband!”9 And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of the promise. And just as it was at that time—when the one born according to flesh persecuted the one born according to spirit—so it is now. But what does Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son! For the slave woman’s son will not be co-heir with the son of” the free woman.10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but rather of the free.
Chapter 5
Christ freed us to dwell in freedom. Stand firm, then, and do not take up the yoke of slavery once more. Look: I, Paul, am telling you that if you get circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And again I testify to any man who gets circumcised that he is obliged to do the whole Law. You who are rectified in law: you have been released from Christ, you have fallen from grace. For we ourselves, in spirit, from faith, eagerly await hope of rectitude. In Christ, after all, neither circumcision nor foreskin has any might, but rather faith being activated through love.
You were running well. Who obstructed you, so that you are no longer persuaded by the truth? Persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough. In [the] Lord, I am persuaded that you will not think otherwise. But the one who is unsettling you, whoever he might be, will bear the judgment. And if I myself, brothers and sisters, am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Then the scandal of the cross has been nullified. If only those who agitate you would even castrate themselves!
For you yourselves, brothers and sisters, were called to freedom. Only let not this freedom be an occasion for the flesh. Instead, become slaves to one another through love. For the entire Law is fulfilled in a single principle: “You will love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour each other, see that you are not completely consumed by each other. But walk in spirit, I say, and you will in nowise fulfill a desire of flesh. For the flesh desires contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh. These things are opposed to one another, after all, such that those things you’d want, you do not do. But if you are led by spirit, you are not under law.
Now, the works of the flesh are manifest. Such are prostitution, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, black magic,11 hatred, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, intrigues, dissensions, heresies, envies, carousals, revelries, and things like these—which things, I tell you now in advance just as I told you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love (agape), joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, mastery of self. Against such things there is no law. And those who are of Christ Jesus crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires. If we live in spirit, let also our elements be aligned in spirit.12 Let us not become vainglorious, challenging one another, resenting one another.
Chapter 6
Brothers and sisters, if a person is caught in some trespass, you all, the spiritual ones, must restore such a person with gentleness, scrutinizing yourself lest you too should be tempted. Take up each other’s burdens and you will thus fulfill the Law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each test his own work; then he will have occasion for boasting to himself and not to another. For each will carry his own burden.
Now, let the one being instructed in the word (logos) share all good things in common with the one who is instructing. Do not be led astray; God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows, that very thing he will reap: the one who sows into his flesh will reap ruin out of the flesh, but the one who sows into the Spirit will reap life eternal out of the Spirit. And let us not grow weary of doing the good because by not fainting we will reap [the good] in due season. So then, as the season is our possession, let us work the good towards all, especially towards our kin of the faith.
SEE WITH WHAT LARGE LETTERS I WROTE TO YOU IN MY OWN HAND. All those who want to save face in flesh compel you to get circumcised for the sole reason that they might not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Nor, after all, do those who are circumcised themselves observe law, yet they want you to get circumcised so that they might boast in your flesh. For my part, may I not boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the cosmos has been crucified to me, and I to the cosmos. For neither circumcision nor foreskin is anything, only a new creation. And all those who will align the basic elements by this measure—peace upon them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
From now on let no one cause me distress. For I am taking on the marks of Christ in my own body.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with the Spirit of you all, brothers and sisters. Amen.
This is not solely the tale of the Galatians; it’s the whole story of Adam. Adam is not from flesh alone, but from the breath of God into flesh (Gen 2.7).
Gen 15.6.
Gen 12.3.
Deut 27.26.
Hab 2.4.
Lev 18.5.
Deut 21.23.
Cp. Gen 12.7.
Isa 54.1.
Gen 21.10. LXX has “the son of my Isaac,” which Paul here naturally modifies to “the free woman” to adjust for personal perspective.
Gk. pharmakeia, whence we get “pharmaceuticals,” just means concocting drugs of various sorts, but does often carry the negative connotation of concocting them for nefarious ends (hence its secondary meaning of “witchcraft/sorcery”). Hence my admittedly heavy-handed translation.
Gk. stoichômen, a 1st-person plural present active subjunctive, which I render here as “let our elements be aligned.” Alignment is implicit in the most basic idea of the stoicheia, “elements,” either as the components that make up the cosmos or as the basic units that one must “order” in one’s mind to advance in learning (thus the “elements” in early education are the letters of the alphabet: one learns the order and function of each and all, and so learns to read, to write, etc.). I want to highlight the resonance with Gal 4.3, that “when we were young children, we were subjected to the elements [stoicheia] of the cosmos,” and also Gal 6.16, “All those who will align the basic elements by this measure” (usually rendered “All who will walk in this way” or some such). It seems plausible that Paul in this letter envisions life in spirit as becoming out of Christ, as receiving one’s true origin (and thus character) in his Spirit, as opposed to remaining subject to lifeless order, i.e. “law” of whatever sort.
I want to flag History & Dogma's latest episode, which was inspired by this endeavor: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-within-cosmic-elements/id1702741919?i=1000671752295
A lovely translation. A bit unsettling in places, but that’s a mark of a job well-done, I suppose.