King James Version
Galatians 5
26 verses with commentary
Christ Has Set Us Free
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
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<strong>Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.</strong> Paul's battle cry for freedom! "Stand fast" (<em>tē eleutheria hēmin Christos ēleutherōsen; stēkete</em>)—literally "For freedom Christ set us free; stand firm!" <em>Stēkō</em> (στήκω) is military term: hold your ground, don't retreat. "In the liberty wherew...
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V.
(1) **Stand fast therefore.**—The external evidence is very strong in favour of a different reading: *With* (or, perhaps, *For*)* liberty did Christ make us free. Stand fast, then, and be not entangled,* &c. There seems to be no sufficient reason why this should not be adopted.
**In the liberty.**—The best grammarians seem agreed to take this rather in the sense, *for liberty;* otherwise it wou...
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**4. if, &c.--**which in fact is impossible. However, if it were possible, ye might then bear with them (see on 2Co 11:1). But there can be no new Gospel; there is but the one which I first preached; therefore it ought not to be "borne" by you, that the false teachers should attempt to supersede me.
**he that cometh--**the high-sounding title assumed by the false teachers, who arrogated Chri...
Read full commentary →Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
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<strong>Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.</strong> Paul's most shocking declaration. "Behold" (<em>ide</em>, ἴδε)—look, pay attention! "I Paul say unto you" (<em>egō Paulos legō hymin</em>)—emphatic first-person: I myself, Paul, personally declare. He stakes his apostolic authority on this statement. "If ye be circumcised" (<em>ean peritemnēst...
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(2-6) There can be no compromise between Christianity and Judaism. If you accept the one you must give up the other. Circumcision is a pledge or engagement to live by the rule of the Law. That rule must be taken as a whole. You are committed to the practice of the whole Law, and in that way alone you must seek for justification. Our position is something quite different. We hope to be admitted int...
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**5. For--**My claim is superior to that of the false teachers, "For," &c.
**I suppose--**I reckon [Alford].
**I was not--**Greek, "That I have not been, and am not."
**the very chiefest apostles--**James, Peter, and John, the witnesses of Christ's transfiguration and agony in Gethsemane. Rather, "those overmuch apostles," those surpassers of the apostles in their own esteem. This sense ...
Read full commentary →For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
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<strong>For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.</strong> Paul explains verse 2's shocking claim. "For I testify again" (<em>martyromai de palin</em>, μαρτύρομαι δὲ πάλιν)—I solemnly witness, I testify as under oath. "To every man that is circumcised" (<em>panti anthrōpō peritemnomenō</em>)—to any person undergoing circumcision for righteousnes...
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(3) **For I testify again.**—Translate rather, *Nay, I protest again,* introducing a further argument. He who allows himself to be circumcised thereby commits himself wholly to the Law, just as, it might be said, he who is baptised commits himself wholly to Christ. The act of circumcision placed a man under the legal system, just as the act of baptism placed him under the Christian system. From th...
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**6. rude--**Greek, "a common man"; a "laic"; not rhetorically trained; unskilled in finish of diction. 1Co 2:1-4, 13; 2Co 10:10, 11, shows his words were not without weight, though his "speech" was deficient in oratorical artifice. "Yet I am not so in my knowledge" (2Co 12:1-5; Ep 3:1-5).
**have been ... made manifest--**Read with the oldest manuscripts, "We have made things (Gospel truths) man...
Read full commentary →Christ is become of no effect unto you , whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
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<strong>Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.</strong> Paul states devastating consequence. "Christ is become of no effect unto you" (<em>katērgēthēte apo Christou</em>, κατηργήθητε ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ)—literally "you are severed from Christ, rendered inoperative regarding Christ." <em>Katargeō</em> means to nullify, make void, sever. ...
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(4) **Christ is become of no effect unto you.**—Literally, *Ye were* (or, more idiomatically, *are*)* abolished, made nothing, from Christ;* a condensed form of expression for, *Ye are made nothing* (unchristianised), *and cut off from Christ.* Your relations to Christ are cancelled, and you are Christians no longer.
**Are justified.**—Strictly, *seek to be justified.*
**Ye are fallen from grace.*...
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**7. Have I--**literally, "Or have I?" Connected with 2Co 11:6, "Or will any of you make it an objection that I have preached to you gratuitously?" He leaves their good feeling to give the answer, that this, so far from being an objection, was a decided superiority in him above the false apostles (1Co 9:6-15).
**abasing myself--**in my mode of living, waiving my right of maintenance, and earning...
Read full commentary →For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
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<strong>For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.</strong> Contrast with law-keepers: believers operate differently. "For we" (<em>hēmeis gar</em>, ἡμεῖς γάρ)—we who believe, in contrast to law-seekers. "Through the Spirit" (<em>pneumati</em>, πνεύματι)—by the Spirit's power and leading. "Wait for" (<em>apekdechometha</em>, ἀπεκδεχόμεθα)—eagerly await, expect confident...
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(5) **Through the Spirit.**—Through the operation of the Spirit. It is the Spirit which makes faith effectual and righteousness real. The righteousness which comes by the Law is entirely human or “carnal,” the product of a man’s own efforts. The righteousness which is by faith is the gift of God, and that gift is communicated through the Spirit.
**Wait for.**—The Greek word means “to wait earnestl...
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**8. I robbed--**that is, took from them in order to spare you more than what was their fair share of contribution to my maintenance, for example, the Philippian Church (Php 4:15, 16).
**wages--**"subsidy."
**to do you service--**Greek, "with a view to ministration to you"; compare "supplied" (Greek, "in addition"), 2Co 11:9, implying, he brought with him from the Macedonians, supplies towards...
Read full commentary →For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
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<strong>For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.</strong> The great equalizer and true requirement. "For in Jesus Christ" (<em>en gar Christō Iēsou</em>, ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ)—in the sphere of union with Christ. "Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision" (<em>oute peritomē ti ischyei oute akrobystia</em>)—ne...
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(6) **In Jesus Christ.**—When the Christian has entered into those close relations with Christ which his Christianity assumes.
**Availeth any thing.**—As “shall profit” in Galatians 5:2; avail in the way of justification.
**Faith which worketh by love.**—Faith in Christ, the devoted attachment to Christ, is the great motive power, the source or mainspring of action; and the law by which that actio...
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**9. wanted--**"was in want."
**chargeable--**Greek, "burdensome," literally, "to torpify," and so to oppress. Jerome says it is a Cilician word (2Co 12:14, 16).
**the brethren which came--**rather, as Greek, "the brethren when they came." Perhaps Timotheus and Silas (Ac 8:1, 5). Compare Php 4:15, 16, which refers to donations received from the Philippians (who were in Macedonia) at two distin...
Read full commentary →Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? hinder you: or, drive you back
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<strong>Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?</strong> Paul's pathos-filled questions. "Ye did run well" (<em>etrochete kalōs</em>, ἐτρέχετε καλῶς)—you were running excellently. Athletic imagery: Christian life as race (1 Corinthians 9:24, Philippians 2:16, Hebrews 12:1). Imperfect tense suggests continuous past action: you were running well for a time. They starte...
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(7-12) All was going well at first. What sudden intruder has stopped your path and led you astray? Certainly it is not God, to whom you owe your calling, that has persuaded you to such a course. You tell me that not many have fallen away. But those few are enough to infect the whole. Not that I wish to implicate all in the sin of some. Most of you I can trust to be true to me. The author of your t...
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10. Greek, "There is (the) truth of Christ in me that," &c. (Ro 9:1).
**no man shall stop me of--**The oldest manuscripts read, "This boasting shall not be shut (that is, stopped) as regards me." "Boasting is as it were personified ... shall not have its mouth stopped as regards me" [Alford].
This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
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<strong>This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.</strong> Paul identifies the source of their deception. "This persuasion" (<em>hē peismonē</em>, ἡ πεισμονή)—this persuasive influence, this convincing that led them to embrace Judaizers' teaching. The word can mean persuasion or obedience. "Cometh not of" (<em>ouk ek</em>, οὐκ ἐκ)—doesn't originate from, doesn't have as its source. "Him ...
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(8) **This persuasion . . .**—He who *calls* the Galatians is here, as elsewhere, God; and certainly, the Apostle says, it can have been by no intimation or guidance from Him that they were led to accept such perverted teaching.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. Love is often offended at its favors being not accepted, as though the party to whom they are offered wished to be under no obligation to the offerer.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
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<strong>A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.</strong> Proverbial warning about error's pervasive influence. "A little leaven" (<em>mikra zymē</em>, μικρὰ ζύμη)—small amount of yeast. <em>Mikros</em> (μικρός) emphasizes the seemingly insignificant quantity. "Leaveneth" (<em>zymoi</em>, ζυμοῖ)—present tense verb: is leavening, continuously fermenting. "The whole lump" (<em>holon to phyrama</em>...
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(9) **A little leaven . . .**—A pregnant expression, which leaves a good deal to the reader to supply. The proverb is true which says that *a little leaven leavens the whole mass of dough.* And so, in your case, the malcontents may be few, but they will soon ruin the whole Church. It seems decidedly more in accordance with the context to take the “little leaven” as referring rather to *a few seced...
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**12. I will do--**I will continue to decline help.
**occasion--**Greek, "the occasion," namely, of misrepresenting my motives, which would be afforded to my detractors, if I accepted help.
**that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we--**Bengel joins this clause with "the occasion," namely, of glorying or boasting; the occasion "that they may be found (a point wherein they glory) ev...
Read full commentary →I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be .
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<strong>I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.</strong> Despite rebuke, Paul expresses hope. "I have confidence in you" (<em>egō pepoitha eis hymas</em>, ἐγὼ πέποιθα εἰς ὑμᾶς)—I trust, have confidence regarding you. Perfect tense indicates settled confidence. "Through the Lord" (<em>en ky...
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(10) **I have confidence in you through the Lord.**—Literally, *I have confidence wish regard to you in the Lord*—*i.e.,* such confidence as a Christian teacher ought to have in Christian scholars. This has reference to the main body of the Church; an exception is immediately made as to the disaffected party, and especially their leader.
**That ye will be none otherwise minded**—*i.e.,* no otherwi...
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**13. For--**reason why he is unwilling they should be thought like him [Bengel].
**such--**they and those like them.
**false apostles--**those "overmuch apostles" (see on 2Co 11:5) are no apostles at all.
**deceitful workers--**pretending to be "workmen" for the Lord, and really seeking their own gain.
And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
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<strong>And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.</strong> Paul addresses false claim. "And I, brethren" (<em>egō de, adelphoi</em>, ἐγὼ δέ, ἀδελφοί)—as for me, brothers. "If I yet preach circumcision" (<em>ei peritomēn eti kēryssō</em>)—if I still proclaim circumcision as necessary. Apparently the Judaizers claimed Pau...
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(11)**And I, brethren.**—Rather, *But I, brethren.* Another abrupt transition. We should naturally infer from this passage that St. Paul had at one time seemed to preach, or at least to *permit,* circumcision. Thus, in the Acts, we should gather, from the account of the conference at Jerusalem in Acts 15, that he did not insist strongly upon this point, and on taking Timothy with him upon his seco...
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**14. is transformed--**rather, "transforms himself" (compare Job 1:6); habitually; the first occasion of his doing so was in tempting Eve. "Himself" is emphatical: If their master himself, who is the "prince of darkness," the most alien to light, does so, it is less marvellous in the case of them who are his servants (Lu 22:54; Ep 6:12).
I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
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<strong>I would they were even cut off which trouble you.</strong> Paul's shocking statement. "I would" (<em>ophelon</em>, ὄφελον)—I wish, would that. "They were even cut off" (<em>kai apokopsontai</em>, καὶ ἀποκόψονται)—they would cut themselves off, mutilate themselves. The verb <em>apokoptō</em> (ἀποκόπτω) means to cut off, amputate. This is either: (1) self-castration like pagan Cybele priests...
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(12) **I would they were even cut off.**—The Authorised version is undoubtedly wrong here. The words may mean “cut themselves off,” *i.e.,* from your communion, but it seems far best to take the words, with all the ancient Greek interpreters and a large majority of modern commentators, including Dr. Lightfoot and Bishop Wordsworth, as referring to an extension of the rite of circumcision, such as ...
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**15. no great thing--**no difficult matter.
**if his ministers also--**as well as himself.
**righteousness--**answering to "light" (2Co 11:14); the manifestation wherewith God reveals Himself in Christ (Mt 6:33; Ro 1:17).
**end--**The test of things is the end which strips off every specious form into which Satan's agents may now "transform" themselves (compare Php 3:19, 21).
**according ...
Read full commentary →Freedom in Christ
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
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<strong>For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.</strong> Paul transitions from polemic to ethical application. "For, brethren" (<em>hymeis gar ep' eleutheria eklēthēte, adelphoi</em>)—you were called to freedom. <em>Eleutheria</em> (ἐλευθερία) is the freedom Christ won (5:1). God's calling includes liberatio...
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(13-15) The Judaisers would deserve such a fate; for they are undoing the whole object with which you were called. You were called, not to legal bondage, but to *freedom.* This caution only is needed: Do not make freedom a pretext for self-indulgence. One servitude you may submit to—the service of love. So doing, you will fulfil the Law without being legalists. He who loves his neighbour as himsel...
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**16. I say again--**again taking up from 2Co 11:1 the anticipatory apology for his boasting.
**if otherwise--**but if ye will not grant this; if ye will think me a fool.
**yet as a fool--**"yet even as a fool receive me"; grant me the indulgent hearing conceded even to one suspected of folly. The Greek denotes one who does not rightly use his mental powers; not having the idea of blame necess...
Read full commentary →For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
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<strong>For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.</strong> Paul summarizes law's intent. "For all the law is fulfilled" (<em>ho gar pas nomos en heni logō peplērōtai</em>, ὁ γὰρ πᾶς νόμος ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ πεπλήρωται)—the entire law is summed up, completed, fulfilled in one statement. Perfect tense indicates permanent state. "Even in this" (<em>en ...
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(14) This verse is another of the marked points of contact between this Epistle and that to the Romans. The theme of it is worked out at length in Romans 13:8-10.
**Thy neighbour.**—In the original command this appears to mean “thy fellow Israelite.” Our Lord, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, had given it a wider signification, and in the same wider sense it is used here.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. not after the Lord--**By inspired guidance he excepts this "glorying" or "boasting" from the inspired authoritativeness which belongs to all else that he wrote; even this boasting, though undesirable in itself, was permitted by the Spirit, taking into account its aim, namely, to draw off the Corinthians from their false teachers to the apostle. Therefore this passage gives no proof that any ...
Read full commentary →But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
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<strong>But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.</strong> Paul warns against internal church conflict. "But if ye bite and devour one another" (<em>ei de allēlous daknete kai katesthiete</em>, εἰ δὲ ἀλλήλους δάκνετε καὶ κατεσθίετε)—if you bite and consume each other like wild animals. <em>Daknō</em> (δάκνω) is to bite, gnaw; <em>katesthiō</em> (κατεσ...
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**18. many--**including the "false teachers."
**after the flesh--**as fleshly men are wont to boast, namely, of external advantages, as their birth, doings, &c. (compare 2Co 11:22).
**I will glory also--**that is, I also will boast of such fleshly advantages, to show you that even in these I am not their inferiors, and therefore ought not to be supplanted by them in your esteem; though the...
Read full commentary →Walking by the Spirit
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. ye: or, fulfil not
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.</strong> Paul's solution to the flesh problem. "This I say then" (<em>legō de</em>, λέγω δέ)—I say, I command. "Walk in the Spirit" (<em>pneumati peripateite</em>, πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε)—keep on walking by/in the Spirit. <em>Peripateō</em> (περιπατέω) means to walk about, conduct one's life. Present imperati...
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(16-26) To follow the guidance of the Spirit is to obtain a double release: on the one hand, from the evil appetites and passions of the flesh or of sense—which is the direct antithesis to the Spirit—and on the other hand, from the dominion of the Law. It is easy to tell which has the upper hand—the flesh or the Spirit. The flesh is known by a long catalogue of sins, the Spirit by a like catalogue...
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**19. gladly--**willingly. Irony. A plea why they should "bear with" (2Co 11:1) him in his folly, that is, boasting; ye are, in sooth, so "wise" (1Co 4:8, 10; Paul's real view of their wisdom was very different, 1Co 3:1-4) yourselves that ye can "bear with" the folly of others more complacently. Not only can ye do so, but ye are actually doing this and more.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
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<strong>For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.</strong> Paul describes the internal conflict. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit" (<em>hē gar sarx epithymei kata tou pneumatos</em>, ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος)—the flesh desires against the Spirit. "And...
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(17) **For the flesh . . .**—In this verse we have brought out most distinctly the antithesis between the flesh and the Spirit, which is one of the root ideas in the psychology of St. Paul. It does not amount to dualism, for the body, as such, is not regarded as evil. There is nothing to show that St. Paul considered matter *in itself* evil. But the body *becomes the seat* of evil; from it arise t...
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**20. For--**Ye may well "bear with" fools; for ye even "bear with" oppressors. Translate, "Ye bear with them."
**a man--**as the false apostles do.
**bring you into bondage--**to himself. Translate "brings," not "bring"; for the case is not merely a supposed case, but a case actually then occurring. Also "devours" (namely, by exactions, Mt 23:24; Psa 53:4), "takes," "exalts," "smites."
**ta...
Read full commentary →But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
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<strong>But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.</strong> The contrast between Spirit-leading and law-obligation. "But if ye be led of the Spirit" (<em>ei de pneumati agesthe</em>, εἰ δὲ πνεύματι ἄγεσθε)—if you're led/guided by the Spirit. Present passive: continually being led. <em>Agō</em> (ἄγω) means to lead, guide, bring. The Spirit actively directs believers' lives. This is r...
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(18) **Ye are not under the law.**—Strictly, *Ye are not under law*—law in the abstract. The flesh and law are correlative terms: to be free from the one is to be free from the other. The flesh represents unaided human nature, and law is the standard which this unaided human nature strives, but strives in vain, to fulfil. By the intervention of the Spirit, the law is fulfilled at the same time tha...
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**21. as concerning reproach--**rather, "by way of dishonor (that is, self-disparagement) I say it."
**as though we ... weak--**in not similarly (2Co 11:20) showing our power over you. "An ironical reminiscence of his own abstinence when among them from all these acts of self-exaltation at their expense" (as if such abstinence was weakness) [Alford]. The "we" is emphatically contrasted with the ...
Read full commentary →Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,</strong> Paul lists flesh's ugly fruit. "Now the works of the flesh are manifest" (<em>phanera de estin ta erga tēs sarkos</em>, φανερὰ δέ ἐστιν τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός)—the flesh's works are obvious, evident, visible. "Works" (<em>erga</em>, ἔργα) are plural: multiple ugly productions....
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(19) **Now the works of the flesh are manifest.**—It needs no elaborate disquisition to show what is meant by fulfilling the lust of the flesh. The effects which the flesh produces are plain and obvious enough. The catalogue which follows is not drawn up on any exact scientific principle, but divides itself roughly under four heads: (1) sins of sensuality; (2) sins of superstition; (3) sins of tem...
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**22. Hebrews ... Israelites ... the seed of Abraham--**A climax. "Hebrews," referring to the language and nationality; "Israelites," to the theocracy and descent from Israel, the "prince who prevailed with God" (Ro 9:4); "the seed of Abraham," to the claim to a share in the Messiah (Ro 11:1; 9:7). Compare Php 3:5, "An Hebrew of the Hebrews," not an Hellenist or Greek-speaking Jew, but a Hebrew in...
Read full commentary →Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
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<strong>Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,</strong> Paul continues the vice list. Second category: religious sins. "Idolatry" (<em>eidōlolatria</em>, εἰδωλολατρία)—worship of false gods, idols. "Witchcraft" (<em>pharmakeia</em>, φαρμακεία)—sorcery, magic, drug-related occult practices. <em>Pharmakeia</em> involved potions, spells, occult manipul...
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(20) **Idolatry.**—When the Christian is warned against idolatry, it is not, of course, *systematic* idolatry that is meant, but that occasional compliance with idolatrous customs—taking part in the idol feasts, or eating of things offered to idols—which he might easily be led into by his intercourse with his heathen neighbours.
**Witchcraft.**—*Sorcery,* or *magic.* It would seem that practices o...
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**23. I speak as a fool--**rather, as Greek, "I speak as if beside myself"; stronger than "as a fool."
**I am more--**namely, in respect to the credentials and manifestations of my ministry, more faithful and self-denying; and richer in tokens of God's recognition of my ministry. Old authorities read the order thus, "In prisons above measures, in stripes more abundantly" (English Version, less a...
Read full commentary →Envyings, 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 kingdom of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Envyings, 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 kingdom of God.</strong> Paul concludes the vice list with stern warning. "Envyings" (<em>phthonoi</em>, φθόνοι)—envy, spite, jealousy. "Murders" (<em>phonoi</em>, φόνοι)—killing. "Drunkenness" (<em>methai</em>...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Murders.**—There is considerable doubt as to whether this word ought to stand in the text. It is wanting in the two oldest MSS. and in some other good authorities. Internal considerations may be made to tell either for its omission or for its retention.
**I tell you before.**—*I* *foretell* (or, *forewarn*)* you;* I tell you before the event proves my words to be true—*i.e.,* before the day...
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24. De 25:3 ordained that not more than forty stripes should be inflicted To avoid exceeding this number, they gave one short of it: thirteen strokes with a treble lash [Bengel]. This is one of those minute agreements with Jewish usage, which a forger would have not been likely to observe.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
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<strong>But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,</strong> Glorious contrast! "But the fruit of the Spirit" (<em>ho de karpos tou pneumatos estin</em>, ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν)—note singular "fruit" versus plural "works" of flesh. The Spirit produces unified, organic fruit, not mechanical works. This fruit is the Spirit's production in bel...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **The fruit of the Spirit.**—There does not seem to be any essential difference between this term and that used above: “the *works* of the flesh.” The fruit of the Spirit is that which naturally grows out of the operation of the Spirit, in which it naturally results. The expression “fruit” is, however, generally used by St. Paul in a good sense.
The list which follows brings out in a striking...
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25. The beating by Roman magistrates at Philippi (Ac 16:23) is the only one recorded in Acts, which does not profess to give a complete journal of his life, but only a sketch of it in connection with the design of the book, namely, to give an outline of the history of the Gospel Church from its foundation at Jerusalem, to the period of its reaching Rome, the capital of the Gentile world.
**once ...
Read full commentary →Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
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<strong>Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.</strong> Paul completes the fruit-list. "Meekness" (<em>praytēs</em>, πραΰτης)—gentleness, humility, considerateness, strength under control. Not weakness but controlled strength, like a broken horse. Jesus exemplified meekness (Matthew 11:29, 21:5). "Temperance" (<em>enkrateia</em>, ἐγκράτεια)—self-control, discipline, mastery over desir...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Meekness, temperance.**—”Meekness” is something more than “mildness,” which has been suggested as an alternative translation. “Mildness” would represent that side of the virtue which is turned towards men; but it has also another side, which is turned towards God—a gentle submissiveness to the divine will. By “temperance” is meant, in a general sense, “self-control”—a firm control over the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. In--**rather, "By": connected with 2Co 11:23, but now not with "in," as there, and as in 2Co 11:27, where again he passes to the idea of surrounding circumstances or environments [Alford, Ellicott and others].
**waters--**rather, as Greek, "rivers," namely, perils by the flooding of rivers, as on the road often traversed by Paul between Jerusalem and Antioch, crossed as it is by the torren...
Read full commentary →And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. affections: or, passions
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<strong>And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.</strong> Paul describes believers' relationship to the flesh. "And they that are Christ's" (<em>hoi de tou Christou Iēsou</em>, οἱ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ)—those belonging to Christ Jesus. Believers are Christ's possession, bought with His blood. "Have crucified the flesh" (<em>tēn sarka estaurōsan</em>, τὴν σά...
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(24) But such things are just what the Christian would do. He will have nothing to make him act differently. He will not need to be taught peaceableness, goodness, or self-control, for the impulses which run counter to these are dead within him: they were killed at the moment when he gave himself up wholly to a crucified Saviour.
**And.**—Better, *How,* or *But;* introducing a summary conclusion f...
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**27. fastings--**voluntary, in order to kindle devotions (Ac 13:2, 3; 14:23; 1Co 9:27); for they are distinguished from "hunger and thirst," which were involuntary [Grotius]. However, see on 2Co 6:5. The context refers solely to hardships, not to self-imposed devotional mortification. "Hunger and thirst" are not synonymous with "foodlessness" (as the Greek of "fasting" means), but are its consequ...
Read full commentary →If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
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<strong>If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.</strong> Paul's exhortation based on theological reality. "If we live in the Spirit" (<em>ei zōmen pneumati</em>, εἰ ζῶμεν πνεύματι)—if we live by the Spirit. First-class condition: assumes true condition for argument's sake. Believers do live by the Spirit—regenerated, indwelt, empowered by the Spirit. This is indicative reality. "...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **If we live in the Spirit.**—It seems, on the whole, best to translate: *If we live by the Spirit;* if we derive our life from the Spirit; if it is by the action of the Spirit that our moral activity as Christians is kept alive. At the same time, another way of taking the words is possible: *If we live to the spirit,* following the analogy of Romans 14:8 : “Whether we live, we live *unto* th...
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**28. without--**"Beside" trials falling on me externally, just recounted, there is "that which cometh upon me (literally, the impetuous concourse to me of business; properly, a crowd rising up against one again and again, and ready to bear him down), the care of all the churches" (including those not yet seen in the flesh, Col 2:1): an internal and more weighty anxiety. But the oldest manuscripts...
Read full commentary →Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
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<strong>Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.</strong> Paul addresses specific Spirit-walking applications. "Let us not be desirous of vain glory" (<em>mē ginōmetha kenodoxoi</em>, μὴ γινώμεθα κενόδοξοι)—let us not become conceited, vainglorious. <em>Kenodoxos</em> (κενόδοξος) combines <em>kenos</em> (empty) and <em>doxa</em> (glory)—empty glory, vain co...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **Let us not be.**—Strictly, *Let us not become.* When he left the Galatian Church St. Paul was satisfied with their condition, but he fears that they will change. The warning that he addresses to them exactly hits the weak points in the national character—fickleness, vanity, and a quarrelsome disposition.
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. I ... weak--**in condescending sympathy with the weak (1Co 9:22). "Care generates sympathy, which causes the minister of Christ personally to enter into the feelings of all his people, as if he stood in their position, so as to accommodate himself to all" [Calvin].
**offended--**by some stumbling-block put in his way by others: the "weak" is most liable to be "offended."
**I burn not--**...
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