INTRODUCTION: Galatia was the central region of Asia Minor (the peninsular portion of present-day Turkey), mainly along the Halys River Valley. It included present-day Ankara. The Gauls, whom a population explosion in the 3rd century B.C.E. had brought into the region, were not in the majority, but had gained the upper hand politically, ruling over the Frugians and Kappadokians. In 64 B.C.E. Galatia became a client of the Romans, and in 25 B.C.E., when its last king, Amyntas, died, it received the full status of a Roman province. Greeks, Romans, and Jews were all attracted to this strategic geographic region. Paul had established the congregations in Ikonium, Lystra, Derbe, and Galatian Antioch (Acts 13-16; 18:23ff), Paul experienced great persecution in this region (2 Tim. 3:11) in the process of establishing the very believers he is addressing here, so he feels a special sense of responsibility for their welfare as their “spiritual midwife”. (4:19)
Though on the surface this letter could seem to be an argument against obedience to the Torah, elsewhere Paul assures us of his support of and reverence for this foundational revelation of YHWH, and in any case Isaiah 8:20 tells us that if he did not agree with it, he should not be heeded. Rather, it was a question of whether obedience to the Torah was a condition for restored spiritual standing in Messiah or the natural outflow of that standing. The first, he argues, is just another example of human religion, trying to earn points with YHWH just like the pagans do (4:10); as the latter option, the Torah is a source of blessing and growth to maturity. (3:24-4:7)
Mark Nanos suggests that it is not Torah observance for proselytes that is in dispute, but the gaining of proselyte identity itself. In the Roman Empire only Jews were exempted from the required worship of civic deities (Josephus, Antiquities 14:185-267), so these non-Jewish believers may have wanted undisputed recognition as members of the community of “fearers of YHWH”. Paul had taught that they had this status through Yeshua, but others, possibly those in the broader Jewish community responsible for shepherding proselytes through the process of conversion (or even former proselytes themselves), were saying, in effect, “You have taken too high a seat at the banquet table too soon; step back down, until you have acquired the proper status!” But through mere circumcision, they could be sure they would no longer be marginalized or barred from all the privileges and exemptions that the Jews enjoyed. Though these “rivals” may have been well-meaning and even ignorant of Paul’s existence, he saw them as undermining the message he had already brought, especially when some P’rushim who had become followers of Yeshua (2:12; Acts 15:5) began requiring adherence to not only the written Torah, but also the Oral Torah, which is sometimes even in conflict with the written and more often burdens people with too many rules to follow, as Yeshua himself had said. He knew that if the restoration of the Northern Kingdom to the covenant could be attained by another means, then Yeshua’s sacrifice of his own life to cover the impossibly-high debt of both houses of Israel, would have been a waste. (5:2)
Paul is writing around A.D. 50, just after the 780-year sentence of “no mercy” (Hos. 1:6; Y’hezq’el 4:5, 9; Yirmiyahu 16:18) had run its course and the Northern Kingdom was now being invited back into covenant. A major point of debate in these early years (as seen in Acts 15) was whether all of the returning tribes (see 1:16) needed to live out their obedience in exactly the same way the Jews (the tribe of Yehudah) did.
The issue is extremely relevant in our day as the move back to things Hebraic is taking place once again. Some, recognizing the paganism that crept early on into the Messianic community and turned it into a quasi-pagan, quasi-political structure, go to the opposite extreme and think they must do everything the “Jewish way”, not realizing that similar compromises have been woven into that pattern as well—let alone that in order to carry this to its logical conclusion they, too, must reject Yeshua as things stand in Judaism today.
Yehudah has preserved the language and many traditions from the earliest times and we have much to learn from them, but the other tribes are not intended to become Yehudah. Numbers 1:52 tells us that each tribe was to camp “under its own standard”. While there is one Torah for everyone, only the Levites are given the right to make a ruling that is binding on all Israel. The throne belongs to Yehudah, but specifically to Messiah, to which most of Yehudah of our day has refused to bow, so we should not become like them in every respect. There are even Jewish traditions that say many of the ancient customs will be restored by the Northern Kingdom. This is indeed taking place (e.g., with the restoration of the widespread observance of the New Moon and the use of the actual Name of YHWH).
Some manuscripts add the footnote that this was written from Rome.
CHAPTER 1
1. [From] Paulus, one sent out, not from men or by men, but rather by Yeshua the Messiah and by YHWH the Father, who had raised him from [among] the dead,
The name Paulus is of Latin origin, meaning “small” (lesser) or “deputy”. He may have chosen this name out of humility. But since Paul (formerly Sha’ul) was a Hebrew, it is more fruitful to see whether his name might mean something in Hebrew. While there seems to be none exactly in this form, there is a root word that fits well: Peulah, which means “workmanship”, “product”, or “achievement”, and Poalo means “his workmanship”—reminiscent of Eph. 2:10, which Paul himself wrote. Some suggest that it also might mean “hard worker” or “one who is worked over”. One sent out: a particular term referring to an agent representing the interests of the sender and therefore vested with full authority to speak for the sender. (Ben Mordechai) By men: Aramaic, appointed by men. From the start he establishes the source of his authority so that his will not be taken as just one opinion among many.
2. and all those brothers [who are] with me, to the gatherings of called-out ones of Galatia:
Aramaic: to all the brothers who are with me in the congregations… (Roth) Gatherings (plural): this letter was meant to be passed around to all of the congregations of the region. Avinoam ben Mordechai points out the play on words between Galatia and Galut-Yah” (those whom YHWH has exiled—i.e., a strong hint that he is speaking of descendants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the “lost sheep” Yeshua said he had come to seek and rescue).
3. Empowering favor to you, as well as shalom from Elohim the Father and our Master, Yeshua the Messiah,
Shalom: the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek “eirene”, which would be in his mind as a Hebrew, though his audience was still mainly Greek-speaking. Shalom means total well-being, completeness, peace, and maturity—all themes of the letter when we realize the underlying conflict that occasioned it.
4. who gave himself on account of our wanderings-away, by which means he might rescue us out of the troublesome age that has now been set in place, according to the determined purpose of Elohim, [who is] our Father indeed,
Gave himself: Aramaic, gave his soul or life. Yeshua exchanged his own life (which is in the blood) for that of Israel, which fell far short in the merit needed to pay for our extreme rebellion against YHWH, thereby accomplishing a covering or payment. (Ben Mordechai) Troublesome age: one that does not recognize the laws by which the next age (which has already dawned through Messiah) will operate, and thus persecutes those who do march to that drum. One in which those who did not convert to Judaism might find themselves without recognition by either the Jews or the Roman government, who might consider them a threat to the unity and stability of the Empire if they were not under the umbrella of those whom Julius Caesar had granted legitimate exemption. These were the categories by which the order operated. It is one that recognize someone as either “Jew or Greek” (3:28), not recognizing that there is a renewed third option. Paul counseled them to stay with the truth nonetheless and suffer whatever consequences might follow. Our Father indeed: contrary to those who were questioning whether those who had not gotten as far as circumcision were really recognized by YHWH at all.
5. to Whom belongs the most exalted position into the ages of the ages! So may it be!
Exalted position: or the highest regard, resulting in praise and honor being given to him. Most exalted: in contrast to Yeshua, whom YHWH exalted, but not above Himself. (1 Cor. 15:24) So may it be: or, it is firmly established that this is certain.
6. I am amazed that you are so readily letting yourselves be transferred over from the one who is calling you by the [benevolent] bounty of Messiah to a different “glad news”—
Compare 2 Corinthians 11:4. Letting yourselves be transferred over: Nanos translates it “defecting”. It must have sounded pleasant, after having borne persecution from pagans and being barred from some “insider” activities of the Jews, to hear that all they had to do to have full access to the internal workings of the Jewish community and thus recognized even by the Romans as exempt from pagan worship, was finish the process of converting to Judaism by being circumcised—the same way this had been signified for centuries! “Glad news”: the same word often rendered “Gospel”, but not uniquely used thus in Greek; it was commonly used for such things as political victories, etc. Paul sees it as another way of accessing YHWH’s favor (Nanos).
7. which is [really] not another of the same kind; on the contrary, [it is only] that there are some who want to trouble you and are determined to turn the glad news of the Messiah [in a different direction].
It is really not “glad news” when scrutinized. Why? Some Pharisaic believers in Yeshua were promoting another way around the penalties that existed in the Torah for these lost and newly-refound Israelites—seemingly good news, right? But what did it consist of? A series of rabbinic enactments, decrees, measures, and innovations that put fences around the commandments, ostensibly to keep people from even being tempted to disobey the actual commandments, but which were ending up both getting in the way of keeping other commandments (as was supposed to have been precluded by Deut. 4:2) and also unduly burdening especially the poor and needy (Luke 11:46) with more rules and expenses than they could bear, and made the common people think that unless they came to the scribes and P’rushim for true learning, it was impossible to keep the Torah of Moshe. In addition, it did not provide a satisfactory means of satisfying our debt against YHWH. Trouble you: disturb you with new inward doubts, take away the quietness of mind, and strike fear in your heart. I.e., they want to create a perceived crisis which they want you to believe will only be solved if you come under their influence and control. Turn: or pervert, corrupt; turn upside down, empty of its power, undermine. The argument (apparently from the Pharisaic believers in Yeshua, per Acts 15:5) seems to have been that unless one converted to Judaism in the rabbinic manner, thus placing oneself under not just the written Torah but the “Oral Torah” as well (which was seen to even take precedence over the written), he would not be accepted by Elohim, and be considered to still be an unclean Gentile, which meant either that Yeshua’s self-offering was not enough, or that it was not necessary at all. (Ben Mordechai) Glad news of the Messiah: that the overwhelming debt of the Northern Kingdom (and Yehudah as well) to YHWH had been paid by Yeshua’s record of never disobeying the Torah, and therefore we could come back into good standing in covenant with YHWH and with the rest of His people—the initial stage of renewal of the covenant per Yirmeyahu 31:31-32.
8. But even if either we or a messenger from heaven should proclaim to you a “glad news” other than that which we have proclaimed to you as the glad news, let him be set aside for destruction!
Set aside for destruction: or accursed; the Aramaic term is harem, indicating the same way that pagan items captured by Israel in war were devoted to being burned, with no prospect of ever being used for any beneficial purpose.
9. As we have just said [once], I will even now say [it] again: if anyone should proclaim to you a “glad news” other than that which you have received, let him be set aside for destruction!
Received: as transmitted from a teacher to a disciple.
10. For am I trying now to win the favor of human beings or of Elohim? Or am I aiming to accommodate myself to men’s agendas? If I were indeed still trying to serve men’s interests, how could I ever be [trusted as] the devoted servant of the Messiah?
As He Himself said, “No one can serve two masters.” (Mat. 6:24) Whose favor would he be trying to win? It was likely that his viewpoint would not convince the Jewish element who did not believe in Yeshua that these “Gentiles” were at least as spiritual as they; the Romans could not understand it, and even many Messianic Jews of our own day tend to discount the idea of the House of Efrayim returning to the covenant, but what is written is written; the prophets all say it will take place. Paul would not cater to anyone’s vested interests, for the only consideration was what the truth was that YHWH had called him to proclaim. It might please other men, and it might not, but neither outcome ultimately matters. He is servant only of the Messiah. Also, no one, no matter how pious, has the right to nullify the written Torah through an “oral torah” that ends up contradicting it at some points. All forms of man-made redemption are actually rebellion against YHWH, who has gone to great lengths to provide a solution that does work. (Ben Mordechai) Yeshua had already accomplished peace between Elohim and estranged Israel and allowed us to become “no longer strangers and aliens, but…fellow citizens …in Elohim’s household.” (Eph. 2:14-19) When men’s ways and YHWH’s laws conflict, particularly when they stand in the way of extending mercy to one’s Israelite brothers, it is obvious which we should side with.
11. Moreover, I would have you know [for certain], brothers, that the glad news as proclaimed by me is not of human origin,
12. because I neither received it from nor was I taught it [by] man, but by a disclosure from Yeshua the Messiah.
13. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how to such an excessive degree I would persecute Elohim’s called-out congregation and wreak havoc on it.
Judaism: The religious structure as it had become in his day, not that which YHWH Himself had commanded Israel to live by. I.e., the rabbinic and Pharisaical additions to the Torah which obscured its main point, as Yeshua had often decried. It may have become so excessive because all of the tribes of Israel were not together to balance one another, hence its being named after only one tribe, Yehudah.
14. I was even advancing in Judaism beyond many of my peers within my tribe, and I was starting to outrank [them] in zeal for the traditions handed down from my ancestors.
My peers: “those of my age”. The Aramaic has “sons of years”, which means simply “those of age”, i.e., the aged. (Compare Psalm 119:99) Yeshua himself said men’s traditions were obscuring YHWH’s commands. Sometimes younger people who see the main point clearly can get past obstacles that have hindered the older and wiser from progressing past a certain point. He had been like these others who had come to Galatia, traversing land and sea to make proselytes (Mat. 23:15), yet he realized that he was doing something YHWH had never commanded (compare Yirmeyahu/Jer. 7:31):
15. But when YHWH (having set me apart for a purpose from my mother’s womb and called me by his favor) decided
Compare Yirmeyahu/Jer. 1:5.
16. to reveal His Son through me in order that I might [be privileged to] proclaim his glad message among the tribes, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
Tribes: often translated Gentiles, but Aramaic has “the people”, i.e., Israel, so it must refer to those of the Northern Kingdom who had, some nine centuries before, begun turning away from the covenant and essentially become Gentiles. But YHWH did not forget who they were. This is part of the glad message. Paulus was seeking the exiled House of Israel, which had turned themselves into Gentiles, but were now waiting expectantly for the Torah (Yeshayahu/Isa. 42:3), and he wanted to let them know that repentance was now being permitted to them, because a payment was made through the exchange of Yeshua’s life, with his abundance of “credit” for Israel’s life, which was racked with guilt and utterly bankrupt of anything with which to make restitution or covering for our crimes against our Husband. (Ben Mordechai; see Romans 6:20-7:6.) Consult with: Aramaic, reveal this to.
17. nor did I go up to Yerushalayim, to those who had been delegated messengers before me; rather, I went away into Arabia, then came back into Damasek again.
Delegated messengers: Greek, apostles, i.e., the twelve commissioned directly by Yeshua. Arabia: possibly to Mount Sinai itself (4:25), as Eliyahu had done when he needed answers to his many questions. These events may have taken place between those mentioned in Acts 9:21 and 9:22; in any case what follows seems to correlate with 9:26:
18. [Only] after that—three years later—did I go up to Yerushalayim to interview Kefa, and stayed with him fifteen days.
Kefa: more commonly known by the Greek translation of his name, Petros (Peter). Interview: to become directly acquainted with an eyewitness so as to acquire truth through direct investigation. This interview is thought by most scholars now to have taken place within 5 years after Yeshua’s resurrection. (Gary Habermas)
19. But I saw none of the other delegated messengers, except Yaaqov the Master’s brother.
The Master’s brother: thus the one who would normally be delegated to be king of Israel in Yeshua’s absence, had political conditions been favorable. He was therefore given the highest authority by Yeshua, though he had taught three others more intensely during the time he was teaching publicly.
20. (And pay attention to [the things] that I am writing to you, because before Elohim, I am not falsifying [them].)
21. After that I went into the regions of Syria and Kilikia.
Kilikia: Not too distant from Galatia, in southeastern Turkey today. Its capital was Tarsos, where Paul had grown up, so he began where he was most familiar, possibly to get used to the calling itself in the most comfortable context possible.
22. Indeed, I was not known by face to the called-out assemblies of the Jews who were in Messiah,
Of the Jews: Aramaic, in Judea. He was not known in any part of Judea except Yerushalayim since he had to be smuggled to the coast, then out of the country because of threats on his life. (Acts 9:30)
23. but they were only hearing, “The one who used to harass us is now proclaiming the conviction that he was once overthrowing!”
Compare Acts 9:21.
24. And they were praising Elohim on my [account].
CHAPTER 2
1. After fourteen years had elapsed, I went up into Yerushalayim again with Bar-Naba, taking Titus with me.
Again: Acts 9:27 tells us that on the first visit, Bar-Naba (“son of encouragement”) acted as a mediator to encourage the Messianic leaders in Yerushalayim to trust Sha’ul. This incident corresponds to Acts 15.
2. Moreover, I went up on the basis of a revelation, and laid out before them the glad message that I herald among the tribes (though privately to those who are recognized), in case I might possibly somehow be exerting myself or spending my efforts fruitlessly.
He put his message “on the table” so those who knew the Messiah firsthand could rule on whether he was wasting his time or not.
3. However, not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised (being a Greek).
Compelled: i.e., by those apostles in Yerushalayim. Other influential believers in Messiah from Judea held a different opinion. (v. 4; see the rest of the story in Acts 15:1-5) Being a Greek: i.e., in contrast to Timotheos, who Paul did circumcise, since he was partly Jewish. (Acts 16:3) So Paul personally had nothing against circumcision as such; it is clearly a Torah requirement, but the only deadline for those not brought into the covenant 8 days after birth is that it must be done before they partake in the Passover. Here, it is “shorthand” for the whole process of conversion to Judaism (the rabbinic version, which involved a very particular form of circumcision and did not accept an existing circumcision if it was not done directly under the supervision of authorities not designated by Torah but only by rabbinic tradition), of which circumcision was the final stage and most visible sign, and that is what he argued most vehemently against requiring of those of the House of Israel returning to the covenant after having become Gentiles (Hoshea 8:8). They did not have to convert to Judaism, because they were from tribes different from Yehudah and did not have to submit to the added standards taken on by that tribe, for if they changed tribes, who would do the work designated for their tribe?
4. Rather, [it was] because of those intruders who, pretending to be brothers, also slipped in to inspect [firsthand] our liberty which we have through the Messiah Yeshua, in order that they might make us their slaves.
Slipped in: Aramaic, were brought in unbeknownst to us. Inspect: with the nuance of distrust and pretense, i.e., inquiry with the implicit claim of the right to supervise, to investigate with a bureaucratic implication as informants or spies, and possibly then to prohibit what they found in order to preserve what they perceived was the reputation of honor and legitimacy which would be compromised by these newcomers unwilling to fully submit. They considered it within their proper jurisdiction to ensure compliance with intergroup norms also recognized by the Romans so the fragile equilibrium could be maintained. (Nanos) Liberty: the right to leave out, not parts of the Torah itself, but accretions added by the tribe of Yehudah which may have been helpful in the better context they had in the Land of Israel, but which were too heavy a burden in the diaspora, and were deemed by the apostles to not be prerequisites for entry into the community of Messiah, but things that could be learned later and taken on when their significance was more fully understood, so they would not turn into meaningless rituals and thus legalisms. (Acts 15:20ff) Yeshua’s burden is light, for he and his followers were repairing the mistake his ancestor Rehav’am had made in overburdening the other tribes.
5. We did not even for as much as an hour give place to them by submitting to their control, so that the unpretentious [nature] of the glad message might remain with you permanently.
Unpretentious nature: plain, simple truth; the root meaning is unhidden or not secret. I.e., the finer nuances that do come with it could wait. The believers were still in kindergarten, so to speak, and needed the main points painted in broad strokes and learned in their depth first so they would not get lost among the side issues that can multiply so rapidly because sometimes they are more exciting or entertaining—or easier to measure than matters of the heart. Yeshua referred to this as the “leaven of the P’rushim” (Mat. 16:11), for leaven is, in a sense, pretentious, making the bread appear to be more than it actually is.
6. Now as for those who had the reputation of being something (what they had been before makes no difference to me; Elohim associates Himself with no man’s outward appearance), as it turned out, those who were recognized laid nothing additional on me,
Elohim associates: the Aramaic phrase means to show favor as opposed to ostracizing. (Compare Deut. 16:18-20) There is to be no social castes among those YHWH redeems, but those who wanted to put these new converts under their own authority would treat them as second-class or not recognize them at all if they did not do things their way.
7. but instead, perceiving that I had been entrusted [with] the glad announcement for the uncircumcised just as Kefa [had been] for the circumcised
Uncircumcised: Not the word for those who had never been circumcised, but those “having foreskins”, a difference not as subtle as it sounds. It throws much light on exactly who they were, for we are told in 1 Maccabees 1:15 that when some in Israel persuaded their fellows that it would be to their advantage to realign themselves with their Gentile neighbors, taking on their ways, they built a gymnasium in Yerushalayim and in order to not be ostentatiously different from those against whom they competed in the nude, “made themselves uncircumcised”—this same exact term. They actually had surgery to restore their foreskins in some fashion. So the term bears special connection to those who were once part of the covenant of YHWH but made a clear decision to leave it behind and take on Gentile ways. The Jews, as corrupt as many of them had become in this era, still retained their identity as the tribe of Yehudah. The Northern Kingdom (called Efrayim for shorthand since Yarav’am, who had led their secession, was from that tribe) had deliberately “mixed itself among the peoples” (Hos. 7:8), meaning it had become so mingled as to be a matter of great confusion to determine which were Israelites any longer. But YHWH kept His eye on them and would not let one kernel drop (Amos 9:9), and promised to one day return their descendants (who were now, in anyone else’s eyes, indistinguishable from Gentiles) to a renewed covenant with Himself. But when Paulus went searching for them, he went to the synagogues, because, as in our own day, these people were already feeling a tug back to Hebraic things, and the only place they knew to find it was among the Jews.
8. (since the One who had proved Himself operative in Kefa [appointing him to] the office of delegated messenger also proved operative in [appointing] me to the Gentiles),
Gentiles: again, only in a secondary sense: a condition they had brought on themselves; the word can just as well mean “tribes”, which highlights the awareness many Jews have always had that their nation could never be completely redeemed until the prophecies of the restoration of the “lost tribes” were all fulfilled.
9. and becoming acquainted with the empowering favor that had been given to me, Yaaqov, Kefa, and Yochanan, who were recognized as pillars, extended to me the right hand of association, so that we might [be appointed to go] to the tribes, while they [were appointed] to the circumcised,
Pillars: i.e., those who were the main supports of the called-out congregation, having known Yeshua most intimately and been taught most directly by Him. Right hand of association: recognition that they were indeed joined together in the same cause.
10. [asking] only that we be mindful of the needy—the very thing I was eager to do.
Needy: those in Yerushalayim for whom Paul later took up a collection from among the Gentile believers. (Romans 15:26) Eager: or diligent. In this immediate context, it may also refer to those who had left paganism and thus were ostracized by the Romans/Gentiles and lost all support from their previous families, and had embraced the Jewish religion, but then been disassociated by the Pharisaic authorities in their area because they did not follow certain traditions in precise detail, therefore being left destitute, without recourse to help from any local sources. (Ben Mordechai)
11. But when Kefa came into Antioch, I opposed him to [his] face, since he was blameworthy,
Came to Antioch: while Paul was there (Acts 15:35). Kefa was one of the “pillars” (v. 9), so his actions were likely to be imitated by all (and were indeed, v. 13), and thus had to be “nipped in the bud”. Blameworthy: with the nuances of being seen through, caught, standing condemned, and knowing better; Aramaic, stumbling within.
12. because before the arrival of certain [people] from Yaaqov, he would eat together with the Gentiles, but when they arrived he started shrinking back and separated himself [from them], deferring to those who were of the Circumcision.
From Yaaqov: probably not connected in any way to the people who were misleading the Galatians; this is just another example of how Yeshua’s new community was still falling into the old, human way of categorizing things. David Stern points out that they were probably not sent by Yaaqov, who had already given his approval to Paul’s version of the glad news as brought to the Gentiles (v. 9), but rather only from the Yerushalayim community of which Yaaqov was the figurehead—or possibly even purporting to be from Yaaqov, when in fact Paul has taken pains to show that the Yerushalayim leaders approved his version, not theirs. Deferring to: Aramaic, being frightened of. What he was doing was going back to a rule that had been added to the Torah in order to keep people from accidentally disobeying the Torah. The Torah said not to eat certain foods, so the rabbinic teachers added fences: that one should not even eat with Gentiles (or better yet, even enter a Gentile’s house) so as not to put oneself in danger of eating food that was not kosher (see Acts 10:28) or simply to become ritually impure and ineligible to enter the Temple which Kefa frequented, since he taught there daily. (Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:20, etc.) But the unification that Yeshua was bringing about between those who had remained with the covenant and those who had become Gentiles made it necessary to do away with this man-made rule and take the risks necessary to building bridges between the two groups (Eph. 2:14), knowing that YHWH had provided a buffer of grace in case they should overstep in the process. Circumcision: not simply those who were circumcised, but those who were from a faction that favored the idea that a Gentile believer could not belong to Messiah or be a full member of the community until he was circumcised. (Nanos renders it “those who are in favor of circumcision”.) These are probably the same people who created the controversy mentioned in Acts 15:1-2, in which case Paul’s viewpoint was upheld by Yaaqov himself and all the “pillars”. The outcome of this action of Kefa’s would give the “Gentiles” the feeling that he was more interested in being accepted by those from the community to which he was called (“the circumcised”, v. 7) than in them, “unsettling their souls”. (Acts 15:24) He would be seen as one of those who saw all Gentiles as unclean without regard to the fact of their repentance, hence upholding a double standard that YHWH no longer recognized. (Ben Mordechai) Kefa himself had been told this directly (see Acts 11:1-18), so he should have known better. The House of Yehudah is supposed to go out to seek the lost House of Israel (Yirm. 3:18-19), so Paul was right to rebuke him. (Lev. 19:17-18)
13. And the rest of the Jews likewise acted hypocritically along with him, to the point that even Bar-Naba was carried away by their hypocrisy.
Carried away: not actively taking part, but swept off balance by. Aramaic, led (or guided) to reject them by their face.
14. But when I saw that they were not walking a straight course with regard to the genuine “glad message”, I told Kefa in front of everyone, “If you, the quintessential Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Judeans, what [are you doing] pressuring the Gentiles to imitate the Judeans?
Quintessential: or a prime example, being chief among the Jewish believers. Glad message: that the compassion YHWH had promised in D’varim/Deut. 30:1-4 was now available. (Compare Yeshayahu 56:6-8) Live like the Gentiles: Not failing to keep the Torah, but not feeling bound to keep the extra regulations added by the Judeans. (v. 12)
15. “We, who are physically Jews and not ‘sinners from among the Gentiles’
Paul quotes a common deprecatory idiom here to emphasize the contrast. Physically: Aramaic, by nature, subdividing human nature into further categories of Jewish and non-Jewish. (Andrew Gabriel Roth) But what is that nature meant to be? “Yehudah” is spelled like “YHWH” with a “dalet” (related to the Hebrew word for “door” in the middle, thus meant to be a door back to YHWH for the lost tribes, echoing Yeshua’s statement to a Samaritan woman that “salvation is of the Jews”. (Yoch. 4:22) But Kefa was acting against this message by, in essence, favoring the group that wanted, in general, to keep this door closed. (Ben Mordechai)
16. “(knowing that a human being is not acquitted based on the ‘works of the Torah’, unless through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah) --even we have placed our confidence in Yeshua the Messiah, in order that we might be rendered righteous based on the faithfulness of [the] Messiah, and not based on the ‘works of the Torah’, since out of the ‘works of the Torah’ ‘no flesh will be rendered righteous.’” [Psalm 143:2]
If even those who never left the covenant still need what Yeshua did in order to be justified before YHWH, how much more these whose ancestors cut off all right for their children to be part of His blessings? Our debt was impossible to pay back, even if we did start obeying late in the game, if one measured it in those terms. Yeshua’s record of perfect obedience could be credited to both houses of Israel, but he said he did not intend to nullify even one stroke of the Torah, whereas many of the traditions to which these proselytizers required adherence did in fact contradict some Torah commands. That is why he said that to enter the Kingdom, our righteousness had to exceed that of the scribes and P’rushim. (Mat. 5:20) Acquitted: legally exonerated, as opposed to condemned in a legal sense, whether because actually innocent or because there were not two witnesses (Thomas Lancaster, per use in Deut. 25:1-2); correct, restored to the way we ought to be, acceptable to YHWH and approved by Him. “Works of the Torah”: There is a special meaning to this phrase which explains much of the confusion about what Paul was saying. Avinoam Ben Mordechai points out that from approximately 200 B.C. until A.D. 70, there was a particular doctrine called Ma'aseh haTorah (works of the Torah) that was based on 24 particular Mosaic laws of ritual purity. This sect was born in Qumran among the Essenes, who claimed to (and may actually) have been the Tzadoqite priesthood that had been deposed by the Hashmonim (Hasmoneans) and corrupt Roman government. (Dead Sea Scroll documents 4Q394-399 and 4QMMT document this in detail.) In their view, if they would maintain a certain standard of purity and work it out to perfection, they would receive the Holy Spirit, be perfected through their righteous works, and by doing so, bring the Messiah. But they also excluded the blind and deaf from ever being able to understand the Torah, which is contrary to the Messiah’s message of “whoever wishes” may drink freely of the water of life. (Rev. 22:17) Paul applies their own terminology about being "under the works of the Torah". As strict as the P'rushim (Pharisees) were, their rules were child's play in comparison. This sect had spread as far afield as Galatia, and the doctrine of the “oral torah” was even more widespread, becoming essentially another an different torah. (See 1:6-7)
17. Now if, while aiming to be rendered righteous by [the] Messiah, we ourselves are also [when examined] found to be wandering off track, does this mean the Messiah is an attendant [in the service] of error? May it never be!
If one seeks justification through the Messiah and yet still seems to come up short, it means someone has added some requirements that YHWH never intended, and is therefore in violation of the Torah. Why would YHWH seem to provide a way of being declared right before Him, only to later announce that we are coming up deficient, as if they were re-entering the covenant diseased from the start? This would not be showing mercy to the Gentiles! (Ben Mordechai)
18. Indeed, if I am putting back together these things that I took apart, I prove myself to be in a comparable position as one who steps outside the boundaries.
Some might accuse him of being against Torah observance because of some of the extreme statements he makes to drive home his point, but then he would be working against the very goals he started with. But why would someone know what the Torah says, then try to be justified by doing something different? Why build a bridge back to a system that made up one’s own laws that supplanted the rightful priests so it could have authority to control the Temple and Israel? Because Paulus had once been a part of this system, he could all the more appreciate the simplicity of the actual, written Torah in comparison. (Ben Mordechai)
19. By means of the Torah, then, I died in regard to the Torah, so that I might become alive toward YHWH.
Died: with the nuance of becoming separated from. He gives more detail about what he means in Romans 7. (See note on verse 20.)
20. I have been crucified together with [the] Messiah; still, I am alive—not I, but [the] Messiah lives through me, and what I live out through the physical body at present I live out through the faithfulness of the Son of Elohim, who was committed to me and gave Himself over [to death] on my behalf.
Messiah was crucified for his resistant stand against the traditions of the elders and their illegitimate authority, while supporting only the written commandments; Paulus agreed with this. Any compromise would be essentially throwing away the benefits Yeshua had already brought. Faithfulness of the Son: the key to our being made righteous. While forgiveness is always available through confession and repentance, there is a need to make amends or reparation for our individual and collective sins as a nation, in order to satisfy the requirements of the Torah in regard to atonement. Yet we have nothing to bring to the table. (Compare Gen. 32:19-33:11) The Yom Kippur prayer says that the merit of the patriarchs has been used up. In the Talmud (Berachot 62b), R. Eleazar says, “Take a great man among them, through whose death many sins can be expiated for them.” And R. Ammi says that “even as the red heifer afforded atonement, so does the death of the righteous afford atonement [for the living they have left behind].” Moshe (Ex. 32:30-35) tried to achieve such an atonement, but his credit was not adequate for the whole nation. But YHWH told him He would one day “visit their sin upon them” on “the day that I visit”. Yeshua told Yerushalayim that it would be destroyed “because you did not recognize the day of your visitation”. (Luke 19:43-44) The time had been declared in Daniel 9:24. (Talmud, Mo’ed Katan 28a) YHWH chose to use Moshe’s idea, but accomplish it through the later “prophet like Moshe” (Deut. 18:15-19) instead, who took the “old man” of Israel’s Torah rebellion to the grave, and was raised back up as a “new man”, paving the way for the messianic kingdom inhabited by a people now credited as righteous. Yeshua voluntarily chose to die for the nation to provide this covering, exchanging his righteous record for our unrighteous one. (Ben Mordechai) On our behalf he never disobeyed the Torah and thus, as only the second innocent man who ever lived, repaired the damage done by Adam as representative of the whole race, enabling us to partake in his credit and have our indebtedness to YHWH resolved, so we could re-enter the covenant with a clean slate and additional credit toward where we would fall short while still in exile and without a priesthood (Hoshea 3:4), a context where we could still not fulfill every obligation. (Compare Romans 5)
21. I do not marginalize YHWH’s empowering favor, for if righteousness [could be attained] by means of the Torah, then [the] Messiah died for nothing.
Marginalize: disregard, despise, thwart the effect of, set aside, render void, reject, refuse, slight, consider to be a mere side issue. Empowering favor: the extra boost provided to push us “over the hump”, so that we cannot use the excuse that we are unable to obey the Torah. If it were possible to attain right standing before YHWH apart from the Messiah, it was pointless for him to die, for he had no sentence of death on him as the rest of us did. His empowering favor is essential for those who, unlike Messiah, are not perfect. To reject this unfathomable gift, treating the news of this deposit to our account with scorn, because we either do not want to amend our ways and learn to keep YHWH’s commandments or we want to think we accomplished the restitution all on our own with no one’s help, when we were so far in debt and bankrupt that many lifetimes could not achieve that goal, is thinking too highly of ourselves. Thus what Yeshua did was very important and much-needed, and man-made solutions to our debt can never come anywhere near it. This statement also shows that attaining righteousness cannot be the purpose of the Torah, but rather expressing righteousness.
CHAPTER 3
1. O senseless Galatians! Who has charmed you, so that you [can] not [be] persuaded of the truth—you before whose eyes Yeshua the Messiah was clearly depicted among you as crucified?
Senseless: i.e., Think about what you are doing! But foolish behavior can be corrected by following the wisdom in the Torah. (Deut. 4:5-6) But the Aramaic text adds “deficient”, because they are sure to come up short in regard to righteousness if they chose the Pharisaic “feel-good sugar high” over the solid food of the written Torah (Ben Mordechai), for as Yeshua said, our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and P’rushim if we want to enter the Kingdom. (Mat. 5:20) Charmed you: or bewitched you, or duped you (Ben Mordechai), literally with the “evil eye”—as the serpent beguiled Chawwah, turning them away from “the simplicity that is in Messiah” (2 Corinthians 11:3); Aramaic, made you envious (of something with lesser value). Depicted: Aram., portrayed like a portrait.
2. This is all I want to hear from you about: Did you receive the Spirit as a result of the “Works of the Torah” or as a result of [what you] heard by faith?
Faith: confidence, trust, assurance, conviction of the truth of something that leads one to risk all to act on it. What you heard: Paul positions the Torah’s “Hear, O Israel” (Deut. 6:4) in contrast to the substitute “oral torah”, the traditions of men, which see the Law of Moshe not as an authoritative code, but only a source of law for the purpose of deriving new laws. (Ben Mordechai)
3. Are you that senseless? Having started by the Spirit, are you now completing the process for yourselves through flesh?
Flesh: an idiom for natural means, but very literal in this poignant case of circumcision! The recipients may have thought they were only carrying what Paul had taught them to its logical conclusion. They may not be questioning his authority, only failing to recognize the conflict between the two philosophies. But adding fences to the Torah—though it seemed logical and helpful in curbing accidental mis-steps—is actually not effective against the flesh (Colossians 2:23) and was actually one step in Adam and Chawwah’s downfall. (Compare Gen. 3:2 with 2:17 and notice the added “command” which YHWH Himself did not give, and it caused Chawwah to deduce that because she did not die when she touched the fruit (about which He said nothing), she would not die if she ate it as well (which He did forbid). But the result of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the “evil inclination”, a less-holy nature than that which we had possessed before that, which is always burdened with the choice of being obedient or not. (Ben Mordechai) But through Messiah, YHWH provided a restoration of the “spirit of life” that can override the “law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2) as the law of aerodynamics can “beat” the law of gravity.
4. Have you suffered so many things for nothing? (That is, if it is indeed for nothing.)
For nothing: Aramaic, no purpose, with the undercurrent of “only to now give in”.
5. So then, is the One who is supplying you with the Spirit and operating among you [with] powerful acts [doing so] as a result of the “Works of the Torah” or as a result of [what you] heard by faith?
Supplying you with the Spirit: the Teacher who would blow life back into us (Y’hez’qel 37:6) and guide us into the right way (Yeshayahu 30:19-21; Yochanan 16:13) without the need for all kinds of man-made interpretations, but rather through letting other parts of the written word interpret ambiguous passages. Powerful acts: Aramaic, miracles, but uses the same term as in Messiah’s prayer attributing the “kingdom, power, and authority” to our Father in heaven. He reminds them of the amazing things they experienced before the P’rushim’s changing their perception of Elohim’s truth entrapped them, hoping they would be jarred back to their senses. (Ben Mordechai; compare Hoshea 2:7)
6. –Just as “Avraham had confidence in YHWH, and it was accounted as [placing] him into [the category of] righteous.” [Gen. 15:6]
Avraham guarded what YHWH gave him (Gen. 26:5) with all his heart and did not seek to be innovative with what He was commanded, but acted on it, trusting YHWH even when it did not make sense to him. YHWH credited this to him as righteousness, though he did not know all the details of the Torah that came later, and would not be circumcised for another 24 years.
7. So you can see that those [who act on the basis] of trust are the ones who are Avraham’s children.
This may also be saying that the way to identify which of the seeming Gentiles are actually lost descendants of Avraham is by the fact that they do act in faith when they hear the proclamation of the glad news.
8. Moreover, the Scripture, foreseeing that YHWH would declare the tribes righteous on the basis of faith, promised the glad news to Avraham ahead of time: “In you all the tribes will be blessed.”
Declare the tribes righteous: see Yeshayahu (Isa.) 49:6. Blessed: Gk., given benefits; in Hebrew, the grammatical form used in the verse quoted (Gen. 12:3) also means “grafted into”.
9. So then those [who act on the basis] of trust are blessed along with the one who [proved to truly] trust ([that is,] Avraham),
10. because any who [operate on the basis] of the “Works of the Torah” are under a curse, since it is written, “[There is] a curse upon anyone who does not persist in carrying out all things that have been written in the document of the Torah.” [Deut. 27:26]
Many have wrongly concluded that he is saying that those who seek to live by the Torah of Moshe are under a curse. Deut. 27:26 actually says, “Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this Torah by doing them.” There is no reference to doing what is written (though it is implied). Paulus seems to be comparing two religious ideologies: actions based on what is written in the Book [the type of “works” Yaaqov/James 2:17-20) speaks of]) and actions based on what is not written (i.e., oral torah, or this particular set of rules specifically named “Works of the Torah”). Those who follow the latter have placed priority on the unwritten rules, which in many cases have pre-empted the written Torah just as effectively as Christian supersessionism, and though giving lip service to the Torah, are still guilty of not carrying out what is written. If one chooses to submit to the authority of those who revise the Torah, he becomes a slave of sin, and is no longer doing the deeds of Avraham (Yochanan 8:39, 47), as Yeshua said was the way to prove one is a “son of Avraham”. (Ben Mordechai)
11. It is also clear that before YHWH no one is rendered righteous through the Torah, because, “The one [who is] righteous will derive life from faith.” [Havaqquq 2:4]
Faith: agreeing with and validating the covenant (Ex. 24:7), and showing trust in YHWH by doing exactly what He said. (Ben Mordechai)
12. The “Torah”, on the other hand, is not [action on the basis] of faith; rather, “The one who carries them out will live through them.” [Lev. 18:5]
The Torah: Here, probably shorthand for “the Works of the Torah”. Not of faith: because it teaches us to trust the rabbis rather than YHWH. The quote, however, is in regard to the written Torah, which does in many ways extend the life of those who follow it. Faith is accepting it “as is”, confirming our trust in YHWH, rather than adding to it because we find it deficient, as the Pharisaic system did.
13. Messiah paid the price to recover us out of the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us, since it is written, “[There is] a curse upon anyone who is suspended on a tree,” [Deut. 21:23]
Curse of the Torah: In the Essene view, if a man misstepped once, he was thrown out of the Community for up to two years. By some accounts this happened to Yochanan haMatvil (John the Baptizer), whose parents had died and he was brought to Qumran to be raised by the Essenes. He was highly respected there, because his father (and thus he as well) was allegedly the one who was really supposed to be the High Priest according to the proper inheritance. But when the spirit of prophecy came upon him and he spoke out of turn in the view of the community's leaders, he was cast out into the wilderness, where he continued to fulfill his prophetic calling. In agreement with the Torah, we were exiled due to our failure to keep the Torah and forced to obey the laws, customs, and religions of our captor nations, but Yeshua performed the role of kinsman redeemer, paying with his own life rather than silver or gold. (1 Kefa 1:18) He was hanged to testify to all that Elohim does not turn a blind eye to willful violators of His commandments, becoming, like the serpent Moshe put on a pole, a symbol of the affliction for sins but also the means of deliverance from the. (Yochanan 3:15) He took the penalty for our violations, wiped out slate clean, and said, in essence, “If you blow it, get up again and keep walking." As one second-century rabbi put it, you are not expected to complete the task, but neither are you allowed to withdraw from the attempt. Thus the standard is not lowered (if anything, Mat. 5-7 show that it has now been raised), but there is mercy when it is truly needed. (Avi Ben Mordechai)
14. so that the benefit from Avraham might be brought about among the tribes through Messiah Yeshua, so that we might [receive the right to] claim the promise[d blessing] of the Spirit by means of faith.
15. Brothers, I [will] say it in human terms: [Once] even a human covenant has been ratified, no one [can] disregard it or add anything to [it].
Disregard: or annul. Even a human: How much more, then, the covenant given by YHWH? Adds to it: treats stipulations added on one’s own authority as binding on all (as later occurred within rabbinic Judaism, which said it could out-vote YHWH, the Roman pope, who said he had the right to change the Sabbath and feast days, and the many throughout history who have added new rules such as those in Col. 2:21).
16. Now it was to Avraham and his seed [that] the promises were poured forth. It does not say, “and to [his] seeds”, as about many, but rather as about one: “and to your Seed”, which is Messiah.
The quote is from Genesis 9:9. Paul may have been alluding to a Midrash by R. Tanhuma which identified a “seed that comes from another place” with the Messiah. (Ruth Rabbah on Ruth 4:14; Genesis Rabbah 51:8) Messiah is to be the heir of the Kingdom of heaven, but of what value is a kingdom without subjects to rule over? Torah teaches that all twelve tribes would be redeemed from exile, but the rulers of the Land were conspiring to break his fetters from them; still, YHWH would install the king of His choice in Tzion. (Psalm 2)
17. So this [is what] I say: [Since] a covenant previously ratified to Messiah by Elohim cannot be repudiated or the authority of the promise voided by the Torah, which came into existence four hundred thirty years later,
The Torah was added later (v. 19) to amplify, fulfill, and spell out the promises spoken to Avraham, by first establishing a people for his name. “Its words could not annul what was divinely spoken to Avraham. But, if one were to change the written law of Moshe (as the Pharisees had done), then it would naturally make the promises to Avraham of no effect…it would invalidate everything spoken to Avraham.” (Ben Mordechai)
18. for if the inheritance is [on the basis] of Torah, it is no longer on the basis of a promise, yet YHWH bestowed it on Avraham by means of a promise.
Paul points out in Romans 4 that Avraham was still uncircumcised when he received the promise, and only expressed his belief I the promise through his later circumcision—an act which Paul would have no argument with. The issue is that circumcision, a physical act, rather than the faith that makes the obedience to such commands meaningful (the circumcision of the heart to which it is meant to bear witness), was being treated instead as the entry point into the covenant.
19. So why then the Torah? It was added, on account of [people] stepping out of line, until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come, being put into place by messengers through the hand of an arbitrator.
Added: as something extra to serve a different, parenthetical purpose. The Second Adam was infused with the Spirit of Messiah and was able to pay for his predecessor Adam’s sin, which affected the whole human race. The remedy was an earthly copy of the Torah until the heavenly original would descend an infuse those who choose to walk in him and it. (Ben Mordechai) Stepping out of line: or apostasy. The issue at hand was that all of Israel had the Torah-based obligation to show kindness to anyone seeking refuge under YHWH’s wings; his inclusion in the family of Israel should not be discouraged or stifled. (Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:33-34; Yirmeyahu 22:3) How much more returning descendants of exiled Israelites? Yet those who put more stock in traditions than the written word (Yirmeyahu 2:13) were barring this return. Adding to His words and reforming it through Pharisaic legislation was in itself high-handed rebellion against both the commandment and the promises. (Yirmeyahu 2:19-20; 7:28) Messengers: the same term in Aramaic (molkana) as “promise” in vv. 17-18. It is similar to the Aramaic word for angels/messengers, and may be a play on words by Paulus (in which case the messengers were Moshe and Y’hoshua), or it may be a Greek mistranslation assuming the other word (promise) was meant. (Ben Mordechai) Arbitrator: or mediator.
20. But an arbitrator does not pertain to one [party], and “YHWH is one”. [Deut. 6:4]
I.e., YHWH Himself is not prevented from keeping His promise by the constraints He put into place because of a temporary unreadiness of His people to receive what He had promised.
21. So is the Torah at odds with YHWH’s promises? May it never be! For if an injunction had been given that was capable of restoring us to life, righteousness would indeed have been on the basis of an injunction.
Torah and injunction (or law) here are the same word, but it has both a generalized and special meaning. The man-made rules of the P’rushim could not offer life to the massive influx of new “Gentile” converts desiring to enter the Hebrew faith. They were coming in droves, responding to the Spirit of the covenant spoken to Avraham, but since they did not submit to the “approved” Pharisaic form of circumcision, their conversion was not recognized by the P’rushim, just as it is today. (Ben Mordechai) The true Torah itself contains the promises of that restoration to life of a people that was, for all intents and purposes, “dead”:
22. Instead, the Scripture locked us all up together under sin, so that the promise, on the basis of the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, might be bestowed on those who have confidence.
In context, the written Torah shows the disciple of an oral law (which claims to supersede even YHWH’s authority) to be a transgressor, and holds him accountable for judgment, for he will come up short. The responsibility of the Spirit of Elohim is to convict of sin (Yoch. 16:8-9) and to make us careful to observe YHWH’s ordinances. (Y’hezq’El 11:19-20; 36:27) Confidence: showing by our faithfulness to YHWH that we trust Him and unwaveringly accept only His authority, and not the authority of men. (Ben Mordechai)
23. But before [that] faithfulness showed up, we were kept under [the protective guard of] the Torah, [reserved] for the faithfulness that was on the verge of being disclosed.
Kept: Aramaic: law was guiding us, while we were confined from the faith about to be revealed. “Confined”, as used in the Septuagint (Psalm 89:30-37; 96:13; 119:137-138) means order to keep one in custody or watch one who might be imprisoned. YHWH sold His people into slavery to “statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live” (Yeshayahu 50:1; Y’hezq’El 20:18-32, based on Deut. 28:43-45) while we were in exile, keeping us “on a leash” so we would at least not get in worse trouble, but compelling us to do things we would come to loathe so we would want to be free from our captivity. (Ben Mordechai) That is the time YHWH said we would remember Him and return, and YHWH would have compassion and restore us from captivity. (Deut. 30:1-3) Trimm renders it in the present tense: “Until trust comes, the Torah is guarding us...” This often indeed applies, because none of us is mature in every area, and wherever we are still lacking, the Torah is still our teacher until we get the point.
24. So then the Torah acted as our tutor into Messiah, so we could be declared righteous on the basis of trust.
Tutor: or guardian, trainer, “schoolmaster”. According to Strong, “among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood.” His duty was “to conduct the… youth to and from school and to superintend his conduct…He was not a ‘teacher’.” (Arndt & Gingrich Lexicon) He was “more like a bodyguard to ensure the student’s safety on his way to his teacher. He “enclosed” or “hemmed him in” in a positive sense, and likewise “the Torah was intended to preserve the mental, moral, and social safety of the environment into which an individual was born and raised” until each reached the actual Teacher, the Messiah. (4:2) It gives a more complete description of the Teacher and keeps him from inaccuracies and false images of what the Teacher is like. The expected response to the Abrahamic covenant (of promise) is trust, but the expected response to the Mosaic covenant (Torah, which exists for maintenance of the environment so the promises can be fulfilled) is obedience; the two have different purposes, and are not to be confused with one another. The Torah is given not to “save” us, but to outline the boundaries between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, but if someone violates the sacred space, he must be removed for the safety of the rest of the community. (Ariel Berkowitz) Aramaic, “the Torah, having been our instructor to the Messiah, justified us by trust.” I.e., one who remains under the tutor’s jurisdiction without rebelling shows that he has confidence in where he is taking him, even if he cannot yet see what the end result will be. The one who is faithful in little is the one who will be allowed to be faithful in much. A grown child is no longer punished by an external authority for touching a hot stove, but the fact of what will become of his hand if he does touch it does not change, and when he is mature he will appreciate that information for what it spares him. The maturity is in doing what he was taught because it is true, not because of a threat; the physical outcome of both should be the same. Likewise, because of trust in YHWH, we will end up doing just what the Torah says, though it will not be our main focus, but love for Him will be.
25. But [now that] the faithfulness has taken place, we are no longer under a tutor,
Tutor: the Aramaic says “tutors” (plural), hinting at the many “laws” they wanted to place themselves under after they had already reached this point of maturity. As opposed to the past captivity (v. 24), Paulus showed how shockingly similar this would be to our former exile, which was imposed by YHWH for our repentance. This spiritual servitude to the scribes and P’rushim, who shut off the Kingdom both to themselves and those who want to enter it (Mat. 23:13) is, in contrast, not necessary. They worked hard to install their authority (usurping the legitimate authority of the priests per Deut. 17:10-13) and thereby kept all Israel from approaching too close to the written Torah, which could set us free. (Ben Mordechai) What injustice did we find in Him that we walked after emptiness instead, threw off His yoke, and became enslaved again? (Yirmeyahu 2:5)
26. because you are all sons of Elohim through [having] confidence in Messiah Yeshua,
Sons of Elohim: the promised title YHWH said those who became “not a people” would one day again be allowed to bear. (Hoshea 1:10) “No man or group of men has the authority to shut anyone off from entering into the blessings of the promised covenants of the land and the Torah, through the Messiah…a redeemer for all Israel (Yeshayahu 41:14) and a restorer of the lost sheep (Y’hezq’El 18, 20, 34). According to the Torah, all of us have only one master and we are servants of one another. Rabbinic halacha or Ephraimite religious customs are extraneous and are of no value to how our righteousness is established in Heaven or on Earth.” (Ben Mordechai)
27. since as many as have been immersed into Messiah [among you] have clothed yourselves in Messiah.
Immersed into Messiah: as opposed to the particular immersion of conversion to Judaism required by rabbinic authorities, who would declare that the first is not adequate to make us full-fledged Israelites. But all Israelites were promised inheritance rights in the physical Land of Israel, which may have to be fulfilled in the resurrection if one tribe continues to block access to them for the rest of the people who wish to return.
28. There cannot be place for either Jew or Greek; there cannot be place for either slave or free man; there cannot be place for either male or female, because you are all one in Messiah,
These categories, though they still exist physically, have no meaning in a Body that unites people from all of them, because they only serve to exalt one above another, when all parts of the Body are necessary. (Rom. 12) Kefa recognized that YHWH gave the Holy Spirit to “those who were far off” in the same way He had done to “those who were near”, and asked why anyone would put Him to the test by placing on their necks a yoke which the Jews had never been able to bear, and said that the Jewish believers are restored to covenant through Yeshua in exactly the same manner the Gentiles are. (Acts 15:8-11)
29. and if you belong to Messiah, you are therefore Avraham’s seed, and [thus] heirs according to the promise.
Yeshua said he had come only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel (which were Avraham’s physical descendants), so if you have responded to him, you are most likely one of these. If not, through being enveloped in the Messiah (v. 27), who is the most particular heir to that promise (v. 16), you have still become part of Israel and thereby obligated by our ancestors to keep the covenant. (Deut. 29:29)
CHAPTER 4
1. Now I [will] say [that] for as long a time as the heir is a minor, no one can distinguish him from a slave, [even though] he is the possessor of everything.
Israel is meant to be YHWH’s special possession (Ex. 19:5-6), and this has been restored to us through the Messiah (1 Kefa 2:9) after we were subjected to oppressors due to our idolatry, but even this was YHWH’s calculated method of letting us feel what it is like so that when we are in a position to be heads and lights to the surrounding nations, we will remember how not to treat them (Ex. 23:9), being servant-leaders instead. (Mat. 20:26-27)
2. Rather, he is under guardians and managers of the household until the [time] prearranged by the father.
The Galatians were not Gentiles in the classic sense of the word, for they would have no background in Torah at all. Rather, they were at most the mixed children of former Israelites who had turned away from the covenant. Why did Paul go searching for “Gentiles” in synagogues? Because the time was right for the lost tribes to begin returning, as so many of us today were, without knowing why, drawn back to things Judaic before we realized who we were, they came to the only light that existed in their cities. YHWH did this, keeping them safe (Yeshayahu 49:6) in the midst of a pagan environment until the time came for Paul to deliver the message that they had been granted mercy. (Hos. 1:10)
3. In the same way we, too, when we were minors, were under the basic principles of the universe, [thus] reduced to bondage.
Basic principles of the universe: see note on v. 9. (Compare Heb. 5:12-6:2 and Col. 2:8, where these basic principles are linked with “the tradition of men”—a second witness that clinches the fact that this, not the Torah given by YHWH, is the “law” the book of Galatians is really talking about, if we continue to operate in that realm when we have been placed in a higher position.) Torah’s purpose at first was indeed to restrain us from evil so we could be preserved for a higher purpose. In that season, before the “fullness of time”, that was appropriate, but it was not the goal. The goal was that we be brought to maturity:
4. But when the fullness of the time had come, Elohim sent out His Son, brought on the scene by means of a woman, coming to be under the Torah,
Messiah arrived on the scene right on time according to the prophecies of Daniel 9:24-27 in order to bring about deliverance for those who had received from YHWH’s hand double for our sins (Yeshayahu 40:2; Yirmeyahu 16:18; Hoshea 1:6; Y’hezq’El 4:5, 9)
5. so that He could ransom those who were under the Torah, so that we could receive the adoption as sons.
Receive: or recover, be given back. Adoption as sons: The phrasing of this analogy is important, because in a Greco-Roman context, adopted daughters had no special rights, but were often little more than slaves. Adopted sons, however, received all the rights of natural-born sons.
6. Now since you are sons, YHWH has sent out the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba!” (Daddy!)
Abba: a term of endearment meaning more than simply “father”, but one’s own beloved, intimate father. Strong points out that it was characteristically used in prayer at this time and gradually acquired the character of a most sacred proper name, to which a translation was added by the exiles in their local language. This echoes the opening of Yeshua’s prayer, “Our Father Who is in Heaven…”, and contrasts with our more immediate fathers, who had been idolaters (Yirmeyahu 16:19), and even our ancient ancestors who died in the wilderness because of their unbelief, being “descendants” of the “father of lies”. (Yoch. 8:45) It also contrasts with the “priests” men call their fathers (Mat. 23:9). But now we have a true Father figure in every sense of the word. The tutor is no longer the immediate party; a more immediate relationship with the Father is now realized, and we are confident that YHWH is our own Father, not an overlord who is merely out to keep us in line.
7. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, indeed, an heir of YHWH through Messiah.
Yaaqov (James) calls the Torah “the perfect law of liberty”. (1:25; compare Yeshayahu 56:1-5) We should therefore not hide our light under a mountain of rules that obscure the main point. (Mat. 5:14-16)
8. Nonetheless, at that time, not knowing YHWH, you submitted [as slaves] to things that by nature were not elohim.
9. But now, [when] you know YHWH, or rather have come to be known by YHWH, how is it that you are turning back again onto the feeble and beggarly rudiments to which you want to be enslaved to [all over] again?
Beggarly: lacking power to accomplish the goal. Rudiments: basic, elementary principles—i.e., why do you want to go back to kindergarten now that you have graduated into full adulthood? The reason for being drawn to Israel has already been announced to you! Why try to complete through a human tradition what has already been completed by an amazing act of YHWH? It is as if our Father lives in a house that has a guardhouse at the gate, and that is the first step to our Father’s house, but still it is not the house itself. We may even sense a right to go play on the roof of our Father’s house since He is, after all, our Father. But still we are not in the house, the safest place to be. There is a beneficial type of servitude, and a harmful type, one made to look like the Torah of Moshe, while in fact it is not, causing much confusion for millennia. “Slavery to the world as we know it is an awful thing. It is one thing if it is forcefully imposed on us. It is another thing if we voluntarily choose it.” (Ben Mordechai)
10. You [scrupulously] observe days and months and seasons and years!
Days and months, etc.: Not the Torah-based Hebrew calendar, but the fast days added which gave people the occasion to boast over their “less-pious” brothers (Luke 18:11-13), the devised calendar based on projections rather than actual sightings of the moon, the exacting halachic laws of observing the festivals, and the loopholes used to get around the commandment to not harvest crops on the seventh year of the shmittah cycle. The word here for “observe” is used elsewhere to mean “watch closely or diligently” as in trying to find someone in a crowd or catch someone in an error (Mark 3;2; Luke 14:1; 20:19-20; Acts 9:23-24) They were being pressured to pay scrupulous attention to all halachic “observances” of the elders, being extra careful about keeping their traditions—details never required by the actual Torah and which often nullify it (Ben Mordechai) because the modifications are insisted on as if they were as authoritative as Torah, thus obscuring which things YHWH truly requires and which are only commentary which may be helpful in some circumstances, but not applicable every time.
11. I am afraid for you, lest somehow I have poured my labors into you without success!
He wondered why he had spent his time teaching them if they are doing no better than those who worshipped idols, for putting such emphasis on circumcision is also worshipping a physical thing. Yeshua said he would not leave us as orphans (Yoch. 14:18-19), so why do we again fall for another “Golden calf”—the lie that the Pharisaic elders are more genuine to Torah-true “Judaism” than Yeshua’s straightforward teachings from the Torah of Moshe? This, as much as Christianity, is another religion not authorized by YHWH. (Ben Mordechai)
12. Brothers, I beg you, become like me, since I am the same as you. You have not wronged me in anything.
13. Moreover, you know how with weakness of the body I myself proclaimed the glad news to you first,
14. and you did not treat the test of my body’s [condition] with contempt or loathe. Rather, you welcomed me as if [I were] an angel—as if [I were] Messiah Yeshua [Himself]!
Test of my body’s condition: probably the “thorn in the flesh” that he speaks of in 2 Cor. 12:7, and related to his eyes (v. 15), but it also served as a test of their character, i.e., how they would prove to treat him. Loathe: literally, spit out.
15. What was the benefit of that to you? For I can testify concerning you that if you could have dug out your [own] eyes and given them to me, you would have [done so]!
I.e., you were willing then to do things without receiving any particular benefit for yourselves, and even sacrifice for others—the point of Torah! So why are you now thinking only of your own advantage? (This hints that Paulus’ repelling bodily condition had something to do with an eye affliction, probably the reason his handwriting was so large (6:11)—so he could see it himself.
16. So have I become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?
17. They are earnestly pursuing you, but not with noble [intentions]. Rather, they are determined to shut you out so that you will pursue them!
They: the ones Paul accuses of troubling the addressees. (1:7) Earnestly pursuing: or zealously courting. Shut you out: exclude you, bar your approach. They want you to have to be part of their club in order to have access to the blessings, but YHWH says that the day of Efrayim envying Yehudah and Yehudah so vexing Efrayim had to end. (Yeshayahu 11)
18. (Now it is always noble to be earnest about an honorable thing, and not only when I am present near you.)
19. My little children, for whom I am again feeling the pains of childbirth until Messiah is formed within you,
Messiah: Aramaic, the reality of Messiah. Formed: Aramaic, imaged, i.e., until his image is fully formed in you, and until you complete the process he began of restoring the image of YHWH that Adam lost. But this has been such a profound setback that he feels he had to start the process all over again.
20. I wish [I could] be present near you at this very time and to change my tone, because I am at a loss within myself [because] of you.
My tone: Aramaic, my voice. At a loss: Aramaic, I have deep concern.
21. Tell me, those who want to be “under Torah”, aren’t you listening to [what] the Torah [itself says]?
Like even this phrase “under Torah”, the passage that follows has been often misconstrued to say that the actual Torah of Moshe was abrogated, when in fact the rest of what Paulus and Yeshua say leaves no room for such an interpretation. If we read the first “Torah” as shorthand for “works of the Torah”, the Pharisaic decrees that were added to the Torah but which even today are still often called “torah”, we can see the contrast with the Torah of Moshe that Paulus is again drawing here.
22. Because it has been written that Avraham had two sons, one from the slave-girl and one from the free woman,
23. But indeed the one from the slave-girl was born according to natural generation, while the one from the free woman [came] through the promise,
24. which [when seen] on another [level, are] figurative: for these are the two covenants—the one indeed originating from Mount Sinai, which births [one] into slavery; this one is Hagar,
25. for this “Hagar” is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and parallels present-day Yerushalayim, and is in slavery along with her offspring.
In Arabia: there was a province of Arabia at that time which only overlapped with what we think of as present-day Arabia, but when we recognize that Moshe was shepherding the flocks of Yithro, who lived in Midyan, on the east coast of the eastern branch of the Red Sea, it is hard to imagine why he would take the flocks a hundred-odd miles away to what is now called Mt. Sinai. No evidence of any of relics from the forty years in Israel lived the wilderness near Sinai has been found around that “Sinai”, a site chosen by Emperor Constantine’s mother. A more recent theory, that Sinai was actually a singed but non-volcanic mountain (Jabal al-Lawz) very close to Midyan and actually in Saudi Arabia, holds more water, giving them much more space to wander about for forty years. Paulus may have even come here. (1:17) It is difficult to study this site, being under a hostile government, but twelve pillars just like those mentioned in Exodus 24:4 have been found there, along with altars and other relics. But interesting, he uses the term “parallels” here. It could be read as “corresponds”, but this is also the only time this word is used in the Renewed Covenant. Dr. Glenn Fritz points out that the term was used by Aristotle to speak of a meridian of either latitude or longitude. This mountain is nearly (within four miles of) due south of the old city of Jerusalem (which is at 35 degrees, 14’)! So it “parallels” it geographically as well! What occurred there beneath the mountain—the Golden calf incident—may be more what Paulus is alluding to here. But even if not, we did go into slavery because of the Torah delivered here, but only because we violated it and received the consequences it promised to those who would, as per Deut. 28:41-45; Yirmeyahu 25:14; Lam. 1:18; Nehemyah 9:36, et al. But even those who remained in the Land, the Tzadoqim, the rightful priests, were now being persuaded to making legal rulings according to the rules created by the P’rushim, though they disagreed with them, because the masses would not otherwise tolerate them. (Josephus, Antiquities 18:1:3-4) This was another form of slavery. (Ben Mordechai)
26. But the Yerushalayim [that is] above is free; this is the one who is the mother of us all,
Yerushalayim above: or, former Yerusahalayim; Aramaic, the highest Yerushalayim. By tradition, the heavenly Yerushalayim hangs in another dimension directly above the earthly city, which forms its “shadow” even as the earthly tabernacle was a replica of the Temple in heaven. (Heb. 8:5) So, while the shadow is an accurate way to begin learning about the shape of something, it is not the thing itself. Yitzhaq Luria said, “Woe to the one who sees only the garment and fails to see the man beneath it.” That man is Messiah, the main point of the Torah (Rom. 10:4). Using it for anything else is misuse.
27. for it has been written, “Be made glad, O barren woman, who are not giving birth; break forth and shout, you who are not feeling the pains of childbirth, because many more are the children of the solitary woman than she who has the husband.” [Yeshayahu 54:1]
Barren: Aramaic, rootless. The rest of the analogy is explained through Yirmeyahu 50:1, which shows that though sold and sent away, Yehudah was not divorced, but remained a married woman, though her harlotries were often as bad as or worse than her “barren” sister Israel’s (Yirmeyahu 3:8)—and she was barren partly because YHWH killed or cast away the children she did have. (Hoshea 9:16-17) But when the Northern Kingdom returns, seemingly surprising the holy city, there will not be room to receive us all. (Yeshayahu 49:19-21; 60:4-14) The Yerushalayim of this age has indeed been cut off from its roots. In Paul’s day, the high priests were not those whom YHWH had put in place, but the position was sold to the highest bidder and thus served Mammon. Also, the rabbinic movement was already underway which would normalize a form of Judaism that purported to need no priests or Temple and involves choosing their own way of what they thought the Hebrew religion should be. To wish to submit to that caricature of the Torah rather than to the true solution that YHWH had provided is slavery indeed.
28. Now we, brothers, are children of promise like Yitzhaq,
Like Yitzhaq: according to Yitzhaq (i.e., corresponding to him) or, down from/down through Yitzhaq, i.e., as his descendants.
29. but just as at that time the one begotten according to natural means mistreated the one [begotten] according to spirit, this is indeed how it is now.
Yishmael mistreated Yitzhaq by laughing at the very one whose name meant “laughter”! (Gen. 21:9) In other words, he was using this excellent thing in a wrong manner, using it against his half-brother rather than rejoicing with him. Thus he defiled his name instead of upholding him. Many likewise make the wrong use of the Torah to exalt themselves at others’ expense, with the attitude of “You former pagans who still have foreskins! You’d better start acting like us if you want to be anybody!” Acts chapter 4 is one instance where Pharisaic religious authorities persecutred the Torah-true faithful. There are many more examples below.
30. Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave-girl with her son, because the son of the slave-girl will not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.” [Gen. 21:10]
The slave’s son was half-Egyptian. Moshe had to kill off the Egyptian in himself (Ex. 2:12), and we, too, have to rid ourselves of any ways in which we treat the Torah the way pagans carry out their religions. This is not antinomianism, but restoring the Torah to its proper footing. (Rom. 3:31) The “son of the bondwoman” had cut a covenant with the Roman Empire, in which there was no trouble from Rome as long as things were kept orderly in Judea, but if they got out of control, Rome’s armies would have to step in. (Yochanan 11:48)
31. So then, brothers, we are not children of a slave-girl, but of the free woman.
We are not called to be half-Israelite and half-Egyptian, but fully Israelites, heirs only to the promises and not to the curses. It was the Yerushalayim Council who had been granted a divine right to exercise decisions on Torah interpretation for the whole messianic community worldwide (Acts 15; Mat. 21:20-21), and they did not base their decisions on the “traditions of the elders” or annex new laws and commandments to the Torah to get around issues of perceived ambiguity. This fulfilled the Torah command in Deut. 16:18-20 to appoint judges and officers to judge the people with righteous judgment. They did not compel those who wanted to attach themselves to Israel to submit to the multitudinous laws and traditions of Pharisaic halakhah--the commandments of men--even if they appear to offer “structure” to the Torah walk; it is not a structure that has YHWH’s blessing, but actually purports to remove Him from His throne. When we obey the written word, we find freedom. (Ben Mordechai) The leader of the Yerushalayim Council, Yaaqov, called the Torah “the perfect law of liberty”. (James 1:25) Yeshua told us, “If you claim to be Avraham’s children, do the things Avraham did.” (Yochanan 8:19) What did he do? “ObeyedMe [YHWH] and guarded what I wanted protected—My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen. 26:5) rather than making new laws for YHWH. (Ben Mordechai)
CHAPTER 5
1. This being the case, stand firm in the liberty with which Messiah has set us free, and do not become entangled with the yoke of slavery again.
Yoke of slavery: to men’s definitions of how Torah is to be followed. The Torah, on the other hand, says, “What does YHWH…require from you but to fear YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all His ways, and to serve YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and all your soul, to keep YHWH’s commandments…” (Deut. 10:12-13), not those added by men. He says His commands are not too difficult or out of reach. (Deut. 30:11) Y’shua said his yoke (his way of interpreting Torah) was much easier and lighter in weight than that of the Pharisees (Mat. 11:28-30), for which the written Torah is only considered raw material from which to make new laws, rather than that which we should actually obey.
2. Pay attention! [It is] I, Paulus, [who am] telling you that if you become circumcised, then Messiah will be of no use to you.
If you…: this particular audience—those desiring to be “under Torah” (4:21). This is not a general statement for all time; Paulus is not saying no one should be circumcised, as the Torah requires. It must be read in context, for he is not nullifying actual Torah. The meaning is delimited by the parameters set by Paulus’ own statement in Romans 2:25. He is also addressing the same situation described in Ephesians 2:11—“You…who are called ‘uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘circumcision’…”, referring to these people who insisted on a certain manner of circumcision that also obligated one to keep the rabbinic laws and not just the Torah, and they were “so-called” because they were not actually obeying the Torah of Moshe (because they were adding to it), though they were physically circumcised. The Galatians (and many today) were transferring their loyalty from YHWH to the Pharisees by being circumcised at this particular time and in this particular way. (Ben Mordechai) Jacob Meyer summarizes the thought this way: “The Messiah is rejected when one rebuilds a structure of worship that relies on our human capability to somehow make atonement for our personal sins. If we reject the Messiah and His blood through trusting in our human blood shed at the time of circumcision, we have fallen from grace.” If, on the other hand, we see circumcision as just one more way to learn something about what our Father is like—one more gift by which He invites us to know Him in a deeper way, it moves from the bondage side of the equation to the maturity side; from laughing at us to laughing with us.
3. And I testify again to every person who becomes circumcised, that he is obligated to carry out the entire Torah.
We are not allowed to pick and choose which parts of it we want to obey if we “sign the commitment”. Therefore one should not take on the sign if one is hesitant about committing to something he does not know enough about yet, but more specifically here, which definition of Torah are you signing up for—the written, or the additional fences built around it which are considered inextricable from the Torah itself and are even called “Torah” today, but which Y’shua (Luke 11:46) and Kefa (Acts 15:10) said add unbearable burdens which no one is able to keep up with?
4. Whoever wants to consider himself justified through the Torah has been severed from all connection with Messiah; you have fallen out of favor,
This is the side on which Yishmael laughs at Yitzhaq, for it is using YHWH’s beneficial gift to compare ourselves to others and lift up our own reputations at someone else’s expense. Fallen out of favor: because we have then perverted the truth of Messiah that there is no filter that we can add to the Torah to make us more righteous. If we are going to receive circumcision, we must obey the written Torah in context “as is”; if we discard any of it, then our circumcision is really uncircumcision, for our hearts are not circumcised. (Deut. 10:16) If we add to the Torah, we will by definition be out of balance because we will be unable to keep other parts of it, or just unable to complete the whole job because it is larger than any human being can ever manage (Deut. 4:2); the whole Torah, however, can be kept if we are together with the whole community of Israel, assisting one another and each doing his part to make it bearable for the rest, as was meant to be its context.
5. because spiritually we are eagerly awaiting the expectation of righteousness [that comes] from trusting,
Spiritually: Aramaic, through the blessings of the Spirit—promised to each soul of Israel as a means to accomplish Torah obedience now and in the future regathering to the Land of Israel, when YHWH promised to put a renewed spirit within us and give us a heart of flesh rather than stone so we can walk in His statutes and keep His ordinances. (Y’hezq’el/Ezek. 11:17-20) Expectation of righteousness: waiting in faith for our undisputed standing to be revealed in YHWH’s time rather than choosing the easier but watered-down route of employing the prevailing convention of the present age to gain that standing in men’s eyes. (Nanos) It also ultimately refers to the establishment of justice in Israel and, in turn, to the ends of the earth that wait expectantly for His instruction/Torah. (Yeshayahu 42:4)
6. for in Messiah Yeshua, neither circumcision nor a foreskin wields any force, but rather faithfulness energized by love.
Energized: Aramaic, completed. A child who truly loves his father will do anything for him, and this is a much more effective motivator than regulations posted on the wall of their home complete with rewards and penalties. Paulus reduces the whole thing down to its common denominators: faith and love, the building blocks of our life in Elohim. Circumcision is a sign that can come later, but if our comparison of one another’s performance leads us to exclude those whom YHWH has not excluded, we are neither trusting Him to finish His work in them (Philippians 1:6) or loving one another. Paulus told the Corinthians a similar thing, which helps us define parameters: “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of Elohim.” (1 Cor. 7:19) A Pharisaic concept of “proper circumcision” (a teaching that went back as far as Shammai and Hillel) would have classified those who received a simple circumcision obedient only to the straightforward Torah as still uncircumcised if not done by their own particular method; not knowing this could lead us to wrongly deduce that Paulus is saying true circumcision as required by Torah is no longer needed; the rest of his writings make it obvious that this is not what he or the other apostles meant.
7. You were running well; who impeded you from being persuaded [to obey] what is true?
Running well: carries the connotation of “getting somewhere”, making effective progress towards the goal, not exerting one’s energy in vain; Aramaic, racing, with the added connotation of “beautifully”, not just doing a reasonably good job. The kind of progress they had previously been making was much better than what they were doing now. Impeded: hindered, obstructed you from reaching it; Aramaic, confused.
8. [This] persuasion is not from the one who is inviting you!
This persuasion: Aramaic, your persuasiveness. Inviting: or calling, i.e., YHWH Himself. Yaaqov explained that so-called “wisdom” that is accompanied by jealousy and selfish ambition (as evidenced by these rabbinic “missionaries” who wanted to boast about how many Gentiles they had converted) is not the kind of wisdom that comes down from above, which is accompanied instead by order and gentleness. (Yaaqov/James 3:13-16)
9. The least bit of leaven makes the whole lump [of dough] ferment.
One tiny compromise of this sort would remove the purity of the message, which is why Paulus is so adamantly against what seems innocent enough when seen in isolation. (2:5) He is echoing Yeshua’s warning: “Beware of the leaven of the P’rushim”, which he identified as their teaching. (Mat. 16:5-12) Putting man-made teaching into the “bread of life” can distort Torah truth, like new wine put in old wineskins. (Luke 5:37-39) The Torah of Moshe is old, matured, better wine, which requires a wineskin that is broken in and proven capable of carrying it in any context, not just the limited contexts by which the P’rushim defined halakhah, which prove short-sighted when tested in contexts they did not foresee.
10. I have confidence in you through YHWH that you will hold no other opinion; moreover, the one who is disquieting you will bear the condemnation, whomever such a one may be.
Disquieting you: taking away your peace of mind, making you restless, afraid, or distressed; putting doubts in your minds. The condemnation: possibly for usurping the role of interpreting and enforcing the divine written law (Mal. 2:1-7) which YHWH gave to the priesthood (Deut. 17:9-10; 21:5); no entity called “the rabbis” is known in Torah.
11. I, on the other hand—brothers, if I continue to advocate circumcision, why am I still persecuted? That way the scandal of the crucifixion stake has been deprived of [its] force.
Paulus never actually stopped advocating circumcision (Acts 21:18-24; 2 Cor. 7:1; Acts 16:3); he simply did not require newly-circumcised (or re-circumcised) converts to obey Pharisaism. So why was he persecuted? For preaching a circumcision that required obedience to biblical halachah, not Pharisaic, for which he was seen as a Benjamite turncoat, an embarrassment to his highly-esteemed teacher, Gamliel. (Acts 22:3) By this time, rabbinic authority was already well-enough established (though not yet to its highest degree) that anyone who taught contrary to them were marked for persecution. (Acts chapter 4) This once-prized student of Gamliel was left out of the Babylonian Talmud, which did mention his teacher, who, according to Israel Yuval, had authored a sophisticated parody of the Gospel of Matithyahu by the time of the Temple’s destruction. (Ben Mordechai) That way…: Aramaic, “Has the execution tree ceased to be an offense?” But this begs the question, should it be an offense (stumblingblock), if it is the work of YHWH? According to Yeshayahu 8:13-15, yes. If we did not have to confront it in order to continue to progress in holiness, it would mean both houses of Israel were guiltless in all they were doing and YHWH would have to apologize for constantly scolding them for their motives and actions. (e.g., Y’hezq’el/Ez. 18:25) The hanging of Yeshua was a testimony that we had failed to walk in trusting faith and guard His instruction, and that what we had set up to substitute for it was not acceptable to YHWH, and we owed a restitution to YHWH that none of us had the means to pay. (Ben Mordechai)
12. I [think it] would be better if those who are unsettling you would be cut off,
Would be better: carries a connotation of both being deserved and more profitable for all. Cut off: Aramaic, be expelled (one meaning of “cut off”: but it could also be interpreted literally in context: i.e., not stop with circumcision but go all the way and castrate themselves. He was angry enough to intend a double-entendre to those for whom the “shoe fit”.) An uncircumcised male is to be cut off from the covenant (Gen. 17:14), but this shows that the covenant comes first; if we transgress the Torah (as anyone who adds to it does), our circumcision is counted as uncircumcision, for our hearts are not “circumcised” (Yirmeyahu 9:25-26), and thus we are in fact cut off from YHWH, even if physically circumcised. (Rom. 2:25-29)
13. for you, brothers, have been called [up higher] to [a position of] liberty—just not a liberty that becomes a base of operations for the flesh; rather, through love serve one another [as slaves],
Compare Mat. 17:25-27. (The Sons of the Kingdom are free, but are not to act in such a way as to cause anyone else to stumble.) Not a liberty: i.e., if redeemed by Yeshua, our kinsman redeemer, we now belong to him, not just to ourselves, and owe him whatever he may require since he ransomed us from slavery to an outsider. Flesh: This can apply in many areas, but in the immediate context it refers to the Pharisaic system that appealed to men’s base appetite for self-aggrandizement, and was willing to subjugate even religion to that unworth master, as Yeshua said in so many ways, accusing them of setting themselves in Moshe’s place (Mat. 23:2), in imitation of King Yarav’am (1 Kings 12:28-33). It leads to a hierarchy that controls other people, leading people to live in fear of their peers and spiritual taskmasters rather than of YHWH. (Ben Mordechai) The sages taught that we need to be more careful to obey the words of the scribes than the laws of the Torah (Bavli, Eruvin 21b, 77a; Ketubot 56a; Mishnah Sanhedrin 11.3; compare Josephus, Antiquities, 13.10.6) They would not accept a voice from Elohim or one of His prophets if it contradicted their rulings (Baba Metzia 59b). Yeshua, on the other hand, said interpreting the Torah should be simple if the Spirit of Truth guides us. (Yoch. 14:16-17; 16:13)
14. since the whole Torah is brought to realization in this: “You shall love your fellow as yourself.” [Leviticus 19:18]
Moshe’s commands are identified as numbering 613, but Talmudic Rabbi Simlai said Yeshayahu boiled them down to 6, Mikhah to 3, and Havaqquq to just one: “The righteous one shall live by his faith.” (Bavli, Makkot 24a) Paulus, like Yeshua, does the same thing here. Fellow: we begin with our fellow Israelites, but this can extend further, to anyone on whom YHWH’s favor rests. (6:10) The Torah is not for me or for you; it is for us. If you are not acting out of consideration for your fellow Israelites, and your motivation is self at another’s expense, then what you are doing is fleshly, no matter how proper it may appear. Elsewhere Paulus sums it up this way: “Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor; love is therefore the fulfillment of the Torah.” (Rom. 13:10)
15. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
This is what inevitably occurs when people compare their observance of the Torah with that of others.
16. So I say, walk in the spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh,
You will not: or, do not. But being busy with the one leaves no room for the other. (v. 23) Aramaic: walk in the spirit, and the lust of the flesh will not subdue you.
17. because the flesh is covetous toward the spirit, and the spirit [sets its desire] against the flesh, and these are set in opposition to one another, lest you should do whatever things you might decide [to do].
Lest you should…: Aramaic, so that you are not able to do as you wish. Man-made regulations do not accomplish what they set out to achieve, as noble as the goals may be. (Compare Colossians 2:23) YHWH has given us another means which does not set us in competition with one another but truly enables us to work together:
18. But if you are led along by the spirit, you are not “under Torah”.
Beware that you do not misread this! Being led by the Spirit is equated in Y’hezq’El/Ezek. 36:26-27 with being careful to observe YHWH’s ordinances, so it cannot mean having no oblilgation to obey His commandments as if they had somehow been rendered null and void. Rather, Yeshua said that anyone who annulled the least of the commandments will be called least in his Kingdom, but entering that Kingdom means surpassing the scribes and P’rushim in righteousness. (Mat. 5:19-21) He came to set the Torah on the firmest possible foundation. “Under Torah” here, then, must mean subjugation to the rabbinic additions to the actual written Torah, which they nonetheless also call “Torah” and accord them the same or even more authority than the actual words of YHWH.
19. Moreover, the results of the flesh are obvious, whatever they may be, [whether] adultery, fornication, impurity, wasteful [unbridled] excess,
The results are obvious: Aramaic, you know the works of the flesh, which are these…
20. worship of idols, sorcery, [various types of] hostility, fights, rivalries, fierce passions, partisan intrigues, dissensions, choosing [one’s own] opinions,
21. envyings, murders, intoxications, riotous parties, and the same kind of things as these, which I tell you in advance, just as I also told [you] before, that those who practice such things will not inherit a share in the kingdom of YHWH.
If this is what they understand liberty to be (as in v. 13), they do not “get the point” at all. Liberty is having direct access to our beloved Father and being able to concentrate on one another’s best interests without worrying that we may be accidentally jeopardizing our own standing by inadvertently transgressing some obscure command:
22. The fruit of the spirit, on the other hand, is [loving] commitment, joyfulness, tranquil harmony, patient endurance, moral integrity, kindness, faithful confidence,
Fruit: an idiom for results or effects. Spirit may be shorthand here for “spirit of the law” as contrasted with the letter (Romans 7:6), saying that the undercurrent in our obedience must include these attitudes at all times, as Yeshua pointed out on so many occasions, e.g., compassion must be a consideration in what you allow or disallow others to do on the Sabbath. (Mat. 12:1-7)
23. gentleness, self-control—against these kinds of things there is no law.
No law: nothing in the Torah forbids these things, and indeed it actually commands them. (e.g., “Love your neighbor as yourself”, Lev. 19:18) We should therefore interpret the more ambiguous parts of the Torah in ways that align with these attitudes. In short, “Doing good for all Israel according to the written commandments is acceptable in the eyes of YHWH.” (Ben Mordechai)
24. Also, those belonging to Messiah have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts [that accompany it].
25. If we are alive through the spirit, let us also [order] our walk through the spirit.
Aramaic, Let us therefore live by the Spirit and surrender to the Spirit. The Spirit always agrees with the written Torah. Surrendering to it therefore means, among other things, removing ourselves from submission to any system of halachah (walking out the Torah) that exalts an authority other than YHWH and His written commandments. (Ben Mordechai)
26. Let’s not begin to desire empty glory, challenging one another [in a way] prompted by envy toward one another.
Yeshua said clearly that the greatest among us is not one who seeks to control others, but one who serves them. (Mat. 23:11 et al) Those who wanted them to be circumcised may have been afraid that if these others were allowed the same privileges they had, they would have to answer to the Romans as to why, and in the process their own “legitimate” exemption might be rescinded. (Nanos) Or perhaps they simply wanted a position of prominence over those whom they saw as mere proselytes or sojourners. But both Yehudah and Efrayim are all one community now, and each one’s victories benefit the rest; they are not in competition with each other:
CHAPTER 6
1. Brothers, if a person should indeed be overtaken in some [moral] lapse, you who are spiritual [must] set such a one straight in the spirit of gentleness, watching out for yourself, so that you will not be tempted as well.
Overtaken: by surprise in such a way that he is ensnared before he can take steps to avoid it. Lapse: or trespass; Aramaic, foolishness—i.e., the result of intentionally closing one’s heart to YHWH. But to suppress truth (Rom. 1:18), one must first know truth. Set straight: carries the sense of putting back together what was broken, restoring and strengthening him, making him what he ought to be, and equipping him to handle the next temptation. Reproving is one of the chief responsibilities of loving our neighbor, according to Lev. 19:17. Watch out: Compromise and confrontation has its price. One must be both firm and kind (Ben Mordechai), so one does not get sucked into either extreme of allowing someone to get away with sin or ending up doing the same thing as he; this takes great skill and this is why only those who are already led by the Spirit should attempt it. Like the P’rushim, who made their converts twice as bad as they were when mere Gentiles (Mat. 23:15), we can do more damage when we intervene if we are not on a firm foundation ourselves. But now when so many Gentiles are realizing their Hebraic ancestry and seeking a way back into the covenant, both mercy and truth are needed. Where should they begin? Rabbinic teachings seem to offer much-needed structure, and they do offer some very valuable insights, but they can also distract him from the main issues if given prominence, and even give him a second-class status if he will not convert in the way they stipulate. So we are responsible to offer the real alternative: teaching them to observe all that Messiah has commanded (Mat. 28:20), which is not different from what Moshe said, except that he makes obvious the heart issues that underlie it.
2. [Help] carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the “Torah of Messiah”,
Fulfill: especially means to fill a vacancy or supply what is lacking so that all of an area will be covered; here it would have the sense of completely occupying a territory so that an enemy cannot get a foot in the door again. This includes guarding the weak who might straggle behind the others. (Implied in Numbers 10:25) Torah of Messiah: an attempt to get back to exactly how the common man in the days of Moshe would have understood his original Torah to mean. This is what we are freed (5:13) to practice. Yeshua himself accused the P’rushim of not lifting a finger to help anyone carry the burdens which they themselves had placed on countless people. (Mat. 23:4) Instead, he, as teacher and master, washed the feet of those he was training. (Yoch. 13:12-17)
3. because if anyone supposes himself to be something when he is [in fact] nothing, he deceives himself.
Paulus counsels us elsewhere to regard one another as more important than ourselves, without conceit. (Phil. 2:3-4) Prove to be a doer, not just a hearer, who deceives both himself and others. (Yaaqov 1:22; Mat. 23:3) Just because you keep rabbinic (or Christian) traditions in great detail does not mean you are religious. True religion (Yaaqov 1:26-27) brings practical help to other people rather than burdening them:
4. But let each one scrutinize his own work, so that he will have something worth celebrating residing within himself and not in someone else,
Scrutinize: take a careful inventory of what motivates you. (Ben Mordechai) Someone else: or something different; in this case, he should not presume to pass himself off as a Jew when he is not, but should fulfill his own calling as an Israelite of a different tribe and recognize the great value in that. This is also a rebuke of those who think they will earn praise from YHWH because of someone else being persuaded to be circumcised. (v. 13) We must learn to intervene without meddling:
5. because each must carry his own weight,
Carry his own weight: or sustain his own obligations. Learn to search the Torah for yourself, asking YHWH for wisdom (Yaaqov 1:5) and compare Scripture to Scripture in understanding how to interpret it for the situation you are in, rather than following someone else’s ready-made, one-size-fits-all interpretations. Do not rely on anyone else (such as self-appointed Torah police) to honor or affirm you, but make yourself available to others to help carry their burdens, especially those who have made great sacrifices to teach and train us:
6. and the one who is being instructed should share with the one instructing him in all things [that are] useful.
Aramaic: Let him who hears the word become a partaker with him who teaches all good things.
7. Do not be misled; Elohim is not scorned, because whatever a person sows, that is what he will reap.
Elohim: the name or title for YHWH that emphasizes the fact that He is a judge. Scorned: or mocked. You cannot “get one past Him.”
8. Indeed, the one who sows into his own flesh will reap corruption out of the flesh, whereas the one who sows into the spirit will reap never-ending life out of the spirit.
Corruption: or moral decay. Without “fear of Heaven”, a person walking in his Adamic nature is likely to lean on the backs of others as immoral masters, or can be pressured through coercion to offer our backs to this kind of treatment, trading personal freedom in Torah for a religious institution’s offer of structure and uniformity. (Compare 1 Shmu’el 8:7) We are not to let strangers to the Torah rule over us (Deut. 17:15), or we will know great spiritual deprivation, as YHWH promised in the curses of Torah. “Any religious law concocted by mankind is nothing more than sowing carnality and rebellion against the eternal Law of YHWH.” (Ben Mordechai; compare 1 Yochanan 2:15-17) Yeshua said, “Anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (Yoch. 8:32-34) and he came to free those who are bound through restoring us to the Torah that brings life. (Deut. 32:46-47; Psalm 81:11-13) But if we submit to enactments that purport to take precedence over the written Torah (see Ketubot 84a; Yevamot 40a; Baba Metzia 88a; Eruvin 21b; Pesikta Rabbati section 3, Mishnah Avot 5.8), we cannot fail to be enslaved to our choices.
9. When we are doing well, we should not lose heart either, because in the proper season we will reap if we do not let [ourselves] grow slack.
Lose heart: grow tired of it, become spiritless; literally, let the bad out. Though men may sideline us, we need to remember who we are and do what that entails, whether recognized for it or not, for one day the recognition will come from YHWH. (5:5)
10. This being the case, then, while we have time, let us do what is beneficial toward everyone, but most of all toward them who belong to the household of the faith.
While we have time: or, as we have a decisive opening, at the right moment. We should not discriminate in who we are good to, because if we follow YHWH and have been regenerated with Yeshua, we are by nature good and doing right should be what comes naturally, no matter whom the recipient, though when time and resources are limited, we have to prioritize those who are in our own community, following the same Elohim. This could, however, extend to all who are seeking to please YHWH, whatever denomination they may be currently a part of, even if not in the same part of the camp of Israel. What is beneficial: or good, probably an intentional allusion to Deut. 30:15-16, where this is defined as keeping YHWH’s commandments (not men’s). Faith: alluding to Deut. 32:18-21, where YHWH promises to hide His face from those who have no faith, but make Him jealous through focusing on what is not Elohim.
11. Notice how large the letters [are that] I write to you with my own hand.
At this point Paulus’ scribe stops writing and Paulus picks up the pen himself to emphasize that this letter is genuinely from him. The large letters are probably due to the difficulty he had with seeing. (4:15)
12. Only insofar as they are determined to appear successful by natural means are these [people] pushing you to be circumcised, so that they will not be harassed for the [sake of] Messiah’s crucifixion stake.
Appear successful: by completing their assignment of adding so many new converts to their proselytizing record. Circumcision was like a membership badge in an Orthodox “holiness club”, a sign that one was fully initiated into Israel and thus proudly a member of the “Commandments of the Rabbis” Club. (Ben Mordechai) The actual law of circumcision was hijacked to represent something other than what the Torah said it was—something equally available to anyone of the “household of faith”, whether native-born Israelite or one who wants to join himself to them. (Ex. 12:48-49) Those they answered to did not accept Yeshua’s redemption as a legitimate basis for equal inclusion among YHWH’s people, and they would be chided for complicity by those who sent them through permitting this to go unchecked. (Nanos) Yet it is a reminder that all Israel has failed to live up to the covenant, and thus requires one to recognize his own rebellion and live in humility. (Ben Mordechai) It was not an easy choice to refuse to cave in to halachic conformity and thus stave off persecution, because they could end up very lonely, but one who obeys the written word in its context will be vindicated. (Mat. 7:13-14)
13. For not even those who have been circumcised are observing the Torah; rather, they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast because of flesh that is [really] yours.
Not observing the Torah: not proving to love the addressees (have their best interests in mind) Flesh that is really yours: Paulus hinted at this in a reverse manner in verses 4-5.
14. But may it never be that I should make my boast in the cross of our Master, Yeshua the Messiah, through which the world order is crucified to me and I to worldly matters,
Whether the world has a category that admits us as legitimate or not makes no difference anymore. Yeshua proclaims liberty to the captives (Yeshayahu 61:1), and men cannot take that from us unless we let them.
15. for in Messiah Yeshua, neither circumcision nor a foreskin wields any force, but [only] a new creation.
A parallel statement he made is, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of Elohim.” (1 Cor. 7:19) A new creation: What really identifies us as Israelite is not the details others would argue about, but the “new heart” YHWH put into us that makes us want to keep His commandments and that gives us power to do so. (Y’hezq’El 11:17-20) One cannot claim to be regenerated if he has no inward conviction that he should outwardly obey YHWH’s Torah. (Ben Mordechai) Yeshua said that not everyone who calls him “Master” will enter the Kingdom, but only those who do his Father’s will, which is defined as those who are not lawless (disobedient to the Torah). (Mat. 7:21-23)
16. So whoever walks by this standard, peace [be] upon them as well as mercy, and [also] upon the Israel of YHWH.
17. As far as anyone else is concerned, let no one cause me [any more] trouble, because I carry in my body the brands of the Master Yeshua.
Brands: of the same sort as a slave or soldier and the devotees of some pagan religions would have the name of their master, general, or god “pricked” into their skin; in Paulus’ case, this “stigma” was the scars he incurred through so many physical beatings on Messiah’s behalf.
18. [May] the empowering favor of our Master Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit, [my] brothers, indeed.
He wants them to leave the condition of being “out of favor” (5:4) and no longer seek to be justified by the “works of the Torah”. This does not mean reading none of the rabbinic writings (for they can give many insights into specific parts of Scripture if we remember that they are not as authoritative as it) or not associating with rabbinic Jews (for they are our estranged brothers, and YHWH is working to bring reconciliation between the two houses of Israel and both have much to learn from each other, but this will not take place if we submit to another man-made authority just as we did while in the Church; rather, both groups need to be brought back to our starting point, the Torah, and walk in it together.) Only YHWH can guide us into the narrow pathway of perfect balance that can accomplish this precarious task without destroying anything of value in either house of Israel. But He can, and we must cooperate in the way He has ordained rather than trying to bring it about by shortcuts that require us to compromise.
The letter of Paulus to the
GALATIANS
