Gal 2:1-10 | NET2full | STEP | Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas , taking Titus along too .

Galatians 2:1-10

Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles

1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2 I went there ^{▼▼tn Grk “I went up”; one always spoke idiomatically of going “up” to Jerusalem.} because of ^{▼▼tn Or “in accordance with.” According to BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.5.a.δ, “Oft. the norm is at the same time the reason, so that in accordance with and because of are merged…Instead of ‘in accordance w.’ κ. can mean simply because of, as a result of, on the basis of…κ. ἀποκάλυψιν Gal 2:2.”} a revelation and presented ^{▼▼tn Or “set before them.”} to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ^{▼▼tn Grk “Gentiles, but only privately…to make sure.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with “But” and the words “I did so,” an implied repetition from the previous clause, were supplied to make a complete English sentence.} only in a private meeting with the influential people, ^{▼▼tn L&N 87.42 has “important persons, influential persons, prominent persons” for οἱ δοκοῦντες and translates this phrase in Gal 2:2 as “in a private meeting with the prominent persons.” The “prominent people” referred to here are the leaders of the Jerusalem church.} to make sure that I was not running—or had not run ^{▼▼tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trechō, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.} —in vain. 3 Yet ^{▼▼tn Grk “But,” translated here as “Yet” for stylistic reasons (note the use of “but” in v. 2).} not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4 Now this matter arose ^{▼▼tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.} because of the false brothers with false pretenses ^{▼▼tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktous), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, pseudadelphous) as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.} who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ^{▼▼tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopeō) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).} our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ^{▼▼tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (hina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulōsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.} 5 But ^{▼▼tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.} we did not surrender to them ^{▼▼tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”} even for a moment, ^{▼▼tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).} in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ^{▼▼sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).}

6 But from those who were influential ^{▼▼tn Or “influential leaders.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a.β has “the influential men Gal 2:2, 6b. A fuller expr. w. the same mng., w. inf. added…vss. 6a, 9.” This refers to the leadership of the Jerusalem church.} (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people ^{▼▼tn Grk “God does not receive the face of man,” an idiom for showing favoritism or partiality (BDAG 887-88 s.v. πρόσωπον 1.b.α; L&N 88.238).})—those influential leaders ^{▼▼tn Or “influential people”; here “leaders” was used rather than “people” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy with the word “people” in the previous parenthetical remark. See also the note on the word “influential” at the beginning of this verse.} added ^{▼▼tn Or “contributed.” This is the same word translated “go to ask advice from” in 1:16, but it has a different meaning here; see L&N 59.72.} nothing to my message. ^{▼▼tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.} 7 On the contrary, when they saw ^{▼▼tn The participle ἰδόντες (idontes) has been taken temporally to retain the structure of the passage. Many modern translations, because of the length of the sentence here, translate this participle as a finite verb and break the Greek sentences into several English sentences (NIV, for example, begins new sentences at the beginning of both vv. 8 and 9).} that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised ^{▼▼tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.} just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised ^{▼▼tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.} 8 (for he who empowered ^{▼▼tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.} Peter for his apostleship ^{▼▼tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”} to the circumcised ^{▼▼tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.} also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) ^{▼▼tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”} 9 and when James, Cephas, ^{▼▼sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211). Both the Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” are related to words in each language which mean “rock.”} and John, who had a reputation as ^{▼▼tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.} pillars, ^{▼▼sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.} recognized ^{▼▼tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.} the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ^{▼▼tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”} the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ^{▼▼tn Grk “so,” with the ἵνα (hina) indicating the result of the “pillars” extending the “right hand of fellowship,” but the translation “they gave…the right hand of fellowship so that we would go” could be misunderstood as purpose here. The implication of the scene is that an agreement, outlined at the end of v. 10, was reached between Paul and Barnabas on the one hand and the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church on the other.} that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ^{▼▼tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.} 10 They requested ^{▼▼tn Grk “only that we remember the poor”; the words “They requested” have been supplied from the context to make a complete English sentence.} only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.