Galatians 2


Galatians 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle for the churches in Galatia, written between 49 and 58 AD. This chapter contains the meeting account of Paul, Barnabas and Christians in Jerusalem, considered "one of the most momentous events in the earliest Christianity", and the dispute between Paul and Peter.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

Conference in Jerusalem (2:1–10)

Scholars generally connect the meeting described in this part with the accounts in and/or, although the details are unclear.

Verse 1

  • "After 14 years" most likely refers to "Paul's call", not to his visit to Cephas .

Verse 9

  • "James, Cephas, and John": James was a brother of Jesus Christ, attributed to the Epistle of James, gave the famous speech in the synod at Jerusalem, presided in the church in Jerusalem, was a man of great holiness, and much esteemed by the followers of Jesus. Cephas is the name that was given by Christ to Simon Peter and in the Syriac language signifies a "stone", as the word "Peter" does in the Greek, to which Jesus alludes,. John was the evangelist, and the same that wrote the epistles, was the beloved disciple, and who outlived all the rest.
  • "Who seemed to be pillars" : they were considered "the very chief of the apostles".
  • "The right hand of fellowship": a token of a covenant or agreement between them, taking them into partnership with them, admitted them as apostles into their society, and gave their full consent, to show their joint agreement, used the above rite; which was used among other nations, also among the Jews, when covenants were made, or partnership was entered into; see where the phrase "in putting of the hand", both by Onkelos, and Jonathan ben Uzziel, is rendered "in fellowship of the hand", or "by the right hand of fellowship".
  • "The circumcised": that is among the Jews.

Incident at Antioch (2:11–14)

The disagreement between Paul and Peter recorded in this part is a contrast to their amicable meeting in Jerusalem. The absence of the outcome report indicates that this issue has influenced the tensions in the Galatians churches, which is addressed in this epistle.

Verse 11

This serves as a summary of the confrontation between Paul and Peter, which leads to the discussion of the main issue in 2:15–21.

Works of Law or Faith? (2:15–21)

In this part, Paul details the theological reasons of his dispute with Peter. In verse 17 Paul uses the word 'we'/'our' to show that both he and Peter actually agreed about the justification by faith only, and based on this mutual conviction Paul confronted Peter when Peter became inconsistent.

Verse 16

  • "Justified": "declared righteous".

Verse 20

In Paul's belief, a believer 'dies to the law' through the crucifixion and death of Christ, and has the new life that is "no longer self-centered, but Christ-centered", the resurrection life where the risen Christ lives in.

Verse 21

  • "Set aside the grace of God": that is "by receiving it and then going on as though it made no difference", either by "continuing to live under the law" or by "continuing to sin".