Galatians and Commentary

Messianic Rabbi David M. Hargis

Galatia is the country of Turkey today. Rabbi Shaul wrote this letter in about 66 AD to mostly Gentiles who had trusted in Yeshua. Galatians were pagan worshipers, who believed that mutilation and deprivation of the flesh bought themselves favor with their gods. This letter was written to those former pagans in order to protect them from viewing and acting on the things of Elohim in the same manner as their former estate. The center of controversy is circumcision. It seems the Galatians were being circumcised by false believers, who told them that this is what they needed to secure salvation. This made their trust in Yeshua second rate and thus useless. Then they were told that they could return to their old ways because they had been secured in salvation by circumcision. The letter is Shaul's response to hearing about their error.

The key to understanding Shaul's discussion of the Law (Torah) is to realize that when he speaks of the Law (Torah) he is not discussing only the ceremonial or unfashionable Torah commandments. Many have viewed Shaul as speaking against only those parts of Torah they do not wish to accept, but that is not the case. What Shaul says here is true for every commandment or instruction in righteousness. He is talking about all the Law, which includes the Ten Commandments, and every instruction in Christianity as well as Judaism. He is really talking about the very impotence of all ordinary instruction, and determining that the Spirit (Ruach) of the Most High is the necessary agent for all enablement in righteousness.

SALUTATION

Chapter 1

{1} "Shaul, a sent-one --sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Yeshua the Messiah and Elohim the Father, who raised Him from the dead--

{2} and all the members of Elohim's family who are with me, to the Called Out Groups of Galatia:

{3} Enablement to you and peace from Elohim our Father and Adonai Yeshua the Messiah,

{4} who gave Himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age¹, according to the will of our Elohim and Father,

[¹ Israel was a mess at this time. There was war against the Romans, but the rebels were losing every skirmish and about to be defeated, unlike the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks 200 years earlier.]

{5} to whom be the glory forever and ever. Omeyn.

PROBLEM EXPLAINED

{6} I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you in the enablement of the Messiah and are turning to a different joyful report ²--

{7} not that there is another joyful report, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the joyful report of the Messiah.

{8} But even if we or a messenger from heaven should proclaim to you a joyful report contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!

{9} As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a joyful report contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

[² From later context we can discern that this joyful report was "be circumcised and you will be securely saved so you can then do as you please". This heresy had to be treated with great harshness, because the implication of it was to dethrone Messiah from His pre-eminent place.]

{10} Am I now seeking human approval, or Elohim's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of the Messiah.

{11} For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the joyful report that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin;

{12} for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Yeshua the Messiah.

SOME HISTORY

{13} You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting ³ the Called Out Group of Elohim and was trying to destroy it.

{14} I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

[³ Shaul points out how easy it is to break the Torah while fighting for Torah.]

{15} But when Elohim, who had set me apart before I was born and called me with His enablement, was pleased

{16} to reveal His Son to me, so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being,

{17} nor did I go up to Yerushalayim to those who were already sent-ones before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

{18} Then after three years I did go up to Yerushalayim to visit Kefa and stayed with him fifteen days;

{19} but I did not see any other sent-one except Ya'akov, Adonai's brother.

{20} In what I am writing to you, before Elohim, I do not lie!

{21} Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,

{22} and I was still unknown by sight to the Called Out Groups of Yehudah that are in the Messiah;

{23} they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the trust he once tried to destroy."

{24} And they glorified Elohim because of me.

Chapter 2

{1} Then after fourteen years I went up again to Yerushalayim with Barnaba, taking Titus along with me.

{2} I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the joyful report that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain.

{3} Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, ⁴ though he was a Greek.

[⁴ This did not mean that Titus was not eventually circumcised, but only not compelled to be. Shaul was not adverse to one being circumcised because he made it possible for Timothy to be circumcised (Acts 16:3).]

{4} But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiah Yeshua, so that they might enslave us--

{5} we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the joyful report might always remain with you.

{6} And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; Elohim shows no partiality) --those leaders contributed nothing to me.

{7} On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the joyful report for the uncircumcised, just as Kefa had been entrusted with the joyful report for the circumcised

{8} (for he who worked through Kefa making him a sent-one to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles),

{9} and when Ya'akov and Kefa and Yochanan, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the enablement that had been given to me, they gave to Barnaba and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

{10} They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.

{11} But when Kefa came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned ⁵;

{12} for until certain people came from Ya'akov, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.

{13} And the other Yehudim joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnaba was led astray by their hypocrisy.

{14} But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the joyful report, I said to Kefa before them all, "If you, though a Yehudah, live like a Gentile and not like a Yehudah, how can you compel ⁵ the Gentiles to live like Yehudim?"

[⁵ Kefa, however, supported Shaul on the issue of not forcing Gentiles to be circumcised in Acts 15:7-11.]

NECESSITY OF TRUST IN MESSIAH

{15} We ourselves are Yehudim by birth and not Gentile sinners;

{16} yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the Torah but through trust in Yeshua the Messiah. And we have come to believe in the Messiah Yeshua, so that we might be justified by trust in the Messiah, and not by doing the works of the Torah, because no one will be justified by the works of the Torah ⁶.

[⁶ The entire sacrificial system in Torah is based on this truth. The Torah provides for sacrifices for sin because keeping the Torah is impossible for sinful mankind.]

{17} But if, in our effort to be justified in the Messiah ⁷, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is the Messiah then a servant of sin? Certainly not!

[⁷ Messiah is the sacrifice now.]

{18} But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a breaker of Torah ⁸.

[⁸ Shaul makes sure to notify them he is not preaching to promote the breaking of Torah.]

{19} For through the Torah I died to the Torah, so that I might live to Elohim. I have been executed with the Messiah ⁹;

{20} and it is no longer I who live, but it is the Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by trust in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me. {21} I do not nullify the enablement of Elohim; for if justification comes through the Torah, then the Messiah died for nothing."

[⁹ The Messiah's death was for us, therefore it is us who die with him in a picture. In our obedience to Torah, by dying with Messiah, we die to our futile attempt to obey the Torah without Messiah living in us. Thus, we now live for Elohim in a strength we could not before. If we do not need this new life through trust in Messiah, but rather we can yet be saved through keeping Torah, then He died in vain.]

REBUKE OF GALATIANS

Chapter 3

{1} You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Yeshua the Messiah was publicly exhibited as executed on a stake!

{2} The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Ruach by doing the works of the Torah or by trusting what you heard?

{3} Are you so foolish? Having started with the Ruach, are you now ending with the flesh ¹⁰?

{4} Did you experience so much for nothing?--if it really was for nothing.

[¹⁰ The Galatians, through believing circumcision was for justification, had gone back to their fleshly pagan ways. In their hearts they thought they could gain favor with Elohim the same way they used to with their evil gods.]

RELATIONSHIP TO AVRAHAM

{5} Well then, does Elohim supply you with the Ruach and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the Torah, or by you trusting in what you heard?

{6} Just as Avraham "trusted Elohim, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,"

{7} so, you see, those who trust are the descendants of Avraham.

{8} And the scripture, foreseeing that Elohim would justify the Gentiles by trust, declared the joyful report beforehand to Avraham, saying, "All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you."

{9} For this reason, those who trust are blessed with Avraham ¹¹ who trusted.

[¹¹ Of course Avraham showed his trust by obedience, but Shaul wants them to know that trust must precede obedience, rather than the works proceeding without trust. Even though trust without works is dead, it is equally true that works without trust is useless for salvation.]

RELATIONSHIP TO TORAH

{10} For all who rely on the works of the Torah ¹² are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the Torah."

[¹² It is reliance on ones works that results in the curse, for then one would have to equal the perfection of Elohim to be saved, which is impossible. This is another reason that those in Messiah must trust in His deity, as the Perfect One. If He was not deity then He would not be any better sacrifice in substitution for us than anyone else.]

{11} Now it is evident that no one is justified before Elohim by the Torah; for "The one who is righteous will live by trusting."

{12} But the Torah is not based on trust; ¹³ on the contrary, "Whoever does the works of the Torah will live by them."

[¹³ However, Shaul did say, "Do we then overthrow the Torah by this trust? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah." (Romans 3:31). What he is saying is that the Torah stands regardless of one's trust. The Word is the Word, whether one believes it or not.]

{13} The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah ¹⁴ by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"--

{14} in order that in the Messiah Yeshua the blessing of Avraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Ruach through trusting.

[¹⁴ The curse of the Torah is not that the Torah is evil, but that we are inept in the face of it, and if we trust in our ability to do it, then punishment is due us for our inability. Therefore we trust in Elohim's ability to save us through Messiah Yeshua. This fulfills the promise to Avraham that his Offspring would bring blessing to all nations.]

RELATIONSHIP TO COVENANTS

{15} Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person's will has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it.

{16} Now the promises were made to Avraham and to his offspring; it does not say, "And to offsprings," as of many; but it says, "And to your offspring," that is, to One person, who is the Messiah.

{17} My point is this: the part of Torah, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by Elohim, so as to nullify the promise.

{18} For if the inheritance comes from the Torah, it no longer comes from the promise; but Elohim granted it to Avraham through the promise.

{19} Why then the Torah? It was given because of transgressions ¹⁵, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through messengers by a mediator.

[¹⁵ The Torah is the notification of what is a transgression. So it was given for that distinct purpose, which does continue to notify us of sin. Shaul said elsewhere, "I would not have known what covetousness is if the Torah had not said, 'You shall not covet' " (Romans 7:7).]

{20} Now a mediator involves more than one party; but Elohim is One ¹⁶.

[¹⁶ A curious aside, but could allude to the fact that Elohim is the mediator, thus more than one party, yet One at the same time. It also affirms Shaul's continued association to biblical Judaism: "the L-RD is One."]

RELATIONSHIP TO TORAH AND TRUST

{21} Is the Torah then opposed to the promises of Elohim? Certainly not! For if a teaching had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the Torah.

{22} But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through trust in Yeshua the Messiah might be given to those who have trusted.

{23} Now before trusting came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the Torah until trusting would be revealed.

{24} Therefore the Torah was our disciplinarian until the Messiah came, so that we might be justified by trusting.

{25} But now that trusting has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,

{26} for in the Messiah Yeshua you are all children of Elohim through trusting.

RELATIONSHIP TO MESSIAH

{27} As many of you as were immersed ¹⁷ into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.

[¹⁷ This is the mikveh bath as commanded in principle in the Torah and completed in Messiah. So, trusting is confirmed by obedience. It is ironic that this immersion is the symbol used for female circumcision in Torah. Thus, male and female are given the same circumcision symbol of trusting in Messiah Yeshua, affirming that the blessing of salvation is upon them equally.]

{28} There is no longer Yehudah or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in the Messiah Yeshua ¹⁸.

[¹⁸ One of the most misunderstood and misapplied texts in the B'rit Chadashah. Since we know Yeshua and Shaul both made an organizational distinction between male and female in the assembly, we can easily determine by context that this verse speaks only concerning the eternal promise of salvation.]

{29} And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Avraham's offspring, inheritors according to the promise.

RELATIONSHIP TO ELOHIM

Galatians 4

{1} "My point is this: inheritors, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property;

{2} but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father.

{3} So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits ¹⁹ of the world.

{4} But when the fullness of time had come, Elohim sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Torah,

{5} in order to redeem those who were under the Torah, ²⁰ so that we might receive adoption as children.

[²⁰ Here Shaul recognizes all people to have had the same responsibility to Torah. But since all have sinned, both Yehudah and non-Yehudah, then all need the same salvation.]

{6} And because you are children, Elohim has sent the Ruach of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

{7} So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an inheritor, through Elohim.

RELATIONSHIP TO DEMONIC POWERS

{8} Formerly, when you did not know Elohim, you were enslaved to beings ¹⁹ that by nature are not gods.

[¹⁹ Plain references to the Galatians' former estate as pagan worshipers of demons.]

{9} Now, however, that you have come to know Elohim, or rather to be known by Elohim, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again?

{10} You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years ²¹.

[²¹ The context is clearly about returning to their pagan life. The Galatians, thinking to have secured salvation by circumcision, felt completely free to go back to many pagan ways of observance. They turned back to demonic activity. Since they did not know Torah, or come from keeping Torah, this cannot refer to the holy appointed feast days. Also, Shaul would never associate the holy, good and righteous things of Elohim as belonging "to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits."]

{11} I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

{12} Friends, I beg you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong.

RELATIONSHIP TO SHAUL

{13} You know that it was because of a physical infirmity that I first announced the joyful report to you;

{14} though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me, but welcomed me as a messenger of Elohim, even as the Messiah Yeshua.

{15} What has become of the goodwill you felt? For I testify that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

{16} Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

{17} They make much of you, but for no good purpose; they want to exclude you, so that you may make much of them.

{18} It is good to be made much of for a good purpose at all times, and not only when I am present with you.

{19} My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until the Messiah is formed in you, ²²

[²² So, we are saved by trusting in Messiah's substitution for us, yet He is still to be formed in us. The account of the Messiah we have, that we are to be formed into, is that of a biblically Torah observant Yehudah. We are not formed into that by force or coercion, certainly not to be saved, but because that is what He was.]

{20} I wish I were present with you now and could change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

EXAMPLE OF THE TWO WOMEN/SONS

{21} Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the Torah ²³, will you not listen to the Torah?

[²³ Subject to Torah and "under the Law" are the same thing. It means to be under external force of the Torah, in fear of death. Through Messiah Yeshua we have been saved from that position! The Torah is in us in another form, through the Ruach working Elohim's will out in good works (which mirror Torah) in our lives. The attitude is not one of subjection, but of partnership, with freedom to learn and grow in the way of Elohim.]

{22} For it is written that Avraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.

{23} One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise.

{24} Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery.

{25} Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Yerushalayim, for she is in slavery with her children.

{26} But the other woman corresponds to the Yerushalayim above; she is free, and she is our mother.

{27} For it is written, "Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children, burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than the children of the one who is married."

{28} Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Yitzhak.

{29} But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Ruach, so it is now also.

{30} But what does the scripture say? "Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman."

{31} So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman.

Chapter 5

{1} "For freedom the Messiah has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.²⁴

[²⁴ Yeshua said that he who is a slave of sin is not free. He came to provide freedom from sin, and sin is transgression of the Torah. Since the attempt to obey the Torah is futile without Yeshua, we cannot trust in anything but Him to give us the power over sin.]

NO FORCED CIRCUMCISION

{2} Listen! I, Shaul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised [ for their purpose], the Messiah will be of no benefit to you.

{3} Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised [ for their purpose] that he is obliged to obey the entire Torah [in order to be saved].

{4} You who want to be justified by the Torah have cut yourselves off from the Messiah; you have fallen away from His enablement.

{5} For through the Ruach, by trusting, we eagerly wait for the hope of [perfect] righteousness.

{6} For in the Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything ²⁵; the only thing that counts is trust working through love.

[²⁵ The doing or not doing of these things will not assure your salvation, but trust which works from the motivation of love does. If you are circumcised from this motivation, it is good. Shaul had Timothy circumcised for this reason.]

{7} You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?

{8} Such persuasion does not come from the One who calls you.

{9} A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.

{10} I am confident about you in YHVH that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.

{11} But my friends, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision [must be done for salvation]? In that case the offense of the execution stake has been removed.

{12} I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!

LIVING BY THE RUACH

{13} For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love serve one another.

{14} For the whole Torah is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

{15} If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. ²⁶

[²⁶ Shaul knew from his past experience that no one sees Torah exactly as anyone else. If we do not allow for this in the assembly, then there will be no assembly anywhere that will not eventually destroy itself through dispute.]

{16} Live by the Ruach, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.

{17} For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Ruach, and what the Ruach desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.

{18} But if [and only if] you are led by the Ruach, you are not subject to the Torah.²⁷

[²⁷ The Torah stands as the standard. It is only if we allow the Ruach HaKodesh to lead us that we have freedom to grow and become evermore free from sin. Otherwise, the Torah will stand against us. Those people who do not walk after the Ruach, but walk after the flesh, should fear the effects of Torah. Also, if we knowingly sin, we must seek Elohim's forgiveness or else we will not enter the Eternal Kingdom.]

{19} Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness [lawlessness/having no Torah],

{20} idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,

{21} envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim.

{22} By contrast, the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustfulness,

{23} gentleness, and self-control. There is no Torah against such things.

{24} And those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have executed the flesh with its passions and desires.

{25} If we live by the Ruach, let us also be guided by the Ruach.

{26} Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

PROPER RESTORATION

Chapter 6

{1} "My friends, if anyone is detected to be breaking the Torah ²⁸, you who have received the Ruach should restore such a one in an attitude of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.

[²⁸ So those who are breaking the Torah should be gently instructed that they are breaking it. Once again Shaul shows he is not against the Torah, but against any litmus test for salvation, except trust in Yeshua the Messiah. Shaul has already pointed out that if anyone lives a lifestyle well known to be against Torah they will not enter the Kingdom of Elohim.]

{2} Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the Torah of the Messiah.²⁹

[²⁹ If the whole Torah is summed up in "you shall love your neighbor," then this is a clear instruction by Shaul that the Torah is Messiah's Torah, not just Moses' Torah.]

{3} For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves.

{4} All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor's work, will become a cause for pride.³⁰

[³⁰ Meaning: only judge yourself concerning Torah. Help your neighbors with Torah because of genuine love, but never stand as their judge. Never gain pride through making your neighbor obey Torah.]

{5} For all must carry their own loads.

{6} Those who are taught the Word must share in all good things with their teacher.

{7} Do not be deceived; Elohim is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.

{8} If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Ruach, you will reap eternal life from the Ruach.

{9} So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

{10} So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of trust.

CLOSING

{11} See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand!

{12} It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised --only so they may not be persecuted for the execution stake of the Messiah.

{13} Even the faction of circumcision do not themselves obey the Torah, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh.

{14} May I never boast of anything except the execution stake of Adonai Yeshua the Messiah, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

{15} For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!

{16} As for those who will follow this rule may shalom be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of Elohim.

{17} From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Yeshua branded on my body.

{18} May the enablement of Adonai Yeshua the Messiah, be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Omeyn.

Copyright © 1998. David M. Hargis. On translation and commentary only. All rights reserved.