and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia:
Parallel Translations
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and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia:
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and all the brethren which are with me. Vnto the congregacions of Galacia.
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And all the brethren which are with me, vnto the Churches of Galatia:
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Galatians 1:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise.
- Philippians 4:21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.
- Acts 16:5-6 So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
- Acts 18:23 Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.
- Philippians 2:22 But you know the proof of him, that as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.
- Acts 9:31 So the assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 15:41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the assemblies.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Martin Luther 1535 · Public Domain VERSE 2. And all the brethren which are with…
VERSE 2. And all the brethren which are with me.
This should go far in shutting the mouths of the false apostles. Paul’s intention is to exalt his own ministry while discrediting theirs. He adds for good measure the argument that he does not stand alone, but that all the brethren with him attest to the fact that his doctrine is divinely true. "Although the brethren with me are not apostles like myself, yet they are all of one mind with me, think, write, and teach as I do."
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VERSE 2. Unto the churches of Galatia.
Paul had preached the Gospel throughout Galatia, founding many churches which after his departure were invaded by the false apostles. The Anabaptists in our time imitate the false apostles. They do not go where the enemies of the Gospel predominate. They go where the Christians are. Why do they not invade the Catholic provinces and preach their doctrine to godless princes, bishops, and doctors, as we have done by the help of God? These soft martyrs take no chances. They go where the Gospel has a hold, so that they may not endanger their lives. The false apostles would not go to Jerusalem of Caiaphas, or to the Rome of the Emperor, or to any other place where no man had preached before as Paul and the other apostles did. But they came to the churches of Galatia, knowing that where men profess the name of Christ they may feel secure.
It is the lot of God’s ministers not only to suffer opposition at the hand of a wicked world, but also to see the patient indoctrination of many years quickly undone by such religious fanatics. This hurts more than the persecution of tyrants. We are treated shabbily on the outside by tyrants, on the inside by those whom we have restored to the liberty of the Gospel, and also by false brethren. But this is our comfort and our glory, that being called of God we have the promise of everlasting life. We look for that reward which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man."
Jerome raises the question why Paul called them churches that were no churches, inasmuch as the Galatians had forsaken the grace of Christ for the law of Moses. The proper answer is: Although the Galatians had fallen away from the doctrine of Paul, baptism, the Gospel, and the name of Christ continued among them. Not all the Galatians had become perverted. There were some who clung to the right view of the Word and the Sacraments. These means cannot be contaminated. They remain divine regardless of men’s opinion. Wherever the means of grace are found, there is the Holy Church, even though Antichrist reigns there. So much for the title of the epistle. Now follows the greeting of the apostle.
Martin Luther — Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), English translation by Theodore Graebner (Zondervan, 1939) — public domain (U.S. copyright not renewed). Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2. And all the brethren who are with me.…
2. And all the brethren who are with me. — He appears to have usually written in the name of many persons, judging that, if those to whom he wrote should attach less weight to a solitary individual, they might listen to a greater number, and would not despise a whole congregation. His general practice is, to insert the salutations from brethren at the conclusion, instead of introducing them at the commencement as joint authors of the epistle: at least, he never mentions more than two names, and those very well known. But here he includes all the brethren; and thus adopts, though not without good reason, an opposite method. The concurrence of so many godly persons must have had some degree of influence in softening the minds of the Galatians, and preparing them to receive instruction.
To the churches of Galatia. It was an extensive country, and therefore contained many churches scattered through it. But is it not wonderful that the term “Church”, which always implies unity of faith, should have been applied to the Galatians, who had almost entirely revolted from Christ? I reply, so long as they professed Christianity, worshipped one God, observed the sacraments, and enjoyed some kind of Gospel ministry, they retained the external marks of a church. We do not always find in churches such a measure of purity as might be desired. The purest have their blemishes; and some are marked, not by a few spots, but by general deformity. Though the doctrines and practices of any society may not, in all respects, meet our wishes, we must not instantly pronounce its defects to be a sufficient reason for withholding from it the appellation of a Church. Paul manifests here a gentleness of disposition utterly at variance with such a course. Yet our acknowledgment of societies to be churches of Christ must be accompanied by an explicit condemnation of everything in them that is improper or defective; for we must not imagine, that, wherever there is some kind of church, everything in it that ought to be desired in a church is perfect.
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I make this observation, because the Papists, seizing on the single word Church, think that whatever they choose to force upon us is sanctioned; though the condition and aspect of the Church of Rome are widely different from what existed in Galatia. If Paul were alive at the present day, he would perceive the miserable and dreadfully shattered remains of a church; but he would perceive no building. In short, the word Church is often applied by a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole, to any portion of the church, even though it may not fully answer to the name.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2 And all the brethren which are with me,…
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
Ver. 2. The Churches of Galatia] They are not unchurched though much corrupted. Uzziah ceased not to be a king when he began to be a leper; the disease of his forehead did not remove his crown.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He writeth not only in his own name, but…
He writeth not only in his own name, but in the name of all those other Christians that were with him in the place where he now was (whether Rome or Corinth, or some other place, is uncertain); with whose consent and privity probably he wrote, possibly at their instigation, and whose common consent in that doctrine of faith which he handleth, (as well as in other things about which he writeth), he here declareth. Some think that the apostle forbears the term saints, or sanctified in Christ Jesus, & c., commonly used in his other Epistles, because of that apostacy for which he designed to reprove them; but it is implied in the term churches. Galatia was a large country, and had in it many famous cities; it was neither wholly Christian, nor yet such as to the major part; but there were in it several particular congregations of Christians, which he calleth churches; every congregation of Christians using to meet together to worship God, being a church, a particular church, though all such congregations make up but one universal visible church. Nor, being guilty of no idolatry, though corrupted in some particular points of doctrine, and those of moment, doth the apostle deny them the name of churches, though he sharply rebuketh them for their errors.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain That is, "All the brethren which are here with…
That is, "All the brethren which are here with me, and own the doctrine which I preach, send greeting unto the churches of Galatia."
Here note, 1. How St. Paul’s doctrine is justified from the charge of singularity, which the Judaizing false teachers objected against it. What he wrote and taught, he tells the Galatians, was owned by all the brethren. This shews the consent he had of the church with him, in that holy doctrine which was delivered by him.
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Note, 2. The generality of the persons to whom this epistle is directed; not to a single person, nor to a particular church, but unto all the churches in the province of Galatia. There were several Christian congregations, called churches, in that country, and all of them being leavened, or in danger of being soured with Judaism, that is, of superadding the ceremonial law of Moses to the gospel of Christ: the apostle and the brethren with him, direct this epistle, not to any single church in that province, but to them all in general, being equally concerned: All the brethren with me, unto the churches of Galatia.
Note, 3. How the apostle doth not say here, as elsewhere, To the saints of God which are in Galatia; or, To them that are sanctified by God the Father; but barely says, To the churches of Galatia; thereby declaring his holy indignation against the Galatians, as unworthy of those gracious appellations, because they had sadly corrupted the doctrine of the gospel begun in the Spirit, and ended in the flesh; first owning Christ and the liberty of the gospel, and afterwards pleading for the bondage of the ceremonial law.
Yet, note, lastly, as corrupt as these churches of Galatia were, our apostle owns and acknowledges them to be true churches; they retained the essentials of Christianity, and were not guilty either of idolatry, or a total apostasy; therefore though stained with divers corruptions both in doctrine and manners, which he sharply rebukes and reproves them for, yet he doth not deny them the name of churches: All the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And all the brethren which are with me,.... Meaning…
And all the brethren which are with me,.... Meaning either the brethren of the church where he was when he wrote this epistle, who were children of the same Father, regenerated by the same grace, belonged to the same family and household of God, and were heirs together of the grace of life; or else his fellow ministers, who were assisting to him in his work, and were companions with him in his travels, and whom he sometimes mentions by name and joins with him in his epistles, as Sosthenes, Silvanus, and Timothy; and the rather he takes notice of the brethren here, whoever are meant, to show that they agreed with him in the doctrines of grace he defends, and in the charges he brought against this church, and in the reproofs and advice he gave them; which he might suppose, and hope, would have the greater weight and influence upon them;
unto the churches of Galatia; Galatia was a country in the lesser Asia, inhabited by the Gauls, who coming thither out of Europe, mixed with the Grecians; whence it was first called Gallo Graecia, and afterwards Galatia; See Gill on Act 16:6. The metropolis of it, as Pliny (b) says, was formerly Gordium, and the chief towns or cities, according to him, were Ancyra, Tavium, and Pessinus; and in some, or all of these places, it is very probable, were the churches here mentioned; See Gill on Act 18:23. It seems there were more than one in this country; for the primitive churches were not national nor provincial, but congregational, consisting of persons called out of the world, and joined together in holy fellowship and who walked in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord: and though these churches had many among them that were disorderly, and were swerving from the faith of the Gospel, yet were not unchurched, but honoured still with the name of churches, there being no perfection to be expected in this state of things; as not in particular persons, so not in congregated bodies and societies; though it is observed by some, that they are barely called churches, without any additional epithets, as churches of God, beloved of God, called to be saints, faithful and sanctified in Christ, which are bestowed on other churches; whereby the apostle is thought to show his indignation and resentment at their principles and practices. For quickly after the Gospel was preached unto them, false teachers crept in among them, endeavouring to subvert it, by mixing it with the law, and joining Moses and Christ; and in which they very much succeeded; and is the reason of the apostle's writing this epistle.
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(b) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And all the brethren -- who agree with me…
And all the brethren -- who agree with me in what I now write.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. And all the brethren which are with…
Verse 2. And all the brethren which are with me] It is very likely that this refers to those who were his assistants in preaching the Gospel, and not to any private members of the Church.
Churches of Galatia] Galatia was a region or province of Asia Minor; there was neither city nor town of this name. See the preface. But as, in this province, St. Paul had planted several Churches, he directs the epistle to the whole of them; for it seems they were all pretty nearly in the same state, and needed the same instructions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And all the brethren which are with me -…
And all the brethren which are with me - It was usual for Paul to associate with him the ministers of the gospel, or other Christians who were with him, in expressing friendly salutations to the churches to which he wrote, or as uniting with him, and concurring in the sentiments which he expressed. Though Paul claimed to be inspired, yet it would do much to conciliate favor for what he advanced, if others also concurred with what he said, and especially if they were known to the churches to which the epistles were written. Sometimes the names of others were associated with his in the Epistle; see the 1Co 1:1 note; Phi 1:1 note; Col 1:1 note; 1Th 1:1 note. Since we do not know where this epistle was written, of course we are ignorant who the “brethren” were, who are here referred to. They may have been ministers with Paul, or they may have been the private members of the churches. Commentators have been much divided in opinion on the subject; but all is conjecture. It is obviously impossible to determine.
Unto the churches - How many churches there were in Galatia is unknown. There were several cities in Galatia, as Ancyria, Tavia, Pessinus, etc. It is not improbable that a church had been established in each of the cities, and, since they were not far distant from each other, and the people had the same general character and habits, it is not improbable that they had fallen into the same errors. Hence, the Epistle is directed to them in common.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain all the brethren--I am not alone in my doctrine;…
all the brethren--I am not alone in my doctrine; all my colleagues in the Gospel work, travelling with me (Act 19:29, Gaius and Aristarchus at Ephesus: Act 20:4, Sopater, Secundus, Timotheus, Tychicus, Trophimus, some, or all of these), join with me. Not that these were joint authors with Paul of the Epistle: but joined him in the sentiments and salutations. The phrase, "all the brethren," accords with a date when he had many travelling companions, he and they having to bear jointly the collection to Jerusalem [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].
the churches--Pessinus and Ancyra were the principal cities; but doubtless there were many other churches in Galatia (Act 18:23; Co1 16:1). He does not attach any honorable title to the churches here, as elsewhere, being displeased at their Judaizing. See First Corinthians; First Thessalonians, &c. The first Epistle of Peter is addressed to Jewish Christians sojourning in Galatia (Pe1 1:1), among other places mentioned. It is interesting thus to find the apostle of the circumcision, as well as the apostle of the uncircumcision, once at issue (Gal 2:7-15), co-operating to build up the same churches.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Brethren… with me—His retinue of friends, fellow-preachers, and…
2. Brethren… with me—His retinue of friends, fellow-preachers, and supporters. To allude to them is brotherly courtesy to them, and confirmation to himself. See notes, Act_20:4; Act_21:16.
Churches—This is, therefore, a circular letter, to be read in the Christian congregations of Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium, and the other Churches of the province. Such letters were carried by messengers, charged often with special verbal messages, and directed to whom to be delivered. Very probably different copies were thus distributed, each to the proper Church.
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No affectionate epithet or clause is added to the word churches, and no commendations or congratulations, such as open the other epistles, enliven this. The omission is a silent rebuke, preparatory to the rebukes soon to be uttered.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. all the brethren which are with me] It…
2. all the brethren which are with me] It is impossible to say with certainty who these brethren were. The expression, ‘all the brethren’ and the omission of any names, render it improbable that reference is intended only to Timothy and Titus. The words are intentionally vague, and certainly do not lend support to the view that St Paul “sought safety in numbers”. He knew that truth is generally with the minority. But he never forgot that he was a member of the Church, and not an isolated individual. The truth for which he contended was the birthright of his brethren, dear to them as to himself.
unto the churches of Galatia] The abruptness of the address is remarkable. No word of praise, no mention of privilege. Comp. the opening words of the Epistles to the Thessalonians, Ephesians, &c. Even the Corinthians receive a more kindly salutation. They had not “erred concerning the faith” as had these Galatians.
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The word ‘Church’ in the N. T. is used either (1) of the whole body of believers, “the whole congregation of Christian people dispersed throughout the whole world” (Canon lv.), (Mat_16:18; Col_1:24), or (2) of a particular congregation, under the same ministry of the word and sacraments. Thus we read of the Church in Cenchreæ (1Co_16:1), of the Churches of Asia (1Co_16:19; Rev_1:4, &c.), of the Church in a particular house (Col_4:15; Phm_1:2). (3) It is also used of an assembly of believers gathered together for worship, as 1Co_14:28. The Churches of the Thessalonians and Laodiceans are exceptions to the usual form, in which the precise locality is designated. We may assume that the Churches of Galatia were bodies of converts living in the principal cities, Ancyra, Pessinus, &c. See Introduction, p. ix.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) All the brethren which are with me—i.e., all…
(2) All the brethren which are with me—i.e., all his travelling companions. We are unable to say exactly who these were, the more so as we do not know with any certainty the place from which St. Paul was writing. He may have had in his company most of those who are mentioned in Act_20:4 as accompanying him back into Asia: Sopater, son of Pyrrhus (according to an amended reading); Aristarchus and Secundus, of Thessalonica; Gaius, of Derbe; Tychicus and Trophimus, of Asia; in any case, probably Timothy, and perhaps Titus.
It was usual with St. Paul to join with his own name that of one or other of his companions in the address of his Epistles. Thus, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians he associates with himself Sosthenes; in the Second Epistle to Corinth, and in those to the Philippians and Colossians, Timothy and Silvanus. In writing to the Galatians, St. Paul includes all his companions in his greeting, hardly with the view of fortifying himself with their authority, for he is ready enough to take the whole defence of his own cause upon himself, but, perhaps, not altogether without the idea that he is possessed of their sympathy.
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The churches of Galatia.—See the Introduction to this Epistle.
This opening salutation is intentionally abrupt and bare. Usually it was the Apostle’s custom to begin with words of commendation. He praises all that he can find to praise even in a Church that had offended so seriously as the Corinthians. (See 1Co_1:2; 1Co_1:4-7.) But the errors of the Galatians, he feels, go more to the root of things. The Corinthians had failed in the practical application of Christian principles; the Galatians (so far as they listened to their Judaising teachers) could hardly be said to have Christian principles at all. The Apostle is angry with them with a righteous indignation, and his anger is seen in the naked severity of this address.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain and all the brethren which are with me (kai…
and all the brethren which are with me (kai oiJ aun ejmointev ajdelfoi); and the brethren which are with me, one and all. The ordinary unaccentuated collocation of pantev would be, pantev oiJ sun ejmoi. Its position here, where, perhaps, it was thrust in by a kind of after-thought, marks it as emphatic; there is not one of those about him who does not feel the like grief and indignation as himself in reference to the news just now received. We have a similar collocation in Rom_16:15. Pantev would be marked as emphatic also if placed last, as in 1Co_7:17 1Co_13:2 1Co_15:7; Tit_3:15. Our attention is arrested by the absence of any name. A number of persons are named by St. Luke in the Acts, (Act 18:18-20:5) and by the apostle himself in his Epistles to the Corinthians and to the Romans, as about his person at different times during the latter part of his third journey; and it does not seem very likely that not one was now with him of those who had accompanied him, either in the first or in the second of his two visits in Galatia. The most probable way of explaining the entire suppression of names is by reference to the present mood of the writer; he is too indignant at the behaviour of the Galatian Churchmen to weave into his greeting any such thread of mutual personal interest. It is enough to intimate that all about him felt as he did. Unto the Churches of Galatia (taiv ejkklhsiav thv Galatiav). The dry coldness of tone with which this is written will be best understood by the reader upon his comparing the apostle"s manner in his other letters, in all of which he is found adding some words marking the high dignity which attached to the communities he is addressing. He is too much displeased to do this now. The plurality of the Galatian Churches, each of them apparently forming a distinct organization, is expressed again in 1Co_16:1, "As I gave order to the Churches of Galatia;" and agrees very well with what we read in Act_18:23, "Went through tile region of Galatia and Phrygia in order (kaqexhv) stablishing all the disciples." The leaven of Judaizing, whether imported by visitants from other regions or originating within these Churches themselves, appears to have been working very extensively among these communities, and not in one or two of them only. If the latter had been the case, the apostle would not have involved the collective Churches in the like censure, but, as in the case of Colossae, compared with the Ephesians," have singled out for warning those actually peccant. This fact, of the general diffusion among them of one particular taint, warrants the belief that certain persons had been at the pains of going about among these Churches to propagate it. Who these persons were, or where they came from, there is nothing to show. It has, indeed, been assumed by many that, like those disturbers of the Antiochian Church mentioned in Act_15:1 and Gal_2:12, they had come from Judaea, or rather Jerusalem. But the Epistle gives no hint of this in respect to the Galatian Churches. What the apostle writes in Gal_6:12, 13 points rather to the surmise that this particular distraction was caused by some Churchmen of their own, who had given themselves to this heretical proselytizing in order to truckle to non-Christian Jews living in their neighbourhood. Compare tile apostle"s foreboding respecting the future of the Ephesian Church, in Act_20:30. (See note on Gal_6:12, Gal_6:13)
The apostle"s companions in the gospel.
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all the brethren which are with me." It was after his manner to associate brethren with him in the inscriptions of his Epistles.
I WHO WERE THESE BRETHREN?
1. They were not the Christian people among whom he resided; for it was his habit to distinguish between "the brethren which are with me" and "the saints". (Php_4:21, 22) Besides, in that case he would rather have spoken of the brethren as the persons with whom he was.
2. They were his colleagues in gospel work and gospel travel, including probably Timothy and Titus, who had accompanied him in his first visit to Galatia, and who had rejoined him there, (Act_18:5) and perhaps Erastus, Trophimus, and others.
3. They were very numerous. If the Epistle was written during the apostle"s three months" visit to Corinth, toward the close of A.D. 57, he was now accompanied by a larger number of brethren than at almost any other time.
II WHY DOES HE IDENTIFY THESE BRETHREN WITH HIMSELF IN THE EPISTLE?
1. The concurrence of such brethren as Timothy and Silas, with whom the Galatians were personally acquainted, might have the effect of conciliating their affection and abating the bitterness of their opposition.
2. His emphatic reference to "all the brethren" seems to show that there was no singularity in his views; that he was supported by the best and the wisest of the Church"s leaders, and that the Galatians, by repudiating Pauline teaching, were really severing themselves from the recognized guides of visible Christianity.
The Churches of Galatia.
Probably in the towns of Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium. It is interesting to mark that we have not in the New Testament a single name of a place or person, scarcely a single incident of any kind, connected with the apostle"s preaching in Galatia. He had paid two visits to Galatia before this time.
I THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE GALATIAN CHURCHES. The members belonged, as their name signifies, to the Celtic race, and differed in character and habits from all the other nations to whom Epistles were addressed. "It is the Celtic blood which gives a distinctive colour to the Galatian character." We hardly needed the authority of Caesar to know that instability of character was the chief difficulty in dealing with the Galatians, and that they were prone to all sorts of ritualistic observances. Thus they received the apostle with true Celtic heartiness at his first visit; they "received him as an angel of God, even as Christ." The Church was mainly Gentile, but gathered round a nucleus of Jewish converts. The fact that this Epistle was addressed to Churches over so extensive a tract of country would imply the wide prevalence of the Judaistic heresy. Yet the apostasy was as yet only in its incipient stage. It is a characteristic fact that false teachers never appear except in Churches already established. They seldom attempt the conversion of either Jew or Gentile, thus carefully avoiding persecution; but wherever they scent a work of grace from afar, they gather in eager haste to pervert the gospel of Christ.
II THOUGH THE GALATIAN CHURCHES WERE IN ERROR, THEY WERE STILL TRUE CHURCHES OF CHRIST. They were not guilty of idolatry or of total apostasy, but they were stained by serious doctrinal corruptions and grave moral disorders. Yet the apostle owns them as true Churches of Christ. The lesson is a rebuke to the unchurching spirit so often manifest in Christian history.
III THE APOSTLE"S ADDRESS TO THEM WAS CHARACTERISTIC. He addresses them simply as "Churches of Galatia," without one word of commendation or familiar greeting or kindly remembrance, such as we find in his addresses to other Churches. He does not address them as "faithful brethren," as "the saints in Christ Jesus." There is something suggestive in this method of prefacing the Epistle. He ends it with a perceptible softening of tone, his last word being "brethren."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And all the brethren which are with me, unto…
Gal_1:2
And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia.
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Church unity
Our religion is not designed to terminate upon ourselves, but to benefit those with whom we associate. As the touched needle has the power to impart something of its own magnetic virtue to kindred substances brought into contact with it, so true grace is always communicative, and delights to diffuse the moral impressions which it has received. The early Churches set a noble pattern, in this respect, to the men of succeeding times.
I. Their unity of sentiment in the fundamental doctrines of Christian faith. Paul blends the testimony of his brethren in the ministry with his own (all the brethren) to show that he stood not alone in his views of Christian doctrine; and they delight to bear their concurrent attestation in favour of the truths he proclaimed, and against the errors he condemned.
II. Their unity of affection. All the brethren that are with me, to the Churches of Galatia. Amidst some discrepancy of opinion, there was much love at heart, which yet did not prevent their bearing a faithful and energetic protest against the dangerous views newly entertained by their Galatian friends, upon the subject of the incorporation of the Jewish rites with the Christian faith. The truth of grace in others should be the most powerful loadstone to attract our regards towards them. For one man to love another, chiefly because he is of his own opinion and party, is little better than a refined species of selfishness, as he does but embrace his own shadow which he sees falling upon his brothers breast.
III. Mark also their unity in prayer, for spiritual blessings to descend upon those to whom they wrote--Grace be to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. (The Evangelist.)
A word to pastors and people
I. To pastors.
1. Dont lord it over your people: they are brethren.
2. Take them into your confidence: not to confirm your authority, but because they have an interest in your work.
3. Secure their sympathy: it will be your solace when you are dealing with crafty Judaizers.
4. Carry them with you. You will need them
(1) in bodily affliction;
(2) in exceptional difficulties.
II. To people,
1. Your pastor is not your slave but your brother: love and esteem him.
2. He is the servant of Christ and the Church, and you are his fellowservants: give him sympathy and co-operation.
3. He is your leader: follow him; let him speak not only in his own name but yours, because
(1) you have common interests,
(2) these interests can only be preserved by unanimity (Php_1:27).
There is no relationship like that founded on the sanctity of religion. Between you and me that sanctity exists. I stood by your side when you awoke in the dark valley of conviction and owned yourselves lost. I led you by the hand out of the darkness. By your side I have prayed, and my tears have mingled with yours. I have bathed you in the crystal waters of a holy baptism; and when you sang the song of the ransomed captive it filled my heart with a joy as great as your own. Love beginning in such scenes and drawn from so sacred a fountain is not commercial, is not fluctuating. Amid severe toils and not a few anxieties it is a crown of rejoicing to a pastor. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Churches of Galatia
I. Their locality. Probably the seats of the most ancient bishoprics.
1. Ancyra, the capital.
2. Pessinus, the great emporium.
3. Tavium, the junction of many roads.
4. Juliopolis, in the centre of the land. Note Pauls sagacity in choosing such serviceable centres.
II. Their members.
1. The native Gaulo-Phrygians--an impulsive, inquisitive, imaginative, and superstitious race; worshippers of Cybele, whose cult involved wild ceremonial and horrible mutilations.
2. Jews and proselytes.
3. Roman colonists.
III. Their planting.
1. During second missionary tour (Act_16:6).
2. Under afflictive circumstances (Gal_4:13).
3. With warm enthusiasm (Gal_4:15). Rapid growth, rapid decadence.
IV. Their character.
1. Their natural imaginativeness and impulsiveness moulded by grace.
2. Many churches, but one Church.
3. True churches, though in error.
V. Their early history.
1. Confirmed during third missionary tour (Act_18:23).
2. Corrupted by Judaizers.
3. Rebuked and perhaps reclaimed by Paul (2Ti_4:10).
4. Strongholds of heresy during second and third centuries.
5. Purged by the Diocletian persecution.
6. Triumphant over Julian.
What is a church?
A band of faithful men
Met for Gods worship in some humble room,
Or screened from foes by midnights starlit gloom,
On hillside or lone glen
To hear the counsels of Gods Holy Word
Pledged to each other and their common Lord.
These, few as they may be,
Compose a Church, such as in pristine ages
Defied the tyrants steel, the bigots rage.
For, when but two or three,
Whateer the place, in faiths communion meet,
There, with Christ present, is a Church complete.
The Galatian people
When the vast tide of Aryan migration began to set to the westward the Celtic family was among the earliest to stream away. They gradually occupied a great part of the centre and west of Europe, and their various tribes were swept hither and thither by various currents. One of their Brennuses, four centuries b.c., inflicted on Rome its deepest humiliation. Another, 111 years later, ravaged Northern Greece, and when its hordes were driven back at Delphi they found another body under Leonnorius and Lutarius, and established themselves in the northern regions of Asia Minor. But their exactions soon roused an opposition which led to their confinement to the central region. Here we find them in three tribes: the Tolistobogii, with their capital Pessinus; the Tectosages, with their capital Ancyra; the Trocmi, with their capital Tavium. These tribes were, in b.c. 65, united under Deiotarus, tetrarch of the Tolistobogii. The Romans had conquered them in b.c. 189, but had left them nominally independent; and in b.c. 36 Mark Antony made Amyntas king. On his death, b.c. 25, Galatia was joined to Lycaonia and part of Pisidia, and made a Roman province. This was its political condition when Paul entered Pessinus. (F. W. Farrar.)
Note--
I. The brotherhood of Christians;
II. Their united action;
III. Their interest in distant churches. (J. Lyth.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 2. And all the brethren which are with me.…
2. And all the brethren which are with me. His fellow-laborers, such as Timothy, Titus, Silas, Luke, etc., some of whom at least were with him at this time. The word “all” implies that a number were with him. Unto the churches of Galatia. The inference from the language is that there were a considerable number scattered through the province.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain and all the brethren that are with me, unto…
and all the brethren that are with me, unto the churches of Galatia [These two verses form not only the text of this first section, but also the keynote of the entire epistle. Without a moment's introduction, Paul passes at once to that which caused him to write, viz.: the challenge of his apostleship. If it was urged against him that he was but the faithless messenger of the other apostles, he replies by asserting, in the clearest, most forceful way, the nature of his apostleship. Both as to source and agency it was divine. The call to it came from God and not from men, and the call came through the agency of Jesus Christ, and not through the agency of any man. The election of Matthias throws light upon these words ( Act_1:23-26 ), for if he was not called of the apostles, he was at least called through their agency. Paul's call, on the contrary, was from the lips of Jesus himself, and had in it no human mixture whatever. Why Paul speaks of the resurrection of Jesus is not clear. It has been thought that Paul could claim a call from God the Father, because the Father, by the resurrection of the Son, gave official countenance to the acts of the Son. Again it is thought that Paul has in mind the fact that Jesus rose from the dead for our justification ( Rom_4:25 ), and since justification by faith in Christ is the main theme of the epistle, he mentions the resurrection to pave the way for the introduction of that theme. But it seems more likely, from the context, that he has in mind the fact that his own call came after the resurrection of Jesus, and so the resurrection of Jesus was an essential element in the proof of his apostleship. Paul mentions the brethren who were with him. For a probable list of them see Act_20:4 ; Act_21:16 . Paul does not mention them by name, as he does in the epistles to the Thessalonians and Corinthians, because the letter is of a more personal nature than any of these others. But he does mention them to let the Galatians know that others sympathized with him in all that he wrote. The address implies that there were many churches in Galatia, yet to none of them does he attach any honorable title, for none of them does he offer the usual expression of thanksgiving, and to none of them does he speak the customary words of commendation and praise. This ominous silence on the part of the apostle constitutes a most telling rebuke]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:2 the brothers and sisters here join me: Paul…
1:2 the brothers and sisters here join me: Paul probably wrote from Antioch of Syria. Antioch was the hub of Paul’s ministry and the earliest center of Gentile Christianity (see Acts 11:20-26). Paul did not stand alone (as his opponents in Galatia might have suggested), but in fellowship with a significant New Testament church. • The churches of Galatia were probably founded by Paul during his first missionary journey (Acts 13:4–14:26; see Galatians Book Introduction, “Recipients”).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.