A Commentary On the Letter from Paul to the Galatians

By Nathan Deck

A commentary on the letter from the Apostle Paul to the Galatians, also known at the Book of Galatians found in the New Testament.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329530393

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A Commentary On the Letter from Paul to the Galatians

A Commentary on the Letter from Paul to the

GALATIANS

By: Nathan Deck

Scripture quotations taken from the

New American Standard Bible®

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,

1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation 

Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Greek Definitions taken from 

Blue Letter Bible. Dictionary and Word Search. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012. 2 Nov 2012. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? >

Copyright © 2015 by Nathan Deck. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-329-53039-3

Contents

A Note from the Author

Introduction

Outline and Commentary

Bibliography

A Note from the Author

Ezra 7:10 says, for Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. This verse shows us the purpose of Ezra’s life, and I have adopted that as mine as well: to study, obey, and teach God’s Word. This commentary is a result of the first part of that purpose: study. It has been an encouraging and growing experience to develop this commentary, and I hope that it will help you in your personal growth and study as well.

When you are using this commentary, keep in mind that only God’s Word is inspired. Commentaries are great tools, but a student of the Word must always remember that the authority is in God’s Word alone (that is why I have made sure to include the corresponding verses with each point of the outline). I pray that this commentary will help you and motivate you to do further study on the book of Galatians, as well as many other books in the future.

Introduction

Author: Paul the Apostle

This is not debated as it is clearly stated in the text (1:1), and the style of writing is consistent with the other epistles that are attributed to Paul the apostle.

Audience/Date: The Churches in Galatia 49 or 55AD

Galatia was a Roman province that included the cities of Lystra, Iconium, Derbe, and Antioch (of Pisidia, not in Syria- the sending church of Paul and his missionary teams). There is a debate over the date of writing this letter, as well as to which area he wrote this letter. The two opposing theories are firstly, written to cities in Northern Galatia around 55AD after he visited them on the second missionary journey, or secondly, written to the cities previously mentioned after his visit to them on the first missionary journey placing the time of writing around 49AD.

Evidence for the later date is that Luke only uses the term Galatia to speak of the northern region of Galatia. Evidence for the early date is that Paul does not speak of the concrete answer given by James at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15).

This commentary will lean towards the early date of writing because of the time line that is presented in the book (1:11-2:10) as well as the corresponding account of these events in the book of Acts (9:1-30 11:19-30). The main thrust of the dispute comes down to the events mentioned in chapter 2 and of Paul's trip to Jerusalem. It could have been the trip mentioned in Acts 15 to the Council of Jerusalem, but more likely it was the trip in Acts 11:30 when Barnabas and Paul took an offering from the church in Antioch to the church in Jerusalem to aid them during the famine. The reasoning behind this is that the revelation in Gal. 2:2 is most likely the prophecy of the famine in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-28) and the command from the other apostles in Gal. 2:10 to remember the poor would make the most sense since the purpose of