Galatians 2:3 Commentary

Navigator

Galatians 2:3

Comments

Lightfoot says ‘Paul is distracted between the fear of saying too much and the fear of saying too little. He must maintain his own independence and yet he must not compromise the position of the Twelve. In this conflict of opposing aims, the sense of the passage is well-nigh lost. The thread of the sentence is broken, picked up and again broken. From this shipwreck of grammar, it is even difficult to extricate the main incident on which the controversy hinges.’‘But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.’ Paul picks out those aspects of this visit that are useful to instruct the Galatians. He had come up to Jerusalem to discuss the question of how Gentile converts should be treated and had brought with him one who was a fruit of his preaching, Titus, an uncircumcised Greek. It was obvious that the Judaizers would demand that this man should be circumcised in line with their stated belief that all Gentile Christians should adopt the Jewish way of life beginning with circumcision, but the apostles and elders did not waver; they understood the principle involved. The word ‘neither’ is better translated ‘not even’, indicating that if he was going to give ground in any matter, it was likely to be here. If not even Titus was compelled to be circumcised, then far less should the rest of what the Judaizers demanded be granted.As Luther says, ‘It might seem a strange thing, upon a sudden, to forsake all the law and traditions of the fathers which had been given to this people from God with so great glory.’ Nevertheless their glory was fading and it was not necessary any longer that even Jews should be circumcised. However God allowed that the Jews should learn this gently, not overnight, and there was a period of time in which they were allowed to adjust. They must not however misunderstand this period of transition and take it as encouragement to compel Gentiles to live as they did and submit to the law.

Application

Questions

What was the meaning of circumcision? Circumcision was the sign which God instructed Israel to adopt under the Mosaic covenant, borrowed from the Abrahamic covenant before it. For Abraham it was a seal of the righteousness that he already possessed by faith, for that covenant was a gracious covenant which nevertheless had attached to it elements that were material and earthly and that served as tokens of the real heavenly blessings. The Mosaic covenant borrowed these physical tokens and imported them as elements which were appropriate to that legal covenant. In doing so, it took circumcision which for Abraham was a sign of the righteousness that he already possessed, and translated it into a sign of the righteousness which the eight day old child hoped to possess in following Abraham’s example of faith. It was like taking a wedding ring and using it for a different purpose as an engagement ring in the next generation.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Galatians 2:3 Commentary and Bible Study