Galatians 5:12 Commentary and Bible Study

There are two interpretations of this statement. Some take the words ‘cut off’ metaphorically and understand them to mean excommunication: ‘Paul wishes the Judaizers would excommunicate themselves.’ But since they were not part of the church in the first place, it is hard to make any sense of this. Others take the words literally and see them as a play on the idea of circumcision about which Paul has been saying so much. These Judaizers have been arguing so persistently for circumcision of the Galatians; I wish, says Paul, that they would not just circumcise themselves but go all the way and mutilate themselves, even castrate themselves. The difficulty with this view is that such an attitude seems quite foreign to the apostle who worked so hard for the salvation of all and did not have a vindictive attitude towards anyone. However it is important to see in what spirit he says this. He is not writing in a spirit of anger or irritation with men who have caused him so much trouble that his patience has finally run out. What motivates him is his love for the Galatians. His patience with his enemies is not so small that it is exhausted even by those like the Judaizers who followed him around and tried to ruin his work; he himself had been a persecutor of the church. He speaks like this to alert the Galatians to their danger, because they are at risk of being deceived. He is showing them how strong his opposition to these false teachers is, and if that is his attitude then it should also be theirs. We remember that Christ who said, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’, also said, ‘Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ No doubt Paul prayed secretly for those he so forcefully spoke against here, but before the Galatians could safely learn to pray for the Judaizers and to evangelize them, they had another lesson to learn. They must first be fully convinced of the error of the Judaizers doctrine and of the danger that it represented. When the people of God are in danger, then we are first of all to be concerned about their protection. Later we may give attention to helping the persecutor.