GAL 1:15 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:11–24: Paul received his message from Jesus himself

In this section, Paul stressed that the gospel that he preached came from Jesus Christ himself. No human being taught it to him. Therefore, his message had God’s authority. Paul’s purpose in writing this section was to convince the Galatians that the true gospel is the one that he preached.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Paul’s Message Comes from Christ (NLT)

Jesus Alone Gave Paul the Good News He Spreads (GW)

Paul’s Authority is from God (NCV)

God is the source of Paul’s authority and message

Paragraph 1:15–17

In this paragraph, Paul again wrote that he received the gospel from God and not from men. When God revealed Jesus to him, he did not go to Jerusalem to learn the gospel from the apostles.

In Greek, 1:15–17 is a long, complex sentence. Before you translate this complex sentence, it is important to understand its structure.

This long sentence begins with a time clause:

^15aBut when God …^15cwas pleased ^16ato reveal his Son to me

In the middle of this time clause (after the phrase “But when God”) are two clauses that describe God. (These two clauses are relative clauses):

…who set me apart from my mother’s womb and who called me by his grace…

The main clauses are in 1:16c–17c:

^16cI did not rush to consult with flesh and blood ^17anor did I go up to Jerusalem …^17bbut I went into Arabia ^17cand later returned to Damascus.

In many languages it will be necessary to divide this long Greek sentence into several shorter sentences. It may also be necessary to change the order of some of the clauses in this long sentence. Examples are given in the notes below.

1:15

In Greek, 1:15 begins with the clause “But when God was pleased/decided.” This is a time clause. Many English versions put parts of this time clause later in 1:15. Some versions even put this time clause in 1:16.

The KJV shows the literal Greek order. You should compare the Greek/KJV order with the other options below. Then decide how to structure this verse and where the most natural place is in your language for the parts of this time clause. Some examples are:

¹⁵But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, ¹⁶To reveal his Son in me (KJV)

^15a–bBut God in his grace chose me even before I was born, and called me to serve him. ^15cAnd when he decided ¹⁶to reveal his Son to me… (GNT)

^15aBut when he who had set me apart before I was born, ^15band who called me by his grace, ^15cwas pleased ^16ato reveal his Son to me (ESV)

1:15a

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb

¶ But God had chosen me while I was in my mother’s womb,
¶ But in spite of that, before I was born, God had chosen me to do his work.

But: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between what Paul formerly was (1:13–14) and what Paul became (1:15–24). Most English versions indicate this contrast with the conjunction But.

Some other ways to begin this verse are:

Nevertheless

But in spite of that

But then something happened! (NLT96)

who set me apart from my mother’s womb: This clause is a relative clause. It describes something that God did.

Be careful to translate this clause in a way that does not imply that there is another God, a God who did not set Paul apart. In some languages, it will be natural to translate this clause as a complete sentence. For example:

God set me apart from birth.

Even before I was born, God chose me.

set me apart: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as set me apart means “appointed me” or “chose/selected me.” For example:

appointed me (GW)

chose me (NLT)

In some languages, it may be necessary to state what God had chosen Paul to do. For example:

chose me to do his work

from my mother’s womb: The BSB translates this Greek phrase literally.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

while I was in my mother’s womb

before I was born (ESV)

from birth (NIV)

1:15b

and called me by His grace,

and had called me because of his kindness.
Because he is kind, he had called/made me to be his servant/child.
He was good/kind to me and called me to be an apostle.

and called me by His grace: This is another relative clause. It also describes something that God did. As in 1:15a, be careful to translate this clause in a way that does not imply that there is another God, a God who did not call Paul. In some languages, it will be natural to translate this clause as a separate sentence. For example:

He called me through his grace (NCV)

called: The verb called means “invited” or “chose someone for a special purpose.” In this case, God called Paul to be his servant/apostle.

Some other ways to translate this verb are:

He called me to serve him.

He invited me to be his servant/apostle.

Paul did not mean “call” in the sense of “shouted” or “yelled.”

by His grace: The word grace means “showing kindness, generosity, or favor to someone who does not deserve it.”

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

by/through his kindness/favor

because of his kindness

He was kind/good to me

See also grace, Meaning 2 in the Glossary.

1:15c

was pleased

So when it pleased him
So then, God was glad/happy
Then it was good to him

Notice that some English versions are like the BSB and place “was pleased” at the end of 1:15. Other versions place this phrase at the beginning of 1:16. You should do what the major language version in your area does.

was pleased: The Greek word that the BSB translates as was pleased basically means “took pleasure in” or “considered something to be good.” It can have the additional meaning of “was pleased with something and so decided to do it.” God wants and likes to reveal Jesus to human beings, and here he decided to do reveal Jesus to Paul.

Some other ways to translate this verb are:

Then it pleased him (NLT)

when God was delighted

when God considered it good

when he decided (GNT)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅτε Δέ εὐδόκησεν ὁ ἀφορίσας μέ ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μού καί καλέσας διά τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ)

What follows the word But here is in contrast to what was expected. What would be expected is that Paul would continue thinking and acting according to the way he formerly did, as he described in [1:14](../01/14.md). Instead, God called Paul, and as the next verse says, God revealed Jesus to him so that he might teach the Gentiles about Jesus. Use a natural way in your language for introducing a contrast. Alternate translation: [But then]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὁ

the_‹one›

Here, the phrase the one refers to God. If it would help your readers, you could express that explicitly. Alternate translation: [God]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / distinguish

ὅτε & εὐδόκησεν ὁ, ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου, καὶ καλέσας διὰ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ

when & took_pleasure the_‹one› ˓having˒_set_apart (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅτε Δέ εὐδόκησεν ὁ ἀφορίσας μέ ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μού καί καλέσας διά τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ)

The statement having set me apart from the womb of my mother and having called me through his grace gives us further information about the the one (God). It is not making a distinction. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make the relationship between these phrases clearer. Alternate translation: [when God, who is the one who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace, was pleased]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου

from ˓the˒_womb ˱of˲_˓the˒_mother (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅτε Δέ εὐδόκησεν ὁ ἀφορίσας μέ ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μού καί καλέσας διά τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ)

The phrase from the womb of my mother is a Hebrew idiom which means either “from the day of my birth” or “from before birth.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent idiom or use plain language. Alternate translation: [from the day I was born] or [from before I was birthed]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

καλέσας

˓having˒_called_‹me›

Here, the word called means chosen and summoned. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly. Alternate translation: [having chosen and summoned me]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ

the grace ˱of˲_him

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of grace, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [how gracious he is]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear GAL 1:15