GAL 2:12 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. πρό
2. pro
3. before
4. -
5. 42530
6. P·······
7. before
8. before
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126152
1. τοῦ
2. ho
3. the time
4. -
5. 35880
6. R····GNS
7. the ‹time›
8. the ‹time›
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126153
1. Γάρ
2. gar
3. For/Because
4. because
5. 10630
6. C·······
7. for
8. for
9. S
10. Y52
11. 126154
1. ἐλθεῖν
2. erχomai
3. to come
4. -
5. 20640
6. VNAA····
7. ˓to˒ come
8. ˓to˒ come
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126155
1. τινάς
2. tis
3. some
4. -
5. 51000
6. R····AMP
7. some
8. some
9. -
10. Y52; F126167; F126209
11. 126156
1. τινά
2. tis
3. -
4. -
5. 51000
6. R····AMS
7. someone
8. someone
9. -
10. -
11. 126157
1. ἀπό
2. apo
3. from
4. -
5. 5750
6. P·······
7. from
8. from
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126158
1. Ἰακώβου
2. iakōbos
3. Yakōbos
4. -
5. 23850
6. N····GMS
7. Yakōbos/(Yaˊₐqoⱱ)
8. Jacobus
9. U
10. Y52
11. 126159
1. μετά
2. meta
3. with
4. -
5. 33260
6. P·······
7. with
8. with
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126160
1. τῶν
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····GNP
7. the
8. the
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126161
1. ἐθνῶν
2. ethnos
3. pagans
4. -
5. 14840
6. N····GNP
7. pagans
8. pagans
9. -
10. Y52; F126209
11. 126162
1. συνήσθιεν
2. sunesthiō
3. he was eating with
4. -
5. 49060
6. VIIA3··S
7. ˱he˲ ˓was˒ eating_with
8. ˱he˲ ˓was˒ eating_with
9. -
10. Y52; R126141
11. 126163
1. συνήσθιον
2. sunesthiō
3. -
4. -
5. 49060
6. VIIA3··P
7. ˱they˲ ˓were˒ eating_with
8. ˱they˲ ˓were˒ eating_with
9. -
10. -
11. 126164
1. ὅτε
2. hote
3. when
4. -
5. 37530
6. C·······
7. when
8. when
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126165
1. δέ
2. de
3. but
4. -
5. 11610
6. C·······
7. but
8. but
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126166
1. ἦλθον
2. erχomai
3. they came
4. -
5. 20640
6. VIAA3··P
7. ˱they˲ came
8. ˱they˲ came
9. -
10. Y52; R126156
11. 126167
1. ἦλθεν
2. erχomai
3. -
4. -
5. 20640
6. VIAA3··S
7. ˱he˲ came
8. ˱he˲ came
9. -
10. -
11. 126168
1. ὑπέστελλεν
2. hupostellō
3. he was shrinking back
4. -
5. 52880
6. VIIA3··S
7. ˱he˲ ˓was˒ shrinking_back
8. ˱he˲ ˓was˒ shrinking_back
9. -
10. Y52; R126141
11. 126169
1. καί
2. kai
3. and
4. but
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126170
1. ἀφώριζεν
2. aforizō
3. was setting apart
4. -
5. 8730
6. VIIA3··S
7. ˓was˒ setting_apart
8. ˓was˒ setting_apart
9. -
10. Y52; R126141
11. 126171
1. ἑαυτόν
2. heautou
3. himself
4. -
5. 14380
6. R···3AMS
7. himself
8. himself
9. -
10. Y52; R126141
11. 126172
1. φοβούμενος
2. fobeō
3. fearing
4. -
5. 53990
6. VPPM·NMS
7. fearing
8. fearing
9. -
10. Y52; R126141
11. 126173
1. τούς
2. ho
3. the ones
4. -
5. 35880
6. R····AMP
7. the ‹ones›
8. the ‹ones›
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126174
1. ἐκ
2. ek
3. of
4. -
5. 15370
6. P·······
7. of
8. of
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126175
1. περιτομῆς
2. peritomē
3. +the circumcision
4. -
5. 40610
6. N····GFS
7. ˓the˒ circumcision
8. ˓the˒ circumcision
9. -
10. Y52
11. 126176

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:11–21: Paul corrected Peter in Antioch

In this section, Paul told his readers what the true gospel is. It is salvation by faith in Christ alone. Obeying the law is not part of the true gospel. Doing what the law demands does not justify anyone.

Paul told how Peter had deserted the true gospel. He wanted the Galatians to understand how they too were deserting the true gospel. They had started to think that it was necessary to obey the law to be justified. Paul wanted them to read about his rebuke to Peter so that they could recognize how their own situation was similar. They must completely reject justification through the law. He emphasized that justification is by faith in Christ alone.

This section also shows that Paul’s authority as an apostle was at least as great as Peter’s was. This section is also an indirect rebuke of the false teachers who had come to the Galatian churches and required the non-Jews to adopt Jewish traditions to be accepted as true Christians.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Paul rebukes Peter

Paul defended the truth of the gospel

Paul shows how Peter was wrong

Paragraph 2:11–13

In this paragraph, Paul wrote about an event that happened when he and Barnabas were teaching together in Antioch. (Acts 11:25–30 also talks about their time in Antioch.) During that period, Peter came to visit. While he was there, a group of Jewish Christians from Jerusalem also arrived. They did not accept uncircumcised non-Jewish believers as true Christians. While these people were in Antioch, Peter, Barnabas, and some of the other Jewish Christians decided to stop having fellowship with the uncircumcised non-Jewish believers.

Peter’s actions did not follow the truth of the gospel. So Paul rebuked him for his actions.

2:12a–b

For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.

I did that because Peter frequently/always ate with the Gentile believers before/until certain men came from James.
When Peter first arrived, he regularly ate with those believers who were not Jews. But then some Jews arrived whom James had sent.

The clause “certain men came from James” (in 2:12a) describes what happened after Peter had been eating with the Gentiles (2:12b). In some languages, it will be more natural to change the order of these two clauses. For example:

^bHe ate with people who were not Jewish ^auntil some men James had sent from Jerusalem arrived. (GW)

^bPeter used to eat with the Gentiles, ^abut then some men from James arrived.

2:12a

For: Verse 2:12 explains why Paul rebuked Peter. The Greek introduces this explanation with a conjunction that the BSB translates as For.

Some other ways to introduce this explanation are:

I rebuked him because

I did this because

Here’s what was happening:

Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. For example:

Before certain men came from James (NIV)

In some languages, it may not necessary to use a conjunction here either.

before certain men came from James: There are two ways to interpret the way that these certain men were connected to James:

They were sent from/by James. (James was the leader of the church at Jerusalem.) And they came with a message from James. For example:
Before some men who had been sent by James arrived there (GNT) (GNT, CEV, GW, NCV)
They came from the church in Jerusalem where James was the leader. But they came with their own message, not a message from James. According to this interpretation, these Jewish believers are the same men mentioned in Acts 15:24. This verse in Acts tells us that these men were not sent by the leaders in Jerusalem, although they had come from the church there. For example:
some Jewish friends of James came (NLT96)

Many English versions are ambiguous, and so it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), with the majority of English versions that express a specific interpretation.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

until some men James had sent from Jerusalem arrived (GW)

when some Jews arrived whom James had sent

As mentioned above, it may be more natural to put this clause after 2:12b. See an example above and in the Display.

certain men: The phrase certain men refers to some Jewish believers.

2:12b

he used to eat with the Gentiles: This clause indicates that, in the past, Peter had regularly eaten with the Gentiles, but then he stopped.

Jews were not allowed to eat with non-Jews, because they thought that they became unclean by doing so. When Peter, a Jew, ate with the Gentiles, it showed that he accepted them and had close fellowship with them. This was how Peter behaved when he first arrived in Antioch.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers (GNT)

at first, he always/regularly ate with Gentile Christians

the Gentiles: Here, the phrase the Gentiles refers to the Christians in Antioch who were not Jews and did not follow the Jewish laws.

Another way to translate this clause is:

Gentile believers

2:12c

But when they arrived,

But after these men came,
After these men arrived in Antioch,

But when they arrived: There is a contrast between Peter eating with the Gentile believers and Peter separating himself from them. Many English versions introduce this contrast with the word But.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

But after these men arrived (GNT)

After they came to Antioch

2:12d

he began to draw back and separate himself,

he gradually withdrew and began to keep himself away from the Gentile believers,
he began to avoid eating with the Gentile believers and began to not associate with them.
Peter started retreating little by little from the non-Jewish believers.

he began to draw back and separate himself: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as draw back also means “withdraw” or “retreat.” This verb and the verb that the BSB translates as separate himself are very similar in meaning. These verbs imply that Peter stopped eating with the Gentiles.

The forms of both Greek verbs also imply that Peter gradually began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentile believers at meals. He did not do it all at once.

Some ways to translate this clause are:

Find synonyms to translate these two verbs. For example:
he gradually withdrew and began to keep himself away from the Gentile believers
Translate one verb as “stopped eating.” For example:
he gradually avoided/stopped eating with the Gentile believers and began to not associate with them
little by little Peter started retreating from the non-Jewish believers and no longer ate with them
Translate both verbs as one. For example:
he gradually distanced himself from believers who were not Jews
soon stopped eating with Gentiles (CEV)

2:12e

for fear of those in the circumcision group.

because he feared those people who believed that all Christians should be circumcised.
He/Peter did this because he was afraid of those Jews who said that all men must be circumcised in order to be right with God.

for fear of those in the circumcision group: There are at least two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the BSB translates as the circumcision group:

It is a specific term referring to the group of Jews who insisted that a man must be circumcised in order for God to accept him. For example:
He was afraid of those who insisted that circumcision was necessary. (GW) (BSB, GNT, NET, GW, NLT)
It is a general term for all Jews. (All Jewish men were circumcised.) For some unspecified reason, Peter was afraid of, or concerned about, these people. For example:
Peter was afraid of the Jews (CEV) (CEV, NCV, JBP, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). In Galatians, Paul showed that is it not necessary for a man to be circumcised in order to be saved, and interpretation (1) is consistent with that.

Furthermore, this circumcision party could have been:

a group of Jewish Christians in Jerusalem whom the men from James told Peter about.
Jewish militants who were not Christians and were persecuting Jewish Christians. It is possible that the men from James told Peter about these men.
the men from James themselves

In your translation, you should not specify which group it was.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

He was afraid of those who insisted that circumcision was necessary. (GW)

he was afraid of those who were in favor of circumcising them (GNT)

He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. (NLT)

Peter was perhaps afraid that this group would not approve of him eating with Gentile believers. He was perhaps afraid of what they would think or say about him. He was not afraid that they would physically harm him. If this party was (b) above, he may have even feared that his actions could cause Jewish militants to persecute Jewish believers.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πρό τοῦ Γάρ ἐλθεῖν τινάς ἀπό Ἰακώβου μετά τῶν ἐθνῶν συνήσθιεν ὅτε δέ ἦλθον ὑπέστελλεν καί ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτόν φοβούμενος τούς ἐκ περιτομῆς)

Here, the word For introduces Paul’s reason for why he opposed Cephas to his face (See: [2:11](../02/11.md)) and for why Paul claimed in [2:11](../02/11.md) that Cephas stood condemned. Use a natural way in your language for introducing a reason. If it would be more natural in your language to state the reason for an action before giving the result, see the note for [2:11](../02/11.md) on creating a verse bridge. Alternate translation: [The reason is that] or [The reason that Peter stood condemned is that]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / go

ἐλθεῖν & ἦλθον

˓to˒_come & ˱they˲_came

Your language may say “went” rather than came in contexts such as this. Use whichever is more natural. Alternate translation: [went … they went]

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

δὲ

Paul uses the word But here to introduce a contrast between how Peter acted before certain ones came from James and how he acted after they came. Use a natural way in your language for introducing a contrast.

ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτόν

˓was˒_setting_apart himself

Alternate translation: [was staying away from the Gentile believers]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

φοβούμενος τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς

fearing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: πρό τοῦ Γάρ ἐλθεῖν τινάς ἀπό Ἰακώβου μετά τῶν ἐθνῶν συνήσθιεν ὅτε δέ ἦλθον ὑπέστελλεν καί ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτόν φοβούμενος τούς ἐκ περιτομῆς)

If it would help your readers the reason Peter was afraid can be stated explicitly. See [6:12](../06/12.md) where Paul says that those trying to compel the Galatian believers were doing so because they did not want to be persecuted. Alternate translation: [being afraid that the unbelieving Jews might persecute him]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς

See how you translated the phrase the circumcision in [2:7](../02/07.md). Here, the term the circumcision probably refers specifically to Jews who were not believers in Jesus, since it is unlikely that Peter would have feared Jewish Christians or the men whom James sent.

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 2:12

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 2:11–21: Paul corrected Peter in Antioch

Paragraph 2:11–13

2:12a–b

2:12a

2:12b

2:12c

2:12d

2:12e

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