GAL 2:18 Interlinear View

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 2:14–21

In this paragraph, Paul asked Peter and the other Jewish believers to live according to the true gospel. This meant that they had to reject the idea that they were justified by obeying the law. Paul emphasized that justification is by faith in Christ alone. Peter’s actions had implied that it was also necessary to keep the law. That would make Christ’s death meaningless and nullify the grace of God.

In 2:14c, Paul began to speak directly to Peter. There are at least three ways to interpret where Paul’s direct speech to Peter ends:

It ends after verse 21. (NIV, NASB, CEV)
It ends after verse 14. In verses 15–21, what Paul said to Peter is indirect speech. (BSB, ESV, NET, RSV, JBP, GNT, NJB, GW, NCV)
It ends after verse 16. (NLT)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). In 2:15, it is possible that Paul began to also talk to the other people who were there. But he was still also talking to Peter. So Paul’s speech does not end until verse 21.Schreiner on page 150 says, “The first question to be asked is where Paul’s words to Peter, which began in 2:11, end. Since quotation marks are lacking in the original manuscripts, certainty eludes us. Possibly the words directed to Peter conclude after 2:14, 2:15, 2:16, 2:18, or 2:21. I personally argue that it makes most sense to see all of 2:14–21 as addressed to Peter. At least four pieces of evidence support this conclusion. (1) Verse 15 is not clearly set off from 2:11–14. (2) The first person plural pronouns in 2:15–17 most naturally refer to Jewish Christians and would speak to such people in Antioch. (3) Verse 17 may reflect the charges against Peter. (4) A new subject commences on 3:1, where the Galatians are addressed directly.”

If you choose option (2), your translation should still show that Paul is indirectly speaking to Peter in 2:15–21. For example, at the beginning of 2:15, the JBP says:

And then I went on to explain that (JBP)

2:18a

If I rebuild what I have already torn down,

For if I build up again what I had destroyed,
What I mean is, if a person returns to obeying the law in order to be right with God, it is as if he rebuilds a building that he had destroyed.
If we^(incl) stop obeying the law in order to be made right with God, then we start obeying it again,

In 2:18, Paul explains why Christ did not cause Christian Jews to be sinners (2:17). A sinner is not someone who abandons the law and believes in Jesus to make him righteous. A sinner is someone who returns to following the law after abandoning it. Paul introduces this explanation with a Greek conjunction is often translated as “for,” as in many English versions. Some other ways to introduce this explanation are:

What I mean is that

Rather (NLT)

The BSB has not translated this conjunction, and some other versions, such as the NIV and GNT, also do not translate it. In some languages, it will not be necessary to translate this conjunction either. Connect 2:18a to 2:17c in a way that is natural in your language.

If I rebuild what I have already torn down: This “if” clause contains a metaphor. In this metaphor, Paul compared justification by following the law to a building. He compared abandoning the law as a means of justification to tearing down the building. And he compared returning to obeying the law as a means of justification to rebuilding the building. This can be charted as follows:

Paul’s metaphor	nonmetaphorical form
a building	Jews believe that a person is made right with God by obeying the laws of Moses.
I destroyed the building	When I became a Christian, I stopped believing that it was necessary to obey the law to be right with God.
If I rebuild the building	If I return to again believing that it is necessary to obey the law to be right with God,

Some possible ways to translate this metaphor are:

Translate the metaphor. In some languages, it will be more natural to change the order of the terms rebuild and torn down. For example:
if I tear down something and then build it again (CEV)
Use a simile. For example:
If I return to obeying the law for justification, it is as if I rebuild a building that I had destroyed.
Translate the meaning. For example:
If I stop following the law in order to be justified, and then I start following it again
If I believe that it is necessary to believe in Christ for justification instead of following the law, and then I change and start following the law again for justification

I: When Paul used the pronoun I here, he used himself to represent Peter and the other Jewish believers in 2:13a. These were the people who implied that obeying the law was necessary for justification. Paul used the pronoun I here to be polite and indirect.

Some languages can use the pronoun I in this way. In English and many other languages, the pronoun I is confusing here. Some languages use other means to be polite and indirect. For example:

If a person rebuilds what he destroyed

If we rebuild what we destroyed

If someone destroys something then rebuilds it again

In this verse, use whichever form is most natural in your language. You will also need to translate “I” in 2:18b in the same way.

2:18b

I prove myself to be a lawbreaker.

I show that I am someone who breaks God’s law.
By doing that, he shows that he is a person who did not follow/obey the law.
we^(incl) show that we are sinners.

I prove myself to be a lawbreaker: The Greek word that the BSB translates as prove means “demonstrate” or “show.” A lawbreaker is a person who transgresses/breaks the law. In this clause, Paul stated that people who return to obeying the law for justification show that they are lawbreakers.

Paul was probably still thinking of what Peter did. Peter broke Jewish laws when he ate with Gentiles. (He tore down the building.) Then he started to follow the law again when he stopped eating with them. (He rebuilt the building.) When he returned to following the law, he showed that he had broken the law. He showed that he was a lawbreaker. So Christ was not the one who led him to sin. Peter’s own actions showed that he had become a sinner.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

then I show myself to be someone who breaks the Law (GNT)

then he shows that he did not follow/obey the law

we show that we are sinners

I: You should use the same pronoun or word as you used in 2:18a.

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 2:18

SR Greek word order

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

Paragraph 2:14–21

2:18a

2:18b

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