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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Gal 5 V1 V2 V3 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26
OET (OET-LV) You_all_were_released from chosen_one/messiah, whoever in the_law are_being_justified, from_the grace you_all_fell_from.
OET (OET-RV) You were released from the messiah when you moved to trusting in the law in order to be right with God—you fell away from grace at that point.
In this section, Paul tried to persuade the Galatians believers not to yield to the pressure from the false teachers to get circumcised. He warned them that if they became circumcised in order to receive God’s approval, then they would have rejected the grace and freedom that God had given them. They would become slaves again. He encouraged them to refuse circumcision and remain free.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Keep your freedom (NCV)
Do not become slaves again
In this paragraph, Paul warned the Galatians what would happen if they agreed to be circumcised.
In 5:4, there are two consequences of following the law of Moses:
you are severed from Christ
you have fallen away from grace
In some languages, it is more natural to change the order of the Greek in order to put these two consequences together (as in the BSB). Compare the ESV (which follows the Greek) and the BSB below.
4a You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; 4byou have fallen away from grace. (ESV)
4aYou who are trying to be justified by law have been severed from Christ; 4byou have fallen away from grace. (BSB)
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ;
You(plur) have cut yourselves off from Christ if you are seeking to be justified by the law,
Any of you who think that God accepts you as blameless because you follow the law, you are separated from Christ,
If you(plur) try to obey the law of Moses in order to try to become right with God, you have separated yourselves from Christ.
You who are trying to be justified by the law: This clause identifies the people who are severed from Christ. It is those who want to be made right with God by following/obeying the law of Moses.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
Whoever among you attempts to be straight before God by keeping the law
Any of you who try to follow the law of Moses in order to be made right with God
And if you try to please God by obeying the Law (CEV)
justified: The word justified is the verb form of the noun “righteous.” This word also occurs in 2:16a. See also justify in the Glossary.
have been severed from Christ: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as have been severed means “cut off” or “completely separated” from Christ. This verb points out the serious consequences of adding circumcision to our faith in Christ as a requirement to be saved/justified.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
have cut yourselves off from Christ (NRSV)
have separated yourselves from Christ
your life with Christ is over (NCV)
you have fallen away from grace.
and you turned your back on the grace of God.
and you have refused/rejected the favor/goodness of God.
You have abandoned the kindness/gift of God towards you.
you have fallen away from grace: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as have fallen away from means that the Galatians “have left” or “abandoned” God’s grace. It does not mean that God took his grace away from them.
It is another way of saying “you are separated from Christ.” A person who is separated from Christ is separated from the grace of God. This is the fourth time that Paul has warned about the consequences of accepting circumcision.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
you have turned your back on God’s grace
you have abandoned/rejected the kindness of God towards you
you have gone out of God’s grace
grace: The word grace refers to God’s kindness, generosity, or favor in justifying us through faith in Christ.
Some ways to translate grace are:
God’s favor
God’s kindness
God’s goodness
See grace, Meaning 2 in the Glossary.
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
κατηργήθητε ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ, οἵτινες ἐν νόμῳ δικαιοῦσθε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κατηργήθητε ἀπό Χριστοῦ οἵτινες ἐν νόμῳ δικαιοῦσθε τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε)
You here refers to whoever is being justified by the law. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this more explicit. Alternate translation: [You who are being justified by the law were cut off from Christ]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
κατηργήθητε & δικαιοῦσθε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κατηργήθητε ἀπό Χριστοῦ οἵτινες ἐν νόμῳ δικαιοῦσθε τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε)
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you could state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [You cut yourselves off … is justifying oneself]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
κατηργήθητε ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κατηργήθητε ἀπό Χριστοῦ οἵτινες ἐν νόμῳ δικαιοῦσθε τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε)
Here, cut off refers to being separated from Christ. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [You have ended your relationship with Christ] or [You are separated from Christ]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οἵτινες ἐν νόμῳ δικαιοῦσθε
whoever in ˓the˒_law ˓are_being˒_justified
Paul implies that these people were trying to be justified by obeying the law, which is impossible. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [whoever attempts to be justified by obeying the law]
Note 5 topic: grammar-collectivenouns
νόμῳ
˓the˒_law
See how you translated law in the previous verse.
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε
˱from˲_the grace ˱you_all˲_fell_from
Here Paul speaks of grace as if it were something that a person could fall away from. He means that people who are trying to save themselves by obeying the law do not receive God’s grace. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [you have rejected the grace of God] or [God will no longer be gracious to you]
OET (OET-LV) You_all_were_released from chosen_one/messiah, whoever in the_law are_being_justified, from_the grace you_all_fell_from.
OET (OET-RV) You were released from the messiah when you moved to trusting in the law in order to be right with God—you fell away from grace at that point.
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.