Galatians (International Critical Commentary)

This classic commentary is organized as follows:

Introduction
I. Galatia and the Galatians
II. Where Were the Galatian Churches?
III. The Time and Place of Writing
IV. Occasion and Purpose of the Letter
V. The Questions at Issue
VI. Genuineness and Integrity
VII. Analysis of the Letter
VIII. The Text
IX. Bibliography

Detached Notes on Important Terms of Paul’s Vocabulary
I. Ἁποστοδος
II. Πατηρ as Applied to God
III. Titles and Predicates of Jesus
IV. Ἐκκλησια
V. Ἕτερος and Ἄλλος
VI. Ευαγγελιον
VII. Χαρις
VIII. Ειρηνη
IX. Αιων and Αιωνιος
X. Ἐνεστως
XI. Ἀποκαλυπτω and Ἀποκαλυψις
XII. Ιὀυδαια
XIII. Ἁμαπτια and Ἁμαρτανω
XIV. Νομος
XV. Δικαιος, Δικαιοσυνη, and Δικαιοω
XVI. Πιστις and Πιστευω
XVII. Πνευμα and Σαρξ
XVIII. Διαθηκη
XIX. Σπερματι and Σπερμασιν
XX. Τα Στοιχεια Του Κοσμου
XXI. Ἀγαπαω and Ἀγαπη

I. Introduction (1:1-10)
1. Salutation, including the assertion of the writer’s apostolic commission (1:1-5)
2. Expression of indignant surprise at the threatened abandonment of his teaching by the Galatians, in which is disclosed the occasion of the letter (1:6-10)

II. Personal Portion of the Letter (1:11-2:21)
1. Proposition: Paul received the gospel not from men, but immediately from God (1:11, 12)
2. Evidence substantiating the preceding assertion of his independence of human authority (vv. 11, 12) drawn from various periods of his life (1:13-2:21)

III. Refutatory Portion of the Letter (Chaps., 3, 4)
1. Appeal to the early Christian experience of the Galatians (3:1-5)
2. Argument from the faith of Abraham, refuting the contention of his opponents that only through conformity to law could men become sons of Abraham (3:6-9)
3. Counter-argument that those whose standing is fixed by works of law are by the logic of the legalists under a curse, the curse of the law; yet that their logic is perverse, for O. T. teaches that men are justified by faith, and from the curse of the law Christ redeemed us when he died on the cross (3:10-14)
4. Argument from the irrevocableness of a covenant and the priority of the covenant made with Abraham to the law, to the effect that the covenant is still in force (3:15-18)
5. Answer to the objection that the preceding argument leaves the law without a reason for being (3:19-22)
6. Characterisation of the condition under law, and, in contrast with it, the condition since faith came; then we were held in custody under law, now we are all sons of God, heirs of the promise (3:23-29)
7. Continuation of the argument for the inferiority of the condition under law, with the use of the illustration of guardianship (4:1-7)
8. Description of the former condition of the Galatians as one of bondage to gods not really such, and exhortation to them not to return to that state (4:8-11)
9. An affectionate appeal to the Galatians to enter fully into their freedom from law, referring to their former enthusiastic reception of the apostle and affection for him, and expressing the wish that he were now with them and could speak to them in more persuasive language than he had formerly used (4:12-20)
10. A supplementary argument based on an allegorical use of the story of the two sons of Abraham, and intended to induce the Galatians to see that they are joining the wrong branch of the family (4:21-31)

IV. Hortatory Portion of the Letter (5:1-6:10)
1. Exhortations directly connected with the doctrine of the letter (5:1-6:5)
2. Exhortations having a less direct relation to the principal subject of the epistle (6:6-10)

V. Conclusion of the Letter (6:11-18)
1. Final warning against the judaisers (6:11-16)
2. Appeal enforced by reference to his own sufferings (6:17)
3. Final benedictions (6:18)