Paul Rebukes Peter; Justification by Faith
Galatians 2:11-21
Gal.2.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- Οτε: CONJ
- δε: CONJ
- ηλθεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- Κηφας: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εις: PREP
- Αντιοχειαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- κατα: PREP
- προσωπον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- αντεστην: VERB,aor,act,ind,1,sg
- οτι: CONJ
- κατεγνωσμενος: VERB,perf,pass,part,nom,sg,m
- ην·: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- Acts 11:1-3 (verbal): Describes the same incident: Jewish Christians in Jerusalem 'criticized' Peter for eating with Gentiles—language and charge parallel Paul's remark that Peter was 'condemned' (κατεγνωσμενος).
- Acts 10:28 (thematic): Peter's earlier declaration that he should not call any person common or unclean contrasts with his later withdrawal in Antioch; highlights the inconsistency Paul confronts.
- Acts 15:7-11 (structural): Peter's public defense at the Jerusalem council that God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile parallels the theological issue at stake in the Antioch incident—whether Jewish practice should govern Gentile believers.
- Galatians 2:14 (verbal): Immediate literary parallel within Galatians: verse 14 continues the narrative—Paul explains that he 'said to Cephas' publicly because others were not straightforward about the gospel, directly connecting to 2:11.
- 2 Samuel 12:7 (allusion): Nathan's direct confrontation of David ('You are the man') provides a prophetic precedent for an outspoken rebuke of a prominent leader; thematically parallels Paul's face-to-face opposition of Peter.
Alternative generated candidates
- But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
- But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Gal.2.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- προ: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- γαρ: PART
- ελθειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
- τινας: PRON,acc,pl,m
- απο: PREP
- Ιακωβου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- μετα: PREP
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- εθνων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- συνησθιεν·οτε: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,pl
- δε: CONJ
- ηλθον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- υπεστελλεν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- αφωριζεν: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- εαυτον: PRON,acc,sg,masc,reflex
- φοβουμενος: VERB,pres,mid,part,nom,sg,m
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- εκ: PREP
- περιτομης: NOUN,gen,sg,f
Parallels
- Acts 10:28-29 (allusion): Peter recounts that he ate with Gentiles (Cornelius' household) after the vision—background for his earlier table fellowship with Gentiles mentioned in Gal. 2:12.
- Acts 11:1-3 (allusion): The Jerusalem church (those 'of the circumcision') criticizes Peter for eating with Gentiles when he went to Antioch—parallels the pressure that led him to withdraw in Gal. 2:12.
- Galatians 2:11-14 (structural): Immediate narrative context: v.11 introduces the incident of Peter’s behavior, vv.13–14 describe his withdrawal and Paul’s public rebuke—same episode as v.12.
- 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 (thematic): Paul explains adapting to Jews and Gentiles for ministry purposes; thematically contrasts Paul’s principled flexibility with Peter’s later withdrawal from Gentile table fellowship.
- Romans 14:1-4 (thematic): Discussion of disputes over food and acceptance of weaker believers—provides theological backdrop to the controversy over eating with Gentiles and judging others’ table practices reflected in Gal. 2:12.
Alternative generated candidates
- For before certain men came from James he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they arrived he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision.
- For before certain men came from James he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they arrived he drew back and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision.
Gal.2.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- συνυπεκριθησαν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,pl
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- λοιποι: ADJ,nom,pl,m
- Ιουδαιοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- ωστε: CONJ
- και: CONJ
- Βαρναβας: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- συναπηχθη: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- υποκρισει: NOUN,dat,sg,f
Parallels
- Galatians 2:11-14 (structural): Immediate context of the same incident — Paul recounts Peter’s withdrawal from table fellowship and explicitly rebukes him; v.13 describes others, including Barnabas, joining in the hypocrisy.
- Acts 11:2-3 (thematic): Early report to Jerusalem criticizing Peter for eating with Gentiles — parallels the controversy over table fellowship that precipitated Peter’s later withdrawal in Antioch.
- Acts 15:1-5 (structural): Accounts of Judaizing agitators coming from Judea to impose circumcision on Gentile believers; mirrors the pressure from ‘certain men from James’ that led to the compromise described in Galatians.
- Luke 22:54-62 (thematic): Peter’s denial of Jesus under pressure provides a thematic parallel of a prominent disciple failing under social pressure and acting inconsistently with prior fellowship.
- Matthew 23:27-28 (thematic): Jesus’ denunciation of hypocrisy (whitewashed tombs) gives a canonical illustration of the moral/religious hypocrisy Paul accuses Peter, Barnabas, and the others of displaying.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the rest of the Jews joined him in pretense, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.
- And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.
Gal.2.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- αλλ᾽οτε: CONJ
- ειδον: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- οτι: CONJ
- ουκ: PART,neg
- ορθοποδουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- προς: PREP
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- αληθειαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ευαγγελιου: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- ειπον: VERB,aor,act,ind,1,sg
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- Κηφα: PROPN,dat,sg,m
- εμπροσθεν: PREP
- παντων·Ει: ADJ,gen,pl,m
- συ: PRON,nom,sg,2
- Ιουδαιος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- υπαρχων: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,sg,m
- εθνικως: ADV
- και: CONJ
- ουκ: PART,neg
- Ιουδαικως: ADV
- ζης: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- πως: ADV
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- εθνη: NOUN,acc,pl,neut
- αναγκαζεις: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- Ιουδαιζειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
Parallels
- Romans 2:17-24 (thematic): Paul accuses certain Jews of hypocrisy—teaching others while failing to live by the law—parallel concern that Jewish practice is forcing Gentiles into Jewish ways and causing scandal.
- 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 (verbal): Paul describes becoming 'as one under the law' or 'as one not having the law' to reach different groups; echoes the issue of living like Jews or Gentiles and the tensions over identity and practice.
- Acts 11:1-3 (allusion): Earlier complaint against Peter for eating with Gentiles—another piece of the same table-fellowship controversy that underlies Paul's public rebuke of Cephas in Antioch.
- Acts 15:10-11 (thematic): At the Jerusalem council Peter argues against imposing the Jewish yoke on Gentile believers—connects to the dispute over compelling Gentiles to 'Judaize' that Paul confronts in Galatians 2:14.
- Matthew 23:27-28 (thematic): Jesus' denunciation of Pharisaic hypocrisy (outward conformity but inward failure) parallels Paul's charge that Peter's behavior was inconsistent with the truth of the gospel and amounted to hypocrisy before Gentiles.
Alternative generated candidates
- But when I saw that they were not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how do you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
- But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like a Jew, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as Jews?”
Gal.2.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- Ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- φυσει: ADV
- Ιουδαιοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- ουκ: PART,neg
- εξ: PREP
- εθνων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- αμαρτωλοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
Parallels
- Romans 3:9 (thematic): Paul's argument about Jews and Gentiles together being under sin; connects to the discussion of Jewish identity and culpability in Galatians 2.
- Romans 2:17-20 (thematic): A discussion of what it means to be a Jew (possession of the law, circumcision, knowledge of God) that parallels Galatians' appeal to Jewish status and responsibilities.
- Acts 11:2-3 (structural): Peter is criticized for eating with uncircumcised Gentiles—an incident addressing Jewish/Gentile table fellowship that echoes the conflict recounted in Galatians 2.
- Philippians 3:5 (verbal): Paul lists his Jewish credentials (circumcision, tribe of Benjamin) which parallels Galatians' claim 'we are Jews by nature'—asserting ethnic and religious identity.
- Romans 3:22-23 (thematic): The declaration that there is no difference—all have sinned—relates theologically to the Galatian dispute over whether Jewish status removes one from the universal condition of sinfulness.
Alternative generated candidates
- We ourselves are Jews by nature and not Gentile sinners;
- We ourselves are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles.
Gal.2.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ειδοτες: PTCP,perf,act,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- οτι: CONJ
- ου: PART,neg
- δικαιουται: VERB,pres,pas,ind,3,sg
- ανθρωπος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εξ: PREP
- εργων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εαν: CONJ
- μη: PART
- δια: PREP
- πιστεως: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- Ιησου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- Χριστου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- εις: PREP
- Χριστον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- Ιησουν: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- επιστευσαμεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,1,pl
- ινα: CONJ
- δικαιωθωμεν: VERB,aor,pas,sub,1,pl
- εκ: PREP
- πιστεως: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- Χριστου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- ουκ: PART,neg
- εξ: PREP
- εργων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- οτι: CONJ
- εξ: PREP
- εργων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ου: PART,neg
- δικαιωθησεται: VERB,fut,pas,ind,3,sg
- πασα: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- σαρξ: NOUN,nom,sg,f
Parallels
- Romans 3:28 (verbal): Paul's parallel formulation: justification is by faith apart from works of law—same theological claim and similar wording.
- Ephesians 2:8-9 (thematic): Affirms salvation/justification is by grace through faith and not by human works, reinforcing the argument against reliance on works.
- Galatians 3:11 (verbal): Within the same letter Paul repeats the claim that no one is justified by the law but by faith, linking to the same polemic against legalism.
- Habakkuk 2:4 (quotation): Old Testament source quoted elsewhere by Paul ('the righteous shall live by his faith'), which undergirds Paul's doctrine of justification by faith.
- James 2:24 (thematic): Presents a counterpoint within the New Testament—'a person is justified by works and not by faith alone'—engaging the faith/works issue addressed in Galatians.
Alternative generated candidates
- yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law; for by the works of the law no one will be justified.
- Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. We have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law; for by works of the law no one will be justified.
Gal.2.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ει: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- δε: CONJ
- ζητουντες: VERB,pres,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- δικαιωθηναι: VERB,aor,pass,inf
- εν: PREP
- Χριστω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- ευρεθημεν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,1,pl
- και: CONJ
- αυτοι: PRON,nom,pl,3
- αμαρτωλοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- αρα: PART
- Χριστος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- αμαρτιας: NOUN,acc,pl,f
- διακονος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- μη: PART
- γενοιτο·: VERB,aor,mid,opt,3,sg
Parallels
- Romans 6:1-2 (verbal): Same rhetorical question and rebuke about continuing in sin because of grace—'Shall we continue in sin? By no means!' parallels Paul's rejection of making Christ a minister of sin.
- Romans 3:8 (thematic): Addresses the slanderous idea of using justification to promote sin ('Let us do evil that good may come'); echoes the concern behind Gal. 2:17 and Paul's denial of such a charge.
- Galatians 2:21 (structural): Within the same argument: if righteousness came through the law, Christ died for nothing—both verses defend the proper role of Christ against misunderstandings about justification and sin.
- Romans 4:5 (thematic): Affirms that God 'justifies the ungodly'—supports the notion that being found a sinner while justified in Christ does not implicate Christ as a minister of sin.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? By no means! For if I rebuild what I once tore down, I make myself a transgressor.
- But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? By no means.
Gal.2.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ει: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- γαρ: PART
- α: PRON,nom,sg,n
- κατελυσα: VERB,aor,act,ind,1,sg
- ταυτα: PRON,acc,pl,n
- παλιν: ADV
- οικοδομω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- παραβατην: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- εμαυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- συνιστανω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
Parallels
- Galatians 2:16 (verbal): Immediate context: Paul argues justification is not by works of the law but by faith in Christ—supports the force of 2:18’s warning against ‘rebuilding’ the law one has set aside.
- Galatians 3:1-3 (thematic): Paul rebukes the Galatians for beginning in the Spirit and trying to be perfected by the flesh—parallel critique of reverting to law‑based practice after receiving grace.
- Galatians 5:4 (thematic): Explicit consequence language: those seeking to be justified by the law are severed from Christ and have fallen from grace—echoes the idea that returning to the law makes one a transgressor.
- Romans 3:31 (thematic): Paul asks whether faith nullifies the law and answers ‘By no means! Rather we uphold the law.’ This clarifies Paul’s stance on law and faith and helps contrast his claim in Gal.2:18 about not ‘rebuilding’ the law as justification.
- Romans 2:23-24 (thematic): Critique of those who boast in the law yet break it—parallels the charge implied in Gal.2:18 that reverting to law‑based righteousness renders one a transgressor and hypocrite.
Alternative generated candidates
- For through the law I died to the law, that I might live to God.
- For if I rebuild what I once destroyed, I demonstrate that I am a transgressor.
Gal.2.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- εγω: PRON,nom,sg,1
- γαρ: PART
- δια: PREP
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- νομω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- απεθανον: VERB,aor,act,ind,1,sg
- ινα: CONJ
- θεω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- ζησω·Χριστω: VERB,aor,act,subj,1,sg; NOUN,dat,sg,m
- συνεσταυρωμαι·: VERB,perf,mid/pass,ind,1,sg
Parallels
- Romans 7:4 (verbal): Speaks of being "dead to the law" through Christ's body, closely echoing Galatians' language that one dies to the law in order to belong to Christ.
- Romans 6:6 (verbal): Affirms that the 'old self' was crucified with Christ, paralleling Gal.2:19's declaration of being crucified with Christ and thus freed from the power of the law/sin.
- Romans 6:11 (thematic): Commands believers to reckon themselves dead to sin but alive to God—matching Gal.2:19's purpose clause: 'that I might live to God.'
- Galatians 6:14 (thematic): Paul's emphasis on boasting only in the cross echoes Gal.2:19's focus on participation in Christ's crucifixion as decisive for identity and life.
- Colossians 2:20-22 (allusion): Speaks of being dead with Christ to the elemental principles (rules) of the world, resonating with Galatians' theme of dying to the law that once governed believers.
Alternative generated candidates
- I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
- For through the law I died to the law, that I might live to God.
Gal.2.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ζω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- δε: CONJ
- ουκετι: ADV
- εγω: PRON,nom,sg,1
- ζη: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- δε: CONJ
- εν: PREP
- εμοι: PRON,dat,sg,1
- Χριστος·ο: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- νυν: ADV
- ζω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- εν: PREP
- σαρκι: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- εν: PREP
- πιστει: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- ζω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- υιου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αγαπησαντος: VERB,aor,act,part,gen,m,sg
- με: PRON,acc,sg,1
- και: CONJ
- παραδοντος: VERB,aor,act,part,gen,m,sg
- εαυτον: PRON,acc,sg,masc,reflex
- υπερ: PREP
- εμου: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Galatians 2:19 (structural): Immediate context: Paul says he died through the law so that he might live for God—this sentence provides the logical basis for 2:20's claim that 'I have been crucified with Christ' and the resulting new life.
- Romans 6:6 (verbal): Shares the language and concept of being 'crucified with' Christ/with him and the consequent breaking of the power of sin, linking death with a transformed life in Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 4:10–11 (verbal): Speaks of 'always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus' so that 'the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our bodies,' closely paralleling the idea that Christ lives in Paul and he lives by faith in the Son.
- Colossians 3:3 (thematic): Declares believers 'have died' and their life is 'hidden with Christ,' resonating with Gal. 2:20's theme that the believer's old self is gone and the new life is Christ-inhabited.
- Philippians 1:21 (thematic): Paul's statement 'to me to live is Christ' echoes Gal. 2:20's 'no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,' expressing the same existential identification with Christ as the believer's life-purpose.
Alternative generated candidates
- The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.
- I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal.2.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ουκ: PART,neg
- αθετω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- χαριν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου·ει: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- γαρ: PART
- δια: PREP
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- δικαιοσυνη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- αρα: PART
- Χριστος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- δωρεαν: ADV
- απεθανεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- Romans 3:21-24 (thematic): Contrasts righteousness by the law with righteousness given by God through faith in Christ; emphasizes justification as a gracious gift, not a law‑based achievement—echoing Gal.2:21's point that law‑based righteousness would nullify grace.
- Romans 4:4-5 (thematic): Draws the distinction between wages (earned by works) and a gift (grace); righteousness is credited apart from works to the one who believes, paralleling Paul’s insistence that justification is by grace, not law.
- Galatians 5:4 (thematic): Within the same letter Paul warns that seeking justification by the law amounts to falling away from grace—an immediate parallel and practical application of the claim that if righteousness came through the law, Christ died for nothing.
- Acts 13:39 (verbal): Declares that through Jesus everyone who believes is freed from things from which the law could not justify them; directly parallels the claim that justification cannot be provided by the law and underscores salvation as through Christ, not law.
Alternative generated candidates
- I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
- I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he was plainly in the wrong.
For before certain men came from James he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they arrived he drew back and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their pretense. But when I saw that they were not walking straight according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live as Jews?”
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. Thus we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law; for by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? By no means!
For if I rebuild what I once destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor.
For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.