Letter to Galatians

Author: Rabbi Alexander Blend

CHAPTER 1

GREETINGS 1:1-5

Paul, a messenger not from men, nor [chosen] through men, but through Yeshua the Messiah and [from] God the Father, who raised Him from the dead, and all the brothers who [are] with me, to the community of Galatia: Mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our lord, Yeshua the Messiah, who gave himself for our sins, that, according to the will of our Father, he might deliver us from this evil age.

Paul begins his letter by pointing out his special type of mission. It is not from people and not through people. He was sent by God the Father through the Messiah Yeshua. This indication/statement immediately reveals to us one of the main themes of the letter — divine and human.

Most likely, the letter was written as a reaction to a sermon or other attempt to spread some teaching in the Galatian community. From the contents of the letter it can be understood that those who came to preach in Galatia the doctrine that Paul opposes referred to acquaintance with authority figures in the world of believers or hinted at their support. In contrast to this, Paul designates his mission as a mission entrusted to him by the highest authority that can be. He is the messenger of God the Father through the Messiah Yeshua.

3. Grace and peace to you from God our father and our lord, Yeshua the Messiah

In direct accordance with the indication that he was sent by the Father through Yeshua the Messiah, Paul sends a greeting — mercy from God the Father through Yeshua the Messiah.

4…deliver us from this evil era

Paul uses the Greek word aeon, which can mean an age, an era, or one of the worlds. The tradition of the Israelites, Paul’s contemporaries, knew a similar word. The Hebrew word “olam” could mean our (present) world, life after death, the modern world with its realities and the coming messianic era(age). According to this tradition, this “age” is characterized by the confusion of good and evil and the inability to separate one from the other. The world to come was called “an era that is completely good.” It should be noted that Paul is not talking about a future deliverance from hell. He is also not talking about getting rid of something that has yet to happen. He talks about deliverance from that evil era in which, in his own words, everyone lives. When Paul talks about deliverance, most likely, he is talking about deliverance from the power of this evil era, about leaving the subordination of its laws.

1:6-9 I am amazed that you so quickly deviate from the Messiah who called you in mercy to another good news, which is not another good news, but some people intimidate you and want to pervert the good news of the Messiah. But if we, or even an angel from heaven, proclaim to you something that contradicts what we have proclaimed to you, let there be excommunication. Having said this, I will repeat it again: if anyone proclaims contrary to what you have received, let there be excommunication.

Paul, as in no other letter, gets straight to the point. Although he uses a rather neutral word I’m surprised, this expresses such surprise that one cannot come to terms with it. Perhaps the closest analogue in the Jewish tradition would be the word “tmiya” (surprise close to indignation). Surprise that what is happening radically contradicts our idea of ​​​​the order of things. On the part of the teacher, which Paul certainly is, this surprise requires action. In this case, it prompted Paul to write his very first letter.

What surprised Paul? His disciples, to whom he conveyed the good news in accordance with the mission entrusted to him by God himself, easily deviated from what they had been taught, under the influence of “another good news.” Paul immediately makes the reservation that this is not another kind of good news, because it is not good at all. This is an attempt by people to intimidate the believers of Galatia, sow confusion in them, and distort their understanding of the teachings of Moshiach.

Paul recommends acting tough. If anyone propagates a teaching contrary to what Paul himself conveyed, let him be excommunicated. Paul plays it safe and repeats: “If anyone teaches anything contrary to what you have accepted (this is in case the self-proclaimed teacher says that the foolish Galatians misunderstood Paul), let him be excommunicated.” Paul is not only confident that the doctrine was correctly proclaimed, but also that it was correctly received.

PAUL’S PERSONAL STORY (1.10 — 2.10)

1:10-12 Do I want to please people now or God? Do I try to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a slave of the Messiah. I proclaim to you, brethren, that the good news that I proclaimed is not human, for I received it and learned it not from man, but through the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah.

Paul returns to the theme hinted at in the greeting, the theme of the divine and the human. So, Paul does not seek the approval of people, does not try to please them. Therefore, it is not surprising that there may be an indignant reaction to his teaching and some accusations may be made in his direction, as apparently happened in Galatia. Paul explains that he did not preach to please anyone. The teaching he teaches is not received from people, so people, no matter how authoritative they may seem, cannot judge this revelation in any way.

From further explanations we can understand the words of Paul If only I were still a people pleaser…

1:12-14 You have heard about my former way of life in Judaism, that I cruelly persecuted the community of God, and devastated it, and prospered in Judaism more than many of my peers, being an immoderate zealot of my fatherly traditions.

Paul begins a story about himself. With this story, he wants to confirm the theses stated above that his teaching is not human teaching and that he does not seek to please people. Speaking about his former way of life in Judaism, Paul points to the very period when he pleased people. With great jealousy he persecuted and devastated communities of believers. One can’t help but wonder why he did this? It is clear enough that the communities consisted of law-keeping Jews who, in general terms, lived the same way as Paul himself. What was the reason for Paul’s persecution of the congregation of believers?

It can be said that the only radical difference between the followers of Yeshua and the Pharisees was in the matter of ordination. For ordination (Heb. smicha) there was a very serious attitude. The chain of rabbinic tradition of ordination was thought to go back to Moshe himself. The emergence of an alternative chain of transmission from Yeshua was unthinkable and encroached on the special status of Moshe as a prophet, and also called into question the authority of the rabbis and the Oral Torah. Therefore, Paul persecuted Yeshua’s community, defending the authority of the teachers whose tradition he had adopted. Thus, the persecution of Yeshua’s community was, in essence, pleasing the people.

It should be noted that a brilliant career awaited Paul along this path. Teachers of this level enjoyed the absolute respect of the people and did not need anything. If a person was looking for the approval of people, the path of the rabbi was the most convenient.

Paul continues his story:

1:15-17 When God, who chose me from my mother’s womb and called me by His mercy, deigned to reveal His Son in me so that I would proclaim Him to the pagans, I did not then consult with flesh and blood and did not go to Jerusalem to the messengers who preceded me, but went to Arabia and again returned to Damascus.

This time he is talking about an event that the readers of the message most likely knew about from his personal testimony or from various oral traditions circulating in communities. Paul says that, having received a revelation from Yeshua and realizing that the One whose disciples he persecuted to please people was the real Messiah of Israel, even then Paul did not consult with people. It would seem logical, having received such a revelation, to become a disciple of one of Yeshua’s living messengers. But Paul did not take this path, but went to Arabia, apparently wanting to rethink the teaching in the light of revelation, and then returned to Damascus. That is, until Paul formed within himself a new teaching — the good news, based on his own knowledge, a person who was more successful than his peers, and revelations received through Yeshua — he did not go to meet with His messengers.

1:18-24 Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to see Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. I saw no other messenger except Jacob, the master’s brother. And in what I am writing to you, I am not lying before God. After this I went to the countries of Syria and Cilicia. I was not personally known to the communities of the Messiah in Judea, but they only heard that the one who once persecuted them was now proclaiming the faith that he had previously destroyed, and they glorified God because of me.

As we know from the texts that have come down to us from the Ebionites (“mendicants”), representatives of the sect of Yeshua’s followers who observe the law and ritual purity, they accused Paul of falsely posing as an educated Jew. These accusations also included comparisons with Esau. The midrash is known that Esau loved to pretend to be a scholar in order to please his father. He often walked under the windows of the teaching house and listened to what the classes were about, then he came to his father and, with an air of innocence turning into holiness, asked whether it was necessary to separate the tithes from the straw and salt. Thus Esau impressed his father as a righteous man. Paul was also accused of this “Esavish” lifestyle. Therefore, he says that he did not take anything from Yeshua’s messengers. His teaching is not based on speculation or mockery of the teaching received from the messengers who preceded him, but on real revelation and only on it.

CHAPTER 2

2:1-5 Then, fourteen years later, I again went to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. I walked by revelation and suggested there and especially to the most famous the message that I am preaching to the pagans, whether I am struggling or have labored in vain. But they did not force Titus, who was with me, although he was a Greek, to be circumcised, and we did not yield or submit for an hour to the false brothers who crept in, secretly coming to spy on our freedom, which we have in the Messiah Yeshua, in order to enslave us, so that the truth of the good news might be preserved among you.

Paul continues his testimony of God and man in his ministry. He says that, already an established teacher, 14 years after his conversion he came to Jerusalem, taking with him the uncircumcised Greek Titus. What was the peculiarity of such an act? We know that Jews both in the land of Israel and abroad sharply limited their communication with non-Jews. It was forbidden to eat, drink together, or be under the same roof. In essence, all communication was prohibited. We find the earliest evidence of this custom among the Jews in Greek sources. Thus, Hecataeus of Abdera (322-285 BC) wrote that the Jews practice an antisocial and intolerant lifestyle (apanthropon tina kai misoxenon bion). Apollonius Molon (1st century BC) wrote about the Jews as atheists and misanthropes, not ready to communicate with any other people (koinonein). And his contemporary Diodorus Siculus was the first to mention that Jews refuse to eat with others (trapezes koinonein). Pompey Trogus wrote that Jews do not live or eat with other people. Tacitus wrote that Jews do not spend the night under the same roof and do not eat with foreigners. And at the end of the second century of our faith, Philostratus wrote that Jews do not share meals with any foreigners.

In the book of Acts we see how difficult it was for Peter to enter the house of a Gentile. Peter says:

And he said to them: you know that it is forbidden for a Jew to communicate or become close to a foreigner; but God revealed to me that I should not consider any person base or unclean. (Acts 10:28)

The Talmud contains a prohibition against even eating one’s own food brought for the same meal with the pagans. And in the collection of midrashim “Pirkei Derabbi Eliezer” we read:

Why didn’t all Abraham’s servants who were circumcised with him join Israel? For the sake of purity, so as not to defile your master with your food and drinks. For whoever ate with an uncircumcised man was as if he had eaten with a dog. Just as a dog is not circumcised, so is a pagan not circumcised. He who touches the uncircumcised is as if he touched a dead person. He who washes with the uncircumcised is as if he washed with a leper. For in life they are dead, but in death they are like carrion of the field.

In the light of all the sources cited, one can clearly see how strong the Israelites’ tradition was to distance themselves from the Gentiles and, therefore, how bold it was for Paul to «show up» with a Gentile in the assembly of Yeshua’s messengers on the basis of personal revelation. But Paul trusted revelation enough.

It is clear to him that faith in the Messiah Yeshua purifies the pagan and removes the need to protect himself from him. It is also clear to him that this faith transforms him so much that communication with a pagan ceases to be “infectiously” dangerous for him. The reasons for the ban on such communication was the danger of moving away from the faith of the fathers and leaning toward idolatry. This prohibition led to such isolation that the Israelis may well have felt like they were in a golden cage, or, in another example, like a small child forbidden to talk to strangers. This ban is, of course, dictated by concern for the child, but nevertheless it is a serious restriction.

Yeshua’s messengers, that is, the very authorities of the world of believers, communicated with Titus without raising the topic of circumcision. But, although the messengers themselves did not distance themselves from Titus, apparently, there were people in their circle whom Paul calls intruding false brothers, who, again, as we can assume, demanded that Titus be limited in communication. Here Paul may include in his “we” the “famous” themselves, saying that they defended the freedom to communicate without fear with the pagans, without yielding for a moment.

2:6-10 And in those who are famous for something, no matter what they have ever been, there is nothing special for me: God does not look at a person’s face. And the famous ones didn’t put anything more on me. On the contrary, seeing that I was entrusted with good news for the uncircumcised, as Peter was entrusted with the circumcised (for He who assisted Peter in being a messenger to the circumcision also assisted me among the Gentiles), and having learned of the mercy given to me, James and Cephas and John, esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the hand of fellowship, that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision, only that we might remember beggars, which I tried to do exactly.

Paul continues his account of his fellowship with the messengers and says that the messengers saw the truth of his ministry and the division of missions. So Peter was entrusted with the ministry for the Israelites, and Paul with the ministry for the Gentiles. At the same time, the messengers began to understand that they believed that Paul’s messenger mission was correct. This is a confirmation that Paul is not a messenger from Jerusalem, not second after Peter, but equal to him, since both are messengers of God through the Messiah Yeshua. The messengers did not lay hands on Paul, but “extended the hand of fellowship,” and this is a very important detail. The only manifestation of hierarchy is that Paul was asked to remember the poor in Jerusalem, that is, to separate some part of the donations received for the needs of the Jerusalem community. Paul confirms that he accepted this instruction. And this means that Paul’s teaching leaves Jerusalem as its center. We will return to this understanding later.

CLAIM TO PETER 

2:11-14 When Peter came to Antioch, I personally confronted him because he was being criticized. For before the arrival of some from Jacob, he ate with the pagans, and when they arrived, he began to hide and withdraw, fearing the circumcision. Along with him, the other Jews also became hypocrites, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they had departed from the truth of the good news, I said to Peter in front of everyone: if you, being a Jew, live like pagans and not like Jews, then why do you force the pagans to live like Jews?

At first glance, it may seem that in this passage Paul is comparing authority with Peter. In fact, such an understanding seems dubious. Paul continues to develop the theme of dichotomy (division) between the divine and the human. Otherwise, this story of Paul could be taken as slander about Peter.

First, let’s try to understand what happened and why Peter was criticized.

Many commentators see the situation in such a way that Paul, Peter and Barnabas abandoned the Jewish traditions of kashrut (allowed and forbidden foods), but when the messengers of Jacob came, they began to hypocritically observe these traditions. In fact, there is ample evidence in the scriptures that in extreme situations the Israelites ate in the company of Gentiles their own food or food prepared by the Gentiles that did not violate the laws of kashrut. Let’s look at these examples.

«Daniel decided in his heart not to be defiled by the food from the king’s table and the wine that the king drinks, and therefore asked the chief of the eunuchs not to be defiled by him. God granted Daniel the favour and favour of the chief of the eunuchs; and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who himself has appointed food and drink for you; if he sees your faces thinner than those of the youths your peers, then you will make my head guilty before the king. Then Daniel said to Hamelsar, whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah: Make an experiment on your servants for ten days: let them give us vegetables for food and water to drink, and then let our faces and the faces of those youths who eat the king’s food appear before you, and then do to your servants as you see. He obeyed them in this and tested them for ten days. After ten days, their faces turned out to be more beautiful, and their bodies were fuller than all those youths who ate the royal dishes. Then Hamelsar took their food and wine to drink and gave them vegetables. (Daniel 1:9-16).«

The following example is from Judith 12.

«And he ordered her to be brought to where his silver vessels were kept, and ordered her to eat the food from his table and drink his wine. But Judith said: I will not eat this, so that there is no temptation, but let them give me what was brought with me. Holofernes said to her: And when what is with you is exhausted, where will we get it from to give you something like this? For among us there is none of your kind. Judith answered him: May your soul live, my lord; Your servant will not suffer what is with me, before the Lord completes with my hand what He has determined. And the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight; and before the morning watch she stood up and sent to say to Holofernes: May my lord give command that your servant be allowed to go out to pray. Holofernes ordered his bodyguards not to interfere with her. And she stayed in the camp for three days, and at night she went out into the valley of Vetilui and washed herself at the source of water near the camp. And, going out, she prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, that He would direct her path to the deliverance of the sons of His people. Upon her return, she remained clean in the tent, and in the evening they brought her food. On the fourth day, Holofernes held a feast for his servants alone and did not invite any of those assigned to the services to serve. And he said to the eunuch Bago, who ruled over everything that he had: go and convince the Jewish woman who is with you to come to us and eat and drink with us: it is a shame for us to leave such a wife without talking with her; she will ridicule us if we do not invite her.«

Letter to Aristaeus.

«This is why I did it in the first place. I gave a decree that this day on which you arrived should be considered a great day and should be celebrated annually throughout my life. It turns out that this is also the anniversary of my victory at sea over Antigonus. Therefore, I will be glad to feast with you today. “Everything you may need,” he said, “will be prepared as it should be, together with you and for me too.” And they expressed their admiration, and he ordered to take them to the best quarter adjacent to the citadel and prepare a feast. And Nikanor called the chief palace steward, Dorotheus, an official specially appointed to look after the Jews, and ordered him to prepare everything necessary for each of them. For so it was established by the king, and this ordinance you will see observed today. For since many cities have their own customs regarding eating, drinking and reclining, there are special officials whose purpose is to find out what they require. And whenever they come to the king, food is prepared for them, observing their own customs, so that they do not feel uneasy while enjoying the visit. The same precautions were taken for the Jewish envoys. Dorotheus, who was appointed senior steward for the Jewish guests, was a very thorough person. For the sake of such a feast, he opened all the storehouses that were under his supervision and kept especially for such guests.«

Based on these sources, it can be assumed that Paul, Peter and Barnabas ate lawful food at the same table with the pagans. As we said above, even such communication was very much disapproved of by the public opinion of that era, but in accordance with the teachings of the messengers, faith in Yeshua made a person invulnerable to this kind of uncleanness.

When people came from the radical Jacob from Jerusalem, Peter and Barnabas began to feel embarrassed about their liberal position. 

There were three possible positions in relation to the pagans:

1. the position of Yeshua’s messengers: the Gentiles are cleansed from the uncleanness of idolatry and joined to God’s people through accepting Yeshua;
2. the position of the Hillel school: pagans join the people through conversion and are willingly accepted into the people;
3. the position of the Shamay school: a pagan can convert and join the people only as a last resort and after many trials.

Peter at first adhered to the first opinion, and when Jacob’s men arrived, he began to demonstrate adherence to the second opinion. “Living like a Gentile” in this context means holding the view that Gentiles and Israelites are equal in matters of purity in Yeshua the Messiah. Paul accused Peter of holding pro-pagan liberal views and teaching the pagans by personal example that in order to become equal they must undergo conversion. It was precisely because of his hypocrisy and bad personal example that Peter turned out to be, according to Paul, worthy of reproach.

MORAL FROM PERSONAL TESTIMONY

2:15-21 We are by nature Jews, and not sinners of the Gentiles; however, having learned that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but only by faith in Yeshua the Messiah, we also believed in Yeshua the Messiah in order to be justified by faith in the Messiah, and not by the works of the law; For by the works of the law no flesh will be justified. If, seeking justification in the Messiah, we ourselves turned out to be sinners, then is the Messiah really the servant of sin? No way. For if I build again what I have destroyed, then I make myself a criminal. By the law I died to the law in order to live to God. I have been crucified with the Messiah, and it is no longer I who live, but the Messiah 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 reject God’s mercy; and if there is justification by law, then the Messiah died in vain.

Paul began his letter by saying that he was chosen to be an ambassador not by man, but by God through the Messiah Yeshua. He said that he received a revelation that is not the fruit of human teaching, it was not accepted from people. But Yeshua’s messengers agreed with him and accepted Paul as an equal. The essence of this teaching is that a Jew who believes in Yeshua can communicate with pagans in ministry without any problems. Paul also spoke about his conversation with Peter, where he was not afraid to defend his teaching. This was another confirmation that his teaching is based on the authority of God, and not man.

Now Paul comes to the conclusion of all that has been said: 

15. We are Jews by nature, and not sinners like the pagans…

A statement that requires understanding in the context of Jewish tradition. As a result of Adam’s fall, all humanity became unclean (unfit to serve God), defiled by the “uncleanness of the serpent.” Abraham’s circumcision was the beginning of preparation for cleansing from this uncleanness. The Midrash says that the Almighty promised Abraham to make him the father of many nations. To do rather than to assign, which indicates a specific process. From Abraham was to come a people who are born again, and his “be fruitful and multiply” is not carried out in the usual way. At Sinai, according to tradition, the people of Israel were first cleansed from the uncleanness of the serpent. And all other nations continued to remain in this defilement. Paul is talking about this cleansing. In other words, it should be understood as follows: “We are by nature cleansed from the uncleanness of the serpent, not like the pagans who are under the uncleanness of sin.”

16…however, having learned that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but only by faith in Yeshua the Messiah, we also believed in Yeshua the Messiah, so that we could be justified by faith in the Messiah, and not by the works of the law;

Accordingly, justification here should be understood as purification, the ability to maintain purity (read: to stand against sin, to remain fit for serving God). A person acquires these abilities not through keeping the law, but by faith, in addition to keeping the law. That is, the law does not provide immunity to sin. And to acquire such immunity, one must believe in Moshiach.

17. If, seeking justification in the Messiah, we ourselves turned out to be sinners, then is the Messiah really the servant of sin? No way. 

Some might think that since Mashiach reveals our imperfections, He can be compared to another character who is busy denouncing and blaming — Satan. Therefore, Paul asks such a rhetorical question and answers: “It is in no way possible.”

18. After all, if I build again what I destroyed, then I make myself a criminal. 

Why is Mashiach not the “accuser” in this case? Because it makes it possible to remove that very golden cage of isolation that we talked about. His accusation is not an accusation in court, it is a diagnosis along with treatment. He gives a new system of justification, of achieving purity. This happens in addition to the law, that is, a person’s ability to achieve and maintain purity is acquired in addition to observing the law.

Paul does not contrast one thing with another, but separates it. This is the essence of his revelation. But separating one from the other allows you to get rid of the system of restrictions and destroy the partition that prevents communication between the Israelites and the Gentiles.

Restoring this partition, any attempt to rebuild it, is a return to a system that did not allow one to achieve perfect purity, and therefore it is a crime.

19.Through the Law I died to the Law in order to live to God. I will be crucified with the Messiah. 

The teachings of Moshiach and the revelations received by Paul do not contradict the Torah, they are its natural development. The Talmud says that after the resurrection from the dead, a renewed person has a different nature. He can no longer have rewards and punishments for fulfilling the commandments, because they have become his nature and their fulfillment does not require effort. And if he doesn’t demand it, then there is no reward for it. The beginning of this state is the righteousness that Paul speaks of: the ability to not become unclean when faced with something unclean.

Paul, as a disciple of Gamliel, is well versed in Israelite eschatology. And he knows that Mashiach is the fulfillment of all the promises of the Law, the goal of the Law, as he says further. Therefore, Paul has every «legal» reason to die to the law that limits his dealings with the Gentiles in order to live to serve God. And this death is co-crucifixion with Moshiach. In the Epistle to the Galatians — the first New Testament letter — this idea is not yet clearly expressed enough. But in the Epistle to the Romans we find it in full. If we die with Moshiach, then with him we will rise again with a renewed nature, capable of not being defiled by unclean things in the process of serving.

20. And it is no longer I who live, but the Messiah 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. 

Paul’s nature has changed in such a way that a renewed Paul lives in him, that is, the image of the Messiah is reflected in him. So, he lives in the flesh by faith in Moshiach. Here faith is entrusting oneself to the Messiah, giving Him one’s body. Through this, Paul receives a special level of righteousness — the ability not to become defiled.

21.I do not reject God’s mercy; and if there is justification by law, then the Messiah died in vain. 

Paul is not saying here that the Law does not need to be kept. He repeats that the Law itself does not give man a righteous nature. Does not protect a person from desecration. If the Law worked like that, then Yeshua’s death would not have been necessary. 

Let’s summarize the first two chapters:

• Paul says that his revelation is “not from men, but from God.”
• Paul says that he learned of a new righteousness that does not need a fence and allows one not to become defiled by contact with unclean things.
• Since this righteousness is given in addition to keeping the law, access to it is open to the Gentiles.
• Having received immunity from defilement, every Jewish believer can communicate with a pagan and serve God together.
• This righteousness is acquired by faith in Yeshua the Messiah, and faith is the complete surrender of oneself to Him, so that the person himself dies, and Mashiach lives in him.
• All this revelation does not contradict the Law, but fulfills it.
• If the Law (in the sense of keeping the commandments) allowed one to achieve purity, Yeshua’s death would not have been necessary.

CHAPTER 3

REVOCATION TO THE GALATIANS 

3:1-5 O foolish Galatians! who deceived you not to submit to the truth, you, who had before your eyes the Messiah Yeshua, as if he were crucified? I just want to know this from you: did you receive the Spirit through the works of the law, or through instruction in faith? Are you so foolish that, having begun in the spirit, you are now ending in the flesh? Have you really suffered so much without benefit? Oh, if only there was no benefit! Does He who gives you the Spirit and performs miracles among you do these things through the works of the law, or through instruction in faith?

1.Oh, foolish Galatians! who deceived you not to submit to the truth, you, who had before your eyes the Messiah Yeshua, as if he were crucified? 

After a personal testimony of the value of the revelation Paul received and taught to the Galatians, Paul launches into a preaching of rebuke filled with angry rhetorical questions. Paul’s mood is clearly demonstrated by the words he uses in rhetoric.

The word he uses in relation to the Galatians would properly be translated rather roughly as idiots. Who deceived or bewitched, jinxed — indirectly speaks of Paul’s attitude towards those who deceived. In such a short text, regret, anger and pain are intertwined. 

2. I just want to know this from you: did you receive the Spirit through the works of the law, or through instruction in faith? 

I myself would be interested to hear the answer to Pavel’s question. We do not know how or when the Galatians received the Spirit. But, in fact, Paul’s question is clearly rhetorical. It is obvious that the work of the Spirit was manifested in the Galatian community apart from the works of the Law. And here, apparently, the time has come to figure out what the “works of the Law” that Paul is talking about are. As we see, he contrasts the works of the Law and faith, on the one hand, and the flesh and spirit, on the other:

3.Are you so foolish that, having begun in the spirit, you are now ending in the flesh?

What kind of law could the Galatians turn to that would constitute a departure from the spirit to the flesh? From the correct good news, which leads to undefiled righteousness, they turned to false news. The only thing that fits this definition is a set of laws called “hok” in Hebrew — the laws of purity and impurity, which are a direct establishment of the Creator and have no logical explanation behind them. This is how the Midrash Rabbah (Psikta (14:5), Tanchuma (Hukat 8) and Bemidbar Rabbah (19:8)) talks about it:

A pagan asked Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakaiah: “Aren’t your laws related to the red cow similar to witchcraft? You bring the cow, burn it and take its ashes. Sprinkle two or three times on the one who is defiled by the uncleanness of the dead, and say to him: “You are clean!” Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai said to him: “Have you ever been possessed by a demon?” He said: “No.” “Have you ever seen a person possessed by a demon?” He said: “Yes.” “And what are you doing with such a person?” He said: “We bring tree roots, light them under him, and then pour water on him, and then the demon comes out.” Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai said: “Behold, let your ears hear what your lips have said. The spirit of uncleanness is like a demon. Water of purification is sprinkled on him, and he comes out.” When the pagan left, the disciples of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakaya said to him: “Well, you pushed him away with a straw (that is, you easily coped with his question), but what will you answer for us?” And he said to them: “I swear to you, even a dead body does not defile, and waters do not purify, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to us: “This is the law that I have given you, and you have no right to break it.”

By giving us such laws and commanding us to maintain purity, the Almighty, in fact, limited our freedom. Paul will talk about this later. Now we need to understand that the entire “hok” (the entire set of laws about purity and impurity) focuses exclusively on the body. He does not deal with purity of conscience at all, unlike purification by faith in Yeshua, which is capable of purifying not only the body. Peter wrote about this:

So now we are saved by immersion similar to this image, not by washing away the uncleanness of the flesh, but by asking God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah… (1Peter. 3:21)

According to Peter, we receive from God a purified conscience, or rather a purified consciousness. And this is the same new righteousness that Paul speaks of. Peter, developing his thought, says that this baptism (immersion in water for the purpose of consecrating oneself as a slave to the master) not only gives righteousness, but also saves! What does immersion through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah save from? Most likely, as Paul says at the beginning of the letter, from this evil era, that is, from the danger of mixing pure and unclean, losing righteousness and becoming defiled.

Thus, the Galatians rushed to fulfill the commandments related to the purity and filthiness of the body. It was as if they had turned to a different frame of reference for righteousness. And this system turned out to be capable of purifying only the carnal. But, having started the construction of the destroyed partition, they found themselves sinning against the good news and falling away from a more perfect righteousness.

It is this falling away that Paul laments.

4. Have you really suffered so much without benefit? Oh, if only there was no benefit! 

All that the Galatians apparently endured on the way to obtaining the righteousness that Paul preached turned out to be to no avail. 

“If only there was no benefit” — Pavel exclaims. 

He sees the enormous harm that this falling away has caused. Concluding his reproof, Paul again asks the same rhetorical question, although in a different form:

5. Does He who gives you the Spirit and performs miracles among you do these things through the works of the law, or through instruction in faith?

BACKGROUND OF THE TEACHING BY SCRIPTURE

3:6-14 So Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Know then that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the pagans by faith, foreshadowed to Abraham: in you all nations will be blessed. So, believers are blessed with faithful Abraham, but all who are established in the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continually do all that is written in the book of the law. But that by law no one is justified before God is clear, because the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not of faith; but whoever does it will live by it. The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us — for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree — so that the blessing of Abraham through Yeshua the Messiah might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Now Paul moves on to justify his teaching in Scripture:

6. So Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. 

7. Know then that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. 

Let us note that in the original book of Bereshit (“Genesis” 15:6) it is said: “And [Abram] believed God, and [God] counted it to him as righteousness.” That is, here we see the same “hok”, a voluntaristic decision of God, when the Creator decrees that Abraham’s faith is his righteousness. Paul goes on to say that the Lord has fulfilled his promise, and the Galatians themselves — the non-Jews to whom the Jew Paul came and preached among them, to whom he writes a letter — are the fulfillment of this promise. All believers are children of Abraham.

The Jerusalem Talmud (Bechorim 1:4) cites the opinion that Abraham is the father of all believers who come under the wings of the Shekinah, regardless of race, gender, etc., but depending on views and beliefs, because they determine the essence of a person. In the Talmud there is also a certain dualism, that is, a division between the physical belonging to the sons of Abraham and the spiritual belonging — the unity of beliefs, hopes and values.

9. So the believers are blessed with faithful Abraham, 

10. And all who are established in the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continually do all that is written in the book of the law.

Those who believe in Moshiach and entrust themselves to him are blessed with the blessing of Abraham and receive perfect righteousness. But those who are established in the works of the law do so out of fear of damnation. That is, their righteousness is not so much a blessing as it is a desire to avoid curse. Why is this so? Because it is written: «Cursed is everyone who does not do…»

The tractate “Shabbat” tells that during the Sinai revelation, the Almighty raised a mountain above the Jews like a cauldron of coals, saying: “If you do not accept, I will throw this mountain on you.” That is, the very acceptance of the Torah by Jews, according to the midrash, was done involuntarily, but under pain of curse. But this is not at all evidence against the Torah. All this was due to the imperfect nature of man, and subsequently the Torah was accepted voluntarily. And we will touch on all these issues in more detail during further discussion.

11. But that by the law no one is justified before God is clear, because the righteous will live by faith. 

12. But the law is not of faith; but whoever does it will live by it. 

Paul returns to the theme with which he ended chapter two to back it up with Scripture, directly in the words of the prophet Havakuk (2:4): “The just shall live by faith.” What does this mean and how does it confirm Paul’s words? What does it mean will live in the words of the prophet? Will live means that he will live even after death. Tradition says that the righteous are called alive even in death, and the wicked during life are called dead. Life in the eternal sense is determined not by biological condition, but by righteousness. But righteousness becomes viable through faith, which, as we said, is entrusting oneself to Moshiach.

And the Law (that is, the same “hok” that we talked about) is not by faith, that is, it cannot change the inner essence of a person, make his righteousness viable, so that a person no longer returns to sin, therefore a person who keeps the law will survive “in this era.” The law allows survival for those in whom the pure and the impure, the good and the evil, the divine and the human are mixed. In modern parlance, the law plays the role of dialysis for a person with non-functioning kidneys.

13. The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us — for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree —

14.so that the blessing of Abraham through the Messiah Yeshua may spread to the Gentiles, so that we may receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

Mashiach, having accepted death on the cross, became a curse for us. How can this be? Paul talked a little about this earlier. Mashiach, in accordance with the Law, died to the Law. In the resurrected, renewed body, there was no longer anything pure or unclean for Him. And when Paul was crucified with the Messiah, then division ceased to exist for him. The partition dividing the world into pure and unclean has collapsed. The golden cage of the Israelis has broken. Through this, Abraham’s blessing was extended to the Gentiles as promised. And in this renewal, both the Israelites and the Gentiles were given the opportunity to be worthy of the Spirit, that is, to receive a completely new level of righteousness.

3:15-20

Brethren! I speak from human reasoning: even a will approved by a person cannot be canceled or added to by anyone. But promises were given to Abraham and to his seed. It is not said: and to descendants, as if about many, but as about one: and to your seed, which is the Messiah. What I am saying is that the covenant about the Messiah, previously established by God, is not abolished by the law, which appeared four hundred and thirty years later, so that the promise loses its validity. For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise; but God gave it to Abraham according to promise. What is the law for? It was given after the transgressions, until the time of the coming of the seed to which the promise relates, and was given through the Angels by the hand of a mediator. But there is no mediator with one, but there is only one God.

When the Almighty promised Abraham to give the land to his seed, Abraham asked (Genesis 15:8): «How will I know that I will inherit her». The question was how Abraham himself could be sure that his descendants would be worthy to inherit the earth. Continuing the story, the Almighty brought a dream to Abraham and told him (Genesis 15:13-14): “By knowledge you will know that your descendants will be enslaved in a foreign land, but I will bring them out from there and bring them to the Land.” The Almighty Himself became the guarantor that the descendants of Abraham would inherit the earth. Paul notes that the Torah does not say Zereikha (to your seeds), but Zerekha (to your seed in units). Of course, one could argue with Paul, which is what opponents of Christianity do. The word «zereha» is collective and therefore is singular. But in midrash, such clinging to the form of a word is normal. But the question is, why does Paul make such a clarification? Didn’t he say a few verses earlier that all the believing children of Abraham and, as we said, the Galatians themselves are the fulfillment of the promise? But “to your seed” means that the entire Abraham Project is founded for the sake of that revelation that will be revealed through Yeshua the Messiah. In Him is the purposeful revelation to believers. In Him, not in the Law.

19.What is the law for? It was given after the transgressions, until the time of the coming of the seed to which the promise relates, and was given through Angels, by the hand of a mediator. 

20. But there is no mediator with one, but God is one. 

Paul refers here to the Israeli tradition, presented in the early midrashim and in the Book of Jubilees, that only the first two entries of the decalogue were spoken to the people from the mouth of the Most High, and the rest was given through the mediation of angels. If a person could independently observe “love God with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5), he would not need any other commandments.

True love would have made him righteous. One who loves God could not lie, steal, violate the Holy Sabbath, etc. But because man did not resist this love, the law was given because of crimes. Paul notes that the law was taught through angels. That is, the angels not only participated in the giving of the Torah, but also witnessed the conclusion of the covenant. Also in the future we will see that the upbringing of man in the Covenant was carried out through angels:

• angels were present when Noah divided the land among his sons (Book of Jubilees);
• the angel spoke to Hagar;
• angels announced the birth of Isaac;
• angels were intermediaries in the giving of the Torah.

And how numerous are the stories in the oral tradition about the wonderful educational work of angels. In Beresheet Rabbah (10) we find the sages talking about the many armies of heaven:

Rabbi Nachman, son of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman, said: «The man was honored – the army of heaven comes to him (to reward); not worthy — the army comes to him (to punish). He built a house and succeeded — the heavenly army helped him. Fell from this house — and here are the affairs of the army of heaven. He eats his bread and enjoys it – the army is next to him. A bone got stuck in his throat — and then there was the army. The Almighty sent many armies to man to guard His Image, which is in him. And in this army there are bears, and lions, and snakes, and sarafs, and scorpions. And the Almighty also sprouted grass to cure every disease and heal every wound. And there is not a blade of grass on earth that does not have an angel attached to it, encouraging it to grow.”

We see here that the Law is good, that it was given to man so that man could have hope of preserving undistorted the image of the Creator, according to which he was created. At the same time, due to the fact that, due to sins, the era itself turned out to be a mixture of good and evil, man in this era and according to this Law was not absolutely free. By absolute freedom we mean here not the freedom to do whatever a person pleases, but the freedom to rule the world at his own discretion, that is, the freedom to pursue his own destiny. Like the king’s son in the palace, the man, like a small child, was surrounded by numerous nannies who monitored the child’s safety. The revelation of Yeshua returns a person to the spiritual level that was before the iniquities for which the Law was given.

3:21-25

So, is the law contrary to the promises of God? No way! For if a law had been given that could give life, then true righteousness would have come from the law; but the Scripture has concluded everyone under sin, so that the promise would be given to those who believe by faith in Yeshua the Messiah. And before the coming of faith, we were imprisoned under the guard of the law until the time when it was necessary to open ourselves to faith. So, the law was for us a teacher to the Messiah, so that we might be justified by faith, but after the coming of faith, we are no longer under the guidance of a teacher.

Again Paul anticipates the question, if the law was not originally provided, then perhaps it contradicts the promise given to Abraham? And Paul responds that such an assumption is wrong. The Law could not give life, therefore it could not be an alternative to the revelation given through Yeshua and the righteousness that was revealed through him. But man needed to live to see the times when he was destined to be revealed to the righteousness of Yeshua.

Man was created to rule the world (Genesis 1:22), but in order to be allowed to rule the world, he first had to mature. In the process of growing up and improving, the law was attached to him as a guard. Paul uses a metaphor when he calls the law a “schoolmaster.” This is a position that was most often occupied by a slave, but even as a slave, he had the master’s son under him.

It is likely that Paul was familiar with classical Greek literature. A discussion about the teacher and his role in the life of a child is given by Plato among the dialogues of Socrates. It is known that Socrates leads his interlocutors to certain thoughts simply by asking the right and necessary questions. In order to understand Paul in the same way in which his readers probably understood him, we present here the entire dialogue with Lysis. It is quite long, but it is an important parallel for understanding Paul:

“Probably, my Lysis, your father and mother love you very much?”

“Yes, very much,” he answered.

-So they would like to see you as happy as possible?

-Certainly.

“Do you think that a person is happy who is in slavery and who is not given the opportunity to accomplish anything that he strives for?”

-No, I swear by Zeus! — he answered.

“So, if your father and mother love you and strive for your happiness, it is clear in all respects that they care about making you feel good.

— Yes, and how could it be otherwise? — he said.

— Therefore, they allow you to do whatever you want, and do not scold you, and do not prevent you from fulfilling your desires?

“No, I swear by Zeus, they scold me and forbid me a lot.”

-What are you saying? — I exclaimed. “Wishing you happiness, do they interfere with the fulfillment of your desires?” Tell me this: if you wish to ride in one of your father’s chariots, taking the reins while he is in a race, will he allow you to do so or will he forbid it?

“I swear by Zeus, he won’t allow it,” he answered.

-Who will he allow this?

—Father has a driver whom he pays.

-What are you saying? The mercenary is trusted more than you to do whatever he wants with the horses, and in addition they pay him money for it?

-But what’s surprising here? — asked Lysis.

“However, I think, are you allowed to drive a team of mules and, if you wish, whip them?”

“But how,” he exclaimed, “can I be allowed to do this?!”

“Well,” I asked, “no one is allowed to quilt them?”

“Of course, it’s allowed,” he said, “to the mule driver.”

-Free or slave?

-To a slave.

“It seems that they place the slave above you, their son, and trust him with their property more than you, allowing him to do whatever he wants; They forbid it for you. But tell me again: do they allow you to control yourself or do they not trust you with that too?

“But how,” he objected, “can they trust me with this?”

-However, is someone controlling you?

“Here he is, my teacher,” answered Lysis.

-Being a slave?

-What’s wrong with that? After all, this is our slave,” he said.

“It’s wonderful,” I said, “when a free man is under the power of a slave.” What does he do as your teacher?

—He takes me to school, to the teacher.

-So you are also controlled by teachers?

— Of course.

“Many rulers and masters have been placed over you by the will of your father. But when you return home to your mother, she allows you, while weaving, to do whatever you want with the wool or the loom, so that you can be happy with her? Probably she doesn’t forbid you to grab her loom, shuttle or other wool spinning tools?

-No, I swear by Zeus! — he exclaimed, laughing. — Not only does it prohibit, but I would be beaten if I allowed myself to do so.

-Oh, Hercules! — I cried. “Have you offended your father or mother in some way?”

“No, I swear by Zeus, in no way,” he answered.

“But why do they so terribly prevent you from being happy and doing what you want, and raise you in such a way that throughout the whole day you obey someone — in a word, so that you do not have the opportunity to do almost anything that you want? It turns out that you have no benefit either from possessing a large fortune — for everyone else disposes of it more than you — nor from your so noble physique — for your body is in the care and supervision of someone else. You do not own anything, Lysis, and you do not accomplish anything that you desire.

“But, Socrates, I’m not old enough yet,” he objected.

“This, son of a Democrat, is not an obstacle for you, for in some things your father and mother trust you and do not wait for you to grow up.” After all, when they need something read or written to them, they are the first person in the whole house to entrust it to you. Isn’t it?

-Yes, sure.

— This means that you can put the first letter of your choice, and the second one of your choice; in the same way you can read. And, I think, when you take the lyre in your hands, neither your father nor your mother prevents you from tightening or loosening any string you like, and plucking, and striking the strings with a plectrum. Or do they interfere?

-Of course not.

— So what is the reason, Lysis, that in these matters they do not interfere with you, but in what we talked about recently, they hinder you?

-I think that I know these things, the same others, no.

“Excellent,” I said, “my valiant friend.” This means that your father is not waiting for you to grow up to entrust all his affairs to you, but for the day when he considers that you understand everything better than him, then he will entrust you with himself and his property.

“Yes, I think so,” he responded.

-Great. How do you think things are going with your neighbor? Wouldn’t the same standard be valid for him in relation to you as for your father? Do you think that he will entrust you with the management of his house when he considers that you are better versed in the economy than he is, or do you think that he will then retain management for himself?

-I think he will give it to me.

“Well, do you think the Athenians will not transfer control of their affairs to you if they feel that you are quite reasonable?”

-I believe they will.

“In the name of Zeus,” I asked, “what about the Great King?” Will he trust his eldest son, who will inherit power over all of Asia, to add something to the soup at his discretion when the meat is cooked, or will he trust us, if we come to him and prove that we are better at preparing meat dishes than his son?

“It’s clear to us,” he answered.

“And he won’t allow his son to add anything, not even a little, to the soup; For us, no matter what handful of salt we grabbed at our own discretion, he would probably allow us to put it in entirely.

— How could it be otherwise?

“And if his son’s eyes hurt, would he allow him to touch his eyes, knowing that he was not knowledgeable in treatment, or would he forbid it?”

— I would forbid it.

“For us, if he understood that we know how to heal, I believe he would not interfere, even if we decided to open his son’s eyes and pour ashes into them: he would think that we understand what we are doing.”

-You’re right.

“Consequently, in everything else, he would trust us rather than himself or his son, in matters concerning which we would seem to him more knowledgeable than they.”

“Yes, of course, Socrates,” he responded.

“This is how things stand, dear Lysis,” I said. “In what we are reasonable, everyone trusts us — Hellenes and barbarians, men and women; we do here whatever we please, and no one will voluntarily put a spoke in our wheels, but we ourselves will freely act in all these fields and command others, since these are our possessions, from which we will receive profit. But in what we cannot do, no one will trust us and allow us to do whatever seems right to us; on the contrary, everyone will hinder us in this as much as they can, and not only strangers, but also our own father and mother, and even closer people, if possible; in these matters we will be subordinate to others, and these affairs will be someone else’s property, for we will not receive any benefit from them. Do you agree with this?

-Agree.

-But under such circumstances, will we be pleasing to anyone and will at least someone love us, if we prove ourselves unsuitable in these matters?

“Of course, no one,” he answered.

“That means your father doesn’t love you, just as no one usually loves a person who turns out to be useless.”

“It seems so,” he responded.

“If you become more knowledgeable, my boy, everyone will love you and become your close friends: after all, you will turn out to be a useful and worthy person.” And if you don’t wise up, neither your father nor anyone else will be your friend — not even your mother, nor your other household members. But is it possible for someone, Lysis, to be very proud of something about which he knows nothing? 

— Could this happen? — he responded.

“But if you need a teacher, you’re not yet smart enough.”

-This is true.

“Consequently, you don’t think much of yourself, since you’re not smart yet.”

Paul says that the Galatians, who returned to keeping the laws of the purity of the flesh, became spiritually degraded. Instead of growing up according to Yeshua’s revelation and freely fulfilling their destiny in this world, they, like small, foolish children (morons), returned to the commandment of the law: “Don’t touch this! Don’t go there! Don’t sit with this!”

3:26-29

For you are all sons of God by faith in Yeshua the Messiah; all of you who have been immersed in the Messiah have clothed yourself in the Messiah. There is no longer Jew or Gentile; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Yeshua the Messiah. If you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

With the removal of the partition, with the abolition of the division between clean and unclean, every person had access to receiving the Holy Spirit, and through it, righteousness — the ability to remain fit to serve God. This is the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham. For justification by faith there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, etc. But it is worth remembering that Paul is not talking here about the abolition of all difference, but about the fact that faith gives righteousness to everyone. This should not be understood as the absence of any differences at all between men and women, Jews and pagans, and the like. There is no need to rush to close women’s restrooms and locker rooms. Paul is talking about a specific aspect — the ability to receive righteousness by faith.

CHAPTER 4

4:1-5

I will also say: the heir, while in childhood, is no different from a slave, although he is the master of everything: he is subordinate to trustees and stewards until the time appointed by his father. So we, as long as we were children, were enslaved to the material principles of the world; but when the fulness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, made subject to the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Above, when we talked about the schoolmaster, we already cited a dialogue with Lysis, which well illustrates what Paul is saying here. A child who grows up on a large estate is in the care of slaves, in fact subordinate to them and surrounded by a huge number of all kinds of prohibitions designed to protect his safety, so that upon superficial examination, the child has no rights than a slave. Likewise, man who was created to rule the world (as it is written: “Let us make man… and let him rule” (Genesis 1:22)), Until the time he grew up, he was imprisoned in the power of the material principles of the world. These material principles include (in the Greek sense) the five foundations of the universe: earth, water, fire, air and ether. But, in a broader sense, angels are also divided into categories according to the elements. That is, in the pantheon of angels known to the Israelis there are angels of fire, angels of earth, etc. This is how the Book of Jubilees talks about it (1):

For on the first day He created the heavens that are above, and the earth, and the waters, and all the spirits that serve Him, and the angels of the face, and the angels of praise, and the angels of the spirit of fire, and the angels of the spirit of winds, and the angels of the cloud spirits of darkness, and hail and frost, and the angels of the valleys, and thunder and lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and heat, winter and spring, autumn and summer, and the Angels of all the spirits of His creations in heaven and on earth and in all the valleys, and the spirits of darkness and light, and the dawn and the evening, which He prepared according to the foreknowledge of His wisdom. And then we saw His works, and glorified Him, and praised Him for all His works, for He created seven great works on the first day.

As we said before, all these angels were part of the army that guards man within the Law. But Paul is now in this letter trying to create a “we” by uniting the Gentiles and the Israelites. If the Israelites were in the power of angels, having different natures according to the elements, then the pagans felt their dependence on the elements. It was important for a person, for example, under the sign of what element he was born. People tracked the predominance of one or another element at each specific moment, and this determined the possible actions of the person himself.

In Galatia, legends were widespread about the intervention of various creatures of elemental nature in human life: for example, gnomes were considered creatures of the earthly elements; mermaids, undines, kikimoras — aquatic; fairies and elves — airy; salamanders and ifrits are fiery. We do not know exactly what the Galatians specifically called the elemental elementals, but we can speak with great confidence that they had such beliefs.

Paul wants to show that, despite the many differences in the history of the Galatians and Israel, quite clear parallels can be found.

But we were delivered from this dependence when the Son of God — the Word of God, who originally existed within the Father, became flesh. A son was born from his wife. Paul says this because in the Israelite second Temple tradition the term born of a wife is a common term used by angels to indicate a person’s low status. That is, the Word of God became incarnate, submitted to the Law, and accomplished our liberation. And we are freed from all those prohibitions given by the angels. It is important to remember that we were not freed from serving God and not from fulfilling the Law. And from all those obstacles that prevented us from serving and fulfilling the Law in full force. All these barriers stood until we grew up and were like slaves, without rights. Now the barriers have been removed, the lack of rights has disappeared. But responsibilities arose, such as managing the estate, whose name is “peace.”

Now the Israelites can freely carry the Torah to the pagans, and the pagans do not need circumcision as the beginning of purification for serving God. From the moment righteousness was revealed through faith in Yeshua and purification through it, all barriers and prohibitions in communicating with the unclean (uncircumcised, pagan) fell away. But this does not mean that the Sabbath was abolished (which, according to the Book of Jubilees, the angels celebrate), or kashrut was abolished, because neither one nor the other has ever stood as an obstacle to the spread of light to the pagans.

4:6-7

And since you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Yeshua the Messiah.

When the time for the matured man was fulfilled, God, according to his faith (according to his entrustment to Him), sent the Spirit of His Son into the heart. The peculiarity of the Son of God is that he directly feels the will of the Father and can directly contact him. Moreover, when the Son dwells in our hearts, the will of the Father is our will. According to the promise, the Word of God is written on the tablets of our hearts. Jeremiah spoke about this (31:31-34):

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not such a covenant as I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; They broke that covenant of mine, although I remained in covenant with them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law within them, and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And they will no longer teach each other, brother to brother, and say: “Know the Lord,” for they will all themselves know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, because I will forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.

It is important to pay attention to this. Under the Covenant, the relationship between Israel and God changes. In the Sinai Covenant, God led Israel by the hand, and Israel did not always go willingly. God was faithful to the covenant. But this loyalty, as we showed above, was expressed in the fact that numerous heavenly armies were assigned to man in order to protect him from his own damaged nature. But in the renewed Testament, the Almighty promised that the word would be in the heart of man. The same word, the same Torah and the same Law. This is the Son, and the only begotten Son, who has no brothers, not even a twin brother. Therefore, with the Son in his heart, man fulfills the same Torah. Each in the part that relates to it. But he observes it without fear of punishment, not under a curse. Not only are the barriers between Israel and the nations removed, but also the barriers of the angels, so that the Spirit of the Son who is in us can cry: “Abba» (Father), have a direct relationship with the Almighty.

4:8-11

But then, not knowing God, you by nature became slaves to those who are not gods in essence. Now, having come to know God, or, better yet, having received knowledge from God, why do you return again to the weak and poor material principles and want to enslave yourself to them again? You observe days, months, times and years. I am afraid for you, whether I worked for you in vain.

Paul reminds us that just as the Israelites, who, like the son of the masters of a rich estate, were at the level of slaves before growing up, so the Galatians themselves worshiped elements and spiritual entities that were not God. That is, God protected them through intermediaries. Now, having come to know God and acquired the ability to communicate with Him, was it possible to return to the old ways and again turn to the elements?

We cannot say exactly what this appeal of the Galatians to the past was expressed in. We can only say that in those parts, for example, fasts were adopted, timed to coincide with the conjunction of certain planets, refusal to travel or marry under different indications of astrology. In addition, Paul, who has already drawn a parallel between the angelic protective restrictions for Israel and the ministry of the elements, may be saying here that the Galatians adopted astrology and magic from the Jews, which was quite common in that era. It is especially noteworthy that magical literature was usually presented as having been written by angels.

Paul again reflects on the falling away of the Galatians, and this time we see that there is almost despair in his speech. Paul admits that he even doubts whether his work was in vain. 

4:12-16

I ask you, brothers, to be like me, because I am like you. You did not offend me in any way: you know that although I preached the good news to you in the weakness of the flesh for the first time, you did not despise my temptation in my flesh and did not abhor it, but accepted me as an Angel of God, as the Messiah Yeshua. How blessed you were! I testify about you that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. So, have I really become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Paul calls on the Galatians to be like him, that is, to receive cleansing and justification not through circumcision and removal from unclean things, but through faith in Yeshua. Because he, like them, does not receive justification by belonging to Israel and by fulfilling the works of the Law.

He recalls the warm relationships he developed with the believers in the Galatian community. We learn that on his first visit to Galatia, Paul was sick and it was obvious. But the Galatian believers did not neglect Paul in his illness. Pavel was touched. And even now he is touched, remembering how the sympathetic Galatians (probably seeing the disease of his eyes) were ready to take out their own eyes and give them to Paul.

4:17-20

They are uncleanly jealous of you, but they want to excommunicate you so that you will be jealous of them. It is always good to be jealous in good things, and not only in my presence with you. My children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth, until the Messiah appears in you! I wish I could be with you now and change my voice, because I am at a loss about you.

Paul explains the temptation to which the Galatians succumbed. Those who were uncleanly jealous of them came, seeking their own carnal gain. In an attempt to reconstruct the events Paul writes about, we can assume that some people accused the Galatians of lacking purity. This led to zeal on the part of the Galatians for greater purification, perhaps zeal for circumcision as the beginning of the path of purification. It is possible that these people aroused jealousy by refusing to eat with the Galatians.

This zeal that arose among the Galatians is considered by Paul to be bad zeal. And, remembering how jealous they were of his illness, he advises them to always be jealous of good things, and not just in his presence.

Paul goes on to regret that he is not in Galatia. There he would not speak as “affectionately” as on his first visit. Because the Galatians surprised him, and most likely also greatly upset him.

4:21-23

Tell me, you who want to be under the law: do you not listen to the law? For it is written: Abraham had two sons, one by a bondwoman, and the other by a freewoman. But he who is of a slave is born according to the flesh; and the one who is free, the one according to the promise.

Paul invites those who know the Law and want to be under the Law to consider what the Law says. Following the tradition of the midrashic genre, he takes a specific story from the book Bereishit. Abraham had two children (in fact, seven, but we are comparing two, those two whom the Almighty blessed). When the Almighty brought Abraham into the Land, He made a promise to Abraham that he would have a child. As the years passed, Sarah decided to try to find a child through human means (Genesis 16:2-4):

And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, the Lord hath shut up my womb, that I should not bear; Go in to my maid; perhaps I will have children by her. Abram listened to Sarai’s words. And Sarah, Abram’s wife, took her maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, after Abram’s sojourn in the land of Canaan was ten years, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar and she conceived.

This is Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael in the flesh. (Genesis 21:1-4):

And the Lord looked upon Sarah as he said; and the Lord did to Sarah as he had spoken. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time about which God spoke to him; And Abraham called the name of the son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac; And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son on the eighth day, as God commanded him.

This is Sarah, who gave birth to Isaac according to the promise. Now let’s look at Paul’s parable itself.

4:24-29

There is an allegory in this. These are two covenants: one from Mount Sinai, giving birth into slavery, which is Hagar, for Hagar means Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, because he is with his children in slavery; and Jerusalem above is free: she is the mother of us all. For it is written: Rejoice, O barren, unbearable; shout and shout, you who did not suffer from childbirth; because the one who is abandoned has many more children than the one who has a husband. We, brothers, are the children of the promise according to Isaac. But just as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now.

Paul’s allegory is not easy to understand, so we will have to understand it gradually. Paul says that the covenant from Mount Sinai gave birth to slavery. Indeed, the midrash says that at Sinai the Almighty first called the Israelites slaves (Kiddushin 22b):

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai commented on this passage (about a slave whose ear is pierced): “Why the ear? The ear that heard from Sinai: “For the children of Israel are My servants” (Vayikra 25:55). Mine and no one else’s. The man went and did it, chose another owner. Let such an ear be pierced.

In light of the fact that Scripture also says that Israel is called a “son” (Exodus 4:22). And this contradiction is easily eliminated if we remember where Paul began our chapter — at first a son can be like a slave.

24…who is Hagar, 

25. For Hagar means Mount Sinai in Arabia…

Let’s try to understand how Paul compares Hagar and Sinai. The name Hagar is consonant with the Arabic “al hajar”, ​​which means rock. Of course, a phonetician would raise a whole series of objections to such an assumption. But here we are talking not so much about phonetics, but about playing on words, about allegory. Therefore, we should not be afraid of phonetic difficulties. Paul, with this understanding, says that a mountain, a rock in Arabic is “Hajar”. 

Another clue is the Targum pseudo Jonathan, to «Bereishit» (16:7), in which the place where the angel found Hagar at the spring on the way to a place called Hagar. The same place is also called Targum Onkelos. Comparing with other sources in the Targums, we can see that this place is also called Halutzah, which already contains some indication of proximity to Sinai. Maybe this means that Hagar is a place in Sinai close to Mount Sinai itself? Apparently, Paul, pointing to the origin of Hagar from the Sinai region, makes such a parallel.

So, having speculated about how Hagar might be connected with Sinai, let’s look at another question. How can a mountain be compared to a woman at all, and how could yesterday’s Sinai become today’s Jerusalem?

An interesting parallel has reached us. An apocryphal prophetic vision in which the seer encounters a woman with a very similar fate.

Syriac version of «4th Book of Ezra»:

As I said this in my heart, I raised my eyes and saw on the right side a woman weeping and sobbing with a loud voice, sighing in her soul and greatly saddened; her clothes were torn, and there was dust on her head. I left those things that I was thinking about, turned to her and said to her: “Why are you crying and sad in your soul?” She answered me: “Let me, my lord, cry for myself and continue to sigh, for my soul is bitter, and I am greatly humiliated.” I told her: “Tell me what happened to you.” She answered me: “I, your slave, was barren and did not give birth, although I was with my husband for thirty years. Every day and every hour during these thirty years I asked and begged the Almighty day and night, and after these thirty years God heard the voice of your slave, saw her humiliation, looked at my suffering and gave me a son. I rejoiced greatly and enjoyed it, I, my husband and all the inhabitants of my city, and we glorified the Almighty. I raised him with great difficulty. And when he grew up, I came to take him a wife, and gave him a day of celebration and great joy. But upon entering his bridal chamber, my son fell and died. I cast down the lamps, and all the inhabitants of my city rose up to console me. I didn’t do anything until the next day and into the night. Then, after everyone fell asleep, believing that I was also asleep, I got up at night, left [from there] and came, as you see, to this valley. I decided that I would no longer enter the city, but I would be here, I would neither eat nor drink, but I would remain in constant crying and fasting until I died.” I abandoned my thoughts that had occupied me before and answered her with anger: “Woman, you are much crazier than all women. Don’t you see our grief and what happened to us?! Behold, Zion, the mother of us all, is in great sorrow and humiliated with great humiliation. And now we should cry — we all cry; You are sad about one of your sons, and we, the whole world, are sad about our mother. Ask the earth, and it will tell you, for it must weep, since there are many who were on it, and first all those who were on it, and the rest, those who will be, behold, they all go to destruction, and a multitude of them arose in order to be destroyed. So, who should cry more: she, who has lost all her multitude, or you, who are crying [only] for one thing. If you tell me: my cry is not like the [crying] of the earth, for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I gave birth to in pain and raised in sorrow, and the earth — in accordance with the nature of the earth: the multitude that came to it left the same way as it came — [then] I will tell you again: just as you gave birth in pain, so the earth originally gave its fruit, man, to the One who created it. So, now keep your pain inside yourself and courageously endure the evil that has happened to you, because if you consider this decision of the Supreme Court righteous, then you will receive your son in [your] time, and you will be glorified among women. So, enter the city to your husband.” She answered me: “I will not do this, I will not enter the city or to my husband, but I will die here.” I started telling her again: “No, woman! No, woman! Do not do this, but listen to the misfortune of Zion and be comforted by the grief of Jerusalem. For behold, you have seen that our sanctuaries are destroyed, our altars are overthrown, our temple is destroyed, our worship is stopped, our praise is taken away, our pride is fallen, the brightness of our lamp is extinguished, the ark of the Covenant is captured, our saints are profaned, the name spoken over us is insulted, our princes are despised, our priests are burned with fire, our Levites are taken captive, our maidens are defiled, our women are dishonored by violence, our seers are carried away, our righteous are scattered, our youths are enslaved, our heroes are humiliated; and that which surpasses all this, in regard to the seal of Zion, is now the seal and glory thereof taken away, and delivered into the hand of them that hate us. So, cast away from you the multitude of your sorrows, so that the Almighty may be pleased with you and that the Almighty may take away from you the sorrows of your care.” 

When I spoke to her, behold, her face brightened greatly and the appearance of her face became like lightning. I was quite afraid to approach her, and my heart was very shaken. And while I was pondering what this vision could [mean], suddenly she exclaimed in a loud and terrible voice, so that the whole earth shook from her voice. I looked, and behold, I could no longer see the woman, but [I could see] a city under construction, and an area appeared, as if [consisting] of huge foundations. I was frightened and cried out in a loud voice: “Where is the angel Uriel, who came to me from the first day? For it was he who brought me to this multitude of horrors, and my end became a ruin, and my prayer a dishonor.” While I was still saying this, lying on the ground as if dead, that Angel who came to me earlier came to me and saw that I was lying on the ground as if dead, and my mind was clouded. He took me by the hand, strengthened me, raised me to my feet and said: “What is the matter with you and why are you shocked? And why is your mind and the intelligence of your heart clouded?” I told him, “Because you left me. For I did as you told me, I went out into the field, and behold, I saw and am seeing something that I cannot explain.” He answered me: “Stand up on your feet and I will tell you.” I told him: “Speak, Master! Just don’t leave me so that I don’t die at the wrong time. For I saw what I did not understand, and [now] I hear what it was not given to me [to comprehend]. Or is my mind deceiving me and my soul is dreaming? But now I pray to you, Master: tell your servant about this terrible vision.” He answered me: “Listen to me, and I will teach you and give you revelation about what you are afraid of, for the Almighty has revealed to you many secrets. For He saw your righteousness — how much you grieve for your people and weep bitterly for Zion. So, here’s how things stand. This woman who appeared to you recently, who was crying and whom you began to console, and now she appeared to you not as a woman, but as a city under construction, who told you about the misfortune with her son — this is the explanation. This woman you saw is Zion, which you now see as a city under construction. And what she told you about herself and that she was barren for thirty years is because [Zion] existed in the world for three thousand years, while no sacrifice was made in it. And after three thousand years Solomon built a city and sacrificed in it; Then it came to pass that the barren woman gave birth to a son. And what she told you, that she raised him in the world, was a stay in Jerusalem. And what she said to you: my son entered his wedding chamber and died — this is the fall and disaster of Jerusalem. And that you saw the likeness of [Zion], how he mourns his sons, and you began to console him for what happened to him, behold, the Most High saw that you were grieving with all your soul and grieving with all your heart for him, and I showed you the light of his glory and the splendor of his beauty.

It is worth asking the reader’s forgiveness for such a long passage. But he is a clear example of how Mount Sinai, and subsequently Jerusalem, can be represented as a literary device as one woman. The same woman gave birth in Sinai, and then raised her in Jerusalem. Therefore, it is Sinai-Jerusalem.

This is how Paul constructs the logic of his allegory. Hagar is Sinai. The Sinai covenant gave birth to slavery. Not into slavery, actually, but into childhood under the supervision of a teacher, which is quite comparable to slavery.

But we, who have read the Scriptures, remember that Hagar gave birth thanks to human intervention in the course of events. Sarah decided that she was old and could no longer give birth. What about the promise? The birth of Ishmael from Hagar does not cancel the promise to Abraham that he would have a son in the spirit. In the same way, the conclusion of the Covenant at Sinai does not cancel the promise of concluding another Covenant — in the spirit.

Paul compares the birth of Isaac, that is, the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham about a son, as a parallel to the fulfillment of another promise — the conclusion of a covenant with all nations — the promise of the Moshiach.

To reinforce this parallel, Paul turns to another image so familiar to first-century readers—the Heavenly Jerusalem. We know that Moses built the Temple according to the image he saw in heaven. During the time of the Second Temple, people imagined the Heavenly Jerusalem as a city and sanctuary hovering in the air above earthly Jerusalem, not knowing enslavement and not knowing sin. This sanctuary, as they believed for a long time, although it hovers over Jerusalem, does not grow together, does not unite with it due to the fact that the earthly sanctuary itself is unclean for the reason that people in the Sinai covenant are still in the state of slaves. But the new covenant (the one that Paul speaks of and the one that Jeremiah spoke of), the renewed covenant, is based on the outpouring of the spirit from the Heavenly Jerusalem, which means that all the sons of this covenant are the sons of Isaac according to the promise.

Paul further notes that just as in ancient times Ishmael, born according to the flesh, persecuted Isaac, so now the people of one Testament do not accept the people of another.

We need to remember that part of the plan of the Most High is not the separation between earthly and heavenly, but the rooting of earthly Jerusalem in heavenly so that both Jerusalems are united into one. At the same time, the commandments of the Torah do not disappear anywhere, and the Sinai Covenant is not canceled. But the fulfillment of the commandments begins to occur not out of fear, but under the guidance of the Spirit of the Son, who lives in everyone who has entrusted themselves to Yeshua.

30.What does Scripture say? Cast out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will not be an heir along with the son of the free woman. So, brothers, we are not the children of slaves, but of a free woman.

At first glance, Paul is saying something here that contradicts what we said a few lines earlier. And if we have already turned to the tradition of the Targums, then we can recall the words of Sarah, which are cited by the so-called fragmentary translation:

After we came from a foreign land, and I was unable to give birth, I gave my maid to your womb. But when she saw that she had a child, she began to show me her contempt as never before. And she neglected to respect me. But now, when my problem is revealed before the Lord, he will give peace between me and you and then the earth will be filled with our children, so that we will no longer have any need for Hagar, the daughter of Pharaoh, the daughter of the same Nimrod who threw you into the fiery furnace.

And so, it seems, in the light of the understanding that the tradition of the Targums gives us, the sons of Hagar, all those who are in the Sinai Covenant should simply be expelled. They will not inherit the earth. And from us, the sons of Isaac, a new nation will be produced.

But what does Paul say? He says: “I will crucify with Mashiach.” And what does Moshiach himself say? Maybe he said: “Give up all this Sinai nonsense?” Of course not. He says (John 3:7), “You must be born again.”

It is not the Covenant that has been abolished, but the one who entered into the Covenant has entered into fullness and no longer needs the overseers who previously kept him in fear. The partitions fell, the golden cage broke, and the sons of Isaac, according to the promise, will carry the fullness of the Torah to the pagans even to the ends of the earth.

Those born of the Spirit know no limitations. Their purity (fitness for serving God) cannot be harmed. Their purity is not related to circumcision or uncircumcision, does not depend on gender and nationality, because they are not the children of a slave, but the children of a free woman.

Paul here repeats a thought already expressed earlier, but, as he himself said, he bases it on the Law for those who rely on the Law. Well, this is an opportunity for him to show that, contrary to their assumptions, he understands the Law quite well.

CHAPTER 5

5:1-6 So, stand in the freedom that the Messiah has given us, and do not be subjected again to the yoke of slavery. Behold, I, Paul, tell you: if you are circumcised, the Messiah will not profit you at all. Again I testify to every man who is circumcised, that he must fulfill the whole law. You, who justify yourselves by the law, were left without the Messiah, you fell from mercy, but we in spirit expect and hope for righteousness from faith. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has power, but faith working through love.

1. Therefore, stand in the freedom that the Messiah has given us, and do not be subjected again to the yoke of slavery. 

So, that is, in the light of the above arguments, it becomes obvious that it is better to be the sons of the spirit, and not the flesh, the sons of Isaac, and not Ishmael, residents of the heavenly Jerusalem, and not the earthly, free, and not slaves.

2. Behold, I, Paul, say to you: if you are circumcised, the Messiah will not profit you at all. 

What happens when a Gentile who has believed in Yeshua hears the call to circumcision? He is told that only circumcision of the foreskin will make him pure enough to be allowed to associate with an Israelite. In order to test whether this is so, we need to decide whether faith in Yeshua is sufficiently cleansing. If the answer is yes, then it goes without saying that circumcision should be abandoned. If the answer is no, and, in the opinion of the pagan, faith in Yeshua itself does not purify enough or Yeshua did not destroy the partition between the pagans and the Israelites, then this means only one thing: for those who believe this way, there is no benefit in the Mashiach.

3. Again I testify to every man who is circumcised, that he must fulfill the whole law. 

Paul is saying something very important here. In modern parlance, the Torah is not a buffet. There is no way to cut out and use separately any one element, called trimming. The Torah is a whole and complete set of laws, therefore the one who decides to be circumcised, based on the fact that righteousness is not given apart from the law, must fulfill the entire Law. For circumcision was originally the firstfruits of the righteousness of the Law. Just as many today, in order to work in some place, need official registration for work. In many places you also need a pass. Likewise, circumcision, according to the law, is the official entry into the world of Torah service. Naturally, the one who has applied for this work must fulfill the entire Law.

4. You, who justify yourself by the law, were left without the Messiah, you fell from mercy, but we in spirit expect and hope for righteousness from faith. 

Since (we said above) it is impossible to choose keeping the law as the path of justification, unless at the same time renouncing the mercy given through Moshiach, therefore those who followed this path fell from mercy. And to them, the fallen ones, Paul demonstrates the falling away. It shows in what advantageous position the uncircumcised Gentiles found themselves in comparison with the circumcised.

6. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has power, but faith working through love. 

For in Yeshua the Messiah, circumcision is not a pass to ministry, and lack of circumcision is not a barrier to ministry. And the pass and sign of official reception is faith working through love. Lest we misunderstand Paul’s words, we must pause here and remember that Paul is not writing a general theory. He is responding to a specific problem among the Galatians: the Galatians, who did not have the commandment of circumcision, according to the Torah, were carried away by circumcision under the influence of certain teachers who taught that through circumcision one can achieve greater righteousness. Paul (we must not forget) says nothing here about the commandment of circumcision. Paul is talking about the magic of circumcision, that one of the Galatians is trying to use circumcision as a magical way to achieve greater purity. Paul states two things: first, that in the Messiah Yeshua such “magic” does not work and cannot work. A second (said above) that the Law itself does not allow the use of circumcision as something separate. Therefore, he who is circumcised must fulfill the whole law. And again, for service by faith in Yeshua, circumcision or lack thereof does not matter to those to whom it is not commanded.

5:7-12

You walked well: who stopped you from submitting to the truth? This conviction is not from the One who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole dough. I am confident about you, sir, that you will not think differently; but the one who troubles you, no matter who he is, will bear condemnation. Why are they persecuting me, brothers, if I still preach circumcision? Then the temptation of the cross would cease. Oh, that those who disturb you were removed! 

7.You walked well: who stopped you from obeying the truth? 

8. Such a conviction is not from the One who calls you. 

Paul remembers and notes that the Galatian believers were growing well in the faith, but (he laments) someone stopped the Galatians from obeying the truth, from listening to the spirit of the Son that was in them. Why does Paul think this? Because he knows that the ideas that the Galatians had about circumcision were not from the One who called them. 

9. A little leaven leavens the whole dough. 

One small compromise, the admission of a thought that is not of the right spirit, can leaven the whole dough, completely deprive a person of righteousness by faith in Yeshua. There is a Hasidic story that may illustrate what Paul is talking about here:

Satan appeared to one Hasid and offered: “Rent out your house to me.” Of course, a Hasid would not be a Hasid if he had not refused. “Rent me your bed,” Satan suggested. “Here we go again!” — answered the Hasid. “Then rent me a small nail in the wall of your hut,” Satan suggested. He offered a lot of money, but asked for a small service — so our Hasid agreed. To begin with, Satan simply hung his hat on a nail. But soon he came and, taking the hat, hung up a bag of some kind of carrion, emitting a stench. And next time a bag with some worms. This went on for quite some time. And the Hasid’s house absorbed the stench and became a haven for many unclean insects. So, when the fullness Satan expected came, he again turned to the Hasid with a request to rent him a house, and here the Hasid was more accommodating, and Satan managed to rent the house for mere pennies.

Paul warns Galatov about something similar. Having revealed to them that their condition was a fall from grace, he told a little about how this could happen.

10. I am confident about you, sir, that you will not think differently; but the one who troubles you, no matter who he is, will bear condemnation. 

I am confident that after hearing all the arguments, and also understanding the process of falling away, the Galatians will no longer think differently than as Paul explained. And the one who tried to intimidate them will be condemned. 

11. Why do they persecute me, brothers, if I still preach circumcision? Then the temptation of the cross would cease. 

As often happens, we can understand the position of one “mute” arguer from the argumentation of another. Apparently, those who taught the Galatians, or their followers, falsely alleged that Paul still preaches circumcision. We know that Paul circumcised Timothy, and this may have started the conversation. But Paul says that, as it would be logical to think, if he preached circumcision, he would not be persecuted by the Jews, because such a sermon would deprive the message of faith in the Messiah of any attractiveness. Then there would be no revelation and no new path.

12. Oh, that those who disturb you were removed! 

Despite all these arguments, Paul fears that the Galatians will not be able to resist those who bully them. Hence the exclamation.

5:13-15

You, brethren, are called to freedom, so long as your freedom is not an excuse to please the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is contained in one word: love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour each other, beware lest you be destroyed by each other.

13. You, brothers, are called to freedom, so long as your freedom is not an excuse to please the flesh, but serve one another through love. 

In concern for his disciples, worrying that they would not again be seduced by another, false teaching, Paul tries to teach them some more methods of spiritual self-defense. So they are called to freedom. If we remember the example with the estate that we used, the Galatians are no longer powerless children growing up under the supervision of slaves. They are called upon to participate in the management of the estate. But how will they govern? You can simply waste your property by pleasing your flesh. There are many examples of this in history. Or you can build a common cause, strive to ensure that all decisions are for the sake of the development and prosperity of the estate, for the benefit of yourself and others. This last thing, that is, the benefit to others from your property, is an important criterion for self-test.

14. For the whole law is contained in one word: love your neighbor as yourself. 

It seems amazing that Paul would talk about the Law again! After all, it might seem that he had already clearly demonstrated that the Law gives birth to slavery, and the Galatians, like himself, are called to freedom.

And here we need to remember that Paul never spoke about the abolition of the Law; on the contrary, he said that his co-crucifixion of the Messiah happened “according to the law,” that is, in accordance with the Law. Then, in the example parable of the two children, he pointed out that this is what the Law says. And the very promise to Abraham is also part of the Law. And, when we remember that Paul spoke about the teacher and the fullness of growing up, we also understand that he simply could not talk about the abolition of the Law. For a person reaches fullness, becomes an adult precisely when he assimilates what he was brought up with, that is, lives in accordance with the Law, but no longer forced by educators, but driven by his own nature.

Throughout the letter, Paul did not speak about the abolition of the Law, but about the fact that the Law did not provide the achievement of righteousness and purity. The promise of righteousness and purity did not come as an abolition of the Law, but in full accordance with the Law.

So Paul says: “The whole law is summed up in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” What could this mean? Using the example of a family, if a wife loves her husband, does this mean that this love no longer implies any action? If she loves her husband, then this is imputed to her, as if she had already prepared dinner? And the husband who loves her is charged with this love, as if he brought home his salary and took out the trash? The example is, naturally, grotesque. Love for one’s neighbor does not mean fulfilling all duties towards him. But where it is difficult for us to determine how to act in accordance with the Law, in order to understand what is legal, we must apply the criterion: what action will be an expression of love? What would love do? 

The second-century Israeli legislator, one of the most authoritative teachers in Jewish history, Rabbi Akiva, also taught that in establishing the law, the basic principle for the legislator is “love your neighbor as yourself.” This parallel between teachers so distant at first glance may be an indication that Paul is not such an opponent of the Law as we might think.

Paul tells us here that in the management of the estate to which we are admitted, the main «business principle» should be the principle love your neighbor as yourself. In any business In the decision we make, the spiritual benefit to others from our property is the main criterion.

15. If you bite and devour each other, beware lest you be destroyed by each other. 

On the contrary, the application of the “business principle” in estate management everyone against everyone will lead to the fact that everyone will suffer destruction in their estate. And joint creation will be replaced by joint destruction, until everyone is destroyed.

This is Paul’s first advice for spiritual self-defense: when managing your property in freedom, or, more simply, “in an adult way,” strive to do it not to please your own flesh, but for the good of your neighbors. Then your property will not be ruined.

5:16-18

I say: walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you would like. If you are led by the spirit, then you are not under the law.

16. I say: walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh, 

Paul’s second advice is to choose the leadership of the spirit rather than the flesh. Here Paul is not talking about the Holy Spirit, but about man’s own spirit. Let’s say a few words about how the Israelis, Paul’s contemporaries, imagined the spiritual anatomy of man. There are two advisers in a person, two natures that encourage him to make decisions and actions, good and evil. At different times, different people defined these natures in different ways: good and evil, divine and animal soul, divine and carnal soul. Every time, making this or that decision, a person listens to the advice of the corresponding beginning.

Paul calls these two principles spirit and flesh. His advice is to listen only to one of the advisers, to the spirit.

17. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you would like.

The two principles that move a person are never at peace with each other. They always want the opposite. Therefore, no matter what decision a person makes, no matter what principle he obeys, the second principle will prompt him to regret, convince him that, in fact, he is not doing what he wants. Paul understands that this feeling (as if he did not do what he wanted) was familiar to the Galatians, so he explains its nature. But even in such a situation, following the spiritual principle, a person will not get rid of regrets: the spiritual principle will tell the person that he acted in accordance with his desire, and the carnal will say that he did not do what he wanted. How to get rid of regrets? Continue to listen to the spiritual and ignore the carnal.

18. If you are led by the Spirit, then you are not under the law.

A person who follows Paul’s advice and listens to the spirit and not the flesh, as a truly adult, is no longer protected by all the restrictions that are imposed on a child growing up on an estate. He no longer needs nannies and breadwinners.

Let us repeat again: “not under the law” in the context in which Paul speaks, it is not outside the law and not without the law, but without all the regulations that limit the action, prohibiting communication with the unclean for fear of spiritual fall.

5:19-25

The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, [temptations], heresies, hatred, murder, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, generosity, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. There is no law against them. But those who belong to the Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the spirit, then we must act by the spirit. Let’s not be vain, irritate each other, envy each other.

19. The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 

20. idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, [temptations], heresies, 

21.hatred, murder, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 

As a complement to the second advice, Paul gives a certain qualifier. How can I know whether I live by the flesh or by the Spirit? How to recognize someone who claims to teach, whether he is worthy to be taught from him, whether he is led by spirit or flesh? To help answer these questions, Paul gives lists of sample fruits of the flesh and spirit.

In this list of the flesh, in addition to the self-evident things like adultery, fornication, uncleanness, drunkenness and anger, it is worth paying attention to something that is not immediately clear.

Obscenity. The Greek word used here is apeλγεια. It can be translated as licentiousness and immorality. In other words, this is the absence of any moral standards in a person. In modern language they would say about such a person “without complexes.” This Greek word, as some interpret it, comes from the name of the city of Selge in Pisidia, whose inhabitants were distinguished by exceptional “correctness” and “honesty.”

 Disagreements. This term is used here by Paul, most likely influenced by his experience living and studying among the Israelites. He, of course, knew the ancient saying, dating back to the times of Hillel (Hillel was the grandfather of that very Gamliel, from whom Paul studied) saying (Mishna “Avot” 5:17):

[Both opinions in] every dispute [which is conducted] in the name of truth will ultimately triumph, [without canceling each other out], and dispute for the sake of argument is fruitless. An example of a dispute in the name of truth is the dispute between Hillel and Shammai, and an example of an argument for the sake of an argument is Korach and all his accomplices [with Moshe].

“Both opinions will prevail” – in the original, the dispute itself will triumph. If people argue not for the sake of demonstrating their own superiority, not for the sake of personal gain, but for the sake of clarifying the truth and for the sake of seeking the will of Heaven, the arguers will triumph. In any case, Heaven approves of the search for will and the desire to defend it. Even if the arguer is wrong. Two teachers in Israel, Shammai and Hillel, were such disputants. They saw reality differently. Each of them perceived the world differently. And, accordingly, they interpreted the Law differently. But all disagreements between them were disagreements in the name of God. Therefore, to this day the Israeli tradition preserves both of their opinions. Korach (Koreah), unlike them, pursued his own personal gain. And we know how Korach ended. Let us not attribute to Paul our own desire to simplify and generalize. Paul does not say that every argument is a fruit of the flesh. But any manifestation of self-interest separates a person from the Kingdom. The dispute itself is not necessarily born of self-interest.

Heresies. The Greek word used here is ἐritheῖαι. Except in the letters of Paul, we find this word in Aristotle (Politics 5:3). Here’s how Aristotle uses it:

…in oligarchies, on the basis of the idea of ​​inequality, they strive to seize more rights, since inequality lies in having more.

The true meaning of this word: self-interest, selfishness, ambition, opportunism. The same synodal translation renders this word as self-interest in 2 Cor 12:20 and Phil 1:16. Thus, heresy or heresies in the well-known sense of the word are not discussed here.

22.The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, generosity, goodness, faith,

23. meekness, self-control. There is no law against them. 

It is very important to notice the contrast that Paul uses here. He contrasted spirit and flesh, freedom and slavery, Isaac and Ishmael, God and man, heavenly and earthly. All of Paul’s rhetoric seems to be based on oppositions.

Here we encounter one contrast that cannot be immediately discerned. About those who live according to the flesh and have the fruits of the flesh, Paul writes that they “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” And about those who live according to the fruits of the spirit, “there is no law against them.”

So, here is the contrast Paul has: those who do not inherit the kingdom of God and those who do not have the Law.

Paul said earlier that those who are under the law are still like slaves, because they are under their supervision and as if under their subordination. Destined for heritage, he has not yet come into his own. These are those who have the fruits of the flesh. They are still being raised. They are also subordinate to nannies and schoolmasters. Will not inherit the kingdom means here not yet ready to inherit, not ready to manage possessions in an adult way, for the benefit of oneself and others.

Those who do not have the fruits of the flesh, but have the gifts of the Spirit, have entered into the fullness of the inheritance and are no longer under supervision. Regarding this lack of supervision, Paul says, “against such there is no law.”

24.But those who belong to the Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

25.If we live by the spirit, then we must act by the spirit. 

26. Let’s not be vain, irritate each other, or envy each other. 

How can you live in such a way as to have only the fruits of the spirit in your life? Paul has already testified about himself, and now he repeats it: you need to be crucified with the Messiah, crucify your flesh with passions and lusts, then your actions will be actions according to the spirit, there will be no exaltation, enmity, classifying someone as a second-class people or, conversely, envy of someone’s circumcision and belonging to Israel.

CHAPTER 6

COMMUNITY ADVICE 6:1-10

Brethren! If a person falls into any sin, you who are spiritual correct him in the spirit of meekness, each one watching himself, so as not to be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of the Messiah. For whoever thinks himself to be something when he is nothing deceives himself. Let each one test his own work, and then he will have praise only in himself, and not in another, for each will bear his own burden. Instructed by the word, share every good thing with the one who instructs. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap: he who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So, as long as we have time, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our faith. 

1.Brothers! If a person falls into any sin, you who are spiritual correct him in the spirit of meekness, each one watching himself, so as not to be tempted. 

2. Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of the Messiah. 

Paul moves from personal advice to advice to the community. How to act if in the life of your neighbor you see the fruits of the flesh, and not the spirit? Here Paul gives two pieces of advice. 

First: watch yourself, check whether you yourself have similar fruits, and make sure that similar fruits do not appear.

Second, perhaps a little less clear: bearing each other’s burdens. What does it mean? The idea of ​​bearing each other’s burdens has long been one of the cornerstones of Israeli morality. One of the most ancient collections of Israeli sermons, Sifre, says: “And they shall stumble over one another as by a sword” (Leviticus 26:37). Not literally about each other, but about each other’s sins. And this teaches us that all Israelites bear each other’s burdens. Every Israeli is responsible for how his neighbor acts, whether he follows God’s will. And, accordingly, every Israeli is responsible for the sins of his neighbor. About the making of the Covenant on Mount Sinai it is said: «Israel stood at Mount Sinai» (Exodus 19). He stood up as one person, singular. Yeshua’s messengers also taught that all believers constitute one, single body, therefore there is no “other” in this body. “Other” is “me”. And any believer is responsible for the correction of his neighbor, for his standing in what he has received.

Paul clearly recommends this experience of Israel to believers. It is important, however, that the word “burdens” in this case implies “sins” and “uncleanness.” Paul talks about staying pure and being led by the spirit. This does not apply to financial and social obligations. You can also participate in them, but that is not what Paul is talking about.

3. For whoever thinks himself to be something when he is nothing deceives himself. 

Every man is nothing (Psalms 62:9). And therefore, whenever a person considers himself to be something, that is, he has achieved something on his own, is righteous in himself, and the like, he deceives himself.

4. Let each one test his own work, and then he will have praise only in himself, and not in another, 

5. For each one will bear his own burden. 

On the one hand, Paul speaks of the communal responsibility of each for the burdens of others. On the other hand, he advises each person to constantly check his ministry. In this way, as Paul says, a person will have approval for his own achievements, and not by comparing himself with others. This comparison — of oneself with another — does not make sense, because a person will not be responsible either according to the standings, or in comparison with others, but for his own position.

6. Being taught by the word, share every good thing with the one teaching. 

The next important piece of advice Paul gives. If we receive spiritual food and instruction from someone, it is good for us to share our property with such a person.

7. Don’t be deceived: God is not a laughing stock. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap:

8. He who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 

In explaining his advice, Paul says that we reap where we sow. Perhaps someone will laugh at the grief of a businessman who supports preachers. According to human reasoning, it is wise to spend money for one’s own enjoyment. But Paul warns that he who puts in the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh. If someone spends money for his own pleasure, all his investments will decay along with his flesh. But he who sows to the Spirit will reap forever, because the Spirit is eternal. The proverb applies to these words of Paul he who laughs last laughs. God will not be a laughing stock. Most likely, this advice of Paul is also based on his experience in Israel.

There is an extremely revealing story in the Talmud about how Rabbi Akiva, seeing that Rabbi Tarfon, who had enormous wealth, was donating less to the poor than prescribed by the Torah, once came to him and said: “Now two estates are put up for sale at a very favorable price. Would you like me to buy them for you? Delighted by this offer, Rabbi Tarfon gave four thousand denarii to Rabbi Akiva, who took the money and immediately distributed it to needy yeshiva students and Torah-study children. After some time, Rabbi Tarfon decided to inspect his new estates and asked Rabbi Akiva to accompany him to them. Rabbi Akiva took him to the school, called one of the students and told him to read one of David’s psalms. When the boy reached the words “With a broad hand he gave to the poor: his righteousness endures forever!”, Rabbi Akiva stopped him and said: “This is the estate that I purchased for you!” And Rabbi Tarfon not only did not get angry, but also hugged Rabbi Akiva and said: “My teacher and my mentor! Teacher in the Torah, mentor in life!

The treatise “Bava Batra” tells an ancient legend about a king named Munbaz. One day during a hungry year, Emperor Moonbaz opened his treasury and generously distributed everything to the needy. His family was indignant: “Your fathers and grandfathers,” they said, “collected these treasures all their lives. How could you now give all this to the poor?” To which the emperor replied: “My fathers collected treasures on earth — I collected them in heaven. My fathers stored them in an unsafe place — I am giving them to be stored in a safe place. My fathers kept them without receiving a profit — I place them with profit. My fathers gained wealth in money — I gained wealth from the souls of men. My fathers saved for others — I save for myself. My fathers saved in this world — I save in the World «To come.»

These two examples, almost contemporary with Paul, show that Paul was sharing with the community of believers in Galatia the experience that he might have gained at the feet of Gamliel. Quite a testament to the relationship between Paul and the Israelite tradition.

9. Let us not become weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. 

10. So, as long as we have time, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are our own in the faith. 

Summing up what has been said, as if summing up his advice, Paul says that you need to do good deeds and not lose heart. In due time a rich harvest will be reaped. As they would say in modern language, the main thing is not to relax.

6:11-15

You see how much I wrote to you with my own hand. Those who want to boast in the flesh force you to be circumcised only so as not to be persecuted because of the cross of the Messiah, for even those who are circumcised do not keep the law, but want you to be circumcised so that they can boast in your flesh. But I do not want to boast, except in the cross of our lord Yeshua the Messiah, by whom the world has been crucified for me, and I for the world. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but a new creation.

11.You see in what large letters I wrote to you with my own hand. 

Earlier, when we discussed Paul’s memories of his trip to the Galatians, we said that Paul may have suffered from a vision disorder. Here we see confirmation of that assumption. Paul wants to show the Galatians that he cares so much about them that, despite his eye disease, he himself wrote to them with his own hand, even though he had to write in capital letters.

12. Those who want to be exalted in the flesh force you to be circumcised only so that you will not be persecuted for the cross of the Messiah, 

13. For even those who are circumcised do not keep the law, but want you to be circumcised, so that they may be exalted in your flesh. 

Paul finally, having already talked about how concerned he was about the situation in Galatia, emphasizes the difference between himself and other teachers. Since the law does not provide for or in any way require the circumcision of the Gentiles, those who keep the Law cannot have such an intention. Those who came to circumcise the Galatians do so for the sake of self-affirmation, for the sake of a sense of their own superiority and other goals. Circumcision is something magical for them. Something that makes you proud to own. And for the sake of this self-exaltation, they call on the Galatians to be circumcised. Wanting to boast in the flesh, they renounce the sonship of Isaac, which Paul spoke about, since, wanting to boast in the flesh, they are not ready to be crucified with the Messiah.

14. But I do not want to be exalted in anything, except with the cross of our lord Yeshua the Messiah, by which the world has been crucified for me and I for the world. 

Paul uses a vivid image here. He is ready to be lifted up on the cross of our lord Yeshua the Messiah, by whom all worldly desires died for him, and he died for worldly desires.

15. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but a new creation.

Paul says here that in the ministry of the new covenant the pass (following the example we gave earlier) is not circumcision, but participation in the Heavenly Jerusalem. What matters here is whether you have become a new creature.

In the collection of midrashim Bereshit Rabbah, the sages discuss the scripture verse (Genesis 12:2): “I will make you a great nation.” Rabbi Barkhiya, who is considered one of the most authoritative keepers of tradition, argues as follows (Bereshit Rabbah 39:11): “The Torah does not say here: I will establish or appoint. But he says “I’ll do it.” God makes a promise to Abraham: “Behold, I will make you a new creation.”

So, we see again, the tradition of the Israelites says that the promise that the Most High will produce from Abraham a “new creation” precedes circumcision and is the goal, the task of Abraham’s mission. The purpose of Abraham’s exit from the land of his father was Mashiach. Again, Paul does not contradict the Law, but interprets the Law.

6:16-18

To those who act according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and on the Israel of God. However, no one burdens me, for I bear the marks of the Lord Yeshua on my body. The mercy of our lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

16. Let there be peace on all who do this, and on the Israel of God. 

Paul ends his message in much the same way as the Israeli Kaddish prayer (at that time, one of the few “standard” public prayers) ends: «May there be peace from heaven upon us and upon all Israel»

17. For the rest, no one is an object of envy for me, for I bear the mark of Yeshua in my body.

No other human quality, external or internal, arouses envy or desire for possession in Paul, since he bears within himself the stamp of Yeshua. Everything else can’t compare to this.

18. The mercy of our lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. 

Paul ends the letter by wishing that the mercy of Yeshua the Messiah may be with the spirit of the believers. In fact, the entire letter speaks about the value of such a blessing.