Texts in Conversation
In Galatians, Paul describes his self-understanding in terms of a prophetic commission, using language drawn from texts such as Jeremaih 1:5 where the prophet is set apart from the womb for a mission to the nations, attempting to establish his own authority in continuity with the Hebrew Bible.
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Jeremiah 1:5
Hebrew Bible
3 It also came in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile in the fifth month of that year. 4 The Lord’s message came to me, 5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” 6 I answered, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, Really I do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.” 7 The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Galatians 1:15
New Testament
13 For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.
Date: 54-55 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... It can hardly be doubted that in Galatians 1:15–16 the apostle is alluding to Jeremiah 1:5 (“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”) and Isaiah 49:1-6 (“Pay attention, you Gentiles . . . from my mother’s womb he called my name”). In the latter passage the Servant is further told, “I have made you a covenant for a race, a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth” (49:6 LXX, quoted in Acts 13:47). In the view of some scholars, the allusion to Isaiah indicates that Paul was selected to continue the work of the Servant (compare Romans 15:21). In any case, Paul must have seen his own ministry as integrally related to the work of the Old Testament prophets, and in some sense even as its culmination ..."
Silva, Moisés
"Galatians" in Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, editors. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
(p. 1810) Baker Academic, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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