Texts in Conversation
Galatians presents Paul’s calling as a prophetic mission, drawing on Isaiah 49 where the servant is set apart from the womb for the nations, grounding his authority in continuity with the Hebrew Bible.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Isaiah 49:3
Septuagint
1 Hear me, O islands; pay attention, O nations! After a long time it shall stand, says the Lord. From my mother’s womb he called my name 2 and made my mouth like a sharp dagger, and under the shelter of his hand he hid me; he made me like a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he sheltered me. 3 And he said to me, “You are my slave, Israel, and in you I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored vainly, and I have given my strength in vain and for nothing; therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my toil before my God.” 5 And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his own slave, to gather Iakob and Israel to him; I will be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God shall become my strength.
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.
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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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