Texts in Conversation
Paul in Galatians teaches about sowing and reaping, those who sow to the Spirit will gain life, while those who sow to the flesh will face ruin. This follows a tradition found in the Testament of Levi, which uses similar language, teaching that sowing good things leads to reward, but sowing evil brings trouble.
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Testament of Levi 13:6
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Pseudepigrapha
And you also, teach your children letters, so that they may have understanding all their lives, reading continually the law of God. For everyone who knows the law of the Lord will be honored, and will not be a stranger wherever he goes. Yes, he will gain many friends—more even than his parents—and many will desire to serve him and to hear the law from his mouth. Therefore, my children, do righteousness upon the earth, so that you may have it as a treasure in heaven. And sow good things in your souls, so that you may find them in your life. But if you sow evil things, you will reap every trouble and affliction. Acquire wisdom in the fear of God with diligence; for though there be captivity, and cities and lands are destroyed, and gold and silver and every possession perish, nothing can take away the wisdom of the wise, except the blindness of ungodliness and the callousness that comes from sin.
Date: 100 B.C.E. - 100 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Galatians 6:7
New Testament
4 Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else. 5 For each one will carry his own load. 6 Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches it. 7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, 8 because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
Date: 54-55 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The harvest of what is good is here associated with the epoch immediately after the end of the present evil age (compare 1:4), resulting in a golden future (compare the eschatological epoch of the Spirit) far surpassing the previous harvest of evil. This symbolic association of the ‘sowing’ of a ‘good seed’ with the apocalyptic fullness of time is also expressed in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch: “Behold! The days come and it shall be when the time of the age has ripened, and the harvest of its evil and good seed has come, That the Mighty One will bring upon the earth and its inhabitants and upon its rulers perturbation of spirit and stupor of heart” (2 Baruch 70:2). In Testament of Levi 13.6 the author admonishes that the sowing of good things in the soul brings a harvest of good things; that the sowing of evil brings a harvest of trouble and tribulation. Both concepts bear close resemblance to Paul’s mention regarding sowing to Spirit and reaping eternal life in contrast to sowing of the flesh and reaping destruction (6:8) ..."
Otoo, Kwesi
Walking in the Spirit: A Study of Paul's Teaching on the Spirit and Ethics in Galatians 5:13-6:10
(p. 68) Bangor University, 2014
* 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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