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Galatians

About this book
Chapter 1

1 From Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead) 2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia. 3 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.⁠ 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel— 7 not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! 10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ! 11 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. 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. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! 21 Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.⁠ 23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 So they glorified God because of me.

Texts in conversation

Compare 4 Maccabees 18:24 and Galatians 1:5

Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry · New Testament

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Summary

Galatians begins with a blessing that gives glory to God forever, ending with “Amen,” a common pattern of prayer that is also used at the end of 4 Maccabees. This similarity shows how Paul was connected to Jewish literary and theological traditions.

Passages

4 Maccabees 18:24

Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
20 How bitter was that day, and yet not bitter, when the bitter Greek tyrant quenched fire with fire in his cruel cauldrons, and in his boiling rage brought the seven sons of the daughter of Abraham to the torture machine and to all his tortures again! 21 He blinded the pupils of their eyes, cut out their tongues, and put them to death with various tortures. 22 For these crimes divine justice has pursued and will pursue the cursed tyrant. 23 But the sons of Abraham, together with their victorious mother, are gathered into the chorus of their ancestors, having received pure and immortal souls from God. 24 To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
19–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4 Maccabees

Galatians 1:5

New Testament
1 From Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead) 2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia. 3 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.
48–55 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Galatians

References

"... Paul’s final word is adelphoi, brothers and sisters. Despite the rebukes, Paul’s affection for them, reaffirmed throughout the letter by this Greek title (Galatians 1:11; 3:15; 4:12, 28, 31; 5:11, 13; 6:1), sounds the letter’s concluding note. Jewish books sometimes closed with “Amen.” (Whether this was added by the author or, more often, by an editor. See, e.g., 3 Maccabees 7:23; 4 Maccabees 18:24; 3 Baruch 17:4; the ends of books of psalms, Psalm 41:13; 72:19; 89:52; 106:48) Some New Testament letters closed this way, but especially when they were closing with blessings (Romans 16:27; Jude 25; variant in Revelation 22:21); “Amen” was, of course, a good way to close a blessing (Rom 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 15:33; Galatians 1:5), as here (Galatians 6:18) ..."
Craig S. Keener, Galatians, NCBC (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 294.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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4 Maccabees 18:24 and Galatians 1:5

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