Chapter 6

1 Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. 2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 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.⁠ 11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. 14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.⁠ 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! 16 And all who will behave in accordance with this rule, peace and mercy be on them,⁠ and on the Israel of God. 17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.⁠ 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1QS 5:6 and Galatians 6:10

Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts · New Testament

Summary

The Dead Sea Scrolls speak of a house of truth or holiness. In Galatians, Paul similarly calls the community a household of faith. Both use family language to describe a group united by collective identity and common belief.

Passages

1QS 5:6

Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts · Community Rule

3 the community who hold fast to the covenant. At their word the decision of the lot shall go out for every matter, for Torah and for property and for judgment, to practice truth together, and humility, 4 righteousness and justice and loving kindness, and walking modestly in all their ways, so that no one shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart, to stray after his heart 5 and his eyes and the intent of his inclination, but rather to circumcise in the community the foreskin of the inclination and the stiff neck, to lay a foundation of truth for Israel, for a community of an eternal 6 covenant, to atone for all who volunteer for holiness in Aaron and for the house of truth in Israel, and for those who join them for community and for dispute and for judgment, 7 to declare guilty all who transgress the statute. And this is the rule of their ways concerning all these statutes when they are gathered into the community: everyone who enters the council of the community

160–100 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1QS

Galatians 6:10

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.

48–55 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Galatians

References

"... The phrase 'household of faith' is a significant, and probably a sectarian phrase referring to those who are bound together in a spiritual family by their shared Christian faith and life. 'The phrase is presumably constructed in conscious contrast to the typical Old Testament house of Israel' (e.g., Numbers 20:29; 2 Samuel 1:12; Ezekiel 3:4; Judith 4:15; Psalms of Solomon 17:42), or some such sectarian variant as we find in the DSS - the house of truth in Israel' (1QS 5.6), 'the house of holiness for Israel' (1QS 8.5) ...and 'the house of the Law' (CD 20.10, 13). In which case it will be significant once again that the bonding characteristic of this household is faith, and not membership of ethnic Israel, and not the Torah.' This specific phrase is only found elsewhere at Ephesians 2:19, and in neither case does the context suggest either that there is a particular focus on the fact that the church met in houses at this stage of their existence or a particular focus on some specific group of Christians in a particular location, such as the Jerusalem church ..."

Ben Witherington, Grace in Galatia: A Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1998), 434.

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

Galatians6 chapters

Compare 1QS 5:6 and Galatians 6:10

Summary

Passages

1QS 5:6

Galatians 6:10

References

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