GALATIANS, EPISTLE AL. A letter from the apostle Paul to the Galatian church, now found as the ninth book of the NT canon.
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A text
B. Author
C. Address
D. Date and place of origin
E. Galatians and the Corpus Paulinum
F. Literary Analysis
G. Galatians as a historical document
1. Paul’s own early history
2. The history of the early church
3. The anti-Pauline opponents
H. Galatians as a theological document
I. Literary Influence of Galatians
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A.Text
Among the extant letters of the apostle Paul, his letter to the Galatian churches is the fourth in the current CANON (NT), but the first in Marcion’s (Harnack 1924:40*-79*). However, the canonical lists do not reflect the actual historical chronology. Verbatim we do not own the original Gk and the early transmission history is unknown. The reconstruction of the text, presented by the critical editions of NovTG 27 and The Greek New Testament (1983), is as close an approximation as possible to the original, given current knowledge (see TEXTUAL CRITICISM). JC O’Neill’s (1972) attempt to follow Marcion’s lead by removing about a third, as later glosses and interpolations remain unconvincing.
B. Author
The preface names Paul (1:1) as the author of the letter. This fact is confirmed by the literary form and style, the argumentative methods and theological content, as well as by tradition, which never doubted it. Some scholars denied Pauline authorship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but their arguments are insufficient. Since in the original the postscript was handwritten by Paul (6:11), the rest of the letter must have been written by an amanuensis, a fact that complicates the authorship technically but not substantially (Betz Galatians Hermeneia, 1).
C. Address
The letter is addressed to “the churches of Galatia” (1:2; cf. 3:1). The location of this area called Galatia has been discussed extensively but without a definitive result. The location is most likely central Anatolia, where wandering Celtic tribes settled after 278/277 BC. C. (the “north Galatian hypothesis” or “territory”). Less likely is the “southern Galatian hypothesis” or “province”, which assumes that Paul was referring to the Roman province of Galatia, established in 25 BC. C. This included Galatia, as well as some areas to the south (Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Pamphylia) that may be connected with Paul’s first missionary campaign, according to Acts 13-14. However, the information contained in Galatians and Acts cannot be harmonized. Acts 13-14 does not mention Galatia at all. In 16:8 and 18:23, a “Galatian country” is mentioned, but no mission is described. Also, the inhabitants of Pisidia and Lycaonia were not called “Galatians”. Whether the Acts itineraries are historically reliable in the sense that they accurately report all of Paul’s campaigns is another unresolved issue. Although no archaeological trace seems to have been left, central Anatolia is the most likely location of the Galatian churches (see Betz Galatians Hermeneia, 1-5).
D. Date and place of origin
The Galatian letter can only have an approximate date, since no unequivocal evidence exists. Scholars have argued for early and late dates in relation to the other Pauline letters (see Betz Galatians Hermeneia, 9-12). Theologically, Galatians reflects positions closer to 1 Thessalonians, while Romans, Paul’s last extant letter, shows development and revision on important points. An earlier date is therefore more likely (Vielhauer 1975:79-81, 110-11:52-54/55 CE; Jewett 1979:103:53 CE).
The letter provides no clues as to its place of origin. The Marcionite Prologues (for the text see Harnack 1924: 127*-28*) state that he was sent from Ephesus, but the subscriptio contained in some Galatian manuscripts names Rome as the place from which he was sent. Scholars have argued for Ephesus, Macedonia, and Corinth; but these are but possibilities (see Betz Galatians Hermeneia, 12).
E. Galatians and the Corpus Paulinum
Among the authentic Pauline letters, Galatians occupies a peculiar position. While all the others are addressed to churches in Macedonia, Greece, and Rome, only Galatians has survived from what must have been a broader correspondence at one time with churches in Asia Minor (unless Romans 16 was originally addressed to Ephesus). . However, the reasons for its survival are unknown, as is the early history of transmission and edition of the Pauline corpus (see Gamble 1975: 403-18; Aland 1979: 302-50). Galatians shows no knowledge of, or ties to, the churches of Macedonia and Greece, or any of the other letters. The literary genre and composition of Galatians have much in common with the Romans. Both are apologies; but whereas Galatians is short and contentious, representing the beginning of a controversy, Romans is conciliatory and much expanded. showing an advanced stage of debate in which Paul defends his theology as a whole by means of elaborate arguments that reformulate and even revise the positions taken in Galatians. While Galatians is unaware of the Corinthian crisis, Romans acknowledges it. Due to the theology of the Spirit, Galatians is theologically closer to the first letter of 1 Thessalonians which, however, does not deal with Judeo-Christian adversaries; in this respect Galatians has parallels in Philippians 3:2-21; 2 Cor 10:1-13:10; Romans 16: 17-20. Galatians is closer theologically to the first letter of 1 Thessalonians which, however, does not deal with Judeo-Christian adversaries; in this respect Galatians has parallels in Philippians 3:2-21; 2 Cor 10:1-13:10; Romans 16: 17-20. Galatians is closer theologically to the first letter of 1 Thessalonians which, however, does not deal with Judeo-Christian adversaries; in this respect Galatians has parallels in Philippians 3:2-21; 2 Cor 10:1-13:10; Romans 16: 17-20.
F. Literary Analysis
The literary analysis proposed by Betz (Gálatas Hermeneia, 14-25) assumes that Gálatas is of the typeface -apologetica- that includes other epistolary and rhetorical characteristics. The frame of the letter consists of an epistolary prescription (1:1-5) naming the sender and co-senders (superscriptio, 1:1-2a) and recipients (adscriptio, 1:2b) and a conclusion with a expanded salutation (salutatio, 1:3-4) and doxology (1:5). The epistolary postscript (6:11-18), handwritten in the original (6:11), sharpens the points Paul wishes to make in the letter and concludes with a blessing (6:18).
The body of the letter (1:6-6:10) is a unit of composition that contains the typical features of a defense speech. The exordium (“introduction”, 1:6-10) confronts readers with the statement of the letter’s cause, its imminent turn from Paul to his opponents (1:6-7), along with a conditional curse (1 : 8-9). The narratio (-Statement of Facts-, 1:11-2:14) defines the nature of Paul’s apostleship (1:12) and tells the story of his earlier apostolic work (1:13-2:14) in three sections. The first section deals with his early life as a Jew (1:13-14), his vocation (1:15-16a), and his first mission (1:16b-24). The main point here is to underline his independence from the church authorities in Jerusalem. The second section (2:1-10) deals with the conference in Jerusalem, where the mission of Paul and Barnabas was recognized. The third section (2:11-14) recounts the conflict between Paul and Cephas at Antioch and the subsequent separation from Barnabas. As Paul formulates it, the dilemma of Cephas (2:14) is precisely the one the Galatians must face. The propositio (“Proposition”, 2:15-21) states the points of agreement (2:15-16) and disagreement (2:17-18), an exposition 2:19-20) and a refutation (2:21 ). The probatio (-Proofs-, 3: 1-4: 31) presents the main arguments that justify Paul’s theological position. The first proof (3:1-5) is undeniable evidence: the Galatians have received the Spirit on the basis of their faith, not their Torah observance. The second proof (3:6-14) uses the example of Abraham (Genesis 15:6; 12:3; 18:18) and other scriptural testimonies (Deut 27:26, Hab 2:4, Lev 18:5 , Deut 21:23) to show that believers are the “sons of Abraham” and the heirs of the promise. The third argument (3:15-18) introduces an analogous example of the secular law of inheritance. Chapter 3: 19-25 is a rebellion against the Jewish Torah. The fourth proof (3:26-4:11) is an argument from the Christian tradition, using baptismal (3:26-28) and Christological (4:4-6) formulas. The fifth proof (4:12-20) uses themes of friendship and talks about Paul’s relationships with the Galatians, both past and present. The sixth proof (4:21-31) consists of an allegory of Sarah and Hagar. Elexhortatio (“exhortation”, 5:1-6:10; differently Merk 1969:83-104; Hübner 1984a:67, n. 65; Hübner TRE 14:6) is made up of three sections: a warning against acceptance of the Jewish Torah (5: 1-12), a warning against the corruption of the -flesh- (5: 13-24) and recommendations in the form of ethical maxims (5: 25-6: 10).
The peroratio (“peroration”, 6:11-18) is identical to the epistolary postscript and summarizes the main concerns of the letter. A sharp polemic against opponents (6:12-13) is followed by a reaffirmation of Paul’s own position (6:14) and his -canon- his (6:15). The conclusion consists of a conditional blessing (6:16) juxtaposed with a conditional curse (1:8-9), an appeal (6:17), and a blessing (6:18). The rhetoric of the letter is, as a whole, of a judicial type (genus iudiciale), but the element of deterrence (genus deliberativum) is also present. The two genres are correlated here as they are in other texts. Furthermore, Galatians contains characteristics of a “magic” letter, in that the readers’ reaction to the letter will trigger the conditional curse (1:8-9) or blessing (6:16; see Betz Galatians Hermeneia, 25 , 32-33).
G. Galatians as a historical document
Galatians is a historical document of the highest order, without which the earliest history of the Church would be even darker than it unfortunately is. To be sure, Paul’s accounts are somewhat biased in that Paul does not provide a complete account of the story, but only certain facts and episodes that are important to his self-defense. The information is mainly retrievable in three areas.
1. Paul’s own early history. Paul was convinced that he was separated from him from his birth (1:15) and then called when God decided that the time had come to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (1:16). Speaking of his time before conversion, he mentions his strict Jewish orthodoxy and his zeal for persecuting the…