Galatians 2:4

Galatians 2:4

2 And I went up¹ by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but ^aprivately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means ^bI might run, or had run, in vain.

3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

4 And this occurred because of ^afalse brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our ^bliberty which we have in Christ Jesus, ^cthat they might bring us into bondage),

5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that ^athe truth of the gospel might continue with you.

6 But from those ^awho seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; ^bGod shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something ^cadded nothing to me.

7 But on the contrary, ^awhen they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised ^bhad been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter

8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the ^acircumcised ^balso ^cworked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),

9 and when James,¹ Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^apillars, perceived ^bthe grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, ^cthat we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, ^athe very thing which I also was eager to do.

No Return to the Law

11 ^aNow when¹ Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;

12 for before certain men came from James, ^ahe would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing¹ those who were of the circumcision.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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And that—that is, What I did concerning Titus (namely, by not permitting him to be circumcised) was not from contempt of circumcision, but "on account of the false brethren" (Acts 15:1, Acts 15:24) who, had I yielded to the demand for his being circumcised, would have perverted the case into a proof that I deemed circumcision necessary.

unawares—"in an underhand manner brought in."

privily—stealthily.

to spy out—as foes in the guise of friends, wishing to destroy and rob us of

our liberty—from the yoke of the ceremonial law. If they had found that we circumcised Titus through fear of the apostles, they would have made that a ground for insisting on imposing the legal yoke on the Gentiles.

bring us into bondage—The Greek future implies the certainty and continuance of the bondage as the result.

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Galatians 2:4:**

Acts 15:1-2
Acts 15:4
Acts 15:10
Romans 5:20-21
2 Corinthians 11:26
Galatians 2:3

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Galatians 2:5 >>

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