Galatians 1:9

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) As we said before.—Probably, upon his last (i.e., his second) visit, at the beginning of this, his third, great missionary journey (Acts 18:23). The germs of the apostasy in the Galatian Church would be already visible.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:6-9 Those who would establish any other way to heaven than what the gospel of Christ reveals, will find themselves wretchedly mistaken. The apostle presses upon the Galatians a due sense of their guilt in forsaking the gospel way of justification; yet he reproves with tenderness, and represents them as drawn into it by the arts of some that troubled them. In reproving others, we should be faithful, and yet endeavour to restore them in the spirit of meekness. Some would set up the works of the law in the place of Christ's righteousness, and thus they corrupted Christianity. The apostle solemnly denounces, as accursed, every one who attempts to lay so false a foundation. All other gospels than that of the grace of Christ, whether more flattering to self-righteous pride, or more favourable to worldly lusts, are devices of Satan. And while we declare that to reject the moral law as a rule of life, tends to dishonour Christ, and destroy true religion, we must also declare, that all dependence for justification on good works, whether real or supposed, is as fatal to those who persist in it. While we are zealous for good works, let us be careful not to put them in the place of Christ's righteousness, and not to advance any thing which may betray others into so dreadful a delusion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As we said before - That is, in the previous verse. It is equivalent to saying, "as I have just said;" see 2 Corinthians 7:3. It cannot be supposed that he had said this when he was with them, as it cannot be believed that he then anticipated that his doctrines would be perverted, and that another gospel would be preached to them. The sentiment of Galatians 1:8 is here repeated on account of its importance. It is common in the Scriptures, as indeed it is everywhere else, to repeat a declaration in order to deepen the impression of its importance and its truth. Paul would not be misunderstood on this point. He would leave no doubt as to his meaning. He would not have it supposed that he had uttered the sentiment in Galatians 1:8 hastily; and he therefore repeats it with emphasis.

Than that ye have received - In the previous verse, it is, "that which we have preached." By this change in the phraseology he designs, probably, to remind them that they had once solemnly professed to embrace that system. It had not only been "preached" to them, it had been "embraced" by them. The teachers of the new system, therefore, were really in opposition to the once avowed sentiments of the Galatians; to what they knew to be true. They were not only to be held accursed, therefore, because Paul so declared, but because they preached what the Galatians themselves knew to be false, or what was contrary to that which they had themselves professed to be true.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. said before—when we were visiting you (so "before" means, 2Co 13:2). Compare Ga 5:2, 3, 21. Translate, "If any man preacheth unto you any gospel BESIDE that which," &c. Observe the indicative, not the subjunctive or conditional mood, is used, "preacheth," literally, "furnisheth you with any gospel." The fact is assumed, not merely supposed as a contingency, as in Ga 1:8, "preach," or "should preach." This implies that he had already observed (namely, during his last visit) the machinations of the Judaizing teachers: but his surprise (Ga 1:6) now at the Galatians being misled by them, implies that they had not apparently been so then. As in Ga 1:8 he had said, "which we preached," so here, with an augmentation of the force, "which ye received"; acknowledging that they had truly accepted it.

accursed—The opposite appears in Ga 6:16.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Galatians 1:9"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

As we have said before, so say I now again,.... Either when he first preached the Gospel among them; or rather referring to what he had just now said, which he repeats with some little alteration; as if any, men, or angels, be they of what name, figure, rank, or office whatever,

preach any other Gospel unto you, than that ye have received; and as the apostle thought, readily, willingly, sincerely, and heartily, in the love of it; assenting to the truth, feeling the power of it, and openly professing it:

let him be accursed; which he repeats, for the more solemn asseveration and confirmation of it; and to show that this did not drop from his lips hastily and inadvertently; nor did it proceed from any irregular passions, or was spoken by him in heat, and in an angry mood, his mind being ruffled, disturbed, and discomposed; but was said by him in the most serious and solemn manner, upon the most thoughtful and mature consideration of the affair.

Geneva Study Bible

As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Galatians 1:9. Again the same curse (“deliberate loquitur,” Bengel); but now the addition of an allusion to an earlier utterance of it increases still more its solemn earnestness.

ὡς προειρήκαμεν] is referred by Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Luther, Erasmus, Estius, Grotius, Bengel, and most of the earlier expositors, also Flatt, Winer, Matthies, Neander, to Galatians 1:8. But in this case Paul would have written merely ὡς εἰρήκαμεν, πάλιν λέγω, or simply πάλιν ἐρῶ, as in Php 4:4. The compound verb προειρήκαμεν (Galatians 5:21; 2 Corinthians 7:3; 2 Corinthians 13:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:6) and καὶ ἄρτι point necessarily to an earlier time, in contrast to the present. Hence the Peschito, Jerome (comp. Augustine, who leaves a choice between the two views), Semler, Koppe, Borger, Rückert, Usteri, Schott, Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, de Wette, Hilgenfeld, Ewald, Wieseler, Hofmann, Reithmayr, and others, rightly take it as indicating the presence of the apostle among the Galatians at the time when he uttered this curse; comp. Galatians 5:3. We must, however, look upon this presence as the second and not the first visit (Hofmann); for the expression in the form of curse betrays an advanced stage of the danger, and not a merely prophylactic measure.

καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω] apodosis, “so say I also now (at the present moment) again;” so that πάλιν thus glances back to the time to which the προ applied. Rückert regards ὡς … λέγω together as the protasis (comp. Ewald), in which case the proper apodosis, so it is in fact, before εἴ τις would be wanting. Or rather, if ὡς … λέγω were the protasis, εἴ τις ὑμᾶς … ἀνάθεμα ἔστω would be the real apodosis. But why introduce at all such a forced departure from the separation, which presents itself so naturally, and is so full of emphasis, of ὡς … λέγω into protasis and apodosis? The reference of προειρήκ. to an earlier time is certain enough; and ἄρτι, now, in the sense of the point of time then present, is very usual in Greek authors (Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 18 ff.) and in the N.T.

εἴ τις ὑμᾶς κ.τ.λ.] Paul does not here, as in Galatians 1:8, again use ἐάν with the subjunctive, but on account of the actual occurrence puts the positive εἰ,—thus giving to his utterance a climactic character, as in Acts 5:38 f. (see on the passage); Luke 13:9; Winer, p. 277 [E. T. 369]; Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 190; Stallbaum, ad Plat. Phaed. p. 93 B. Comp. 2 Corinthians 12:20-21, μήπως

μήπως-g0-

μή-g0-.

As to εὐαγγελίζεσθαι with the accusative,[21] which does not occur elsewhere in Paul’s writings, see Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 268.

παρελάβετε] often used of that which one gets through instruction. See Kypke, II. p. 222. It may, however, denote either to take (actively), as in 1 Corinthians 15:1; 1 John 1:10; Php 4:9; or to receive (passively), as in Galatians 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:3, et al. The latter is preferable here, as a parallel to εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν in Galatians 1:8.

[21] The studied design which Bengel discovers in the alternation between ὑμῖν (ver. 8) and ὑμᾶς (ver. 9), “evangelio aliquem instruere convenit insultationi falsorum doctorum,” is groundless. For they might say just as boastingly, “evangelium praedicavimus vobis!” The change in the words is accidental.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Galatians 1:9. προειρήκαμεν. The contrast between this plural and the singular λέγω proves that Paul is here referring, not to previous warnings of his own by letter, but to joint warnings given by his companions Silas and Timothy as well as himself during his visit to the Churches. He never speaks of himself in the plural number. ὡς … ἄρτι: as we have also forewarned you of late, I say again. Our versions interpret προειρήκαμεν we have said before and καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω so say I now again. But Greek usage forbids this antithesis between προ. and ἄρτι. Προλέγειν means to forewarn, not to say in time past (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:2, Galatians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 3:4); while ἄρτι is used indifferently of recent or of present time. In Matthew 9:18, 1 Thessalonians 3:6 it means of late, in Matthew 26:53, John 13:7; John 13:37; John 16:12; John 16:31, 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Corinthians 16:7 it means now, by way of contrast with the future. Ἄρτι cannot therefore be used to contrast the present time with the immediate past. The words καὶ ἄρτι belong really to the preceding clause, and contain a reminder how recent had been the warnings which the Apostle is repeating. Since the rendering of John 9:25 Whereas I was blind, now I see appears to contradict this view of ἄρτι, it may be well to point out that ὤν does not mean whereas I was, but that the speaker’s real meaning was, I being (sc., by nature) blind now see.

The true rendering is of some historical importance, as evidence that warnings on the subject of circumcision had been given to the Galatians by Paul and his companions during a recent visit (see Introd., p. 146).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. He repeats his denunciation with slight differences. (1) He does not mention ‘an angel from heaven’, (2) what in the preceding verse he put hypothetically, “should any … preach”, is now assumed to be the fact, “if any is preaching”; (3) there, it was a Gospel which St Paul had preached to them, here, it is a Gospel which they had ‘received’. This reception of the truth made its relinquishment more perilous.

As we said before] lit. as we have said before. The reference is not to Galatians 1:8, but to the teaching of St Paul and his colleagues on the occasion of his second visit to them. They had drifted away from their old position: St Paul’s position is ‘now’ the same as ‘before’.

Bengel's Gnomen

Galatians 1:9. Ὡς, as) He speaks deliberately. He seems to have paused between the writing of each verse. A similar asseveration is repeated, ch. Galatians 5:2-3; Galatians 5:21.—προειρήκαμεν, we said before) In the plural: for in Galatians 1:8 he wrote we have preached, also in the plural.—λέγω, I say) in the singular. All knew the truth of the Gospel; Paul knew that the minds of the Galatians had been truly impressed with the Gospel; he now therefore says, ye have received, and by this expression there is an epitasis [emphatic addition, or augmentation of force] in the repetition.[3]—ΕἸ) if. This is more positive than εἂν [though it should happen that], Galatians 1:8.—ὙΜᾶς ΕὐΑΓΓΕΛΊΖΕΤΑΙ, furnish you with any other Gospel [preach to you]) Here ὑμᾶς is put before the verb ΕὐΑΓΓΕΛΊΖΕΤΑΙ, though in the 8th verse ὙΜῖΝ is put after; this is for the sake of emphasis; moreover we are not to suppose that there is no distinction intended in the different cases [ὙΜῖΝ and ὙΜᾶς]: We have preached the Gospel to you, has the dative of advantage: To furnish any one [Accusative] with a Gospel, is fitted to direct a sneer against the false teachers’ pretensions.

[3] See Append. on Epitasis. In the first use of the words, ver. S, “Though we, etc., preach any other Gospel,” there do not occur the words “than that ye have received.” The addition of these words, Galatians 1:9, on the second use or repetition of the former words, constitutes the Epitasis.—ED.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - As we said before, so say I now again (ὡς προειρήκαμεν καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω); as we have said before, now also (or, and as now) I am saying again. The complexion of the sentence, especially in the Greek, a good deal resembles that in 2 Corinthians 13:2," I have said beforehand, and I do say beforehand (προείρηκα καὶ προλέγω), as when I was present the second time, so now being absent." In this latter passage, the perfect, "I have said beforehand," points to the time indicated in the words," as when I was present the second time." The resemblance between the two passages, notwithstanding the somewhat different senses in which the verb (προλέγειν) is used in them, suggests the view that here likewise in the first clause the verb refers to some former occasion on which the apostle was personally present with those he is writing to. The Greek verb (προλέγειν), "say before," is sometimes equivalent to "forewarn," as 1 Thessalonians 4:6; Galatians 5:21; and 2 Corinthians 13:2 (twice). Sometimes it means "say on a former occasion," as 1 Corinthians 7:3, and most probably here. The first clause has by some been supposed to refer to the preceding verse. But recent critics generally agree in feeling that both the verb "we have said before" and the adverb "now" suggest the sense of a wider interval of time. The use of the verb in 2 Corinthians 7:3 has been cited on behalf of the other view. But even if the somewhat doubtful idea be admitted that 2 Corinthians 7:3 points back to the twelfth verso of the preceding chapter, it would still fail to furnish an adequate parallel. For not only is it parted from the earlier passage by the number of verses which intervene, but also by a succession of varying moods of feeling and diverse styles of address. Account has to be taken of the change of number between "we have said before" and "I am saying again." The only probable explanation is that the "we" recites the same persons as in the words "we preached" in ver. 8; whereas Paul, as now writing (probably) with his own hand, presents himself individually as reiterating that solemn affirmation. The words, "now also I am saying again," as marking a time contrasted with that earlier one referred to, contemplate the asseveration made in the eighth verso as well as in this. In the "now" the apostle indicates, not so much the moment of his writing, as the just then subsisting juncture of circumstances in Galatia, which called for the renewal of his commination. Its earlier utterance referred to may have occurred either in the second visit to Galatia, mentioned in Acts 18:23, or in the first, mentioned in Acts 16:6. When taking leave of his disciples on either occasion he may have been led to thus emphatically insist upon the sacred, inviolable character of the gospel, by his observation on the one hand of the fickleness and impressionableness which characterized this people, and on the other by the frequency with which perversions of Christian doctrine were already seen to be infesting the Churches. Compare also the apostle's warning to the Ephesians (Acts 20:28-31). If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (εἴ τις ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελίζεται παρ ο{ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω); if any man is preaching unto you a gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. The verbal variations in these words, as compared with those in ver. 8, are slight. One, however, deserves attention: "If any one is preaching" compared with "If... an angel should... preach." By this change in the form of making the supposition, the denunciation seems to come down out of the region of bare hypothesis to that of, perhaps, present reality. If so, the thunder of the apostle's anathema would be felt by his readers approaching nearer and nearer to the head of seine particular individual among themselves, towards whom their eyes would at once be directed with the feeling that it was, perhaps, his doom that the apostle was now pronouncing. The construction in the Greek of the verb "preach the gospel" (εὐαγγελίζομαι), with the accusative of the person to whom the message is brought, is found also in Acts 13:32; Acts 14:21. In sense there seems to be no appreciable difference between this construction of the verb and that with the dative as found in the preceding verse and often. Galatians 1:9

Vincent's Word Studies

As we said before (ὡς προειρήκαμεν)

Comp. 2 Corinthians 13:2; Philippians 3:18. Not to be referred to the preceding verse, since the compound verb would be too strong, and now in the following clause points to an earlier time, a previous visit. Comp. Galatians 5:21; 2 Corinthians 8:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:6.