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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Galatians 2:15 - 2:15
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
We, etc.
Continuation of Paul's address; not the beginning of an address to the Galatians. Under we Paul includes himself, Peter, and the Jewish Christians of Antioch, in contrast with the Gentile Christians. The Galatians were mostly Gentiles.
Who are Jews, etc.
The who is wrong. Render we are Jews. The expression is concessive. We are, I grant, Jews. There is an implied emphasis on the special prerogatives and privileges of the Jews as such. See Rom 3:1 f.; Rom 9:1 ff.
Sinners of the Gentiles (ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἁμαρτωλοί)
Lit. sinners taken from the Gentiles, or sprung from. Sinners, in the conventional Jewish sense; born heathen, and as such sinners; not implying that Jews are not sinners. The Jew regarded the Gentile as impure, and styled him a dog (Mat 15:27). See Rom 2:12; 1Co 6:1; 1Co 9:21; Eph 2:12; Luk 18:32; Luk 24:7. Possibly Paul here cites the very words by which Peter sought to justify his separation from the Gentile Christians, and takes up these words in order to draw from them an opposite conclusion. This is quite according to Paul's habit.