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Gal_1:3. ἡμῶν ] is wanting only in min., Damasc. Aug. (once); whilst A, min., Copt. Arm. Vulg. ms. Chrys. Ambrosiast. Pel. Ambr. (once), Fulg. place it after πατρός . But as in the other epistolary salutations there is no ἡμῶν after κυρίου , it was sometimes omitted, sometimes moved to the position, which it holds in the other epistles, after πατρός (Rom_1:7; 1Co_1:3; 2Co_1:2, et al.).
Gal_1:4. περί ] Elz. has ὑπέρ , in opposition to A D E F G K L à , and many min., also Or. Theophyl. Oec. This external evidence is decisive, although Paul has written ὑπὲρ τ . ἁμαρτ . only in 1Co_15:3.
Gal_1:6. Χριστοῦ ] is wanting in F G, Boern. Tert. (twice), Cypr. (twice), Lucif. Victorin. But with the erroneous (although very ancient) connection of Χριστοῦ with καλέσαντος , Χριστοῦ , since the καλεῖν is God’s, could not but give offence; and hence in 7, 43, 52, et al., Theodoret, Or., it is changed for Θεοῦ .
Gal_1:10. εἰ ἔτι ] Elz. Scholz, Tisch. have εἰ γὰρ ἔτι . But γάρ is wanting in A B D* F G à , min., Copt. Arm. Vulg. It. Cyr. Damasc. and Latin Fathers, and has been inserted for the sake of connection.
Gal_1:11. Instead of δέ , B D* F G à **, 17, 213, It. Vulg. and Fathers have γάρ . The latter has mechanically crept in from the use of the same word before and after (Gal_1:10; Gal_1:12). à *** has restored δέ .
Gal_1:12. Instead of οὔτε , A D* F G à , min., and Greek Fathers have οὐδέ . So Lachm. A mechanical error of copying after the previous οὐδέ .
Gal_1:15. ὁ Θεός ] after εὐδοκ . is wanting in B F G, 20, and many vss. and Fathers. Bracketed by Lachm. and Schott; deleted by Tisch.; rejected justly also by Ewald and Wieseler. An explanatory addition.
Gal_1:17. ἀνῆλθον ] B D E F G, 46, 74, Syr. Syr. p. (in the margin), Bas., have ἀπῆλθον . So Lachm. and Schott. Certainly ἀνῆλθον has the appearance of interpolation, suggested as well by the direction of the journey (comp. ἀναβαίνειν εἰς Ἱεροσολ .) as by Gal_1:18.
Gal_1:18. Πέτρον ] A B à , min., Syr. Erp. Copt. Sahid. Aeth. Syr. p. (in the margin) have Κηφᾶν . Approved of by Griesb., adopted by Lachm. Scholz, Schott, Tisch. Justly; the Hebrew name, both here and also in Gal_2:9; Gal_2:11; Gal_2:14, was supplanted by the Greek as a gloss; hence in Gal_2:7-8, where Paul himself wrote the Greek name, the variation Κηφᾶς does not occur. We must not assume that the reading Κηφᾶν arose through several Fathers, like Clem. Al. in Eus. i. 12, being unwilling to refer the unfavourable account in Gal_2:11 ff. to the Apostle Peter (Winer), because otherwise the Hebrew name would only have been used from Gal_2:11 onwards.
CONTENTS.
After the apostolic address and salutation (Gal_1:1-5), Paul immediately expresses his astonishment that his readers had so soon fallen away to a false gospel; against the preachers of which he utters his anathema, for he seeks to please God, and not men (Gal_1:6-10). Next, he assures them that his gospel is not of men, for he had not received it from any man, but Christ had revealed it to him (Gal_1:11-12). In order to confirm this historically, he appeals to his pre-Christian activity in persecution and to his Jewish zeal at that time (Gal_1:13-14), and gives an exact account of his journeys and abodes from his conversion down to his formal acknowledgment on the part of the original apostles; from which it must be evident that he could be no disciple of the apostles (Gal_1:15-24).