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17. NOTHING CAN TROUBLE ME; I BELONG TO MY MASTER, JESUS
A curious addition, illustrative of the strength of the emotion under which the Apostle wrote this Epistle. It is hardly a “note of denunciation,” but is to show that his own acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Master is so thorough that nothing can affect his determination to be His. But he puts this into an imperative form, cf. 1Ti 4:12. It contains also a note of confidence in the ultimate triumph of his own efforts, and, by implication, of his teaching.
τοῦ λοιποῦ, “in future.” Madvig, § 66 (276), Rem. 1, compares Thuc. IV. 98 οὐ βλάψομεν τοῦ λοιποῦ ἓκοντες τὸ ἱερόν. Compare νυκτὁς, τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας. τὸ λοιπόν would, as it seems, mean “continuously during the future” (Mar 14:41; 1Co 7:29; Heb 10:13) or only “finally,” 2Th 3:1; Php 3:1. Zahn rather strangely interprets it not of time at all, but as referring to Gal 6:16 : “Let no one of the rest of Israel,” cf. Act 5:13. He quotes in confirmation Marcion’s text, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων εἰκῆ κόπονς μοι μηδεὶς παρεχέσθω, who, however, probably omitted καὶ ἐπὶ τ. Ἰ. τ. θ.
κόπους (cf. κοπιάω Gal 4:11) μοι μηδεὶς παρεχέτω. For κόπους παρέχειν see Mat 26:10 (|| Mar 14:6) and especially Luk 11:7, and in the singular Luk 18:5[172]. Cf. πόνον παρέχειν. Plat. Rep. VII. 526 c; Herod. I. 177. Also Sir 29:4, אA. Cf. ἀγῶνα παρέχειν, Isa 7:13. Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 354) quotes an incantation from the papyri, ἐάν μοι ὁ δεῖνα κόπους παράσχῃ. So Hermas Vis. III. 3, 2 μηκέτι μοι κόπους πάρεχε περὶ ἀποκαλύψεως
[172] Is affixed to a word it means that all the passages are mentioned where that word occurs in the New Testament.
ἑγὼ γὰρ. Still emphatic. See also below.[173]
[173] Dr J. H. Moulton suggests that the scars on St Paul were to Roman officials marks of identification, in accordance with descriptions found in the papyri. Expository Times, March, 1910, p. 283.
τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. στίγμα is found elsewhere in the Greek Bible only in Son 1:11, where the phrase “with studs (lit. points) of silver” is translated μετὰ στιγμάτων τοῦ ἀργυρίου. Cf. a Greek Hexaplaric version of Jdg 5:30. St Paul means that his body hears traces of suffering endured for Christ, but it is very uncertain in what way he regards them: (a) as brands set on a slave by his master. The marks are proofs that he belongs to Christ, and that Christ sets him all his tasks and is finally responsible, and will at last make him succeed. He is completely identified with his Master’s interests. For this custom of branding see the Code of Khammurabi, §§ 226, 227, and quotations in Wetstein. Ramsay (Gal. p. 472) says that such marks may still be seen in Turkey as a relic of the time before slavery was abolished there. See also Driver on Exo 13:9.
(b) Another explanation, on the whole more probable, but not necessarily excluding the thought of slavery, is that of sacred signs set on things or persons under the protection of a god. See reff. in Wetstein and also 3Ma 2:29, in a decree against the Jews, τοὺς δὲ ἀπογραφομένους χαράσσεσθαι, καὶ διὰ πυρὸς εἰς τὸ σῶμα παρασήμῳ Διονύσῳ κισσοθύλλῳ. This suggests consecration and therefore immunity from all ordinary claims and molestation. Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 360 note) compares the emphatic ἐγώ to the equally emphatic anok of some incantations. He also thinks St Paul regards his marks as amulets (see below).
τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Not the official (cf. even Gal 6:18) but the personal name, perhaps to recall both the sufferings that Jesus Himself bore and the triumphant issue of them. There may thus even be some allusion to the marks recorded in Joh 20:27. The thought is probably that of 2Co 4:10 (see also Col 1:24 note on τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ), that St Paul’s sufferings are a reproduction of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, in toil etc., so far as in his personal life these can be reproduced, and so reproduced they mark him as belonging to Jesus primarily as Master, perhaps also as the Source of his life. Jerome recalling the sufferings mentioned in 2Co 11:23 sqq. contrasts these with the mark of circumcision.
ἐν τῷ σώματί μου. He will not use σάρξ with its un-Christlike connotation, Gal 6:12-13.
βαστάζω, Gal 6:2. Here with some connotation of solemnity in bearing trophies or royal standards (see Chrysostom). The word is used in an incantation quoted by Deissmann of carrying an amulet (Bible Studies, p. 358). Cf. περιφέροντες in 2Co 4:10.