{"id":29085,"date":"2022-09-24T13:06:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T18:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-galatians-412\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T13:06:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T18:06:53","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-galatians-412","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-galatians-412\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 4:12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brethren, I beseech you, be as I [am]; for I [am] as ye [are]: ye have not injured me at all. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

12 20<\/strong>. Personal Appeal<\/p>\n

The Apostle now makes a personal appeal, marked by deep affection and earnestness. “Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, free yourselves from the trammels of the ceremonial law and of the Judaizing teachers, for I became as you were. To you who were Gentiles and ‘without law, I became as without law’ (1Co 9:21<\/span>) that I might gain you to Christ. Copy then my example”.<\/p>\n

for I am<\/em> ] Better, I became as you<\/strong>. I gave up much that was dear to me for your sake.<\/p>\n

ye have not injured me at all<\/em> ] The exact meaning of these words is doubtful. Perhaps we should refer them to what immediately precedes. ‘I ask you now<\/em> to make a return for my self-sacrifice. I am not complaining of your conduct in past time. That<\/em> was deserving of praise, not of reproach’.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am … – <\/B>There is great brevity in this passage, and no little obscurity, and a great many different interpretations have been given of it by commentators. The various views expressed may be seen in Bloomfields Crit. Dig. Locke renders it, Let you and I be as if we were all one, Think yourselves to be very me; as I in my own mind put no difference at all between you and myself. Koppe explains it thus: Imitate my example; for I, though a Jew by birth, care no more for Jewish rites than you. Rosenmuller explains it, Imitate my manner of life in rejecting the Jewish rites; as I, having renounced the Jewish rites, was much like you when I preached the gospel to you. Other interpretations may be seen in Chandler, Doddridge, Calvin, etc. In our version there seems to be an impropriety of expression; for if he was as they were it would seem to be a matter of course that they would be like him, or would resemble him. The sense of the passage, however, it seems to me cannot be difficult. The reference is doubtless to the Jewish rites and customs, and to the question whether they were binding on Christians. Pauls object is to persuade them to abandon them. He appeals to them, therefore, by his own example. And it means evidently, Imitate me in this thing. Follow my example, and yield no conformity to those rites and customs. The ground on which he asks them to imitate him may be either:<\/P> <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. That he had abandoned them or,<\/li>\n
  2. Because he asks them to yield a point to him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    He had done so in many instances for their welfare, and had made many sacrifices for their salvation, and he now asks them to yield this one point, and to become as he was, and to cease these Jewish observances, as he had done.<\/P>

    For I am as ye are – <\/B>Greek For I as ye. This means, I suppose, For I have conformed to your customs in many things. I have abandoned my own peculiarities; given up my customs as far as possible; conformed to you as Gentiles as far as I could do, in order to benefit and save you. I have laid aside the uniqueness of the Jew on the principle of becoming all things to all men (Notes, 1Co 9:20-22<\/span>), in order that I might save you. I ask in return only the slight sacrifice that you will now become like me in the matter under consideration.<\/P>

    Ye have not injured me at all – <\/B>It is not a personal matter. I have no cause of complaint. You have done me no personal wrong. There is no variance between us; no unkind feeling; no injury done as individuals. I may, therefore, with the more freedom, ask you to yield this point, when I assure you that I do not feel personally injured. I have no wrong to complain of, and I ask it on higher grounds than would be an individual request: it is for your good, and the good of the great cause. When Christians turn away from the truth, and disregard the instructions and exhortations of pastors, and become conformed to the world, it is not a personal matter, or a matter of personal offence to them, painful as it may be to them. They have no special reason to say that they are personally injured. It is a higher matter. The cause suffers. The interests of religion are injured. The church at large is offended, and the Saviour is wounded in the house of his friends. Conformity to the world, or a lapse into some sin, is a public offence, and should be regarded as an injury done to the cause of the Redeemer. It shows the magnanimity of Paul, that though they had abandoned his doctrines, and forgotten his love and his toils in their welfare, he did not regard it as a personal offence, and did not consider himself personally injured. An ambitious man or an impostor would have made that the main, if not the only thing.<\/P><\/p>\n

    Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12<\/span><\/p>\n

    Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    The call to Christian liberty<\/strong><\/p>\n


    I. <\/strong>The call is based on personal example. I am. Paul, an exemplification of Christian liberty. He could afford to contrast himself with the Judaisers in point of piety, labour, and Divine blessing on his work. Christian liberty stood approved of God in his person and ministry. There was no risk to run, he himself being witness, in this glorious liberty. A grand thing when a teacher can make such an appeal on the ground of his own character.<\/p>\n


    II. <\/strong>The call is founded on self-abnegation. Paul renounced all his Jewish rights and privileges, and became as without law to them that were without law, that he might liberate the Gentiles and keep them free. Will you abandon me, when I have abandoned all for you? The teacher must stoop to conquer, and place himself in the position of the taught.<\/p>\n


    III. <\/strong>The call is based on the past relationship of the two. Ye have not injured me at all; you never disobeyed me; dont do so now. Happy the teacher who has such a ground of appeal.<\/p>\n


    IV. <\/strong>The call is based on its own merits. There was no personal ground of complaint. Any grief the apostle might have had for the wreck of his own work was altogether subordinate to the thought of spiritual disaster. In the last resort every appeal must rest here. Other grounds are helpful, but gospel freedom must win its way on its own merits. The<\/em> spirit<\/em> of<\/em> liberty<\/em> is not merely a jealousy of our own particular rights, but a respect for the rights of others, and an unwillingness that any man, whether high or low, should be trampled under foot. (Channing.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    Liberty<\/strong><\/p>\n

    is the souls right to breathe, and when it cannot take a long breath, laws are girded too tight. Without liberty man is in a syncope. (H. W. Beecher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    A ministers appeal to his people<\/strong><\/p>\n

    What motives, what insinuations, what reasons, what wise pre-oecupations and preventions, what art, what humility, what love is here! Brethren, I beseech you, etc. We have<\/p>\n

    1.<\/strong> a loving compellation–Brethren.<\/p>\n

    2. <\/strong>A submissive address by way of comprecation–I beseech you.<\/p>\n

    3. <\/strong>A request most reasonable–Be you as I am; for I am as ye are.<\/p>\n

    4. <\/strong>A wise and prudent preoccupation or prevention, which removes all obstructions, and forestalls those jealousies, those surmises and groundless suspicions, which are the bane of charity, and the greatest enemies to peace–Ye have not injured me at all. Of these the request is the main. We shall at this time speak only of the first part, that adducing, persuading, powerful name of brethren.<\/p>\n


    I. <\/strong>Nature herself hath made all men brethren. Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? (Mal 2:10<\/span>). There is great difference indeed in other respects. Some are high, others low; some fair, others foul; some learned, others unlearned; some rich, others poor. But in respect of original and extraction there is no difference at all: we are all branches of the same root, all hewn out of one rock, all digged out of one pit.<\/p>\n

    1. <\/strong>And therefore, to make some use of that which we have learnt concerning our brotherhood by nature, this may serve, in the first place, to condemn all those who look upon men under other consideration than as men, or view them in any other shape than that of brethren. And the very name of man and of brother should be an amulet for all mankind against the venom of iniquity and injustice.<\/p>\n

    2. <\/strong>Therefore, in the second place, by this light of nature we may condemn ourselves when any bitterness towards our brother riseth in our hearts and allay or rather root it out with this consideration, that it is inhuman and most unnatural; that we cannot nourish it in our breasts, and not fall from our creation, and leave off to be men.<\/p>\n


    II. <\/strong>And further we carry not this consideration, but pass now to view the Galatians as brethren in that other capacity, as they were Christians, professing the same faith: which our apostle in this place might more particularly and especially mean. There is such a relation, such a brotherhood, betwixt all those who profess the same faith, that neither error, nor sin, nor injury can break and dissolve it. For if any or all of these had been of force enough to do it, then certainly our apostle would never have been so free as to have called the Galatians brethren.<\/p>\n

    1. <\/strong>And, first, to error: though it have a foul aspect, and bear a distasteful and loathed name, yet it carrieth no such monstrosity, no such terror with it, as to fright brethren so far asunder as not to behold one another in that relation, not to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3<\/span>).<\/p>\n

    2. <\/strong>But, in the next place, if error cannot break and dissolve this relation of brotherhood which is amongst Christians, being of itself venial and easy to be pardoned, especially of those who are subject to error themselves; yet sin hath a foul aspect, and is of the most ugly and deformed appearance <\/strong>of anything in the world. We should never ask this question, if we would distinguish (which is easy to be done) between the nature of our brother and his fault; between that which he received from God, and that evil affection [which] he hath from himself; between that which is from heaven, heavenly, and that which is from the earth, nay, from the lowest pit of hell; if we would consider him in his rational nature, the image of God; and in that other capacity, as he is one for whom Christ died, and so capable of eternal life; and that though he seemed dead, yet his life may nevertheless be hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3<\/span>). For why judgest thou thy brother? (Mat 7:1-3<\/span>). Judgment is the Lords (Deu 1:17<\/span>), who seeth things that are not as if they were (Rom 4:17<\/span>). Look not upon thy brethren as grasshoppers, and upon thyself as a strong and perfect man in Christ; as if thou weft spiritual, heavenly, impeccable, and as far removed from sin as God Himself. But rather, as St. Paul was made a Jew to the Jew (1Co 9:20<\/span>), so be thou as a sick man ministering to the sick, handling another with the same compassion thou wouldst have extended to thyself, if thou thyself shouldst be in his case. If thou despise and reproach him, I am sure thou art in a far worse.<\/p>\n

    3. <\/strong>So, then, neither error nor sin can untie this knot, can dissolve and break this relation of brethren. I named a third, but I am well-near ashamed to name it again, or bring it in competition with error or sin; because an offence against God should more provoke us than any injury done to ourselves: which our apostle here sets so light by, that although the Galatians had even questioned his apostleship, and preferred Peter and James and John before him, yet he passeth it by as not worth the taking notice of; like Socrates, who, being overcome in judgment, professed he had no reason to be angry with his enemies, unless it were for this, that they conceived and believed they had hurt him. And here St. Paul saith, Ye have not hurt me at all. And indeed no injury can be done by a brother to a brother. For the injury is properly done to God, who made them brethren and fellow-servants, and who reserves all power of revenge unto Himself, who is their common Master and the God of revenge. Bat we shall no further prosecute this, because it will fall in with our last part. We will rather, having, as ye have read, secured and fortified the brethren, walk about yet a while longer, and tell the towers and bulwarks which the God of love hath raised and set up to uphold them. And they are–<\/p>\n

    1. <\/strong>Pleasure, excessive pleasure.<\/p>\n

    2. <\/strong>Profit, great profit.<\/p>\n

    3. <\/strong>Necessity, extreme necessity. All these serve to maintain and uphold this brotherhood.<\/p>\n

    For brotherly love is–<\/p>\n

    1. <\/strong>Pleasant and delightful.<\/p>\n

    2. <\/strong>Profitable and advantageous.<\/p>\n

    3. <\/strong>So necessary, that it had been better for us never to have been than not to love the brethren. (A. Farindon,<\/em> D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    Live above injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n

    When an inconsiderate fellow had stricken Cato in the path, and afterwards cried him mercy, he replied, I remember not that thou didst strike me. One having made a long and idle discourse before Aristotle concluded it thus: I doubt I have been too tedious to you, sir, with my many words. Indeed, said Aristotle, you have not been tedious to me, for I gave no heed to anything you said. Momus in Lucian tells Jupiter, It is in thy power whether any one shall vex or wrong thee. St. Paul here shakes all the affronts offered to him with as <\/strong>much ease as he did the viper. (Trapp.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    Forget injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It was a noble testimony borne to Henry<\/p>\n


    VI. <\/strong>that he never forgot anything but injuries; and even still nobler to Cranmer, To get a favour, do him wrong.<\/p>\n

    The noblest worship of the Power above<\/p>\n

    Is to extol and imitate His love;
    Not to forgive our enemies alone,<\/p>\n

    But use our bounty that they may be won.<\/p>\n

    (Waller.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Verse 12. Be as I<\/B><\/I> am<\/B>] Thoroughly addicted to the Christian faith and worship, from the deepest conviction of its truth.<\/P>

    <\/P>

    For I<\/B><\/I> am <\/B>as ye<\/B><\/I> are<\/B>] I was formerly a Jew, and as zealously addicted to the rites and ceremonies of Judaism as ye are, but I am saved from that mean and unprofitable dependence: “Be therefore as I am now; who was once as you now are.” Others think the sense to be this: “Be as affectionate to me as I am to you; for ye were once as loving to me as I am now to you.”<\/P>

    <\/P>

    Ye have not injured me at all.<\/B><\/I>] I do not thus earnestly entreat you to return to your Christian profession because your perversion has been any loss to me, nor because your conversion can be to me any gain: ye have not injured me at all, ye only injure yourselves; and I entreat you, through the intense love I bear to you, as my once beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, to return to him from whom ye have revolted.<\/P><\/p>\n

    Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Be as I am; for I am as ye are; <\/B>be as friendly to me as I am to you: see the like phrase, 1Ki 22:4<\/span>. But how doth the apostle say they had not injured him at all, when it is manifest they had defamed him? <\/P>

    Answer.<\/B> He had forgiven, or was ready to forgive, this to them; he had no desire or design to be revenged on them. Or in this particular thing of Judaizing, for which he had been reflecting upon them, they had done him no personal injury; it was only his care for and love to their souls, which had drawn out this discourse from him; not any particular prejudice to them, or any desire he had to take any revenge upon them, for any personal injury done to himself. <\/P> <\/p>\n

    Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12. be as I am<\/B>“As I havein my life among you cast off Jewish habits, so do ye; for I ambecome as ye are,” namely, in the non-observance of legalordinances. “The fact of my laying them aside among Gentiles,shows that I regard them as not at all contributing tojustification<\/I> or sanctification.<\/I> Do you regard them in thesame light, and act accordingly.” His observing the law amongthe Jews was not inconsistent with this, for he did so only in orderto win them, without compromising principle. On the other hand, theGalatian Gentiles, by adopting legal ordinances, showed that theyregarded them as needful for salvation. This Paul combats. <\/P>

    ye have not injured me atall<\/B>namely, at the period when I first preached the Gospelamong you, and when I made myself as you are, namely, living as aGentile, not as a Jew. You at that time did me no wrong;<\/I> “yedid not despise my temptation in the flesh” (Ga4:14<\/span>): nay, you “received me as an angel of God.” Thenin Ga 4:16<\/span>, he asks, “HaveI then, since<\/I> that time, become your enemy by telling you thetruth?”<\/P><\/p>\n

    Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am<\/strong>,…. Though they had gone so far backwards, yet still hoping well of them that they would he reclaimed, he styles them “brethren”: not in a carnal but spiritual relation, as being born of God, and belonging to his family; and out of his sincere and hearty love for them as his brethren in Christ, he exhorts them to be as he was; which some understand of affection, as desiring them to show the same love to him as to themselves, that he might be to them as another I, as a part of themselves; so true friendship makes, and true friends look upon each other to be, as Jonathan and David, and the first Christians were, of one heart and soul. But this phrase rather seems to have regard to likeness and imitation; and the sense is, that he would have them to be as he was, and do as he did; to be as free from the law, and the servitude and bondage of it, as he was; to reckon themselves dead unto it, as he did; and to relinquish the observance of days, and months, and times, and years, and any and every part of the ceremonial law, and to account all these things, as he had done, loss and dung for Christ; and this he presses, not in an authoritative way, laying his commands as an apostle upon them, but in a kind and gentle manner entreating them: and which he backs with the following reason or argument,<\/p>\n

    for I am as ye are<\/strong>; as your very selves; I have the same love for you, you have for yourselves; I love you as I do myself; this way go such interpreters that understand the exhortation to regard love and affection: but rather the meaning is, be as I am, and do as I do, “because I was as you are”; so the Syriac and Arabic versions read the words. Some think that the apostle particularly addresses the Jews in these churches; and that his sense is, that he was born a Jew, as they were, was brought up in the Jewish religion, and in the observance of these things, as they had been, and yet he had relinquished them, therefore would have them do so likewise: or rather his intention is, that he had been as zealous for the observation of the ceremonial law, and all the rituals of it, as they now were; and though he was a Jew by birth, and had had a Jewish education, and so had been prejudiced in favour of these things, yet he had renounced them all; and therefore they who were Gentiles, and were never under obligation to them, should never think of coming into bondage by them; and since he had accommodated himself to them, and had become all things to all, that he might gain some, whether Jews or Gentiles, so he hoped they would condescend to him, and follow his example: or this may have respect, not to his former but present state, according to our version; and the sense be, I am as you are, and you are as I am with respect to things spiritual; we are both alike in Christ, chosen in him, and redeemed by him; are equally regenerated by his Spirit, and are all the children of God by faith in him, and no more servants; are all equally Christ’s free men, and have a right to the same privileges and immunities; and therefore be as I am, as free from observing the ceremonies of the law, and so from the bondage of it, since we are upon an equal foot, and upon the same foundation in Christ.<\/p>\n

    Ye have not injured me at all<\/strong>; what injury they had done was to God, whose will it was that these things should be abolished; and to Christ, who had broken down the middle wall of partition; and to the Gospel, which proclaimed liberty to the captives; and to their own souls, by entangling themselves with the yoke of bondage; but no personal private injury was done to the apostle by their compliance with the law. This he says, lest they should think that he spoke out of anger and resentment, and on account of any personal affront offered to him; which leads him to take notice of their former kindness and respect to him, and which he designs as a reason why they should pay the same deference to him now as then.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Affectionate Remonstrance.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD>

    A. D.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 56.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE>

          12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am;<\/I> for I am<\/I> as ye are:<\/I> ye have not injured me at all.   13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.   14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even<\/I> as Christ Jesus.   15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been<\/I> possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.   16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?<\/P>

          That these Christians might be the more ashamed of their defection from the truth of the gospel which Paul had preached to them, he here reminds them of the great affection they formerly had for him and his ministry, and puts them upon considering how very unsuitable their present behaviour was to what they then professed. And here we may observe,<\/P>

          I. How affectionately he addresses himself to them. He styles them brethren, though he knew their hearts were in a great measure alienated from him. He desires that all resentments might be laid aside, and that they would bear the same temper of mind towards him which he did to them; he would have them to be as he was, for he was as they were,<\/I> and moreover tells them that they had not injured him at all.<\/I> He had no quarrel with them upon his own account. Though, in blaming their conduct, he had expressed himself with some warmth and concern of mind he assured them that it was not owing to any sense of personal injury or affront (as they might be ready to think), but proceeded wholly from a zeal for the truth and purity of the gospel, and their welfare and happiness. Thus he endeavours to mollify their spirits towards him, that so they might be the better disposed to receive the admonitions he was giving them. Hereby he teaches us that in reproving others we should take care to convince them that our reproofs do not proceed from any private pique or resentment, but from a sincere regard to the honour of God and religion and their truest welfare; for they are then likely to be most successful when they appear to be most disinterested.<\/P>

          II. How he magnifies their former affection to him, that hereby they might be the more ashamed of their present behaviour towards him. To this purpose, 1. He puts them in mind of the difficulty under which he laboured when he came first among them: I knew,<\/I> says he, how, through infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first.<\/I> What this infirmity of the flesh<\/I> was, which in the following words he expresses by his temptation that was in his flesh<\/I> (though, no doubt, it was well known to those Christians to whom he wrote), we can now have no certain knowledge of: some take it to have been the persecutions which he suffered for the gospel’s sake; others, to have been something in his person, or manner of speaking, which might render his ministry less grateful and acceptable, referring to 2Co 10:10<\/span>; 2Co 12:7-10<\/span>. But, whatever it was, it seems it made no impression on them to his disadvantage. For, 2. He takes notice that, notwithstanding this his infirmity (which might possibly lessen him in the esteem of some others), they did not despise nor reject him on the account of it, but, on the contrary, received him as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.<\/I> They showed a great deal of respect to him, he was a welcome messenger to them, even as though an angel of God or Jesus Christ himself had preached to them; yea, so great was their esteem of him, that, if it would have been any advantage to him, they could have plucked out their own eyes, and have given them to him.<\/I> Note, How uncertain the respects of people are, how apt they are to change their minds, and how easily they are drawn into contempt of those for whom they once had the greatest esteem and affection, so that they are ready to pluck out the eyes of those for whom they would before have plucked out their own! We should therefore labour to be accepted of God, for it is a small thing to be judged of man’s judgment,<\/I> 1 Cor. iv. 2<\/I><\/span>.<\/P>

          III. How earnestly he expostulates with them hereupon: Where is then,<\/I> says he, the blessedness you spoke of?<\/I> As if he had said, “Time was when you expressed the greatest joy and satisfaction in the glad tidings of the gospel, and were very forward in pouring out your blessings upon me as the publisher of them; whence is it that you are now so much altered, that you have so little relish of them or respect for me? You once thought yourselves happy in receiving the gospel; have you now any reason to think otherwise?” Note, Those who have left their first love would do well to consider, Where is now the blessedness they once spoke of? What has become of that pleasure they used to take in communion with God, and in the company of his servants? The more to impress upon them a just shame of their present conduct, he again asks (v.<\/I><\/span> 16<\/span>), “Am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?<\/I> How is it that I, who was heretofore your favourite, am now accounted your enemy? Can you pretend any other reason for it than that I have told you the truth, endeavoured to acquaint you with, and to confirm you in, the truth of the gospel? And, if not, how unreasonable must your disaffection be!” Note, 1. It is no uncommon thing for men to account those their enemies who are really their best friends; for so, undoubtedly, those are, whether ministers or others, who tell them the truth, and deal freely and faithfully with them in matters relating to their eternal salvation, as the apostle now did with these Christians. 2. Ministers may sometimes create enemies to themselves by the faithful discharge of their duty; for this was the case of Paul, he was accounted their enemy for telling them the truth. 3. Yet ministers must not forbear speaking the truth, for fear of offending others and drawing their displeasure upon them. 4. They may be easy in their own minds, when they are conscious to themselves that, if others have become their enemies, it is only for telling them the truth.<\/P> <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Be as I am <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Present middle imperative, “Keep on becoming as I am.” He will not give them over, afraid though he is. <\/P> <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Be as I am [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Better, become as I am; free from the bondage of Jewish ordinances. <\/P>

    I am as ye are [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Rather, I became. Supply ejgenomhn or gegona. Become as I am, for I became a Gentile like you. Comp. <\/P>

    Phi 3:7<\/span>, 8<\/span>. For the phrase ginesqai wJv to become as, see Mt 6:16<\/span>; Rom 9:29<\/span>; 1Co 4:13<\/span>; 1Co 9:20 – 22<\/span>. <\/P>

    Ye have not injured me at all [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. This translation misses the force of the aorist, and conveys a wrong impression, that Paul, up to this time, had received no wrong at the hands of the Galatians. This was not true. The reference is to his earlier relations with the Galatians, and is explained by vv. 13, 14. Rend. ye did not injure me at all. Ye did not injure me then, do not do so now.<\/P> <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    <\/strong><\/p>\n

    1) “Brethren, I beseech you,”<\/strong> (adelphoi deomai humon) “Brethren, I appeal to you all (beg you all), of my own accord, with a longing desire;” Paul placed himself in affection as a faithful elder brother sitting down beside and among the Galatians, appealing to them to be true to Christ, Act 13:38-39<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    2) “Be as I am,”<\/strong> (ginesthe hos ego) “You all become willingly, as I am;” or as I am become, free from the trammels, and entanglements of all ceremonials and any compulsory obligations to the Law or Judaizing teachers, Col 2:14-18<\/span>; Rom 6:15<\/span>; Act 13:40-43<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    3) “For I am as ye are,”<\/strong> (hoti kago hos humeis) “Because I am even as you all are,” free from the law, liberated from its jurisdiction through the freedom that is in Jesus Christ, to whom the law prophetically and ceremonially pointed, Joh 8:32<\/span>; Joh 8:36<\/span>; Act 26:29<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    4) “Ye have not injured me at all,”<\/strong> (ouden me edikesate) “You all did not wrong me (in) one thing,” in any personal offence way, you did me no personal wrong, 2Co 2:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12. Be as I am. Having till now spoken roughly, he begins to adopt a milder strain. The former harshness had been more than justified by the heinousness of the offense; but as he wished to do good, he resolves to adopt a style of conciliation. It is the part of a wise pastor to consider, not what those who have wandered may justly deserve, but what may be the likeliest method of bringing them back to the right path. He must “be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.” (2Ti 4:2<\/span>.) Following the method which he had recommended to Timothy, he leaves off chiding, and begins to use entreaties. I beseech you, he says, and calls them brethren, to assure them that no bitterness had mingled with his reproofs. <\/p>\n

    The words, be as I am, refer to the affection of the mind. As he endeavors to accommodate himself to them, so he wishes that they would do the like by him in return. For I am as ye are. “As I have no other object in view than to promote your benefit, so it is proper that you should be prevailed on to adopt moderate views, and to lend a willing, obedient ear to my instructions.” And here again pastors are reminded of their duty to come down, as far as they can, to the people, and to study the various dispositions of those with whom they have to deal, if they wish to obtain compliance with their message. The proverb still holds: “to be loved, you must be lovely.” <\/p>\n

    Ye have not injured me at all. This is intended to remove the suspicion which might have rendered his former reproofs more disagreeable. If we think that a person is speaking under a sense of injury, or revenging a private quarrel, we turn away our minds from him entirely, and are sure to torture whatever he says into an unfavourable interpretation. Paul therefore meets the rising prejudice by saying, “So far as respects myself, I have no cause to complain of you. It is not on my own account, nor from any hostility to you, that I feel warmly; and therefore, if I use strong language, it must arise from some other cause than hatred or anger.” <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES<\/em><\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:12<\/span>. Be as I am, for I am as ye are.<\/strong>Paul had become as a Gentile, though he was once a passionate Jew. Their natural leanings towards Judaism they ought to sacrifice as well as he.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:13<\/span>. Ye know how through infirmity of flesh I preached.<\/strong>The weakness may have been general debility, resulting from great anxieties and toils. It has been supposed that Paul was feeble-eyed, or blear-eyed (Act. 22:6<\/span>), and that this special weakness had been aggravated at the time now in question.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:17<\/span>. They zealously affect you, but not well.<\/strong>They keenly court you, but not honourably. They would exclude you<\/strong>from everything and every one whose influence would tend to bring the Galatians back to loyalty to the gospel.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:20<\/span>. I desire to be present with you, and to change my voice.<\/strong>To speak not with the stern tones of warning, but with tender entreaties. I stand in doubt of you.<\/strong>I am sorely perplexed, nonplussed, bewildered, as if not knowing how to proceed.<\/p>\n

    MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.<\/em>Gal. 4:12-20<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    The Pleadings of an Anxious Teacher with his Pupils in Peril<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    I. He reminds them of the enthusiastic attachment of former days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Urges them to exercise the same freedom as he himself claimed<\/em>. Be as I am; for I am as ye are (Gal. 4:12<\/span>). Though himself a Jew, Paul had assumed no airs of superiority, and did not separate himself from his Gentile brethren; he became as one of them. He asks them to exercise a similar liberty; and lest they should fear he would have a grudge against them because of their relapse, he hastens to assure them, Ye have not injured [wronged] me at all (Gal. 4:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

    2. Recalls their extravagant expression of admiration on their first reception of his teaching<\/em>.Ye know how through infirmity I preached at the first. My temptation ye despised not; but received me as an angel of God. Ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me (Gal. 4:13-15<\/span>). His physical weakness, which might have moved the contempt of others, elicited the sympathy of the warm-hearted Galatians. They listened with eagerness and wonder to the gospel he preached. The man, with his humiliating infirmity, was lost in the charm of his message. They were thankful that, though his sickness was the reason of his being detained among them, it was the opportunity of their hearing the gospel. Had he been an angel from heaven, or Jesus Christ Himself, they could not have welcomed him more rapturously. They would have made any sacrifice to assure him of their regard and affection.<\/p>\n

    3. Shows he was not less their friend because he rebuked them<\/em>.Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? (Gal. 4:16<\/span>). And now they rush, with Gallic-like fickleness, to the opposite extreme. Because he attacks the new fancies with which they have become enamoured, and probes them with some wholesome and unwelcome truths, they imagine he has become their enemy. Not so; he is but using the privilege of a true and faithful friend.<\/p>\n

    II. He warns them against the seductive tactics of false teachers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Their zealous flattery was full of danger<\/em>. They zealously affect you, but not well; they would exclude you (Gal. 4:17<\/span>). They are courting you, these present suitors for your regard, dishonourably; they want to shut us out and have you to themselves, that you may pay court to them. They pretend to be zealous for your interests; but it is their own they seek. They would exclude you from all opportunities of salvationyea, from Christ Himself. The flatterer should be always suspected. The turning away from sound doctrine goes hand in hand with a predilection for such teachers as tickle the car, while they teach only such things as correspond to the sinful inclinations of the hearers.<\/p>\n

    2. Though genuine zeal is commendable<\/em>.It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing (Gal. 4:18<\/span>). Christian zeal must be seen not only to correspond and to be adapted to the intellect, but must also be in harmony with the highest and profoundest sentiments of our nature. It must not be exhibited in the dry, pedantic divisions of a scholastic theology; nor must it be set forth and tricked out in the light drapery of an artificial rhetoric, in prettiness of style, in measured sentences, with an insipid floridness, and in the form of elegantly feeble essays. No; it must come from the soul in the language of earnest conviction and strong feeling.<\/p>\n

    III. He pleads with the tender solicitude of a spiritual parent.<\/strong>My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, I desire to be present with you, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you (Gal. 4:19-20<\/span>). As a mother, fearful of losing the affection of her children for whom she has suffered so much, the apostle appeals to his converts in tones of pathetic persuasion. His heart is wrung with anguish as he sees the peril of his spiritual children, and he breaks out into tender and impassioned entreaty. And yet he is perplexed by the attitude they have taken, and as if uncertain of the result of his earnest expostulations. The preacher has to learn to be patient as well as zealous.<\/p>\n

    Lessons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Strong emotions and warm affections are no guarantee for the permanence of religious life<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    2. How prone are those who have put themselves in the wrong to fix the blame on others<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    3. Men of the Galatian type are the natural prey of self-seeking agitators<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES<\/em><\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:12<\/span>. Christian Brotherhood<\/em>.Here is. <\/p>\n

    1. A loving compellationBrethren.
    2. A submissive address by way of comprecationI beseech you.
    3. A request most reasonableBe ye as I am; for I am as ye are.
    4. A wise and prudent preoccupation or prevention which removes all obstructions and forestalls those jealousies, those surmises and groundless suspicions, which are the bane of charity and the greatest enemies to peace. Ye have not injured me at all.<\/p>\n

    I. Nature herself hath made all men brethren.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. This may serve to condemn all those who look upon men under other consideration than as men<\/em>, or view them in any other shape than as brethren. And the very name of man and of brother should be an amulet for all mankind against the venom of iniquity and injustice.<\/p>\n

    2. By this light of nature we may condemn ourselves when any bitterness towards our brother riseth in our hearts<\/em>, and allay or rather root it out as inhuman and unnatural. None can dishonour us more than ourselves do, when one man hath trodden down another as the clay in the streets, when we think ourselves great men by making our brethren little, when we contemn and despise, hate and persecute them.<\/p>\n

    II. Brethren as Christians professing the same faith.<\/strong>There is such a brotherhood that neither error nor sin nor injury can break and dissolve it.<\/p>\n

    1. Men may err and yet be brethren<\/em>.We may be divided in opinion and yet united in charity. Consider the difficulty of finding out truth in all things and avoiding error, that our brother may err rather from want of light than out of malice and wilfully, and conceive it possible we may err as foully as others.<\/p>\n

    2. Men may sin and yet be brethren<\/em>.Charity, because she may err, nay, because she must err, looks upon every Christian as a brother. If he err, she is a guide to him; if he sin, she is a physician; if he fall, she strives to lift him up, being a light to the blind and a staff to the weak.<\/p>\n

    3. Men may injure each other and yet be brethren.<\/em>Socrates, being overcome in judgment, professed he had no reason to be angry with his enemies unless it were for this, that they conceived and believed they had hurt him. Indeed, no injury can be done by a brother to a brother. The injury is properly done to God, who reserves all power of revenge to Himself. If a brother strike us, said Chrysostom, kiss his hand; if he would destroy us, our revenge should be to save him. Nazianzen said to the young man who was suborned to kill him, Christ forgive thee, who hath also forgiven me and died to save me.<\/p>\n

    Lessons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Brotherly love is pleasant and delightful<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    2. Profitable and advantageous<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    3. So necessary that it had been better for us never to have been than not to love the brethren.A. Farindon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:13-15<\/span>. Love for the Preacher<\/em><\/p>\n

    I. Notwithstanding the physical infirmity of the messenger<\/strong> (Gal. 4:13<\/span>).<\/p>\n

    II. Generates the loftiest esteem for his character and abilities<\/strong> (Gal. 4:14<\/span>).<\/p>\n

    III. Is often expressed in exaggerated terms<\/strong> (Gal. 4:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:14<\/span>. The Authority of the Messenger of God<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    I. He is to be heard even as Christ Himself<\/strong>, because in preaching he is the mouth of God.<\/p>\n

    II. Here we see the goodness of God, who does not speak to us in His majesty, but appoints men in His stead<\/strong>, who are His ambassadors.<\/p>\n

    III. There must be fidelity in teachers.<\/strong>They stand in the stead of Christ, and must deliver only that which they know to be the will of Christ.<\/p>\n

    IV. They must have especial care of holiness of life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    V. The people are to hear their teachers with reverence<\/strong>, as if they would hear the angels or Christ Himself.<\/p>\n

    VI. The comfort of the ministry is as sure<\/strong> as if an angel came down from heaven, or Christ Himself, to comfort us.Perkins<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:16<\/span>. The Right Mode of giving and receiving Reproof<\/em>.Should it be esteemed the part of a friend faithfully to tell men the truth? and should the suppression of truth and the substitution of its opposite be hold to mark the character of an enemy? How often has the amicable state of feeling been broken up by telling the truth, even when done in a proper spirit and manner!<\/p>\n

    I. What would you wish your friend to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Sincere.
    2. That he should take a very general interest in my welfare and be desirous to promote it.
    3. A person of clear, sound, discriminating judgment, and with a decided preference in all things.
    4. That he should not be a man full of self-complacency, a self-idolater, but observant and severe towards his own errors and defects.
    5. A man who would include me expressly in his petitions, praying that I may be delivered from those evils which he perceives in me, and God far more clearly.
    6. Such that, as the last result of my communications with him, a great deal of what may be defective and wrong in me shall have been disciplined away.<\/p>\n

    II. Why do we regard a friend as an enemy because he tells us the truth?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Because plain truth, by whatever voice, must say many things that are displeasing.
    2. Because there is a want of the real earnest desire to be in all things set right.
    3. Because there is pride, reacting against a fellow-mortal and fellow-sinner.
    4. Because there is not seldom a real difference of judgment on the matters in question.
    5. Because there is an unfavourable opinion or surmise as to the motives of the teller of truth.<\/p>\n

    III. How should reproof be administered?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Those who do this should well exercise themselves to understand what they speak of.
    2. It should be the instructors aim that the authority may be conveyed in the truth itself, and not seem to be assumed by him as the speaker of it.
    3. He should watch to select favourable times and occasions.<\/p>\n

    IV. How should reproof be received?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. By cultivating a disposition of mind which earnestly desires the truth, in whatever manner it may come to us.
    2. There have been instances in which a friend, silent when he should have spoken, has himself afterwards received the reproof for not having done so from the person whom he declined to admonish.
    3. If there be those so painfully and irritably susceptible as to be unwilling to hear corrective truth from others, how strong is the obligation that they should look so much the more severely to themselves.John Foster<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:18<\/span>. Zeal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    I. Various kinds of zeal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. There is a zeal of God which is not according to knowledge.
    2. There is a mistaken zeal for the glory of God.
    (1) When that is opposed which is right, under a false notion of its being contrary to the glory of God.
    (2) When ways and methods improper are taken to defend and promote the glory of God.
    (3) There is a superstitious zeal, such as was in Baals worshippers, who cut themselves with knives and lancets; particularly in the Athenians, who were wholly given to idolatry; and the Jews, who were zealous of the traditions of the fathers.
    (4) There is a persecuting zeal, under a pretence of the glory of God.
    (5) There is a hypocritical zeal for God, as in the Pharisees, who made a show of great zeal for piety, by their long prayers, when they only sought to destroy widows houses by that means.
    (6) There is a contentious zeal, which often gives great trouble to Christian communities.
    (7) True zeal is no other than a fervent, ardent love to God and Christ, and a warm concern for their honour and glory.<\/p>\n

    II. The objects of zeal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. The object of it is God. The worship of God, who must be known, or He cannot be worshipped aright.
    2. The cause of Christ is another object of zeal. The gospel of Christ; great reason there is to be zealous for that, since it is the gospel of the grace of God.
    3. The ordinances of Christ, which every true Christian should be zealous for, that they be kept as they were first delivered, without any innovation or corruption.
    4. The discipline of Christs house should be the object of our zeal.
    5. True zeal is concerned in all the duties of religion and shows itself in them.<\/p>\n

    III. Motives exciting to the exercise of true zeal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. The example of Christ.
    2. True zeal answers a principal end of the redemption of Christ.
    3. It is good, the apostle says, to be zealously affected in and for that which is good.
    4. A lukewarm temper, which is the opposite to zeal, seems not consistent with true religion, which has always life and heat in it.
    5. The zeal of persons shown in a false way should stimulate the professors of the true religion to show at least an equal zeal.Pulpit Assistant<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Christian Zeal<\/em><\/p>\n

    I. Implies unwavering steadfastness of purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    II. Universal and hearty obedience to Gods commands<\/strong> in all things, small as well as great.<\/p>\n

    III. Supreme devotion of heart and life to Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    IV. Should be exercised in a good thing.<\/strong>True zeal seeks benevolent ends by lawful means, else it is fanaticism. It seeks practical ends by wise means, else it is enthusiasm. Zeal should be shown in active and useful devotion to the cause of religion, rather than in excitement and warm devotional exercise.<\/p>\n

    V. Should be uniform, not periodical.<\/strong>It should not depend upon the fluctuations of feeling, but should act upon principle. Periodical fervours are deceitful, dangerous, injurious, dishonourable to religion. They are commonly a proof of superficial piety, or of none at all.Stephen Olin<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Godly Zeal and its Counterfeits<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    I. Let us distinguish between mere natural zeal and spiritual ardour.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. There is a zeal of sympathy<\/em> which is awakened by the zeal of others with whom we associate. It is only that of the soldier who, though himself a coward, is urged on to battle by the example of those around him. <\/p>\n

    2. There is constitutional<\/em> zeal, a warmth, an ardour, which enters into all we say or do, which pervades all our actions and animates all our services. This is not strictly religious but animal excitement, and is no more allied to our soul-life than our arms or our feet. <\/p>\n

    3. There is a zeal which is merely sentimental<\/em>. It throws a romantic glamour over our objects; but its exercises are too occasional, too random, to produce much effect. <\/p>\n

    4. There is a zeal of affectation<\/em> like that of Jehu (2Ki. 10:16<\/span>). This is religious foppery and hypocritical vanity. <\/p>\n

    5. Christian<\/em> zeal is a fair demonstration of what is felt within. It seeks not the eye of man, but acts under the conviction of Gods omniscience.<\/p>\n

    II. Consider the objects to which Christian zeal should be directed.<\/strong>This good thing may be taken as including all true religion, and embracing: <\/p>\n

    1. The promotion of Gods glory.
    2. The extension of Christs kingdom.
    3. The salvation of men.
    4. The conversion of the world.<\/p>\n

    III. The good that results from the exercise of Christian zeal to the persons that possess it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. It renders them more Christ-like.
    2. It furthers the divine designs in the most effective way.
    3. We become worthy followers of the great heroes of faith in the past ages.The Preachers Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    True Christian Zeal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    I. The Christian convert is zealously affected in a good thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. All the teachings of Christianity are good<\/em>. They enlighten, guide, and sanctify. They are peculiar, harmonious, infallible, divine. Their morality is sublime, their spirit heavenly, their effect glorious.<\/p>\n

    2. The influence of Christianity is good<\/em>.It has created the sweet charities of national and domestic life, sanctified advancing civilisation, softened the fierceness of war, stimulated science, prompted justice and liberty. Sceptics have admitted this.<\/p>\n

    3. All that Christianity accomplishes for man is good<\/em>.It saves him from sin, from the stings of guilt, from the eternal consequences of wrong-doing.<\/p>\n

    II. The zeal of the Christian convert is to be steady and continuous.<\/strong>There should be no diminution nor fluctuation in our zeal. <\/p>\n

    1. Because no reason can be assigned why we should not be as zealous at any after-hour as at the hour of our conversion<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    2. Because it is only by steady and continuous zeal that a proper measure of Christian influence can be exerted<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    3. Because only by steady and continuous zeal can Christian character be matured<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    4. Because only thus can success in Christian enterprises be attained<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    5. Because steady and continuous zeal will alone bring divine approval<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    III. The zeal of the Christian convert is not to be unduly influenced by the presence of others.<\/strong>While Paul was with the Churches in Galatia they were zealous, but after his departure their zeal ceased. To lose our zeal because we have lost the influence of another is to show: <\/p>\n

    1. That we never possessed true Christian motives<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    2. That our supposed attachment to Christ and His cause was delusive<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    3. That our zeal had merely been an effort to please men, not God.The Lay Preacher<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:19<\/span>. The Christmas of the Soul<\/em>.The apostle refers to the spiritual birth. The soul then rises into a consciousness of its infinite importance; its thoughts, sympathies, and purposes become Christ-like, and Christ is manifested in the life. The soul-birth were impossible if Christ had not been born in Bethlehem. That was an era in the worlds history, this in the individual life; that was brought about by the Holy Spirit, this is effected by the same divine Agent; that was followed by the antagonism of the world, this is succeeded by the opposition of evil, both within and without; that was the manifestation of God in the flesh, this is the renewing of mans nature in the image of God; that came to pass without mans choice, this requires mans seeking. Has this spiritual birth taken place in you? If so, you have a right to the enjoyment of a happy Christmas. Keep the feast as a new man in Christ Jesus.Homiletic Monthly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Gal. 4:20<\/span>. A Preachers Perplexity<\/em><\/p>\n

    I. Occasioned by the defection of his converts.<\/strong>I stand in doubt of you.<\/p>\n

    II. As to what method he should adopt to restore them.<\/strong>And to change my voice.<\/p>\n

    III. Increased by the difficulty of effecting a personal interview.<\/strong>I desire to be present with you now.<\/p>\n

    I stand in doubt of you. Doubtful Christians<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    I. Persons whose religion is liable to suspicion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Those who have long attended the means of grace, and are very defective in knowledge.
    2. Who possess much knowledge, and are puffed up with it.
    3. Who contend for doctrinal religion rather than for that which is practical and experimental.
    4. Who waver in their attachment to the fundamental principles of the gospel.
    5. Who neglect the ordinances of Gods house.
    6. Who neglect devotional exercises.
    7. Who co-operate not with the Church to advance the kingdom of Christ in the world.<\/p>\n

    II. The improvement to be made of the subject.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Should lead to self-examination.
    2. Shows the loss and danger of persons so characterised.
    3. Should lead to repentance and faith.
    4. While exercising a godly jealousy over others, let Christians watch with greater jealousy over themselves.Helps<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Appeal Gal. 4:12-20<\/span><\/p>\n

    TEXT 4:1215<\/strong><\/p>\n

    (12) I beseech you, brethren, become as I am, for I also am become as ye are. Ye did me no wrong: (13) but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the first time: (14) and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but ye received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. (15) Where then is that gratulation of yourselves? for I bear you witness, that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    PARAPHRASE 4:1215<\/strong><\/p>\n

    12 Brethren, I pray you to continue in friendship with me; for I am your true friend, having reproved you from love, and not from resentment. For all the time I was with you, ye injured me in nothing.
    13 On the contrary, ye behaved towards me with the greatest respect and affection. Ye remember, certainly, that under a bodily infirmity, which might have rendered my labours ineffectual, I preached the gospel to you at first.
    14 Yet my bodily infirmity, which was a temptation to me, ye did not ridicule, neither did ye reject me with abhorrence as an imposter, but received me as an angel of God; nay, ye received me with as much respect as if I had been Christ Jesus himself.
    15 Great then was your happiness, and much did ye think yourselves obliged to me for the doctrines I taught you: For I bear you witness, that if it had been a thing allowable, and could have done me any good, ye would have plucked out your eyes, and have given them to me.<\/p>\n

    COMMENT 4:12<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I beseech you<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    Up to this point he has been scathing: he has rebuked, called them fools, and crucifiers, but now he changes tactics.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    The preacher is exhorted to use all methods. 1Ti. 4:2<\/span><\/p>\n

    become as I am for I also became as ye are<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    Some think he means affection here. Feel toward me as I feel toward you.<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    MacKnight refers to 2Ch. 18:3<\/span>, where these expressions denote the most strict friendship.<\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    It is certainly a personal appeal.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Others think I was a Jew zealously addicted to the law rites, etc., and became like you.<\/p>\n

    3.<\/p>\n

    Paul often appealed to brethren to imitate him. 1Co. 4:16<\/span>; 1Co. 11:1<\/span>; Php. 3:17<\/span>; 2Th. 3:7<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ye did me no wrong <\/strong>(Ye have not injured me)<\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    There is nothing personal in it.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    The damage had been done to themselves.<\/p>\n

    3.<\/p>\n

    They had withdrawn from Christ, it was more serious than some harm to Paul.<\/p>\n

    COMMENT 4:13<\/strong><\/p>\n

    the first time<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    According to Act. 16:6<\/span>; Act. 18:23<\/span>, Paul visited the region twice.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    His illness had something to do with his preaching there on the first occasion.<\/p>\n

    because of<\/strong> an infirmity<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    Suggestions of what the infirmity was.<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps it was a temporary illness.<\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps he never recovered from his blindness entirely.<\/p>\n

    c.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps it was sorrow over death of his wife.<\/p>\n

    d.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps a result of being beaten, etc.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Pauls infirmities mentioned.<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    2Co. 12:9-10<\/span><\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    2Co. 11:23-25<\/span><\/p>\n

    COMMENT 4:14<\/strong><\/p>\n

    and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps they were tempted to kill him as they did in Lystra. Act. 14:1-28<\/span><\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps they tried to worship him as they did at Lystra. Act. 14:12<\/span><\/p>\n

    3.<\/p>\n

    The Catholic Bible says, a trial to you in the flesh.<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    He was a care to thema burden.<\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    As though he were a burden to themhousing, support, etc. This, to me . . . is strained.<\/p>\n

    4.<\/p>\n

    The context in the following verses encourages one to believe that the events of Act. 14:1-28<\/span> might be referred to.<\/p>\n

    5.<\/p>\n

    Whose temptation?<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    My temptation appears in several ancient manuscripts.<\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    Your temptation appears in the Vulgate and Coptic.<\/p>\n

    c.<\/p>\n

    Temptationsignifies trial of any kind.<\/p>\n

    ye despised not nor rejected<\/strong>(Literally: to spit out)<\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    MacKnight Yet my bodily infirmity which was a temptation to me, ye did not ridicule, neither did ye reject me with abhorrence as an imposter, but ye received me as an angel of God.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    They did not despite the temptation to kill him at first, but sought to kill, or sought to worship him, is to be considered.<\/p>\n

    3.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps it means you did not despise my physical condition although you might have been tempted to do so.<\/p>\n

    but ye received me as an angel of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    They demonstrated their zeal at Lystra.<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    Paul healed a cripple there. Act. 14:10<\/span><\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    When the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. Act. 14:11<\/span><\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    It is possible that this refers to their hospitality.<\/p>\n

    Even as Christ Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    Received him as of God, even as they did Jesus of God.<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    Worshipped him as they later did Christhowever this may not have been universal in Galatia.<\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    They did receive him as universally as they did Christ and overlooked his infirmity.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Now they are not so enthusiastic.<\/p>\n

    RECEIVED ME AS ANGEL OF GOD 4:14<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Pauls converts in Galatia had originally accepted him as an angel and even as Christ Himself. It seemed that when false teachers made havoc of the flock, that he was suddenly an enemy by telling them the truth. (Gal. 4:16<\/span>)<\/p>\n

    The Jewish teachers who traveled the earth attempting to destroy the work of Paul, undoubtedly felt that they were doing God a service. The debates, envying, strifes, backbiting, whisperings, swellings, and tumults which usually accompanied their efforts, however, indicated that they were to be accursed in Gal. 1:8-9<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    There are two types of wisdom in the world. One is from the earth and brings misery, heartache, and despair. The other is from above and brings joy unspeakable and full of glory.
    An anonymous writer has penned concerning the Bible: It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the travelers map, the pilgrims staff, the pilots compass, the soldiers sword, and the Christians charter. Such claims, although extraordinary, remain understatements.<\/p>\n

    WORD STUDY 4:14<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The temptation (peirasmospie rahss MOSS) was a real test of the Galatians love for Paul. It was not a temptation to sin, but a testing of devotion.<\/p>\n

    Dioscurides, a physician of the 1st Century, wrote of the testing or trial of drugs to see their effects in certain diseases.<\/p>\n

    To despise (exoutheneoex ooh thin EH oh) is to treat with contempt and reject. This was how the soldiers treated Jesus in Luk. 23:11<\/span>, and how the builders rejected Gods cornerstone in Act. 4:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    To reject (ekptuoek PTOO oh) is literally to spit out. As a precaution against contamination, the ancients would spit at people with various ailments, especially epilepsy. Whatever it was that Paul had, the people were strongly tempted to despise and spit out at Paul.<\/p>\n

    COMMENT 4:15<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Where then is that gratulation of yourselves?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    (Where is then the blessedness ye spake of)<\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    How much happier you used to befor once you spoke of your blessedness. (Clarke says no sentence is so variously translated)<\/p>\n

    a.<\/p>\n

    Having renounced the gospel you have lost your happiness.<\/p>\n

    b.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps they had writen to him telling in a joyful manner their new position.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    The word gratulation means, joycongratulations.<\/p>\n

    for I bear you witness<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    The good joy that you had was in relationship to me and the gospelnot in the law.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Paul had seen joy with his own eyes, now they need not speak of any other joy.<\/p>\n

    that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.<\/p>\n

    Clarke says Dearer than ones eyes or Give ones eyes was a proverbial saying.<\/p>\n

    2.<\/p>\n

    Some think this was Pauls infirmity and they would have given their eyes to him. McGarvey feels Paul speaks as though he needed eyes.<\/p>\n

    3.<\/p>\n

    Paul mentions a thorn in the flesh but does not name it. 2Co. 12:7<\/span><\/p>\n

    STUDY QUESTIONS 4:1215<\/strong><\/p>\n

    482.<\/p>\n

    Does the word beseech indicate a change in Pauls method to reach them?<\/p>\n

    483.<\/p>\n

    Does he mean that they are now in a position that he left?<\/p>\n

    484.<\/p>\n

    Was their falling a personal thing to Paul?<\/p>\n

    485.<\/p>\n

    To whom was the damage of falling most harmful?<\/p>\n

    486.<\/p>\n

    Did Christ suffer by their falling?<\/p>\n

    487.<\/p>\n

    How was Paul infirmed?<\/p>\n

    488.<\/p>\n

    Was it through infirmity, or because of it, that he preached?<\/p>\n

    489.<\/p>\n

    Which preaching is referred to here?<\/p>\n

    490.<\/p>\n

    Was he recuperating while there, and therefore preached to them?<\/p>\n

    491.<\/p>\n

    What temptation is referred to?<\/p>\n

    492.<\/p>\n

    Did they originally have several attitudes toward Paul?<\/p>\n

    493.<\/p>\n

    What events in Acts may be referred to?<\/p>\n

    494.<\/p>\n

    Is Pauls temptation or their temptation referred to?<\/p>\n

    495.<\/p>\n

    Do you suppose the Galatians knew exactly what was meant?<\/p>\n

    496.<\/p>\n

    Explain ye despised not nor rejected.<\/p>\n

    497.<\/p>\n

    Tell of their acceptance of Paul as a heavenly being.<\/p>\n

    498.<\/p>\n

    Could he be reminding them that they were a changeable people even in their attitude toward him?<\/p>\n

    499.<\/p>\n

    Did they receive him as though he were Christ?<\/p>\n

    500.<\/p>\n

    Define gratulation.<\/p>\n

    501.<\/p>\n

    Has Paul accused them of losing their joy?<\/p>\n

    502.<\/p>\n

    Explain I bear you witness.<\/p>\n

    503.<\/p>\n

    Were they once extremely devoted to Paul?<\/p>\n

    504.<\/p>\n

    Does the mention of eyes indicate Paul had had eye trouble while in their presence?<\/p>\n

    Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    (12) Be as I am.<\/strong>Use the same Christian freedom that I use.<\/p>\n

    For I am as ye are.<\/strong>I lay no stress on my pure Jewish descent. I claim no privileges because I was circumcised the eighth day. I do not count myself holier than you because I belonged to the strictest of all sects, the Pharisees. I stripped myself of all this, and became a Gentile among Gentiles.<\/p>\n

    Ye have not injured me at all.<\/strong>Ye did me no wrong.<\/em> There is a transition of subject at this clause. The Apostle goes back in thought to his first visit to Galatia. He had no complaint to make of the Galatians then. They did him no injury, showed him no unkindness, but, on the contrary, received him gladly.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    (12-16) Let me beg of you: cast off the bondage of Judaism as I have done, just as I gave p its privileges to place myself on a level with you. I have no complaint to make against you. You remember the illness which detained me among you, and led me first to preach to you the gospel. You received me kindly and warmly enough then,<\/em> though my bodily infirmities might well have tempted you to despise me. You treated me as if I had been a messenger direct from heaven. You thought yourselves blest by my teaching. You would have done anything for me; you would have given me even your eyes. What has become of all this now? Why do you consider yourselves blest no more? Why do you treat me as an enemy, merely for telling you the truth?<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    a. <\/em><\/strong> Earnest expostulation in view of his and their past mutual history and the conduct of his opponents, Gal 4:12-20<\/em><\/span><\/em> .<\/p>\n

    <\/em><\/p>\n

    Paul tenderly reminds the Galatians of their cordial reception of his first preaching, 12-16; hints the selfishness of their seducers, 17, 18; and makes appeal to their sympathetic emotions, Gal 4:19-20<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12<\/strong>. <\/strong> Brethren<\/strong> Beginning, as at Gal 3:15<\/span>, a new and gentler strain. Be<\/strong> Omitting the interpolated italic words, we render, Become as I, because I as you. <\/em> The meaning is, become as I became when I left Judaism and rejected these beggarly elements; because I <\/strong> became as you <\/strong> then were, when you, as Gentiles, rejected them. Let us agree as we agreed <\/em> when I first preached the gospel to you. <\/p>\n

    Ye have<\/strong> The Greek aorist omits the have<\/strong>. Render, Ye did not wrong me at all; <\/em> that is, when I first preached to you. So, Gal 4:14<\/span>, ye despised not but received<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    ‘I plead with you, brothers, be as I, for I as you.’<\/p>\n

    We could possibly translate ‘I am as you were.’ (As we have shown in the translation there is no verb in the last phrase in the Greek). Then Paul is saying ‘be like me because I am as you were when you were first converted.’ In other words, ‘come back to what you were, becoming again like me’. When Paul went to them he did not claim superiority or seek to bring them under the Law. He proclaimed the true Gospel which put them both on equal standing in Christ.<\/p>\n

    Alternately he is appealing on a more personal note ‘I am as you are’, that is, ‘like you I am only a weak and frail man, fully aware of your weaknesses’. Or ‘I became as you were’ meaning ‘I, though once a Jew, was willing to become like you Gentiles for your sakes’, meaning that they should copy him, as once he copied them.<\/p>\n

    Whichever way we translate it, the appeal is for them to become like Him, walking again in the freedom of Christ.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    ‘You did me no wrong.’<\/p>\n

    He assures them he has nothing against them as regards their treatment of Him. Indeed he remembers their kindness with affection.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Paul Now Reveals His Concern and Longing for Them ( Gal 4:12-20<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/p>\n

    <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Paul now pleads with them from the heart. He cannot bear to think what they are losing by their foolishness.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    A personal appeal for the truth against the false teachers:<\/p>\n

    v. 12<\/strong>. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are; ye have not injured me at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    v. 13<\/strong>. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you at the first.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    v. 14<\/strong>. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    v. 15<\/strong>. Where is, then, the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear you record that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    v. 16<\/strong>. Am I, therefore, become your enemy because I tell you the truth?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    v. 17<\/strong>. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you that ye might affect them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    v. 18<\/strong>. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.<\/p>\n

    <\/strong> Having struck a personal note, the apostle here continues in the same strain, with all the eager kindness of his loving heart: Deal with me as I dealt with you, brethren, I beg of you. He holds up his conduct as an example to them, and refers to particular occasions when the relation between them was one of unstudied cordiality. They should put themselves in his place for a moment, and try to feel as he did when he became all things to all men in order to gain them for the Gospel. Incidentally he implies that they should try to understand his position as their teacher, knowing from past experience that his instruction had always been for their benefit. He wants them to do this without the least hesitation; for, as he assures them: In nothing have you injured me. They had, on the contrary, received the Gospel message with all eagerness. The situation had been so: You know that on account of infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel to you at first. It seems that some sort of illness or weakness prevented Paul from continuing his journey as he may have intended, when he came to the regions of Galatia; so he remained there for a time and was prevailed upon to perform the work of his ministerial calling in these cities.<\/p>\n

    At that time the attachment of the Galatians to the apostle had been intimate and sincere: And your test in my flesh you did not despise nor spurn, but as an angel of God you accepted me, as Christ Jesus. On account of Paul’s bodily infirmity, on account of the fact that he was severely handicapped in his evangelical activity, the Galatians were put to the test as to whether they would think unfavorably of their teacher. But there had not been the slightest indication of rejecting him, of spurning his person and his message, there had been no show of contempt or disgust on account of his diseased state. Overlooking or tactfully ignoring his infirmity, they had rather accepted him with every mark of esteem, as an angel of God, as Christ Himself. Could it be possible that their behavior at that time had been a mere passing fancy? Paul asks: Where is the happiness which you exhibited at that time? What has become of that feeling now? For I bear witness concerning you that, if it had been possible, you would have torn out your very eyes and given them to me. So great had been their loving affection for their teacher that they would have been willing to sacrifice the most indispensable organs of their body, if by so doing they could have brought him relief. Note: This is a splendid example of the love which a Christian congregation should show towards its pastor in case he becomes afflicted with bodily infirmity or illness when engaged in serving them.<\/p>\n

    The apostle now brings out the contrast as indicated by their apparent estrangement: Pour enemy have I thus become by my telling you the truth? In some way and at some time, probably at his last visit or through reports which had reached him, Paul had found out about the estrangement, the coldness, which was gradually taking the place of their fervent affection towards him. Upon the occasion of his last visit and probably before, he had told them the truth with all frankness; he had rebuked their errors and shortcomings; he had warned them against Jewish leaven. And these warnings had now been so manipulated by the Judaizing teachers as to argue enmity on his part and to turn the Galatians from him. But Paul analyzes the situation frankly: They take an active interest in you in no honest way, but they desire to estrange you, that you should show affectionate zeal for them. The false teachers were affecting a loving interest in the Galatians with only one object in mind, to alienate their affections from Paul and his sound Gospel-teaching and to win them for their own side. Here all personal courting, all sycophancy between preachers and hearers is condemned, and rightly so, since the desire to serve the Lord with sound Gospel-preaching, on the one hand, and the simple acceptance of the truth, on the other, should characterize the relation between pastor and parishioner. In that sense Paul writes: It is a good thing that zeal be shown in a good thing at all times, and not only when I am present with you. To be filled with zeal and eagerness for the cause of Christ and the Gospel, for the growth of the kingdom of God, is a fine and laudable thing. Under such circumstances the zeal will not relax in the absence of any particular persons, no matter how important their contributions may have been in the first place. Paul does not want his person exalted, but desires only that the honor of Christ and of the Gospel be secure.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>For I am as ye are:<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> the original words are ambiguous, and may either signify, I am, <\/em>or I have been, as ye are. <\/em>Our translation takes them in the former sense, and so they must express his unanimity with them in love; which he urges as an argument for their unanimity with him, and affection to him; and this certainly very well suits the connection with the subsequent part of the verse. The latter sense, however, seems preferable, as more weighty, copious, and striking, and, perhaps, more natural too: for it is certain that many of them were much prejudiced against him, while he was most tenderly affected towards them. See Gal 4:16<\/span> ch. Gal 1:6<\/span>. <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12<\/span> . [191] After this expression of anxiety, now follows the exhortation to return, and with what cordiality of affection! “Subito , argumenta conciliantia et moventia admovet,” Bengel.<\/p>\n

    , ] is explained in two ways, either<\/em> as a summons to give up Judaistic habits, or<\/em> as a summons to love. The correct<\/em> interpretation is: “ Become as I<\/em> , become free from Judaism as I am, for I also have become as you;<\/em> for I also, when I abandoned Judaism, thereby became as a Gentile (Gal 2:14<\/span> ; Phi 3:7<\/span> f.), and placed myself on the same footing with you who were then Gentiles, by non-subjection to the Mosaic law. Now render to me the reciprocum<\/em> , to which love has a claim.” So Koppe, Winer, Usteri, Neander, Fritzsche, de Wette, Hilgenfeld. This interpretation is not only in the highest degree suitable to the thoughtful delicacy of the apostle who might justly (in opposition to Wieseler’s objection) represent his former secession from Judaism as a service rendered to his readers (as Gentiles), because he had in fact seceded to be a converter of the Gentiles<\/em> but is the only explanation in harmony with the words and the context. must be supplied in the second clause, and to take it from is just as allowable as in 1Co 11:1<\/span> (in opposition to Hofmann). Comp. Phi 2:5<\/span> ; and see generally, Krger, lxii. 4. 1; Winer, p. 541 f. [E. T. 728]; Xen. Anab<\/em> . vii. 7. 13: . As to , comp. on 1Co 11:1<\/span> . Following Chrysostom, Theodoret and Theophylact, Erasmus (in his Paraphrase<\/em> ), Vatablus, Semler, and others, also Matthies, interpret: “ Become as I<\/em> , abandon Judaism; for I also was once<\/em> a zealous adherent of it like you<\/em> , but have undergone a change.” But as is the only supplement which suggests itself in harmony with the context, Paul must have written<\/em> the , which on this view requires to be supplied (as Justin. ad Graec<\/em> . ii. p. 400. ed. Col<\/em> . , ), and this would in that case have conveyed the main element of the motive ( fui<\/em> , nec amplius sum). But as Paul has written, the point of the passage lies in his desire that his readers should become like unto him, as he also had become like to the readers. Schott (comp. Rosenmller and Flatt) correctly supplies , but he again supplies with : “siquidem ego quoque factus sum, quales vos facti estis, cum Jesu Christo nomen daretis, abjeci studia pristina Judaismi pariter atque vos olim abjecistis.” Incorrectly, because this would presuppose that Paul was speaking to Jewish Christians<\/em> , and because the motive, thus understood, could only have been of real avail as a motive in the event of Paul having been converted later<\/em> than the Galatians. Jerome, Erasmus (in his Annotationes<\/em> ), Cornelius a Lapide, Estius, Michaelis, Rckert, interpret: “Become as I, lay aside Judaism, for I also have lovingly accommodated myself to you;<\/em> ” comp. Wieseler: “Because I also, when I brought the gospel to you, from, a loving regard toward you Gentiles put aside Jewish habits<\/em> ” (Gal 2:14<\/span> ; 1Co 9:21<\/span> ). So also in substance Olshausen, Ellicott, Reithmayr, and others; similarly also Hofmann. [192] Against this view it may be urged, that, in Paul’s working as an apostle to the Gentiles, his non-Judaistic attitude was a matter of principle<\/em> , and not a matter of considerate accommodation<\/em> , and that long before<\/em> he preached to the Galatians. Besides, the result would be a dissimilar relation between the two members; for Paul cannot require the putting away of Jewish habits as a matter of affectionate consideration, but only as a Christian necessity. The reciprocity of what is to be done under this<\/em> aspect is the point of the demand. According to Ewald, Paul says, “As Christians, follow ye entirely my example, because I too am a simple Christian<\/em> and, strictly speaking, not more than you<\/em> .” But thus the very idea that was most essential (a simple Christian) would not be expressed. Others, including Luther, Beza, Calvin, Grotius, Calovius, Wolf, Bengel, Zachariae, and Morus, find the sense: “ Love me, as I love you<\/em> .” But how could the reader discover this in the words, since Paul has not yet said a word as to any deficiency of love to him? Beza and Grotius wrongly appeal to the mode of designating one who is beloved as an alter ego<\/em> , an idea which and do not at all convey.<\/p>\n

    , ] The language of softened and deeply moved love. The words are to be referred not to the sequel<\/em> (Luther, Zeger, Koppe, and others), in which there is nothing besought, but to the previous summons, with which he beseeches<\/em> them to comply.<\/p>\n

    ] suggests a motive for granting his entreaty , by recalling their relation to him, as it had stood at the time when he first preached the gospel to them: “How should ye not grant me this entreaty, since ye have done no injury to me (and certainly therefore in this point just asked for, will not vex me by non-compliance); but ye know,” etc. According to Chrysostom, Theophylact, Augustine, Pelagius, Luther, Calvin, Estius, Windischmann, and others, including Winer, the words are intended to give an assurance that the previous severe language had not flowed from displeasure and irritation against his readers. But Paul has in fact already changed, immediately before, to the tone of love; hence such an assurance here would come in too late and inappropriately. Nor would the , which on account of the connection with Gal 4:13<\/span> evidently applies to the period of his first visit, necessarily exclude a subsequent offence; so that the “ igitur non habui, quod vobis irascerer<\/em> ” (Winer), which has been discovered in these words, is not necessarily implied in them. The temporal<\/em> reference of the , which is definitely and necessarily given by Gal 4:13<\/span> , excludes also the view of Beza, Bengel, Rckert, Ewald, and others, that Paul represents the vexation occasioned to him by the relapse of his readers as having not occurred (“all was forgotten and forgiven,” Ewald), in order to encourage them by this meiosis<\/em> to a compliance with the . Lastly, those interpretations are incorrect, which, in spite of the enclitic , lay an antithetic emphasis on the latter; as that of Grotius (“ me privatim<\/em> ”), that of Rettig in the Stud. u. Krit<\/em> . 1830, p. 109 (not me, but God and Christ<\/em> ), and that of Schott (nihil mihi nocuistis, vobis tantum<\/em> ). Nor is Hofmann’s view more correct: that Paul, taking occasion by a passage in the (alleged) epistle of his readers, desired only to say to them that the . was not enough;<\/em> instead of having merely<\/em> experienced nothing unbecoming<\/em> from them, he could not but expect more at their hands, for which reason they ought to recall what their attitude to him had been at his first visit to them. In this view what is supposed to form the train of thought is a purely gratuitous importation, with the fiction of a letter written by the Galatians superadded; and the assumed strong contrast to the sequel must have been marked by a after (as to Plat. Rep<\/em> . p. 398 A, Hartung, Partik<\/em> . I. p. 163, forms a right judgment), or by instead of , in order to be intelligible.<\/p>\n

    On with accusative of the person and of the thing, comp. Act 25:10<\/span> ; Phm 1:18<\/span> ; Wolf, Lept<\/em> . p. 343; Khner, ad Xen. Anab<\/em> . i. 6. 7.<\/p>\n

    [191] As to vv. 12 20, see C. F. A. Fritzsche, in Fritzschior. Opusc<\/em> . p. 231 ff.<\/p>\n

    [192] According to Hofmann, Paul says of himself that he places himself on an equality with his Gentile readers<\/em> (inasmuch as, where his vocation requires it, he lives among the Gentiles as if he were not a Jew), and, on the other hand, requires of them that they shall place themselves on an equality with him<\/em> (and therefore shall not live after the Jewish manner, but shall share his freedom from the law, after he has accommodated himself to their position aloof from the law). Hofmann insists, namely, on the supplying of (present), which, as well as , he understands in the sense of behaving<\/em> and conducting<\/em> themselves. This sense, however, is not suitable, since the readers are really to become different<\/em> , and not merely to accommodate themselves<\/em> to another line of conduct; the would not therefore retain the same sense in the two halves of the verse. See also, in opposition to this view, Mller on de Wette. The use of in the sense of se praestare<\/em> is, however, in itself linguistically admissible (see Khner, ad Xen. Anab<\/em> . i. 7. 4), but not in conformity with the proofs adduced by Hofmann; as to which Dissen, ad Dem. d. Cor<\/em> . p. 239 f., takes the correct view.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am<\/em> ; for I am<\/em> as ye are<\/em> : ye have not injured me at all. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Ver. 12. Be as I am<\/strong> ] No longer a legalist, as once,Phi 3:5<\/span>Phi 3:5<\/span> ; Phi 3:8<\/span> .<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    Ye have not injured me at all<\/strong> ] He was above their buffooneries and indignities. When an inconsiderate fellow had stricken Cato in the bath, and afterwards cried him mercy, he replied, I remember not that thou didst strike me. (Seneca.) Tu linguae, ego aurium dominus, <\/em> said one to another that railed on him. I cannot be master of thy tongue, but I will be master of mine own ears. (Tacit.) One having made a long and idle discourse before Aristotle concluded it thus, I doubt I have been too tedious to you, sir philosopher, with my many words. In good sooth, said Aristotle, you have not been tedious to me, for I gave no heed to anything you said. a<\/em> Momus in Lucian tells Jupiter, It is in thy power whether any one shall vex or wrong thee. St Paul here shakes off the affronts and injuries offered unto him with as much ease as once he did the viper, Act 28:5<\/span> . Some would have swelled, and almost died at the sight of such a thing; he only shook it off, and there was no hurt done.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    a<\/em> Plutar. de Garralit. , . <\/p>\n

    Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12 16<\/strong> .] Appeal to them to imitate him, on the ground of their former love and veneration for him<\/em> .<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12<\/strong> .] This has been variously understood. But the only rendering which seems to answer the requirements of the construction and the context, is that which understands or after , and refers it to the Apostle having in his own practice cast off Jewish habits and become as the Galatians: i.e. a Gentile: see 1Co 9:20-21<\/span> . And so Winer, Neander, Fritz., De W., Meyer, Jowett (alt.), &c. (2) Chrys., Thdrt., Thl., Erasm.-par., al., regard it as said to Jewish believers, and explain, . (Thdrt.). But to this Meyer rightly objects, that , which would in this case have to be supplied, must have been expressed<\/em> , as being emphatic, and cites from Justin ad Grcos, c. 2, where however I cannot find it, , . (3) Jerome, Erasm.-not., Corn.-a-lap., Estius, Michaelis, Rckert, Olsh., ‘ as also I have accommodated myself to you.’ But thus the second member of the sentence will not answer to the first. (4) Luther, Beza, Calvin, Grot., Bengel, Morus, Peile, al., would understand it, ‘love me, as I love you’ (“accipite hanc meam objurgationem eo animo quo vos objurgavi: sit in vobis is affectus erga me, qui est in me erga vos,” Luth.). But nothing has been said of a want of love<\/em> : and certainly had this been meant, it would have been more plainly expressed. The words , are by Chrys., Thdrt., al., Luther, Koppe, al., joined to the following: but wrongly, for there is no in what follows.<\/p>\n

    <\/strong> ] The key to rightly understanding these words is, their apposition with , below. To that period they refer: viz. to the time when he first preached the Gospel among them, and the first introduction of this period seems to be in the words, . Then I became as you: and at that time you did me no wrong, but on the contrary shewed me all sympathy and reverence. Then comes in the inference, put in the form of a question, at Gal 4:16<\/span> , I must then have since<\/em> become your enemy by telling you the truth. The other explanations seem all more or less beside the purpose: , Chrys., and similarly Thl., Aug., Pel., Luth., Calv. (‘non excandesco mea causa, nec quod vobis sim infensus’), Estius, Winer, al., which would be irrelevant, and indeed preposterous without some introduction after the affection of the foregoing words: ‘ ye have done me no wrong<\/em> ,’ i.e. ‘ex animo omnia condonabat si resipiscerentur,’ Beza: so Bengel, Rckert, al., which is refuted by the aorist , of some definite time<\/em> . The same is true of ‘ye have wronged not me but yourselves’ (Ambr., Corn.-a-lap., Schtt.), ‘ not me, but God, or Christ’ (Grot. al.).<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12<\/span> . Our versions abruptly sever the connection of this verse with the previous context, and do great violence to the Greek text in both clauses. They transpose the words from their true place at the end of the verse to the beginning, and render , Be ye as I am<\/em> . But this makes it = ( cf.<\/em> Act 26:29<\/span> ), though it is impossible to understand in the Greek text after . The context points distinctly to as the proper supplement after . The last verse has carried back the author’s thoughts to his original ministry, and he proceeds to revive the remembrance of that period. “Act as I did (he exclaims); deal with me as I dealt with you.” Instead of a mere vague admonition to imitate his character he is holding up his actual conduct for an example to them, and proceeds to specify the particular occasion to which he refers. : For I too beseech you as you, brethren, besought me<\/em> . It is an obvious error to detach from the following verb and supply , as is done in our versions. The Greek requires a verb to be supplied after corresponding to , and I understand accordingly .<\/p>\n

    The Galatians could not fail to recollect the occasion to which these words refer; for it was the true birthday of their Church, the memorable crisis when at the close of Paul’s address the Jews departed from the synagogue, but the Gentiles besought him to repeat to them the words of life on the following Sabbath; after which many Jews and proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas persuading them to abide by the doctrine of the grace of God. (See Act 13:42-43<\/span> . In the Greek text it is clear that the persuasion proceeded from them, and not from Paul and Barnabas.) The Galatians had then been suitors to Paul to maintain the freedom of the Gospel, he was now a suitor to them in his turn for its maintenance. : Ye had done me no wrong<\/em> . The force of this clause appears from what follows: Paul is dwelling on the mutual relations between him and the Galatians at the time of that memorable petition. They on their side had done him no wrong, they had not driven him away by persecution or illtreatment, yet up to that time ( ) he had only been induced by illness to preach to them. The Galatians had, in short, given him no excuse for passing them by, as he intended to do, until he was attacked by an illness which left him no option.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gal 4:12-20<\/p>\n

    12I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. 16So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. 19My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you20but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12 “I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are” This verb is a Present middle (deponent) imperative. This verse has been variously interpreted.<\/p>\n

    1. The Williams translation reads “take my point of view,” Paul asked them to accept his view of justification by faith because he once had accepted their current tendency of justification by works (Judaism).<\/p>\n

    2. Some say that “for I also have become as you are” is an allusion to 1Co 9:19-23, where Paul asserted that he became all things to all men in order that he might win some. When he was with Jews, he lived like the Jews. When he was with Gentiles, he lived like the Gentiles. Yet in truth he had abandoned the Law as a way of salvation. He was flexible on the method, but not on the message.<\/p>\n

    “Brothers” indicates Paul’s transition to a new topic. Also, calling them “brothers” lessened the blow of his hard hitting criticisms (cf. Gal 4:19; Gal 1:11; Gal 3:15).<\/p>\n

    “You have done me no wrong” Some think this phrase expresses a negative statement implying “in the past you did me no harm but now you do.” But others read it as a positive expression of his appreciation of the Galatian churches’ original acceptance of him and his message. This phrase should be read with Gal 4:13-15.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:13 “it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time” The mention of a “first time” implies a second time before the letter was written. However, the phrase may idiomatically mean “formally” as in 1Ti 1:13. Paul went to the churches of Galatia<\/p>\n

    1. for a time of recuperation from some illness<\/p>\n

    2. because of an illness he had to stop and stay a while<\/p>\n

    Because of (1) Gal 4:14-15; (2) in tandem with Gal 6:11; and (3) 2Co 12:1-10, I personally believe Paul is alluding to his “thorn in the flesh,” a physical ailment. With the combination of these verses it seems to me that it was some type of eye problem which possibly began with his Damascus Road experience (cf. Acts 9) and was made worse by the diseases of the first century. Paul’s partial blindness may have been caused by the repulsive eye disorder, ophthalmia.<\/p>\n

    For “illness” (lit. “weakness of the flesh”) see Special Topic at Gal 1:16.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:14<\/p>\n

    NASB”and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe”<\/p>\n

    NKJV”And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject”<\/p>\n

    NRSV”though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me”<\/p>\n

    TEV”But you did not despise or reject me, even though my physical condition was a great trial to you”<\/p>\n

    NJB”you never showed the least sign of being revolted or disgusted by my disease that was such a trial to you”<\/p>\n

    Many Jews and Gentiles would have seen Paul’s illness as a judgment from God. The fact that Paul was in God’s will, and sick, forces us to rethink the link between sin and sickness (cf. John 9; Job and Psalms 73).<\/p>\n

    These two verbs invoke strong images. The first means “to count as good for nothing.” The second means “to spit out.” The use of the second verb is the reason that some relate Paul’s illness to the superstition in the Ancient Near East about “the evil eye” (cf. Gal 3:1). The magical remedy was “to spit” and thereby protect yourself from its spell, possibly referring to (1) an unusual-looking eye or (2) a wild-eyed look (epilepsy).<\/p>\n

    “you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself” A strong statement, Paul implied that they genuinely received the message of God through him, accompanied with great respect for the servant who brought it. The NJB translates the phrase as “messenger of God.” The word for “angel” in Hebrew and Greek also means “messenger.”<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:15<\/p>\n

    NASB”Where then is that sense of blessing you had”<\/p>\n

    NKJV”What then was the blessing you enjoyed”<\/p>\n

    NRSV”What has become of the goodwill you felt”<\/p>\n

    TEV”You were so happy! What has happened”<\/p>\n

    NJB”What has become of this enthusiasm you had”<\/p>\n

    In this rhetorical question, Paul wants to know where the original, positive feelings the Galatians held for him has gone. The Phillips translation reads, “What has happened to that fine spirit of yours?”<\/p>\n

    “that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me” This second class conditional sentence should be understood as, “If you had plucked out your eyes which you did not, you would have given them to me which you did not.” This reading supports the theory that Paul’s thorn in the flesh (cf. 2 Corinthians 12) was eye disease.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:16 “So have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth” Paul contrasted their radical change of heart toward him with their change of heart toward the gospel.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:17-18 Two difficulties arise in interpreting Gal 4:17-18 : (1) the meaning of the phrase “eagerly seek” and (2) the ambiguity of the subject in Gal 4:18. Does it refer to (1) Paul or (2) the churches of Galatia? With this kind of ambiguity, a dogmatic interpretation is inappropriate but the general sense of the passage is not affected. The Judaizers wanted the Galatians to follow them exclusively and appreciate them the way they previously had Paul.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:17<\/p>\n

    NASB”They eagerly seek you”<\/p>\n

    NKJV”They zealously court you”<\/p>\n

    NRSV”They make much of you”<\/p>\n

    TEV”Those other people show a deep concern for you”<\/p>\n

    NJB”The blame lies in the way they have tried to win you over”<\/p>\n

    Literally, this reads “they are zealous of you.” This must be a reference to the false teachers, especially in context with the next phrase, “but not sincerely.” “Zealous,” from the root “to burn,” had two connotations in Koine Greek: (1) the affection of young lovers and (2) envy of another. These strong emotions characterized the activity of the sweet-talking false teachers toward the Galatian churches, but their activity derived from selfish motivation.<\/p>\n

    NASB”but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them”<\/p>\n

    NKJV”they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them”<\/p>\n

    NRSV”they want to exclude you, so that you may make much of them”<\/p>\n

    TEV”All they want is to separate you from me, so that you will have the same concern for them as they have or you”<\/p>\n

    NJB”by separating you from me, they want to win you over to themselves”<\/p>\n

    The false teachers were jealous of the affection that the Galatian churches had shown Paul (cf. Gal 4:13-15). They wanted to alienate Paul so they could take his place! This may explain Gal 4:18.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:18 Paul was shocked that those who had been so kind and caring toward him had so dramatically become hostile (cf. Gal 4:16). In the context of Gal 4:13-20, this interpretation fits best.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:19 “My children, with whom I am again in labor” Paul often used familial metaphors because of their warm and caring connotation. He called himself a father in 1Co 4:15 and 1Th 2:11 and here, a mother (cf. 1Th 2:7). Paul may have been making the point that he was the true spiritual parent of the Galatians, not the Judaizers.<\/p>\n

    “until Christ is formed in you” “Formed” [Greek root morph] was used in a medical sense for fetal development. Morph could refer to the abiding character of something. This text refers to their maturity in Christ (cf. Eph 4:13), or in other words, their Christlikeness (cf. Rom 8:28-29; 2Co 3:18; 2Co 7:1; Gal 4:19; Eph 1:4; Eph 4:13; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:3; 1Th 4:7; 1Th 5:23; 1Pe 1:15). This does not necessarily mean two different experiences of the Christian lifesalvation and maturityand yet we all know that maturity is a developmental experience.<\/p>\n

    Paul showed that his motives in teaching and preaching to the Galatian churches were totally different from those of the self-seeking false teachers.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:20 “but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone” Paul wished they could sense the paternal care he felt for them. His heart was on fire for them, though the printed page seemed cold and harsh.<\/p>\n

    NASB, NRSV”for I am perplexed about you”<\/p>\n

    NKJV”for I have doubts about you”<\/p>\n

    TEV”I am so worried about you”<\/p>\n

    NJB”I have no idea what to do for the best”<\/p>\n

    The Greek word for “way” with the alpha privative may be translated in at least two ways.<\/p>\n

    1. the Living Bible reads “I frankly don’t know what to do”<\/p>\n

    2. the Phillips translation reads “I honestly don’t know how to deal with you”<\/p>\n

    These different idiomatic translations express the frustration of Paul in his dealings with these Galatian churches.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    beseech. Greek. deomai. App-134. <\/p>\n

    be = become. <\/p>\n

    for I, &c. Read, for I (was) as ye (are). <\/p>\n

    have. Omit. <\/p>\n

    not . . . at all = (in) nothing Greek. oudeis<\/p>\n

    injured = wronged. Greek. adikeo. See Act 7:24. <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    12-16.] Appeal to them to imitate him, on the ground of their former love and veneration for him.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.<\/p>\n

    He had told them the gospel, and other teachers had come in and alienated their affections. He says, Now I am just the same to you as ever I was; I wish you would have the same love to me.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:13-14. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n

    He dwells upon that. They had been so enthusiastic about his teaching when he first taught them, that he feels grieved that now they have gone aside to other teaching not because it injured him, but because it injured them.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:15. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of?<\/p>\n

    When you said that you were happy to live in Pauls days, glad to listen to so simple and plain a teacher.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:15-16. For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?<\/p>\n

    Ah! there are many who have incurred enmity through speaking the gospel very plainly, for the natural tendency of man is towards ceremony, towards some form of legal righteousness: he must have something aesthetic, something that delights his sensuous nature, something that he can see and hear, to mix up that with the simplicity of faith; and Paul was as clear as noonday against everything of that kind, and so the Galatians got at last to be angry with him. Well, he could not help that, but it did grieve him.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:17. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.<\/p>\n

    They would, if they could, turn you out of our love that you might run after them. These false teachers would shut us out of your hearts that your hearts might go after them.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:18-21. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? <\/p>\n

    Will you not listen to what the law itself teaches? Here is a little bit from one of its first books, the book of Genesis.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:22-23. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, and the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh;<\/p>\n

    In the strength of Abraham.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:23. But he of the freewoman was by promise.<\/p>\n

    In the power of God, born after both father and mother had ceased to be capable of becoming parents, born in the power of God.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants: the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar.<\/p>\n

    Those that are under the law are the children, therefore, of the bondwoman: they are born slaves.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:25. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.<\/p>\n

    It is old Judaism coming from Sinai, This do, and thou shalt live, and all the children that are born under it are children of nature, and they are not the children of promise.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.<\/p>\n

    This is Sarah, and they that believe are the Isaac-children, the children of holy laughter, born according to the power of God.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:27-29. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband, Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.<\/p>\n

    The child of Hagar could not hear the child of Sarah, and they that seek salvation by the works of the law, and by outward ceremonies, cannot endure the children of faith.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:30-31. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. <\/p>\n

    This exposition consisted of readings from Gal 4:12-31; Gal 5:1-4; Gal 5:19-26; Gal 6:1-11.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12. , be ye) He suddenly lays aside , the arguments suited for instruction, and has recourse to , arguments that are calculated to conciliate and move, Gal 4:11-20 : of which whoever has not the ready command (and no carnal man has it), is not a perfect teacher. It is in this respect especially that the tenderest affection of the apostle humbly bent itself to the Galatians.- , as I) Brotherly (referring to Brethren) harmony of minds has the effect of causing the things which are taught to be the more readily received; 2Co 6:13. He says therefore, Join yourselves with me in my feeling towards Christ. The particle , as, denotes the closest union, 1Ki 22:4.-, I also) viz. am.- , as you) I consider your loss as my own.- ) I beseech you, that you may think as I do.- , ye have injured me in nothing) He who offends another, or thinks that he is offended, stands aloof from him; but this is not your case. Some will say, Had they not offended Paul, by rendering his labour among them almost vain? Gal 4:11. Paul answers: I have pardoned this, I do not recall it to my mind. There is at the same time a Meiosis [or Litotes, less expressed than is intended to be understood], i.e. you have embraced me with the kindest affection, Gal 4:14-15.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12<\/p>\n

    I beseech you, brethren,-This is the expression of a painfully agitated, affectionate, and loving heart.<\/p>\n

    become as I am,-His object was to persuade them to abandon the Jewish rites and customs. He appealed to them, therefore, by his own example, for he had laid aside its supposed advantages, and his lifelong prejudice (Php 3:7) in order to take his place beside the Gentiles. Now he entreats those who put themselves under the law, or who contemplate doing so, to take their place beside him-be as free as he was free.<\/p>\n

    for I also am become as ye are,-He had conformed to their customs in many things; had abandoned his own peculiarities; had given up his customs as far as possible to benefit and save them. He was a Jew of the Jews. Of himself he said: Though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. (Php 3:4-6). He had all the Jewish feelings and regard for Jewish services that they could possibly have, yet he had given them all up for Christ. He appeals to them to do as he had done.<\/p>\n

    Ye did me no wrong:-Many expositors understand this to mean that they did him no personal injury in turning to Judaism, for his interest in them was that they might be saved; others connect it with the following verse, and make it refer to the treatment they gave him while he was among them.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Truthful and Devoted Dealing <\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12-20<\/p>\n

    How great a loss is it when we allow ourselves to be diverted from the simplicity of faith to trust in ceremonies, rites, and a prescribed routine! Inevitably these bring us into bondage. Let us therefore not pay slavish attention to the outward, but seek to have Christ within, and from within He will become the energy and passion of a new life. Each time we yield to the prompting of His Spirit, there is less of self and more of Him.<\/p>\n

    In Gal 4:15 we perhaps have a hint as to the nature of Pauls thorn in the flesh. This reference has led many to suppose that he suffered from acute ophthalmia, or inflammation of the eyes. But nothing diverted him from his soul-travail on behalf of his converts, Gal 4:19. What a beautiful analogy we may trace between the formation of Christ in the soul and the formation of a chick in the egg! At first the tiny germ of life is hardly discernible amid the viscous matter in which it floats; but, day by day, there is less of this and more of the tiny creature which is being formed. So in regeneration the life of Christ is implanted, which will continue to increase until all of self will be lost in the one infilling Presence.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Chapter 22<\/p>\n

    Until Christ Be Formed in You<\/p>\n

    Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. <\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12-20<\/p>\n

    Gods saints in this world are often compared to sheep. Pastors are called shepherds because it is their responsibility to tend the sheep. Gods people are sheep. Like sheep they must be guided, protected, and cared for. They frequently leave the prescribed path. They are easily led astray. They are in danger because of deceptive wolves. It is the duty of Gods appointed shepherds to feed his lambs, to protect them from the dangers they face, instruct them in the way of righteousness, and to faithfully restore them when they fall, when they turn aside, or when they are taken in a snare.<\/p>\n

    The Galatian saints were foolishly turning aside to Judaism, the works of the law, being taken in the snare of Satans messengers of self-righteousness. They had been flattered into thinking that their good works could supplement the free-grace of God in Jesus Christ. And they had foolishly accepted this doctrine of will-worship to the great dishonor of Christ and the gospel, and to the grief and anguish of the man who first brought the gospel to them. Paul had been the instrument of their conversion and he loved their souls. He was a faithful shepherd to their souls. Therefore, he sharply rebuked them for their sin. Rather than loving Paul for his faithfulness to God and to their souls, the Galatians were treating him as though he were their enemy.<\/p>\n

    Paul would not allow their abuse of him to hinder his love and faithfulness to them. In Gal 4:8-11 he had sharply reproved them. Here, he makes an urgent, intensely personal plea, appealing to them as one who loved them and as one they had once received as an angel of God to their souls. He writes as one who is in agony because he cannot endure the thought that a people, who at one time had treated him with so much sympathetic consideration and received the gospel preached by him with such enthusiasm, were continuing to wander farther and farther away from the truth. Therefore, he lovingly pleads with them as a parent to his children.<\/p>\n

    As I Am<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Paul addresses the Galatians as his brethren in Christ, taking them at their word. They professed to be his brethren. They professed faith in Christ. And, though they had gone so far backward and appeared to have departed from the faith, yet hopes the best concerning them. His hopes are truly born of God. Because he tenderly loved them and cared for them, he wanted them to be as he was, completely free from the tyranny and bondage of the law. He wanted them to reckon themselves dead indeed to the law (Gal 2:19). He wanted them to forever relinquish the observance of sabbath days, all Mosaic ceremonies, and all personal righteousness according to the law, counting all but dung for Christ and his righteousness Col 2:16-23; Php 3:7-14).<\/p>\n

    For I am as ye are Anxious lest he should do more harm than good, Paul carefully shows the Galatians that his heart is with them, that he loves them as himself, as one with him. He wants them to know that his sharp rebukes have come, not from a man who despises them but from one who loves them. Commenting on this phrase, Martin Luther wrote<\/p>\n

    Like Paul, all pastors and ministers ought to have much sympathy for their poor straying sheep, and instruct them in the spirit of meekness. They cannot be straightened out in any other way. Over sharp criticism provokes anger and despair, but no repentance. And here let us note, by the way, that true doctrine always produces concord. When men embrace errors, the tie of Christian love is broken. <\/p>\n

    At the beginning of the Reformation we were honored as the true ministers of Christ. Suddenly certain false brethren began to hate us. We had given them no offense, no occasion to hate us. They knew then as they know now that ours is the singular desire to publish the Gospel of Christ everywhere. What changed their attitude toward us? False doctrine. Seduced into error by the false apostles, the Galatians refused to acknowledge St. Paul as their pastor. The name and doctrine of Paul became obnoxious to them. I fear this Epistle recalled very few from their error. <\/p>\n

    Paul knew that the false apostles would misconstrue his censure of the Galatians to their own advantage and say: So this is your Paul whom you praise so much. What sweet names he is calling you in his letter. When he was with you he acted like a father, but now he acts like a dictator. Paul knew what to expect of the false apostles and therefore he is worried. He does not know what to say. It is hard for a man to defend his cause at a distance, especially when he has reason to think that he personally has fallen into disfavor.<\/p>\n

    Paul is saying, I am as you are, and you are as I am with respect to things spiritual. We are alike in Christ, chosen in him, and redeemed by him. We are equally regenerated by his Spirit. We are all the children of God by faith in Christ. We are no more servants, but sons. We are all equally his free men. Therefore, be as I am, free in Christ.<\/p>\n

    Ye have not injured me at all. Paul has shown them how that their doctrine injures the character of God, the work of Christ who fulfilled the law, the gospel of Gods grace, and their own souls; but he wanted them to know that they had not injured him. Their rejection of Paul was not injury to him. It was rather a rejection of Jesus Christ, whose servant Paul was (1Sa 8:6-7; Exo 16:8). They must not imagine that the things he wrote in this epistle were written out of resentment. Paul desired that the Galatians be bound to him as their faithful and loving pastor. He acted toward them as though he and they were one. Above that, Paul wanted these Galatians once again to be bound to Jesus Christ (Gal 2:20; Gal 6:14; Php 3:7-10).<\/p>\n

    An Angel of God<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:13-16 – Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?<\/p>\n

    When he first came among them, the Galatians had received Paul as an angel of God, even as Jesus Christ. They received him as Gods messenger to their souls, as though Christ himself spoke to them by him. Indeed, that is exactly what Gods servants are to his people. Faithful pastors are described as Gods angels to his churches (Revelation 1-3), through whom God speaks to chosen sinners by the gospel (2Co 5:20). But things had changed. The Galatians now treated Paul as an enemy.<\/p>\n

    When he first preached the gospel of Gods free and sovereign grace in Christ to them, he did so in much weakness, humility, persecution and bodily afflictions. They were to be commended for receiving the gospel and Gods messenger to them. Wherever he preached the gospel both Jews and Gentiles were enraged against him. All the influential and religious people of his day denounced him. But the Galatians were different. That was greatly to their honor. And Paul does not neglect to praise them for it. This praise Paul bestows on none of the other churches.<\/p>\n

    Pauls Infirmity<\/p>\n

    When he speaks of the infirmity of his flesh he does not mean some physical defect or carnal lust, but the sufferings and afflictions he endured in his body. Paul tells us what these infirmities were in 2Co 12:9-10. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christs sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.<\/p>\n

    He speaks in a similar manner in 2Co 11:23-25. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep.<\/p>\n

    These are the afflictions he is talking about when he speaks of his infirmity of the flesh. He reminds the Galatians how he was always in peril at the hands of the Jews, Gentiles, and false brethren, and how he suffered hunger and want. <\/p>\n

    Now, the afflictions of the believers always offend people. Paul knew it and, therefore, has high praise for the Galatians, because they over looked his afflictions and received him like an angel. Our Savior said, Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me (Mat 11:6). It is no easy thing to confess him as Lord and Savior who was a reproach of men and despised of the people and the laughing stock of the world (Psa 22:7). To prize Christ, so spitefully scorned, spit upon, scourged, and crucified, more than the riches of the richest, the strength of the strongest, the wisdom of the wisest, he calls blessed.<\/p>\n

    Paul had those outward afflictions and inward, spiritual afflictions as well. He speaks of them in 2Co 7:6. Without were fightings, within were fears. In his letter to the Philippians he speaks of the restoration of Epaphroditus as a special act of mercy from God, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. He commends the Galatians for not being offended at him in the past, for receiving him as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. They received him with all that reverence, respect, and high esteem, veneration, and affection, that might have been given to an angel sent down from heaven to bring them the gospel, as one that had his mission and commission from God.<\/p>\n

    They had received Paul even as Christ Jesus, as his ambassador, as representing him, as speaking to them in his stead, as if Christ himself had been personally present as man among them. They could not have shown greater respect to him. The Galatians did not look upon Paul and his infirmities as offensive things. Far from it. They were so glad to hear the gospel of Christ from his lips that had it been possible they would have plucked out their own eyes and given them to him. By reminding them how much they had loved him and how highly they had honored him before the invasion of the legalists, he tenderly urges them to so receive him now.<\/p>\n

    They were so happy in Christ and so thankful to have heard the gospel of Gods free grace to sinners in him that they counted the man who preached the gospel to them as their dearest friend. Now that the law-preachers had influenced them, they had not only turned form the gospel of Christ alone, but had become Pauls enemies. A more passionate appeal is not to be found in all of Pauls writings than this Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? They treated him as an enemy because he preached that believers are complete in Christ and have no need to be circumcised, to keep sabbath days, and to live under the yoke of bondage.<\/p>\n

    Fake Devotion<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:17 – They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. Here Paul speaks of the false teachers at Galatia as contemptuously as possible, by not even mentioning their names. By deliberating ignoring their names, he is saying that such wicked men as those who preach righteousness by the works of the flesh must not have even their names transmitted to posterity, much less their doctrine.<\/p>\n

    These false preachers were courting the saints of God, pretending great love and concern for them, but it was all beguiling flattery. Satans messengers soft soap people with good words and fair speeches, to deceive the simple (Rom 16:18). They pretend great love for others, but are motivated by nothing but love for themselves. By promoting law righteousness, they speak flatteringly to men of their righteousness, giving them an excuse to be proud of their superiority over others in the matter of righteousness, while pretending meekness before God.<\/p>\n

    Their god is their belly. They are enemies of the cross, enemies of God, and enemies to the souls of men (Php 3:18-19). They seek to use the souls of men for themselves. The Judaizers at Galatia were trying to exclude and isolate the saints from Paul and the other true apostles, so that they might follow them and make them appear successful (2Pe 2:1-3). Their zeal and enthusiasm was not to turn the Galatians to Christ, but to win popular applause unto themselves. To that end they were willing to make merchandise of mens souls.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. Paul is saying, When I was present with you, you loved me and received me as an angel of God to your souls. The fact that I am now absent from you should not cause your attitude toward me to change. Though I am absent in the flesh, I am with you in spirit. You ought not reject me or my doctrine by which you received the grace of Christ and his Holy Spirit because of the evil influence of those wicked men.<\/p>\n

    Pauls Travail<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:19 – My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. It appears that when Paul was present with them, they were devoted to him and to the gospel, but when he left, their affection to him and to the gospel he preached cooled. They turned to other teachers who convinced them that Paul had abandoned them. Nothing could have been further from the truth.<\/p>\n

    My little children Paul speaks in the tender, affectionate language of a father to his sons. They were, he hoped, sons of God and were still babes in Christ. Therefore, the term little children was appropriate. But they were also Pauls children. He was the instrument God used to bring them to faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

    Of whom I travail in birth again Here Paul compares himself to a woman giving birth. All his pains, sufferings, and labors in preaching the gospel he compares to the sorrows of a woman in labor. At such a time, a woman is concerned about just one thing. She considers her pain and suffering worthwhile if she can give birth to a living, healthy child. Pauls concern was not for himself, but for them. All he was concerned about and dedicated to in prayer, preaching, and suffering was that Christ might be formed in them.<\/p>\n

    Until Christ be formed in you. To have Christ formed in you is to be saved, to be a new creature in Christ Jesus. In the new birth we are made partakers of the divine nature (2Pe 1:4). Christ in you is the hope of glory (Col 1:27). A form of religion, with its laws, ordinances, and ceremonies, is not eternal life. A form of morality, with its laws and commandments, is not eternal life. A form of religious profession, with its decisions, baptisms and creeds, is not eternal life. Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent (Joh 17:3). Eternal life is, as Henry Mahan put it, having, the life of Christ, the presence of Christ, the Spirit and mind of Christ and the very glory of Christ begotten, created and formed in us (Gal 2:20). Until this is done and unless this miracle of grace is accomplished, our religion is vain. It is no more than that of the Pharisees of old, of whom Christ said, They neither know me nor my Father. Salvation is Christ in you; the hope of glory is Christ in you; the life of God is Christ in you (1Jn 5:11-12).<\/p>\n

    Pauls Doubt<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:20 – I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Paul wanted to be present with them. He wanted to speak to them face to face, and be assured that his concerns were ill-founded. But their concern about law obedience, circumcision, sabbath days, and ceremonies made him fearful that they did not know Christ at all. Therefore, he writes, I stand in doubt of you.<\/p>\n

    It is significant to note that Paul never expressed such doubt regarding any other congregation. Nothing, not even the immorality and divisions in the Corinthian church, caused the apostle to express doubt concerning the genuineness of their professed faith in Christ. But when men and women embrace self-righteous works religion, when they turn again to the weak and beggarly elements of the law, it becomes obvious that they never knew the grace of God and do not trust Christ (Gal 5:1-4). When professed believers appear to be turning away from Christ and the gospel of Gods free and sovereign grace in him, there is grave reason to stand in doubt of their professed faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    be: Gal 2:14, Gal 6:14, Gen 34:15, 1Ki 22:4, Act 21:21, 1Co 9:20-23, Phi 3:7, Phi 3:8 <\/p>\n

    ye: 2Co 2:5 <\/p>\n

    Reciprocal: 2Ki 10:15 – Is thine heart right 1Co 1:10 – I beseech 2Co 6:1 – beseech Eph 4:1 – beseech<\/p>\n

    Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12. , -Become ye as I am, for I also am become as you are. For somewhat similar phraseology, , compare 1Ki 22:4, 2Ki 3:7. These brief and terse words can only be explained from the context. He has been speaking of their returning to Judaism-to the weak and beggarly elements, and of the anxiety which their dangerous state caused him. As a personal argument and illustration he refers now to himself and the position he sustained toward the same weak and beggarly elements. Become ye as I am, for I too am become as you,-become free from Judaism as I, for I also am free from it like you-as if I too were a Gentile. Or, become ye as I- or being supplied-free from the law, in no sense recognising its obligation upon you,-for I have become as you; a Jew though I be, I am as regards the law quite like you Gentiles; or, Reciprocate my feeling and relation to Judaism: Gal 2:14; 1Co 9:20-21;-me imitamini gentiliter viventem, quia et ego gentiliter vivo, as Pelagius gives it. Such generally is the view of Usteri, Winer, Hilgenfeld, Fritzsche, De Wette, Meyer, and Wieseler. The appeal is direct: I am afraid of you, lest my labour upon you be in vain. It will not be in vain if ye will become as I am in reference to the law; for toward that law I have become as you Gentiles to whom that law was not given, and over whom therefore it has, and was meant to have, no jurisdiction. <\/p>\n

    Another view has been given by the Greek fathers. Become as I am, for I was once a very zealot for Judaism, as you are. Thus Chrysostom: . Vatablus, Semler, and Matthies hold this view: I once thought as you do, but I have changed my opinion; so do ye: ye will not be the first who renounced the Mosaic law; or, ye can do what I wish you to do, since I have done it. But the words will not bear this interpretation. For, first, the appeal is not to Jews, but to those who had been Gentiles; and secondly, , the word to be supplied, in that case must have been written, as the emphasis would be on it: so, as has been remarked, Justin, Orat. ad Graecos, writes, , p. 12, vol. i. Opera, ed. Otto. The context would only warrant the supplement of , which would not bear the sense assumed. Others, as Jerome, a Lapide, Rckert, and Olshausen, take another view. Thus Olshausen: I always sought to look at matters from the same point of view as you did; so do ye act now also in the same spirit toward me. But this is too vague, and puts the two clauses out of unison. <\/p>\n

    Different is the interpretation of a fourth party, who suppose the words to refer to a reciprocation of love: Love me as I love you. This view is held by Luther, Beza, Calvin, Grotius, Cramer, Gwynne, Bagge, and Brown. 1Ki 22:4. But the Greek phrase certainly will not bear such fulness of meaning. It is true, at the same time, that the apostle’s under-current of appeal is to his love to them and their former attachment to him. Afraid of them he was, yet he would have them act in love to him, so as to imitate him; and he goes on to refer to that affection which once subsisted between them. This interpretation has been thought by some to derive some countenance from the following clause, as they understand it: I love you still, I do not feel toward you as an injured man. But the next clause begins apparently a new declaration, and is indeed a motive for them to become as he was. The apostle adds, however- <\/p>\n

    , -Brethren, I beseech you. These words have been taken to refer to the following statement by Chrysostom and his followers, with Rckert, Koppe, and others. But there is no request contained in the following clauses at all, so that the phrase cannot be a preface to them. The request lies in the previous part of the verse. <\/p>\n

    The paragraph now commencing extends to the sixteenth verse. It is an appeal to their previous conduct and attachment, and it is adduced as a motive why they should follow the earnest counsel, . The succession of aorists shows that the apostle writes of a previous point of time, probably his first visit to them. So that he says generally- <\/p>\n

    -in nothing did ye wrong me; on the contrary, they did treat him with extreme kindness. But, 1. Beza, Bengel, and Rckert give by a meiosis this turn to the words, that he forgave the anxiety and sorrow which they had occasioned him; that he would forgive and forget all (Ewald). 2. The clause is not a mitigation of the previous rebuke, or something said in contrast to soothe them (Chrysostom, Estius, Winer). 3. Some, as Ambrosiaster, a Lapide, and Schott, put the emphasis wrongly on , and bring out this contrast: ye did not wrong me, but ye wronged yourselves. 4. Grotius and Rettig give it another point: you have done nothing against me, but against God and Christ. These four forms of evolved contrast are alike to be rejected. They do not give the aorist its proper past signification which it must have, as is indicated by the following series of verbs in the same tense. <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Verse 12. Be as I am. Paul, a Jew, had given up his religious devotion to the law of Moses in order to be true to Christ (Php 3:9). The Galatians had similarly given up their worship of idols in order to become a worshiper of Christ. In this respect Paul could say I am as ye are. But the apostle had continued in that devotion to Christ, and he wished these brethren also to continue in their faithfulness to Christ. It is in that sense he wishes them to be as I am. Ye have not injured me. This is an affectionate statement to show that he did not have any personal complaint to make against them, for they had not shown him anything but kindness when laboring among them. Instead, his reason for the various rebukes he has been giving them is to rescue them from the evil effects of Judaism.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12. Become as I (am), for I also (became) as you (are). Paul asks the Galatians to imitate his example, that is, to cast off their Judaizing tendency and to become simple, decided, and consistent Christians, as he had done himself when he cast off his former Judaism, and when he placed himself on a level with them in their heathen state in order to win them to Christ. I abandoned all for you; do the same for me. Comp. Gal 2:14; 1Co 9:20-21. Others take the words to be an exhortation to love him as he loved them, or to enter as fully into his heart and sympathy, as he had by love identified himself with them. But this does not fall in with the connection, and Paul makes no complaint of a want of love to him.<\/p>\n

    Brethren, I beseech you, belongs to the preceding admonition, adding to it the force of a painfully agitated, affectionate, and loving heart<\/p>\n

    You did me no injury. I have no personal ground of complaint. This explanation agrees best with what follows. Paul reminds the readers of the happy relation which existed between them at his first visit, where they showed him the most tender affection and were ready for any sacrifice.<\/p>\n

    Other explanations: (1.) My severe language (Gal 4:11) proceeds from no provocation of yours. (2.) You have not offended me by your apostasy, but God and Christ. (3.) You have not injured me, but yourselves. (4.) I will forgive and forget all the past injury, if you now return. (5.) You never disobeyed me before, do not disobey me now.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Observe here, the holy wisdom of our apostle, in tempering his former reproofs with great mildness and gentleness; I beseech you, brethren. He well knew that these Galatians were alienated in their affections from him; and fearing lest from his present severity and sharpness towards them, they should apprehend that he was alienated from them also, he thus lovingly bespeaks them, “I pray you be affected towards me as I stand affected towards you: Count me not your enemy, because I tell you the truth; for I am the same to you that ever I was: my love is not alienated from you, for any wrong or injury done to me by you: For, alas! it is yourselves, and not me, that you injure, by bringing yourselves into this bondage to the ceremonial law, to the loss of your Christian liberty: Be as I am; for I am as ye are; ye have not injured me at all.” <\/p>\n

    Learn from St. Paul’s example, that though the ministers of Christ may, and sometimes must, use severity and sharpness in the rebukes and reproofs which they give for sin, yet must they temper severity with gentleness; and insinuations of kindness and affection must be mingled with rebukes; as looking not so much at what their sin deserveth, as what is most convenient for bringing them to repentance: Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am.<\/p>\n

    Learn, 2. That when the ministers of God, from a true zeal for the glory of God, do rebuke sin, and reprove sinners, the people are too apt to apprehend that our zeal flows from a private spirit of revenge, as if we had some particular displeasure against their persons for some personal injury done unto ourselves; all which groundless suspicions it is our duty to labour to wipe off: So did our apostle here; Ye have not injured me at all, says he.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12-14. I beseech you, be as I am Follow my example in laying aside your opinion of the necessity of the law; for I am Or rather, I was; as ye are That is, I was once as zealous of the law as you are; but by the grace of God I am now of another mind: be you so too. See Php 3:7-8. Or, as some understand the verse, I beseech you to maintain the same affectionate regard for me as I bear toward you, and candidly to receive those sentiments which I, to whose authority in the church ye can be no strangers, have been inculcating upon you. Ye have not injured me at all As if he had said, What I have spoken proceeds purely out of love, and not from any anger or ill-will, for which indeed you have given me no occasion, as I have received no personal injury from you. The apostle having sharply rebuked the Galatians for their attachment to Judaism, checks himself, and turns his discourse into the most affectionate entreaties and expostulations, in which he shows himself to have had a great knowledge of human nature. For he mentions such things as must have deeply affected the Galatians, especially as he expressed them in a simplicity and energy of language which is inimitable. Macknight. Ye know how through, or in, infirmity of the flesh That is, in great bodily weakness, and under great disadvantage from the despicableness of my outward appearance; I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my temptation, which was in my flesh The peculiar trial wherewith I was exercised, namely, my thorn in the flesh, see on 2Co 12:7; ye despised not Ye did not slight, or disdain me; nor rejected my person or ministry on account of it; but received me as an angel of God As though I had been a superior being come down from heaven; even as Christ Jesus With as much affection and submission as it can be supposed you would have shown to Christ himself, if, instead of sending me as his messenger, he had visited you in person. The veneration with which the Galatians regarded the apostle at his first coming among them, cannot be more strongly painted than by these expressions.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    I beseech you, brethren, become as I am, for I also am become as ye are. Ye did me no wrong<\/p>\n

    Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Gal 4:12-20. An affectionate paragraph, reminding the Galatians how he had conformed in every legitimate way (cf. 1Co 9:19 ff.) to their customs, and begging them not to desert his faith. In the past, he and they had been good friends. His humiliating illness (epilepsy according to Lightfoot, malaria according to Ramsay, see p. 769. This attack is recorded nowhere else. His illness may be the stake in flesh of 2Co 12:7*), which either drove him at the first into their country or at the least prolonged his (original) visit, had not proved offensive to them: they saw in him an angel (cf. Gal 1:8), nay (observe the climax, cf. Mar 13:32), Christ. Then they had thought themselves very happy to know Paul. If possible, they would have given him their own eyes (either because he had defective sight, cf. Gal 6:11, or as the most precious thing they had, cf. Mat 5:29). Now his frankness has angered them. Other teachers are, no doubt, more flatteringfrom sinister motives; if Judaizers carry their point, they will become an aristocracy and Gentile Christians their humble clients. The bond between evangelist and convert ought to hold even in absence. But it is a hard thing to win souls. It costs travail pangs. And the pains of spiritual labour may repeat themselves! What new thing can he say to them in this emergency?<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Verse 12 <\/p>\n

    This passage is evidently elliptical, and is considered obscure.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    SECTION 17. PERSONAL APPEAL TO THE GALATIANS <\/p>\n

    CH. 4:12-20.<\/p>\n

    Become as I am, because also I have become as ye are, brethren, I beg you. No injustice have ye done me. And ye know that because of weakness of the flesh I preached the Gospel to you the first time: and your temptation in my flesh ye did not despise nor loathe, but as an angel of God ye welcomed me, as Christ Jesus. Where then is your professed holiness? For I bear you witness that, if possible, your own eyes ye would have dug out and given to me. So then am I become your enemy by speaking truth to you?<\/p>\n

    Zealously they care for you, not in a good way: but they wish to shut you out, that ye may care for them zealously. And a good thing it is to be zealously cared for in a good matter always, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you. I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my voice: because I am perplexed about you.<\/p>\n

    After the application to the readers, in 16, of the foregoing argument, now follows (Gal 4:12-16) a personal and loving appeal based on their welcome to Paul on his first visit to Galatia: then comes (Gal 4:17-20) the first direct reference, after Gal 1:7, to the men who were leading them astray.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12. A direct appeal prompted by Pauls fear lest his labours for his readers be without result.<\/p>\n

    Become as I am: i.e. free from the legal bondage implied in their observance (Gal 4:10) of sacred days: not do as I do; for (see under Gal 4:11) Paul himself kept the Jewish ritual. His motive in so doing differed infinitely from that of his opponents: cp. 1Co 9:20 with Act 15:1; Act 15:5.<\/p>\n

    Because also I, etc.: a fact added to the foregoing entreaty, as a reason for it. By recognising the emptiness of Jewish prerogatives and thus laying them aside, Paul, a born Jew, placed himself on the spiritual level of his readers, who were born Gentiles. He now entreats them to come down, by laying aside the fancied superiority of Jewish proselytes, to the common level which he has long ago accepted. Thus Paul brings to bear, on those who as strangers were seeking prerogatives which were his by birth and to which from childhood he had been taught to cling proudly, the example of his own surrender of these prerogatives as worthless. Similar appeals to his own example, in 1Co 8:13; 1Co 10:33. Those to whom he appeals, he, a born Jew, recognises as brethren.<\/p>\n

    No injustice; so literally: or no injury, without thought of injustice, as in Luk 10:19 : for, as the derivation of the words suggests, injury is usually injustice. A close parallel, in 2Co 12:13. The utter obscurity now of these words points to facts known to the readers but not to us. The emphasis rests, not on me in contrast to others, but on the negative: in NOTHING have ye done me injustice. Nor does this emphatic and unexpected denial refer necessarily to Pauls visit to Galatia. [The Greek aorist covers the entire past to the moment of writing.] This denial was suggested naturally by Pauls loving appeal; and suitably prefaces his mention of the, welcome given to him by the Galatians on his first visit.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:13-14. Not only had his readers done Paul no injustice or injury, but on his first visit, although it was occasioned merely by sickness, they welcomed him with eager affection. This he recalls in order to arouse now a similar affection, and thus strengthen his own appeal.<\/p>\n

    Weakness: absence of strength, of any kind. It is the usual term for sickness, of which absence of bodily strength is a constant mark: so Php 2:26 f; 2Ti 4:20; Mat 10:8; Mar 6:56; Luk 4:40; Joh 11:1-6; Act 4:9; Act 5:15 f. And this is the only meaning which will make sense here.<\/p>\n

    Of the flesh: the material of our bodies, which by its nature is in various ways (cp. Rom 8:3; Mat 26:41) weak or liable to weakness.<\/p>\n

    Because of weakness, etc.: i.e. detained in Galatia by some sickness. This led him to preach the Gospel and found Churches there. Thus Pauls sickness brought good-news (see under Gal 1:6) to his readers.<\/p>\n

    The first time: or literally the former-time. It contrasts a former with a later visit. And, since contrast with the present was needless, (for this is sufficiently indicated by preached-the-Gospel,) it implies that twice Paul had preached in Galatia. If so, these words give definiteness to the statement in Gal 4:13 : otherwise they are meaningless.<\/p>\n

    The first recorded visit of Paul to Galatia is that mentioned in Act 16:6, on his second missionary journey. And we have no difficulty in supposing that then he was detained in Galatia by illness. and founded Churches there. Another visit, on his third journey, is recorded in Act 18:23. And we cannot well conceive any other earlier visit. Consequently, not earlier than this last visit was the letter before us written. See Diss. iii.<\/p>\n

    That the Gospel was first preached to the Galatians by a man who lingered among them merely because of bodily weakness, put to a severe test their readiness to receive the truth. Many hearers would have turned away from a Gospel proclaimed by a sick man. Consequently, the sickness in Pauls flesh was a trial or temptation (see under 1Co 10:13) to his readers. And, since the afflicted man was an embodiment of this trial, had they turned from him with disgust, they would have despised and loathed the temptation which God had laid upon them. Instead of this, they welcomed him (literally received with outstretched right hand) as though he were a visitant from heaven, an angel of mercy from God. Nay more.<\/p>\n

    They welcomed him with the reverence they would have paid to his divine Master, to Christ Jesus. The words despise and loathe suggest that Pauls sickness was of a kind calculated to evoke contempt and disgust.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:15. Question prompted by the foregoing statement.<\/p>\n

    Where then: as in Rom 3:27; cp. 1Co 1:20; 1Co 12:17; 1Co 12:19; 1Co 15:55. It implies that their gratulation had vanished from view.<\/p>\n

    Your professed happiness: literally your pronouncing-happy, or blessed.<\/p>\n

    Same word in Rom 4:6; Rom 4:9; see note: cognate word in Rom 4:7 f; Mat 5:3-11. They pronounced themselves happy, i.e. fortunate in the highest and holiest sense, because Paul had visited them. Of this felt good fortune, the enthusiasm of their welcome (Gal 4:14) was proof and measure. Paul therefore supports his question by the following emphatic statement.<\/p>\n

    Paul is able to bear-witness in his readers favour. Your, is not emphatic, as though in contrast with Pauls eyes. Consequently, these words in no way suggest that Pauls complaint was in his eyes.<\/p>\n

    Dug-out your eyes: same words (LXX.) in 1Sa 11:2; cp. Jdg 16:21 : graphic description of a painful and ruinous operation. Even this costly, and in fact impossible, gift would not have been too great in their view to express the benefits they had received from the preaching of Paul. This testimony, the readers knew to be true. Paul asks therefore what has become of this recognition of spiritual benefits.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:16. An inference from Gal 4:15, thrown because of its unlikeliness into the form of a question.<\/p>\n

    Your enemy: or an enemy of yours: one intent on doing you harm. Pauls earnestness suggests this rather than the weaker sense, one hated by you. The Galatians treated Paul as though he were actually hostile to them. And, since he was formerly so valued a friend, if he be now an enemy, as his readers suppose or act as though they supposed, he has become such: i.e. a change has taken place. Paul asks the reason. He has done nothing but speak-truth. Is this then the cause of the change? The precise reference of Pauls question is unknown to us. It cannot be the letter he is now writing: for he refers to his readers present judgment about him. The easiest explanation is that on his second visit Paul rebuked a tendency to Judaism then visible: and that this rebuke was used by his enemies to alienate from him the Galatian Christians. He asks whether words which they know to be true have made a valued friend into an enemy.<\/p>\n

    Review of Gal 4:12-16. Moved by fear which their observance of Jewish festivals inspires, Paul reminds his readers that he a born Jew has laid aside all Jewish prerogatives; and makes a brotherly appeal to them to lay aside the Jewish entanglements which were bringing them into bondage. He recalls the eagerness with which at the first they welcomed him, when as a sick man he lingered among them. Their devotion to the preacher knew no limits: and it proclaimed the benefits they had received from his preaching. Since then, all that Paul has done has been to speak what they know to be true. He asks if this has made their former friend into a foe.<\/p>\n

    The above is, like Gal 3:1-2, an appeal to the readers early Christian life in proof of the truth of the word they then received.<\/p>\n

    It is also a welcome addition to the narrative of Pauls life. We see him detained by serious illness (for no other would hinder him) among people of strange nationality and speech. We can imagine him preaching to them in great bodily weakness. But his word produced immediate and wonderful results. The preacher was welcomed with enthusiasm. And various scattered but flourishing Churches were formed among the Keltic settlers of Galatia. We have also an indication of a second visit: and Pauls silence suggests that even then his converts loyalty to their great teacher had begun to decline.<\/p>\n

    These biographical notes agree with Act 16:6 where we find Paul passing through Galatia; and with Act 18:23 where we find him visiting disciples in the Galatian country.<\/p>\n

    Whether Pauls sickness in Galatia had any relation to his probably much earlier stake in the flesh, is quite uncertain. See Under 2Co 12:7. But this abiding affliction reveals some kind of bodily unsoundness: and this might easily give rise to a passing illness which would detain the apostle.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:17. A silent reference to Pauls opponents in Galatia. That he does not find it needful to mention them expressly, proves that they are already present to his thought. Cp. Gal 5:10; Gal 6:12 f. And direct mention of them would be unpleasant.<\/p>\n

    Zealously-care-for you: or they-are-zealous or jealous-about you: same word and construction in 1Co 12:31, Be zealous for the greater gifts; and 2Co 11:2, I am jealous about you. They are very eager about you; i.e. for your benefit apparently, and for your favour.<\/p>\n

    Not-in-a-good-way, or manner: expounded by they wish, etc., which states the motive of their earnest effort. From whom or what, the false teachers wish to-shut-out the Galatian Christians, Paul does not say. He fixes attention simply on the designed isolation. The practical effect of the false teaching will be exclusion from Christ, from the Gospel and its blessings, and from the community of faithful Christians. But a special reference to these last is not required by the emphatic word them, as though the false teachers were compared with those from whom they would shut out the Galatian Christians: for it is simply a contrast to you, the excluders and the excluded being thus brought face to face. And Pauls exact reference remains uncertain, and not very important. If the Galatian Christians yield to the disturbers and become circumcised, they will be shut out of that element in which they have found life and peace; and will become dependent on the favour and help of those who have led them astray. Consequently, the seduced will be compelled to court their seducers. And this Paul declares to be (that ye may, etc.) the purpose of the seduction.<\/p>\n

    Since the last word of Gal 4:17 is the first word of 1Co 12:31, the four Greek-Latin uncials insert after it But be zealous for the better gifts: an interesting example of the way in which error has crept into our MSS.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:18. A general statement suggested by the zealous efforts of these false friends to gain the Galatian Christians. It glides imperceptibly into a description of Pauls own zeal for them, which is an example of the general statement. A good thing it is to be an object of earnest attention, provided it be in a good matter, i.e. with a good aim, this aim looked upon as the element of the earnest effort. Pauls aim is (2Co 11:2) to present a pure maiden to Christ. The word always has no perceptible reference to the false teachers, (for we have no hint that their zeal was not constant,) but completes the transition, through this general remark, from Pauls opponents to himself; and records a marked feature of his own zeal, viz. its constancy. This thought is further developed, without any reference to the false teachers, in the words following. Pauls care for his readers is not limited to his presence with them. Indeed it prompts him now to write this earnest letter, and makes him wishful (Gal 4:20) to be with them again.<\/p>\n

    [ is passive, corresponding to the active forms in Gal 4:17, and in the same sense: for a change of sense would need to be clearly marked, as in Rom 14:13, to avoid mistake; especially here where the same sense gives an intelligent meaning. Moreover the middle voice of this verb is unknown elsewhere; and would have here practically the same sense as the active voice, and be therefore inexplicable. The emphasis is not on , as though contrasting Paul with the false teachers, but on , contrasting Pauls presence with his absence. This is confirmed by the appearance of the same word in Gal 4:20.]<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:19. An expression of Pauls love for his readers, and a proof of the intensity of his effort on their behalf. As being a sort of climax, it is most easily joined to the foregoing sentence. [And the preposition in Gal 4:20 suggests, but does not prove that it begins a new sentence.] The Vat., Sinai, and Greek-Latin MSS., a combination seldom in error, read my children, as in 1Co 4:14, using a word very common with Paul. But the Alex., Ephraim, and later MSS., a combination often in evident error, read my little-children, as in 1Jn 2:1 : cp. little-children in Joh 13:33; 1Jn 2:12; 1Jn 2:28; 1Jn 3:7; 1Jn 3:18; 1Jn 4:4; 1Jn 5:21. The difference is only one small letter. So appropriate here is the tender expression little-children, nowhere else found in Paul, and so easily changed to the common word children, that Westcott prefers it, placing in his margin my children, which last, is read by Tischendorf and without note by Tregelles. Thus external and internal evidence are at variance, which rarely happens. Perhaps probability inclines to my little-children. But certain decision is impossible. Pauls earnest and constant efforts for his readers remind him that they are helpless as little children needing a parents care, and that they are his own little children. He therefore accosts them with a fathers affection and solicitude. Cp. 1Co 4:14; Phm 1:10.<\/p>\n

    The undeveloped spiritual life of the Galatian Christians, Paul compares to the undeveloped state of an unborn embryo; and compares his own painful anxiety for them to a mothers birth-pangs, which can cease only when the development of the embryo is complete. For, till his readers show a Christian character in some degree mature, Pauls anxiety will continue.<\/p>\n

    Again: as though a mother were twice enduring birth-pangs for the same offspring. The desired development, Paul describes as Christ formed in you: i.e. the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them (Gal 2:20) changing their outer life into moral likeness to Christ. Thus in them men will see the form of Christ, a visible manifestation of His actual inward presence. See under Rom 2:20 : cp. Rom 12:2; 2Co 3:18; Php 2:6 f; 2Ti 3:5. This comparison reveals how intense is Pauls effort (Gal 4:18) for his readers, and how pure his motive.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:20. A wish prompted by the readers undeveloped state and by Pauls anxiety about them. Would that I were present with you now! a wish, felt to be vain, suggested by the words present with you in Gal 4:18, which recall Pauls earnest efforts for their good when he was in Galatia.<\/p>\n

    He could wish to be with them now, (this last word emphatic,) instead of merely writing to them from a distance.<\/p>\n

    And to change my voice: purpose of this impracticable wish. Pauls love suggests that if he were himself with his readers he could bring them to a better mind, which would enable him to speak to them in a voice different from his present severity.<\/p>\n

    Perplexed: not knowing which way to go. Same word in 2Co 4:8; Luk 24:4; Act 25:20; Joh 13:22. That Paul does not know what to do to restore his relapsing converts, is the cause of his consciously futile wish to be with them now. Thus, like 16, so 17 closes with dark foreboding.<\/p>\n

    Only for a moment does Paul refer to the false teachers, as though reluctant to give them a place on his pages. But his few words lay bare the selfish motive of their earnestness. Still greater earnestness for the Galatian Christians, with a motive as pure as theirs is selfish, does Paul whether present or absent ever cherish. For they are his own children. And till they bear the image of Christ there is nothing but anguish for him. His present perplexity makes him long to be with them now, hoping that his presence would effect the change he so earnestly desires.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Brethren, I beseech you, be as I [am]; for I [am] as ye [are]: ye have not injured me at all. <\/p>\n

    He reassures them that they have not injured him, but he is just wondering at their rejection of his teaching and the acceptance of the teaching of the Judaizers. <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    4:12 {5} Brethren, I beseech you, be as I [am]; for I [am] as ye [are]: ye have not injured me at all.<\/p>\n

    (5) He moderates and qualifies those things in which he might have seemed to have spoken somewhat sharply, very skilfully and divinely declaring his good will toward them in such a way, that the Galatians could not but either be utterly hopeless when they read these things, or acknowledge their own lack of steadfastness with tears, and desire pardon.<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    2. The historical illustration 4:12-20<\/span><\/p>\n

    Paul appealed next to his past contacts with the Galatians and called on them to remember his visits to Galatia to move them to abandon nomism.<\/p>\n

    "If the reader is inclined to think Paul has been impersonal in dealing with the problems at Galatia, that he has been arguing as a scholar and not as a pastor, the present passage should disabuse him of this idea." [Note: Boice, p. 477.] <\/span><\/p>\n

    "What we have in this personal aside is a poignant witness to the indissoluble linkage between theological content and pastoral concern. All true theology worthy of the name is pastoral theology." [Note: George, p. 319.] <\/span><\/p>\n

    "Rhetorically, a major shift in Paul’s argument occurs at Gal 4:12. There are, of course, still elements of forensic rhetoric to be found in what follows, particularly in Paul’s accusations against the errorists (Gal 4:17; Gal 5:7-12; Gal 6:12-13) and his statements of self-defense (Gal 4:13-16; Gal 5:11; Gal 6:14; Gal 6:17). But the dominant tone from Gal 4:12 onwards is that of deliberative rhetoric, not forensic rhetoric. Deliberative rhetoric, rather than taking a judicial or defensive stance, seeks to exhort or dissuade an audience regarding future actions by demonstrating that those actions are expedient or harmful . . . In Gal 4:12 ff. Paul is no longer so much concerned to accuse or defend as to persuade his Galatian converts to adopt a certain course of action." [Note: Longenecker, p. 184.] <\/span><\/p>\n

    Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Paul had become as his readers were in the sense that he had lived among them as a Gentile, not under the Mosaic Law. He now called on them out of a sense of fair play to live independent of the Law as he did. This is the first imperative (in the Greek text) in Galatians.<\/p>\n

    "In seeking to win other people for Christ, our end is to make them like us, but the means to that end is to make ourselves like them. If they are to become one with us in Christian conviction and experience, we must first become one with them in Christian compassion." [Note: John R. W. Stott, Only One Way: The Message of Galatians, p. 113.] <\/span><\/p>\n

    Evidently Paul suffered with some physical ailment or handicap when he preached in Galatia (Gal 4:13). The Galatians had put up with some bodily affliction Paul had without despising him when he had evangelized them because they so valued the good news that he brought them.<\/p>\n

    The commentators have suggested many different ailments that might have been Paul’s including severe headaches, malaria, epilepsy, ophthalmia, and others. Obviously it was something repulsive (Gal 4:14). However there is not sufficient information in the text to be dogmatic. Whatever it was, the Galatians knew to what Paul referred. It may or may not have been Paul’s "thorn in the flesh" (2Co 12:7-10).<\/p>\n

    Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

    Chapter 18<\/p>\n

    PAULS ENTREATY.<\/p>\n

    Gal 4:12-20<\/p>\n

    THE reproof of the last paragraph ended in a sigh. To see Christs freemen relapsing into bondage, and exchanging their Divine birthright for childish toys of ceremonial, what can be more saddening and disappointing than this? Their own experience of salvation, the Apostles prayers and toils on their behalf, are, to all appearance, wasted on these foolish Galatians. One resource is still left him. He has refuted and anathematised the “other gospel.” He has done what explanation and argument can do to set himself right with his readers, and to destroy the web of sophistry in which their minds had been entangled. He will now try to win them by a gentler persuasion. If reason and authority fail, “for loves sake he will rather beseech” them.<\/p>\n

    He had reminded them of their former idolatry; and this calls up to the Apostles mind the circumstances of his first ministry in Galatia. He sees himself once more a stranger amongst this strange people, a traveller fallen sick and dependent on their hospitality, preaching a gospel with nothing to recommend it in the appearance of its advocate, and which the sickness delaying his journey had compelled him, contrary to his intention, to proclaim amongst them. Yet with what ready and generous hospitality they had received the infirm Apostle! Had he been an angel from heaven-nay, the Lord Jesus Himself, they could scarcely have shown him more attention than they did. His physical weakness, which would have moved the contempt of others, called forth their sympathies. However severely he may be compelled to censure them, however much their feelings toward him have changed, he will never forget the kindness he then received. Surely they cannot think him their enemy, or allow him to be supplanted by the unworthy rivals who are seeking their regard. So Paul pleads with his old friends, and seeks to win for his arguments a way to their hearts through the affection for himself which he fain hopes is still lingering there.<\/p>\n

    Hoc prudentis est pastoris, Calvin aptly says. But there is more in this entreaty than a calculated prudence. It is a cry of the heart. Pauls soul is in the pangs of travail (Gal 4:19). We have seen the sternness of his face relax while he pursues his mighty argument. As he surveys the working of Gods counsel in past ages, the promise given to Abraham for all nations, the intervening legal discipline, the coming of Christ in the fulness of time, the bursting of the ancient bonds, the sending forth of the Spirit of adoption-and all this for the sake of these Galatian Gentiles, and then thinks how they are after all declining from grace and renouncing their Divine inheritance, the Apostles heart aches with grief. Foolish, fickle as they have proved, they are his children. He will “travail over them in birth a second time,” if “Christ may yet be formed in them.” Perhaps he has written too harshly. He half repents of his severity. Comp. 2Co 2:4; 2Co 7:8. Fain would he “change his voice.” If he could only “be with them,” and see them face to face, haply his tears, his entreaties, would win them back. A rush of tender emotion wells up in Pauls soul. All his relentings are stirred. He is no longer the master in Christ rebuking unfaithful disciples; he is the mother weeping over her misguided sons.<\/p>\n

    There are considerable difficulties in the exegesis of this passage. We note them in succession as they arise:-<\/p>\n

    (1) In Gal 4:12 we prefer, with Meyer and Lightfoot, to read, “Be as I, for I became (rather than am) as you-brethren, I beseech you.” The verses preceding and following both suggest the past tense in the ellipsis. Pauls memory is busy. He appeals to the “auld lang syne.” He reminds the Galatians of what he “had been amongst them for their sake,” {Comp. 1Th 1:5; 1Th 2:7-8} how he then behaved in regard to the matters in dispute. He assumed no airs of Jewish superiority. He did not separate himself from his Gentile brethren by any practice in which they could not join. He “became as they,” placing himself by their side on the ground of a common Christian faith. He asks for reciprocity, for a recompense in like kind 2Co 6:13. Are they going to set themselves above their Apostle, to take their stand on that very ground of Mosaic privilege which he had abandoned for their sake? He implores them not to do this thing. The beseechment, in the proper order of the words, comes in at the close of the sentence, with a pathetic emphasis. He makes himself a suppliant. “I beg you,” he says, “by our old affection, by our brotherhood in Christ, not to desert me thus.”<\/p>\n

    (2) Suddenly Paul turns to another point, according to his wont in this emotional mood: “There is nothing in which you have wronged me.” Is he contradicting some allegation which had helped to estrange the Galatians? Had some one been saying that Paul was affronted by their conduct, and was actuated by personal resentment? In that case we should have looked for a specific explanation and rebutment of the charge. Rather he is anticipating the thought that would naturally arise in the minds of his readers at this point. “Paul is asking us,” they would say, to let bygones be bygones, to give up this Judaistic attachment for his sake, and to meet him frankly on the old footing. But supposing we try to do so, he is very angry with us, as this letter shows; he thinks we have treated him badly; he will always have a grudge against us. Things can never be again as they were between ourselves and him.<\/p>\n

    Such feelings often arise upon the breach of an old friendship, to prevent the offending party from accepting the proffered hand of reconciliation. Pauls protest removes this hindrance. He replies, “I have no sense of injury, no personal grievance against you. It is impossible I should cherish ill-will toward you. You know how handsomely you treated me when I first came amongst you. Nothing can efface from my heart the recollection of that time. You must not think that I hate you, because I tell you the truth” (Gal 4:16).<\/p>\n

    (3) “Because of an infirmity of the flesh” (physical weakness), is the truer rendering of Gal 4:13; and “your temptation in my flesh” the genuine reading of Gal 4:14, restored by the Revisers. Sickness had arrested the Apostles course during his second missionary tour, and detained him in the Galatic country. So that he had not only “been with” the Galatians “in weakness,” as afterwards when during the same journey he preached at Corinth; {1Co 2:3} but actually “because of weakness.” His infirmities gave him occasion to minister there, when he had intended to pass them by.<\/p>\n

    Paul had no thought of evangelising Galatia; another goal was in view. It was patent to them-indeed he confessed as much at the time-that if he had been able to proceed, he would not have lingered in their country. This was certainly an unpromising introduction. And the Apostles state of health made it at that time a trial for any one to listen to him. There was something in the nature of his malady to excite contempt, even loathing for his person. “That which tried you in my flesh ye did not despise, nor spit out”: such is Pauls vivid phrase. How few men would have humility enough to refer to a circumstance of this kind; or could do so without loss of dignity. He felt that the condition of the messenger might well have moved this Galatian people to derision, rather than to reverence for his message.<\/p>\n

    At the best Pauls appearance and address were none of the most prepossessing. {1Co 2:3; 2Co 4:7; 2Co 10:1; 2Co 10:10; 2Co 11:6} The “ugly little Jew” M. Renan calls him, repeating the taunts of his Corinthian contemners. His sickness in Galatia, connected, it would appear, with some constitutional weakness, from which he suffered greatly during his second and third missionary tours, assumed a humiliating as well as a painful form. Yet this “thorn in the flesh,” a bitter trial assuredly to himself had proved at once a trial and a blessing to his unintended hearers in Galatia.<\/p>\n

    (4) So far from taking offence at Pauls unfortunate condition, they welcomed him with enthusiasm. They “blessed themselves” that he had come (Gal 4:15). They said one to another, “How fortunate we are in having this good man amongst us! What a happy thing for us that Pauls sickness obliged him to stay and give us the opportunity of hearing his good news!” Such was their former “gratulation.” The regard they conceived for the sick Apostle was unbounded. “For I bear you witness,” he says, “that if possible, you would have dug out your eyes and given them me!”<\/p>\n

    Is this no more than a strong hyperbole, describing the almost extravagant devotion which the Galatians expressed to the Apostle? Or are we to read the terms more literally? So it has been sometimes supposed. In this expression some critics have discovered a clue to the nature of Pauls malady. The Galatians, as they read the sentence, wish they could have taken out their own eyes and given them to Paul, in place of his disabled ones. This hypothesis, it is argued, agrees with other circumstances of the ease and gives shape to a number of scattered intimations touching the same subject. Infirmity of the eyes would explain the “large characters” of Pauls handwriting {Gal 6:11} and his habit of using an amanuensis. It would account for his ignorance of the person of the High Priest at his trial in Jerusalem. {Act 23:2-5} The blindness that struck him on the way to Damascus may have laid the foundation of a chronic affection of this kind, afterwards developed and aggravated by the hardships of his missionary life. And such an affliction would correspond to what is said respecting the “thorn” of 2Co 12:7, and the “temptation” of this passage. For it would be excessively painful, and at the same time disabling and disfiguring in its effects.<\/p>\n

    This conjecture has much to recommend it. But it finds a very precarious support in the text. Paul does not say, “You would have plucked out your own (A.V) eyes and given them me,” as though he were thinking of an exchange of eyes; but, “You would have plucked out your eyes and given them me”-as much as to say, “You would have done anything in the world for me then, -even taken out your eyes and given them to me.” {Mat 18:9} In the phrase “dug out” we may detect a touch of irony. This was the genuine Galatian style. The Celtic temperament loves to launch itself out in vehemencies and flourishes of this sort. These ardent Gauls had been perfectly enraptured with Paul. They lavished upon him their most exuberant metaphors. They said these things in all sincerity; he “bears them record” to this. However cool they have become since, they were gushing enough and to spare in their affection towards him then. And now have they “so quickly” turned against him? Because he crosses their new fancies and tells them unwelcome truths, they rush to the opposite extreme and even think him their enemy!<\/p>\n

    (5) Suddenly the Apostle turns upon his opposers (Gal 4:17). The Judaisers had disturbed his happy relations with his Galatian flock; they had made them half believe that he was their enemy. The Galatians must choose between Paul and his traducers. Let them scrutinise the motives of these new teachers. Let them call to mind the claims of their father in Christ. “They are courting you,” he says, -“these present suitors for your regard – dishonourably; they want to shut you out and have you to themselves, that you may pay court to them.” They pretend to be zealous for your interests; but it is their own they seek. {Gal 6:12}<\/p>\n

    So far the Apostles meaning is tolerably clear. But Gal 4:18 is obscure. It may be construed in either of two ways, as Paul or the Galatians are taken for the subject glanced at in the verb to be courted in its first clause: “But it is honourable to be courted always in an honourable way, and not only when I am present with you.” Does Paul mean that he has no objection to the Galatians making other friends in his absence? or, that he thinks they ought not to forget him in his absence? The latter, as we think. The Apostle complains of their inconstancy towards himself. This is a text for friends and lovers. Where attachment is honourable, it should be lasting. “Set me as a seal upon thine heart,” says the Bride of the Song of Songs. With the Galatians it seemed to be, “Out of sight, out of mind.” They allowed Paul to be pushed out by scheming rivals. He was far away; they were on the spot. He told them the truth; the Judaisers flattered them. So their foolish heads were turned. They were positively “bewitched” by these new admirers; and preferred their sinister and designing compliments to Pauls sterling honour and proved fidelity.<\/p>\n

    The connection of Gal 4:17-18 turns on the words honourable and court, each of which is thrice repeated. There is a kind of play on the verb . In ver. 18 it implies a true, in Gal 4:17 a counterfeit affection (an affectation). Paul might have said, “It is good one should be loved, followed with affection, always, ” but for the sake of the verbal antithesis. In ver. 17 he taxes his opponents with unworthily courting the favour of the Galatians; in Gal 4:18 he intimates his grief that he himself in his absence is no longer courted by them.<\/p>\n

    (6) In the next verse this grief of wounded affection, checked at first by a certain reserve, breaks out uncontrollably: “My children, for whom again I am in travail, till Christ be formed in you!” This outcry is a pathetic continuance of his expostulation. He cannot bear the thought of losing these children of his heart. He stretches out his arms to them. Tears stream from his eyes. He had been speaking in measured, almost playful terms, in comparing himself with his supplanters. But the possibility of their success, the thought of the mischief going on in Galatia and of the little power he has to prevent it, wrings his very soul. He feels a mothers pangs for his imperilled children, as he writes these distressful words.<\/p>\n

    There is nothing gained by substituting “little children” (Johns phrase) for “children,” everywhere else used by Paul, and attested here by the best witnesses. The sentiment is that of 1Th 2:7-8; 1Co 4:14-16. The Apostle is not thinking of the littleness or feebleness of the Galatians, but simply of their relation to himself. His sorrow is the sorrow of bereavement. “You have not many mothers, ” he seems to say: “I have travailed over you in birth, and now a second time you bring on me a mothers pains, which I must endure until Christ is formed in you and His image is renewed in your souls.”<\/p>\n

    Paul stands before us as an injured friend, a faithful minister of Christ robbed of his peoples love. He is wounded in his tenderest affections. For the sake of the Gentile Churches he had given up everything in life that he prized; {Gal 4:12; 1Co 9:20} he had exposed himself to the contempt and hatred of his fellow-countrymen-and this is his reward, “to be loved the less, the more abundantly he loves”! {2Co 12:15}<\/p>\n

    But if he is grieved at this defection, he is equally perplexed. He cannot tell what to make of the Galatians, or in what tone to address them. He has warned, denounced, argued, protested, pleaded as a mother with her children; still he doubts whether he will prevail. If he could only see them and meet them as in former days, laying aside the distance, the sternness of authority which he has been forced to assume, he might yet reach their hearts. At least he would know how matters really stand, and in what language he ought to speak. So his entreaty ends: “I wish I could only be present with you now, and speak in some different voice. For I am at a loss to know how to deal with you.”<\/p>\n

    This picture of estrangement and reproach tells its own tale, when its lines have once been clearly marked. We may dwell, however, a little longer on some of the lessons which it teaches:-<\/p>\n

    I. In the first place, it is evident that strong emotions and warm affections are no guarantee for the permanence of religious life.<\/p>\n

    The Galatians resembled the “stony ground” hearers of our Lords parable, -“such as hear the word, and immediately with joy receive it; but they have no root in themselves; they believe for a time.” It was not “persecution” indeed that “offended” them; but flattery proved equally effectual. They were of the same fervid temper as Peter on the night of the Passion, when he said, “Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee in anywise,”-within a few hours thrice denying his Master, with “oaths and curses.” They lacked seriousness and depth. They had fine susceptibilities and a large fund of enthusiasm; they were full of eloquent protestations; and under excitement were capable of great efforts and sacrifices. But there was a flaw in their nature. They were creatures of impulse-soon hot, soon cold. One cannot help liking such people-but as for trusting them, that is a different matter.<\/p>\n

    Nothing could be more delightful or promising than the appearance these Churches presented in the early days of their conversion. They heard the Apostles message with rapt attention; they felt its Divine power, so strangely contrasting with his physical feebleness. They were amazingly wrought upon. The new life in Christ kindled all the fervour of their passionate nature. How they triumphed in Christ! How they blessed the day when the gospel visited their land! They almost worshipped the Apostle. They could not do enough for him. Their hearts bled for his sufferings. Where are all these transports now? Paul is far away. Other teachers have come, with “another gospel.” And the cross is already forgotten! They are contemplating circumcision; they are busy studying the Jewish ritual, making arrangements for feast-days and “functions,” eagerly discussing points of ceremony. Their minds are poisoned with mistrust of their own Apostle, whose heart is ready to break over their folly and frivolity. All this for the want of a little reflection, for want of the steadiness of purpose without which the most genial disposition and the most ardent emotions inevitably run to waste. Their faith had been too much a matter of feeling, too little of principle.<\/p>\n

    II. Further, we observe how prone are those who have put themselves in the wrong to fix the blame on others.<\/p>\n

    The Apostle was compelled in fidelity to truth to say hard things to his Galatian disciples. He had previously, on his last visit, given them a solemn warning on account of their Judaic proclivities. {Gal 1:9} In this Epistle he censures them roundly. He wonders at them; he calls them “senseless Galatians”; he tells them they are within a step of being cut off from Christ. {Gal 5:4} And now they cry out, “Paul is our enemy! If he cared for ms, how could he write so cruelly! We were excessively fond of him once, we could not do too much for him; but that is all over now. If we had inflicted on him some great injury, he could scarcely treat us more roughly.” Thoughtless and excitable people commonly reason in this way. Personalities with them take the place of argument and principle. The severity of a holy zeal for truth is a thing they can never understand. If you disagree with them and oppose them, they put it down to some petty animosity. They credit you with a private grudge against them; and straightway enroll you in the number of their enemies, though you may be in reality their best friend. Flatter them, humour their vanity, and you have them at your bidding. Such men it is the hardest thing in the world honestly to serve. They will always prefer “the kisses of an enemy” to the faithful “wounds of a friend.”<\/p>\n

    III. Men of the Galatian type are the natural prey of self-seeking agitators. However sound the principles in which they were trained, however true the friendships they have enjoyed, they must have change. The accustomed palls upon them. Giddy Athenians, they love nothing so much as “to hear and tell some new thing.” They ostracise Aristides, simply because they are “tired of hearing him always called the Just.” To hear “the same things,” however “safe” it may be, even from an Apostles lips is to them intolerably “grievous.” They never think earnestly and patiently enough to find the deeper springs, the fresh delight and satisfaction lying hidden in the great unchanging truths. These are they who are “carried about with divers and strange doctrines,” who run after the newest thing in ritualistic art, or sensational evangelism, or well-spiced heterodoxy. Truth and plain dealing, apostolic holiness and godly sincerity, are outmatched in dealing with them by the craft of worldly wisdom. A little judicious flattery, something to please the eye and catch the fancy-and they are persuaded to believe almost anything, or to deny what they have most earnestly believed.<\/p>\n

    What had the legalists to offer compared with the gifts bestowed on these Churches through Paul? What was there that could make them rivals to him in character or spiritual power? And yet the Galatians flock around the Judaist teachers, and accept without inquiry their slanders and perversions of the gospel; while the Apostle, their true friend and father, too true to spare their faults, stands suspected, almost deserted. He must forsooth implore them to come down from the heights of their would-be legal superiority, and to meet him on the common ground of grace and saving faith. The sheep will not hear their shepherds voice; they follow strangers, though they be thieves and hirelings. “O foolish Galatians!”<\/p>\n

    Whether the Apostles entreaty prevailed to recall them or did not, we cannot tell. From the silence with which these Churches are passed over in the Acts of the Apostles, and the little that is heard of them afterwards, an unfavourable inference appears probable. The Judaistic leaven, it is to be feared, went far to leaven the whole lump. Pauls apprehensions were only too well-grounded. And these hopeful converts who had once “run well,” were fatally “hindered” and fell far behind in the Christian race. Such, in all likelihood, was the result of the departure from the truth of the gospel into which the Galatians allowed themselves to be drawn.<\/p>\n

    Whatever was the sequel to this story, Pauls protest remains to witness to the sincerity and tenderness of the great Apostles soul, and to the disastrous issues of the levity of character which distinguished his Galatian disciples. <\/p>\n

    Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Brethren, I beseech you, be as I [am]; for I [am] as ye [are]: ye have not injured me at all. 12 20. Personal Appeal The Apostle now makes a personal appeal, marked by deep affection and earnestness. “Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, free yourselves from the trammels of the ceremonial law … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 4:12”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}