PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Galatians
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 85,359 words · 92 reading sections
Galatians 1:1
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Galatians 1:1 INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS The persons to whom this epistle is written were not such who made up a single church only, in some certain town or city, but were such of which several churches consisted, in a region or country called Galatia, as is evident from Ga…
2,807 wordsSECTION 2Galatians 1:2
Galatians 1:2 Ver. 2. And all the brethren which are with me,.... Meaning either the brethren of the church where he was when he wrote this epistle, who were children of the same Father, regenerated by the same grace, belonged to the same family and household of God, and were heirs together of the grace of life; or el…
459 wordsSECTION 3Galatians 1:3
Galatians 1:3 Ver. 3. Grace to be you,.... After the inscription above, in which the writer of the epistle, and the persons joined to him, are described, and the churches to whom it is written, follows the salutation in these words, and which is common to all the epistles of this apostle; of the sense of which, See Gi…
84 wordsSECTION 4Galatians 1:4
Galatians 1:4 Ver. 4. Who gave himself for our sins,.... The antecedent to the relative "who, is our Lord Jesus Christ", Ga 1:3 and the words are an illustration of the good will of God the Father, and of the grace and love of Christ, in the gift of himself, for the sins of his people: he did not merely give, "sua, hi…
826 wordsSECTION 5Galatians 1:5
Galatians 1:5 Ver. 5. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. That is, either to Christ, who gave himself to expiate the sins of his people, on the account of which all honour and glory are due to him from them; or to God the Father, according to whose will of purpose and command Christ gave himself, for which glory…
257 wordsSECTION 6Galatians 1:6
Galatians 1:6 Ver. 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed,.... The apostle now enters on the subject matter of this epistle, and opens the occasion and design of it, which were to reprove the Galatians for their instability in the Gospel; and, if possible, to reclaim them, who were removed, or removing from the simpl…
962 wordsSECTION 7Galatians 1:7
Galatians 1:7 Ver. 7. Which is not another,.... It is no Gospel, no joyful sound, no good news, and glad tidings; the doctrine which attributes justification to the works of the law, or mixes grace and works in the business of salvation, which was the doctrine of these false teachers, is no Gospel; not truly so, howev…
392 wordsSECTION 8Galatians 1:8
Galatians 1:8 Ver. 8. But though we, or an angel from heaven,.... The apostle, in order to assert the more strongly the truth, purity, and perfection of the Gospel, as preached by him; and to deter persons from preaching another Gospel, and others from receiving it, supposes a case impossible; and, in such a case, den…
385 wordsSECTION 9Galatians 1:9
Galatians 1:9 Ver. 9. As we have said before, so say I now again,.... Either when he first preached the Gospel among them; or rather referring to what he had just now said, which he repeats with some little alteration; as if any, men, or angels, be they of what name, figure, rank, or office whatever, preach any other…
175 wordsSECTION 10Galatians 1:10
Galatians 1:10 Ver. 10. For do I now persuade men, or God?.... To "persuade", is to teach; see Ac 18:4 the sense of which, with respect to men, is easy, but, with regard to God, difficult; and indeed cannot be applied to him, consistent with his divine perfections; and therefore something must be understood, and which…
1,032 wordsSECTION 11Galatians 1:11
Galatians 1:11 Ver. 11. But I certify you, brethren,.... Though the Galatians had gone such lengths with their false teachers, yet the apostle still calls them "brethren"; as hoping well of them, that they were born of God, did belong to his family, and were heirs of the grace of life; and this he the rather makes use…
286 wordsSECTION 12Galatians 1:12
Galatians 1:12 Ver. 12. For I neither received it of man,.... Not from Gamaliel, at whose feet he was brought up; he received the law from him, and knowledge in the Jews' religion, and in the traditions of the elders, but not a whit of the Gospel; on the contrary, he received prejudices against it from him, or was str…
364 wordsSECTION 13Galatians 1:13
Galatians 1:13 Ver. 13. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past,.... His manner and course of life, in his state of unregeneracy, how diametrically opposite his education and behaviour, his principles and practices, were to the Gospel; which show that he had not received it, nor was he taught it of men. This…
557 wordsSECTION 14Galatians 1:14
Galatians 1:14 Ver. 14. And profited in the Jews' religion,.... Or "in Judaism"; and the more he did so, or was versed in, and wedded to their principles, the more violent a persecutor he was. He was under a very considerable master, Gamaliel, a Rabbi of great note among the Jews; and he himself a youth of uncommon na…
283 wordsSECTION 15Galatians 1:15
Galatians 1:15 Ver. 15. But when it pleased God,.... Here begins his account of his conversion, and call to the ministry; all which he ascribes entirely to the sovereign good pleasure, and free grace of God: who separated me from my mother's womb. By his "mother" is meant, not in an improper and figurative sense, the…
718 wordsSECTION 16Galatians 1:16
Galatians 1:16 Ver. 16. To reveal his Son in me,.... This clause stands in connection with that in the preceding verse, "but when it pleased God"; the revelation of Christ in the apostle being the mere fruit and effect of God's will and pleasure: some versions read it "by me", making the apostle to be the instrument a…
4,850 wordsSECTION 17Galatians 2:1
Galatians 2:1 INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS 2 In this chapter the apostle proceeds with the narrative of himself, and gives an account of another journey of his to Jerusalem, where he had a conversation with the chief of the apostles; in which they approved of his ministry, allowed of his commission, and took him into fe…
1,260 wordsSECTION 18Galatians 2:2
Galatians 2:2 Ver. 2. And I went up by revelation,.... He was not sent for by the apostles at Jerusalem, nor did he go of himself, nor only by the vote of the church at Antioch, but by a divine revelation; not a revelation made to the church, or by the prophets there, but by God himself to him; he had a secret impulse…
876 wordsSECTION 19Galatians 2:3
Galatians 2:3 Ver. 3. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek,.... There was such an agreement between the apostle, and his fellow apostles at Jerusalem, even about this article of the necessity of circumcision, and other rituals of the law of Moses, to salvation; that Titus, whom he brought along with him, …
178 wordsSECTION 20Galatians 2:4
Galatians 2:4 Ver. 4. And that because of false brethren,.... This is the reason why the elders did not insist upon the circumcision of Titus, why he did not submit to it, and why the apostle would not admit of it: had it been left as a thing indifferent, or had it been moved for in order to satisfy some weak minds, i…
622 wordsSECTION 21Galatians 2:5
Galatians 2:5 Ver. 5. To whom we gave place by subjection,.... Meaning not the apostles, elders, and brethren at Jerusalem, who did not insist upon the observance of the rituals of the law as necessary, but were one and all of opinion that the Gentiles should be free from them; but the false teachers with whom they co…
339 wordsSECTION 22Galatians 2:6
Galatians 2:6 Ver. 6. But of these, who seemed to be somewhat,.... Not the false brethren, but the Apostles James, Cephas, and John, who were Mybwvx, "men of great esteem": high in the opinion of all good men; not that they were looked upon to be more than human, as Simon Magus gave out that he was "some great one", a…
756 wordsSECTION 23Galatians 2:7
Galatians 2:7 Ver. 7. But contrariwise, when they saw that the Gospel,.... James, Cephas, and John, were so far from blaming or correcting anything in the apostle's ministry, or adding anything to it, that they highly approved of it; and as a token of their agreement with him and Barnabas, gave them the right hand of …
312 wordsSECTION 24Galatians 2:8
Galatians 2:8 Ver. 8. For he that wrought effectually in Peter,.... The Syriac version renders it, "he who exhorted Peter to"; the Arabic version is, "he who strengthened Peter in"; the Spirit of God is meant, who filled Peter with such eminent gifts, and inspired him with so much zeal and resolution to the apostlesh…
292 wordsSECTION 25Galatians 2:9
Galatians 2:9 Ver. 9. And when James, Cephas, and John,.... These are the persons all along designed, though not till now named. James was the brother of our Lord, the son of Alphaeus, who wrote the epistle that goes by his name, made that famous speech in the synod at Jerusalem, Ac 15:13, presided in that church, was…
832 wordsSECTION 26Galatians 2:10
Galatians 2:10 Ver. 10. Only they would that we should remember the poor,.... Not in a spiritual sense, as some have thought, though these the apostle was greatly mindful of; but properly and literally the poor as to the things of this world; and may design the poor in general, everywhere, in the several churches wher…
336 wordsSECTION 27Galatians 2:11
Galatians 2:11 Ver. 11. But when Peter was come to Antioch,.... The Alexandrian copy, and others, and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, instead of "Peter", read "Cephas", who, by some ancient writers, is said to be not Peter the Apostle, named Cephas by Christ, but one of the seventy disciples. So Clem…
835 wordsSECTION 28Galatians 2:12
Galatians 2:12 Ver. 12. For before that certain came from James,.... The Lord's brother, mentioned before with Cephas and John, who resided at Jerusalem, from whence these persons came; and who are said to come from James, because they came from the place and church where he was, though, it may be, not sent by him, no…
573 wordsSECTION 29Galatians 2:13
Galatians 2:13 Ver. 13. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him,.... Not the men that came from James, for they never acted otherwise, and therefore could not be said to dissemble; but the Jews that were members of this church at Antioch from the beginning; or who came along with Paul and Barnabas, and stayed …
270 wordsSECTION 30Galatians 2:14
Galatians 2:14 Ver. 14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly,.... Or "did not foot it aright"; or "walked not with a right foot": they halted, as the Jews of old did, between two opinions, being partly for God, and partly for Baal; so these seemed, according to their conduct, to be partly for grace, and partl…
4,809 wordsSECTION 31Galatians 3:1
Galatians 3:1 INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS 3 In this chapter the apostle reproves the Galatians for their disobedience to the Gospel, and departure from it; confirms the doctrine of justification by faith, by various arguments; shows the use of the law, and the abrogation of it, and makes mention of several privileges w…
2,437 wordsSECTION 32Galatians 3:2
Galatians 3:2 Ver. 2. This one thing would I learn of you,.... Though there were many things he could have put to them, yet he would only ask this one question, which, if rightly attended to, and honestly answered, must expose their folly, and put an end to the controversy upon this head: received ye the Spirit by th…
401 wordsSECTION 33Galatians 3:3
Galatians 3:3 Ver. 3. Are ye so foolish?.... Is it possible you should be so stupid? and do you, or can you continue so? having begun in the Spirit; that is, either in the Spirit of God, whom they had received through the preaching of the Gospel. They set out in a profession of religion in the light, under the influe…
436 wordsSECTION 34Galatians 3:4
Galatians 3:4 Ver. 4. Have ye suffered so many things in vain?.... These Galatians had suffered great reproach, many afflictions and persecutions for the sake of the Gospel, as all that embrace it must expect to do; and which to them that persevere in the faith of the Gospel will not be in vain, they will be followed …
229 wordsSECTION 35Galatians 3:5
Galatians 3:5 Ver. 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,.... By whom he means not himself, nor any other minister of the Gospel, in whose power it does not lie to minister the Spirit, either the ordinary or the extraordinary gifts of it unto men; but either God or Christ who had ministered, and still con…
337 wordsSECTION 36Galatians 3:6
Galatians 3:6 Ver. 6. Even as Abraham believed God,.... The apostle having observed, that the special grace and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were received not through the preaching of the law, but through the doctrine of faith; by an easy transition, passes on to a further confirmation of the doctrine of justific…
652 wordsSECTION 37Galatians 3:7
Galatians 3:7 Ver. 7. Know ye therefore,.... Or "ye know"; this is a thing known by you, at least may, or should be; it ought not to be contradicted or disputed, it is so plain a case, and so clear a point: that they which are of faith; of the faith of Abraham, as in Ro 4:16 have the same faith as he had, for nature …
341 wordsSECTION 38Galatians 3:8
Galatians 3:8 Ver. 8. And the Scripture foreseeing,.... This seems to agree with the Jewish forms or citing passages of Scripture, bwtkh har hm, "what does the Scripture foresee?" and hrwt htar hm, {n} "what does the law foresee?" The Scripture here, by a "prosopopeia", is represented as foreseeing an event that would…
1,101 wordsSECTION 39Galatians 3:9
Galatians 3:9 Ver. 9. So then they which be of faith,.... This is the apostle's conclusion upon the whole, from the instance of Abraham, and, the promise made to him; and is an explanation of the preceding clause, and shows that it must be taken in a limited sense, and understood not of every individual; only of those…
310 wordsSECTION 40Galatians 3:10
Galatians 3:10 Ver. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law,.... The apostle does not say, "as many as were of the law", to whom it belonged, who were born and brought up in it, and to whom it was given, the Jews; for there were some of them who believed in Christ, were blessed with Abraham, and not under the c…
998 wordsSECTION 41Galatians 3:11
Galatians 3:11 Ver. 11. But that no man is justified,.... There are some that are justified, as all God's elect are, in his own mind and will from eternity; which will of his to justify them, upon the righteousness of his Son, undertook by him to bring in, is their justification in the court of heaven; and all that be…
403 wordsSECTION 42Galatians 3:12
Galatians 3:12 Ver. 12. And the law is not of faith,.... The Arabic version adds, "but of man"; which as it is an addition to the text, so it contains false doctrine; for though the law is not of faith, yet not of man, but of God; the law does not consist of faith in Christ, nor does it require it, and that a man shou…
10,906 wordsSECTION 43Galatians 4:1
Galatians 4:1 INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS 4 In this chapter the apostle discourses concerning the abrogation of the ceremonial law, under which the Old Testament saints were, being as children under tutors; blames the Galatians for returning to it when they were freed from it; puts them in mind of their former affectio…
1,284 wordsSECTION 44Galatians 4:2
Galatians 4:2 Ver. 2. But is under tutors and governors,.... The word rendered "tutors", is adopted by the Jewish Targumists and Rabbins into their language; and by the former is used {x} for any ruler and governor, civil or domestic; and by the latter, for such as are guardians of infants, fatherless children, and su…
396 wordsSECTION 45Galatians 4:3
Galatians 4:3 Ver. 3. Even so we,.... Jews, for of such the apostle is only speaking, and to whom he applies the above case of heirs in minority; it was to the Jews he had spoken of the law, as being a military guard, a prison, and a schoolmaster to them; and then having addressed the Gentiles, as being the children o…
661 wordsSECTION 46Galatians 4:4
Galatians 4:4 Ver. 4. But when the fulness of time was come,.... The time agreed and fixed upon between God and his Son from all eternity, in the council and covenant of peace, when the Son of God should assume human nature; which time was diligently searched into by the prophets, was revealed unto them, and predicted…
1,158 wordsSECTION 47Galatians 4:5
Galatians 4:5 Ver. 5. To redeem them that were under the law,.... By whom are meant chiefly the Jews, who are elsewhere represented as in and under the law, in distinction from the Gentiles who were without it; see Ro 2:12 the Gentiles indeed, though they were not under the law of Moses, yet were not without law to Go…
578 wordsSECTION 48Galatians 4:6
Galatians 4:6 Ver. 6. And because ye are sons,.... That is of God, so some copies read; and the Ethiopic version, "inasmuch as ye are his sons"; not in so high a sense as Christ is the Son of God; nor in so low a sense as all men are his offspring; nor in such sense as magistrates are the children of the most High; no…
1,188 wordsSECTION 49Galatians 4:7
Galatians 4:7 Ver. 7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant,.... This is a benefit resulting from adoption, and the manifestation of it to the children of God, and supposes them to have been formerly servants; as whilst in a natural state they were the servants of sin, the vassals of Satan, slaves to the world, and the…
950 wordsSECTION 50Galatians 4:8
Galatians 4:8 Ver. 8. Howbeit then, when ye know not God,.... Whilst in Gentilism, and in a state of unregeneracy, they had no true knowledge of God; though they might know by the light of nature, and works of creation, that there was a God, yet they did not know who he was, but called either mortal men, or some one o…
304 wordsSECTION 51Galatians 4:9
Galatians 4:9 Ver. 9. But now, after that ye have known God, &c,] God in Christ, as their covenant God and Father, through the preaching of the Gospel, and in the light of divine grace; God having caused light to shine in their dark hearts; and having given them the light of the knowledge of himself in the face of Chr…
406 wordsSECTION 52Galatians 4:10
Galatians 4:10 Ver. 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. Lest the apostle should be thought to suggest, without foundation, the inclination of these people to be in bondage to the ceremonies of the law, he gives this as an instance of it; which is to be understood, not of a civil observation of times…
483 wordsSECTION 53Galatians 4:11
Galatians 4:11 Ver. 11. I am afraid of you,.... Which shows the danger he apprehended they were in, by taking such large steps from Christianity to Judaism, and expresses the godly jealousy of the apostle over them; intimates he had some hope of them, and in the whole declares his great love and affection for them; fo…
367 wordsSECTION 54Galatians 4:12
Galatians 4:12 Ver. 12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am,.... 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 lov…
764 wordsSECTION 55Galatians 4:13
Galatians 4:13 Ver. 13. Ye know how, through infirmity of the flesh,.... Meaning either their infirmity, to which the apostle accommodated himself in preaching the Gospel to them, delivering it in such a manner as suited with their capacities, feeding them with milk, and not with strong meat; or his own infirmity, res…
177 wordsSECTION 56Galatians 4:14
Galatians 4:14 Ver. 14. And my temptation which was in my flesh,.... The same with the infirmity of his flesh, and which was a trial of his faith and patience, and every other grace, as the afflictions of the saints be. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version read, "your temptation in my f…
357 wordsSECTION 57Galatians 4:15
Galatians 4:15 Ver. 15. Where is then the blessedness you spake of?.... Or, as some copies read, "what was then your blessedness?" what, and how great was it? meaning, when the Gospel was first preached to them by him; when Christ was revealed to them as God's salvation; when the doctrines of free justification by the…
8,177 wordsSECTION 58Galatians 5:1
Galatians 5:1 INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS 5 In this chapter the apostle exhorts to stand fast in Christian liberty, and warns against the abuse of it; and directs to shun various vices, and encourages, to the exercise of several graces, and the observance of several duties; and concludes with a caution against vain glo…
2,021 wordsSECTION 59Galatians 5:2
Galatians 5:2 Ver. 2. Behold, I Paul say unto you,.... The apostle proceeds to give some reasons and arguments to enforce the above exhortation and dissuasion: the first of which is introduced with a note of attention, "behold"; what he was about to say being matter of great moment and importance; and also mentions hi…
431 wordsSECTION 60Galatians 5:3
Galatians 5:3 Ver. 3. For I testify again to every man,.... This is the form of an oath, a calling God to witness, swearing by the living God, and declaring as in his presence to every man, whether Jew or Gentile, whoever he be: that is circumcised; in order to obtain salvation, and as necessary to it: that he is a …
209 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.