Early References to Galatians

Ignatius 110-117 A.D.

Clement of Alexandria wrote 193-217/220 A.D.

Irenaeus 182-188 A.D.

Tertullian 200-240 A.D.

Origen 225-254 A.D.

Eusebius 325 A.D.

Cyprian (wrote 248-258 A.D.) "Paul to the Galatians" and fro "Galatians" in Treatise 12 The Third Book 3,9,64 among other places.

Chrysostom 392-407 A.D. wrote a commentary on Galatians, which we still have today.

The Muratorian Canon (c.170 A.D.) mentions Paul's Letter to the Galatians, as well as Paul's other 12 letters.

Early Manuscripts of Galatians

p46 Chester Beatty II 100-150 A.D. contains 140 verses. Specifically it has Galatians 1:1-8; 1:10-2:9; 2:12-21; 3:2-29; 4:2-18; 4:20-5:17; 5:20-6:8; 6:10-18 and other parts of Paul's letters and Hebrews. The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts has a photograph of part of p46 on p.192. It also says on p.197-198 that the quality and the stichiometric marks show that a professional scribe wrote this. A quite readable photograph of the page of the Chester Beatty papyrii of Galatians 6:10-18 and the start of Philippians is in Paul : Apostle of the Heart Set Free.

First half of 3rd century - 1936 - Frederic G. Kenyon according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts.

2nd century, 200 A.D. - 1935 - Ulrich Wilken according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts.

200 A.D. - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

81-96 A.D. - 1988 - Young Kyu Kim according to The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts.

About 200 A.D. - 1975 - Aland et al. Third edition.

About 200 A.D. - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth revised edition.

Early to middle 2nd century - 1999 - The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts. This is based in part on the handwriting being very similar to Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 8 (late first or early second century) and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2337 (late first century).

p51 (=Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2157) Galatians 1:2-10,13,16-20 c.400 A.D.

c.400 A.D. - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.

About 400 A.D. - 1975 - Aland et al. Third Edition

About 400 A.D. - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth Revised Edition

Vaticanus 325-350 A.D.

Sinaiticus 340-350 A.D.

Bohairic Coptic 3rd/4th century

Sahidic Coptic 3rd/4rth century

Gothic 493-555 A.D.

Manuscript Variants in Galatians

The Letter to the Galatians has a total of about 2,233 Greek words and a word-for-word accuracy of 98.4%, with only 36 words in question. These are in 26 verses (29 places), out of 149 total verses. Below are the variations with the primary choice and the top alternate choice. Aland, from which this primarily is based, also gives a judgment of the degree of certainty for each variation.

Gal 1:3 "our Father and Lord" vs. "Father and our Lord"

Gal 1:6 "Christ" vs. "Jesus Christ"

Gal 1:8 "preach a gospel to you" vs. "preach to you a gospel"

Gal 1:11 "for" different Greek words

Gal 1:15 "when God pleased" vs. "when pleased" (2 words)

Gal 2:1 fourteen years again "I went" vs. "consumed"

Gal 2:5 "to whom" vs. "whom"

Gal 2:12 case of "some"

Gal 2:12 case of "they came"

Gal 2:20 "Son of God" vs. "God the Son"

Gal 3:14 "blessing vs. "promise"

Gal 3:17 "God" adds "to Christ"

Gal 3:19 "for the sake of it was added" vs. "for the sake of it was appointed" vs. "for action of it appointed" (2 words)

Gal 3:21 "promises of God" vs. "promises of Christ"

Gal 4:6 "your(plural) hearts" vs. "our hearts"

Gal 4:7 "by" is absent

Gal 4:7 "through God" vs. "of God through Christ" (2 words)

Gal 4:14 "my" vs. "our" temptation

Gal 4:25 "For" vs. "But"

Gal 4:25 "Now Hagar is Mount Sinai" vs. "For Sinai is a mountain" (approximately 4 words)

Gal 4:26 mother of all of us" vs. "mother of us"

Gal 4:28 "we... we are" vs. "you ... you are" (2 words)

Gal 5:1 "with which Christ us made free" vs. "with which us Christ made free"

Gal 5:21 absent (p46, Siniaticus, Vaticanus, Sahidic Coptic, some Georgian, Clement of Rome, Marcion ) vs. "murders" Alexandrinus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Byzantine Lectionary, Italic, Bohairic Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, some Georgian, Chrysostom, Priscillian, Pelagius)

Gal 5:23 "self-control" (p46, Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, Byzantine Lectionary, Syraic, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, some Georigan, Chrysostom) vs. "self-control, chastity" (original Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Priscillian) vs. "selfcontrol, patience" (later manuscripts) (no reliable early manuscripts differ, so not counted in the totals)

Gal 5:24 "Christ Jesus" (Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, Sahidic Coptic, Bohairid Coptic, some Georgian) vs. "Christ (p46, Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Byzantine Lectionary, Syriac, Armenian, some Georigan, Chrysostom) vs. "Lord Jesus Christ" (original Sinaiticus)

Gal 6:2 "you will/shall fulfill" vs. "you fulfill" vs. "you will satisfy"

Gal 6:10 "we should work" vs. "we shall work"

Gal 6:13 "are circumcision" vs. "have been circumcision"

Gal 6:15 "And not/neither/nor for" vs. "In/by for"

Some manuscripts have the postscript, "To Galatians written from Rome."

Bibliography for this question: The Greek New Testament Third Edition by Kurt Aland et al., The Greek New Testament Fourth Edition by Kurt Aland et al., Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by George Ricker Berry, the Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, The Expositor's Bible Commentary volume 8, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament 2nd edition by Bruce M. Metzger, The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts edited by Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett, The Expositor's Greek Testament edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, and footnotes in the NASB1995, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV Bible translations. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible : An Introduction to Paleography by Bruce M. Metzger also has interesting information on the characteristics and quality of the copying of each manuscript.

Translation Notes

This is the same as the KJV except for the differences listed. In regards, to precision, understandability, and choices of Greek texts, this translation is in the middle ground between a number of good translations: KJV, NASB1995, NCV, NIV, KJV, NRSV, Wuest, Green's Translation, a mechanical translation of Aland et al, and support from the Expositor's Bible Commentary and The Bible Knowledge Commentary. To avoid the peculiarities of any one translation, I tried to use only words and phrases that were in two or more translations. Italicized words are not present in the Greek.

If you see a mistake or have any suggestions, please contact cdebater@aol.com. Thank you.

Change	To	Verses	Global?
Changed many colons and other punctuation	More periods and commas	numerous
"unto"	"to"	numerous, Gal 1: 2,8,8,16,17,20,22; 2:2,7,7,9,9,9; 2:14, 3:24; 6:10 (2x), 6:11; 6:14 (2x), etc.	G
"was preached of me"	"I preached"	Gal 1:11	G
"heathen"	"pagan people"	Gal 1:16	G
"went I"	"did I go"	Gal 1:17	G
"abode"	"lived"	Gal 1:18	G
"But other of the apostles saw I none, save"	"I did not see the other apostles, except"	Gal 1:19
"lie not"	"do not lie"	Gal 1:20	G
"Judaea"	"Judea"	Gal 1:22	G
"he which"	"he who"	Gal 1:23	G
"in times past"	"before"	Gal 1:23	G
"preacheth"	"preaches"	Gal 1:23	G
"once he destroyed"	"he once destroyed"	Gal 1:23	G
"in"	"on account of"	Gal 1:24
"those which"	"those who"	Gal 2:2
"privily"	"secretly"	Gal 2:4	G
"maketh"	"makes"	Gal 2:6	G
"accepteth"	"accepts"	Gal 2:6	G
"contrariwise"	"on the contrary"	Gal 2:7	G
"wrought effectually"	"worked"	Gal 2:8	G
"gave to me"	"gave me"	Gal 2:9	G
"forward"	"eager"	Gal 2:10
"to the face"	"to his face"	Gal 2:11
"liveth"	"lives"	Gal 2:20	G
"is dead"	"died"	Gal 2:21	G
"hath"	"has"	Gal 3:1 (2x); Gal 3:22	G
"ye"	"you"	Gal 3:1,20; 3:3,3,7,26,28,29; 4:6,8,8,9,9,9,10,12,12,14, etc.	G
"Having ye"	"You having"	Gal 3:4
"doeth he it"	"does he do it"	Gal 3:5
"ministereth"	"ministers"	Gal 3:5	G
"worketh"	"works"	Gal 3:5	G
"heathen"	"pagans"	Gal 3:8
"thee"	"you"	Gal 3:8
"continueth"	"continues"	Gal 3:10
"every one"	"everyone"	Gal 1:10	G
"doeth"	"does"	Gal 3:12
"hath"	"has"	Gal 3:13
"hangeth"	"hangs"	Gal 3:13
"no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto"	"no man annuls or adds to it"	Gal 3:15
"saith"	"says"	Gal 3:16
"thy"	"your(singular)"	Gal 3:16
"four hundred and thirty"	"430"	Gal 3:17
"disannul"	"set aside"	Gal 3:17
"none effect"	"no effect"	Gal 3:17	G
"wherefore then serveth the law?	"Why the law?"	Gal 3:19
"till"	"until"	Gal 3:19	G
"verily"	"truly"	Gal 3:21
"them that"	"those who"	Gal 3:22
"afterwards"	"later"	Gal 3:23
"differeth nothing"	"does not differ"	Gal 4:1
"be lord"	"is master"	Gal 4:1
"thou"	"you(singular)"	Gal 4:7,27; Gal 5:14; 6:1
infirmity of the flesh	"physical illness"	Gal 4:13
"travail"	"labor	Gal 4:19
"ye ... ye"	"you ... you"	Gal 4:21
"which bearest not"	"who do not bear"	Gal 4:27
that travailest not	who do not labor	Gal 4:27
"wherewith"	"with which"	Gal 5:1
"whosoever"	"whoever"	Gal 5:4,10
"shalt"	"shall"	Gal 5:14
"the one to the other"	"to one another"	Gal 5:17
"of the which"	"of which"	Gal 5:21
"deceiveth"	"deceives"	Gal 6:3
"soweth"	"sows"	Gal 6:7,8,8
"lusteth"	"lusts"	Gal 5:17
"ye be"	"you are"	Gal 5:18
"manifest"	"evident"	Gal 5:19
"revellings"	"wild partyings"	Gal 5:21
"longsuffering"	"patience"	Gal 5:22
"faith"	"faithfulness"	Gal 5:22
"meekness"	"gentleness and"	Gal 5:23
"temperance"	"self-control"	Gal 5:23
"the affections and lusts"	"its passions and desires"	Gal 5:24
"mine own"	my own"	Gal 6:11
"fair"	"good"	Gal 6:12
"shew"	"appear"	Gal 6:12
"only lest they should suffer"	"only that they should not suffer"	Gal 6:12
"either circumcision availath any thing	Circumcision does not count for anything	Gal 6:15
"From henceforth"	"From now on"	Gal 6:17	G

British to American

Change	To	Verses	Global?
"fullness"	"fullness"	Gal 4:4	G
"labour"	"labor"	Gal 4:11	G
"fulfil"	"fulfill"	Gal 5:16; 6:2	G

Some of this is due to the benefit of the Microsoft Word Thesaurus.

Change	To	Verses	Reason
Removed "be" and "from"		Gal 1:3	Not in the Greek
Removed "man"		Gal 1:9	Not in the Greek
"than"	"other than"	Gal 1:8,9	Added for understanding
"called me"	"called"	Gal 1:15	not in the Greek
"into"	"to"	Gal 1:21
"after"	"afterwards"	Gal 2:1
"with me also"	"also"	Gal 2:1	not in the Greek
"seemed to be somewhat in"	"in"	Gal 2:6	not in the Greek
"as the gospel of"	"as"	Gal 2:7	not in the Greek
"Only they would"	"Only"	Gal 2:10	Not in to Greek
"the same which"	"which"	Gal 2:10
"was come to"	"came to"	Gal 2:11
"withstood"	"opposed"	Gal 2:11
"certain"	"certain people"	Gal 2:12
"before them all"	"before all"	Gal 2:14	Not in the Greek
"not uprightly"	"not"
removed "yea"		Gal 4:17	not in the Greek
removed "these"		Gal 5:19	not in the Greek
works of the flesh		Gal 5:19-21
"gentleness"	"kindness"	Gal 5:22

For more info please contact Christian Debater™ P.O. Box 144441 Austin, TX 78714 www.BibleQuery.org

by Steven M. Morrison, PhD.