Galatians — Chapter 1

Loading ESV text...

1Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—

2and all the brothers with me, To the churches of Galatia:

3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

5to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

6I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!

9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!

10Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man.

12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

16to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,

17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

18Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

19But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

20I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.

21Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

23They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

24And they glorified God because of me.

1Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

2And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

3Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

4Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

5To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

13For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

14And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

15But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,

16To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

17Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

19But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.

20Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

21Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

22And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:

23But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

24And they glorified God in me.

1Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),

2and all the brethren that are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

3Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father:

5to whom [be] the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel;

7which is not another [gospel] only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

9As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema.

10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

11For I make known to you, brethren, as touching the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not after man.

12For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through revelation of Jesus Christ.

13For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews` religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it:

14and I advanced in the Jews` religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, [even] from my mother`s womb, and called me through his grace,

16to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood:

17neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus.

18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and tarried with him fifteen days.

19But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord`s brother.

20Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

21Then I came unto the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:

23but they only heard say, He that once persecuted us now preacheth the faith of which he once made havoc;

24and they glorified God in me.

1From Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

2and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia.

3Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father,

5to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.

6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel—

7not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.

8But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!

9As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!

10Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!

11Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.

12For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.

14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

15But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased

16to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being,

17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.

18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

19But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.

20I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!

21Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

23They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.”

24So they glorified God because of me.

1Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),

2and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia:

3Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—

5to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

6I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”;

7and there isn’t another “good news.” Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.

8But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.

9As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any “good news” other than that which you received, let him be cursed.

10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.

11But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Good News which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.

12For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard of my way of living in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it.

14I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace,

16to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,

17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.

18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days.

19But of the other apostles I saw no one, except James, the Lord’s brother.

20Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I’m not lying.

21Then I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22I was still unknown by face to the assemblies of Judea which were in Christ,

23but they only heard: “He who once persecuted us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.”

24And they glorified God in me.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

Paul insists his apostleship comes not from men but directly from Jesus Christ and God the Father, and greets the Galatian churches with grace and peace (vv. 1-5). He expresses astonishment that they are so quickly deserting the true gospel for a distorted one, and pronounces a curse on anyone — even himself or an angel — who preaches a different gospel (vv. 6-9). Seeking human approval, he says, would disqualify him as a servant of Christ (v. 10), and he insists the gospel he preaches came not from any human source but by revelation from Jesus Christ (vv. 11-12), recalling how he once violently persecuted the church while zealous for Jewish tradition (vv. 13-14). He describes how God, who set him apart before birth, called him by grace to reveal his Son in him and to preach to the Gentiles, and how he did not consult anyone but went to Arabia before returning to Damascus (vv. 15-17). Only three years later did he visit Peter in Jerusalem, and he remained personally unknown to the Judean churches, who simply heard that their former persecutor now preached the faith he once tried to destroy (vv. 18-24).

Authorship & Background

Author: The Apostle Paul, writing approximately AD 48-49 (possibly the earliest of Paul's letters) or AD 55 (if written to churches in northern Galatia).
Audience: The churches of Galatia — likely the churches Paul founded on his first missionary journey (Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe — Acts 13-14).
Purpose: To defend the Gospel of grace against "Judaizers" — false teachers who insisted that Gentile believers must be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law to be saved. Galatians is Paul's most passionate, urgent letter — written to protect the Gospel from corruption.
The Crisis: After Paul left, false teachers arrived and told the Galatians they needed to add Law-keeping to faith in Christ. Paul is astonished: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed" (v.6). He pronounces a double curse on anyone who preaches a different gospel (vv.8-9) — the strongest language in any of his letters.
Chapter 1 Content: No thanksgiving (unusual for Paul — he's too upset). Instead: the Gospel defined (vv.1-5), the crisis stated (vv.6-10), and Paul's apostolic authority defended (vv.11-24).
Classification: Epistle — Pauline
Key Themes: Apostleship received directly rather than through men, a gospel that admits no alternative, astonishment in place of thanksgiving, a former life of zeal in Judaism, and a chronology offered as evidence of independence
Greeting: An Apostle Not Sent by Men (vv.1-5): Paul qualifies the word “apostle” in his first breath — “not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ”. His other letters state his apostleship without defending it, and the immediate defense here signals what is being disputed. The greeting also states the gospel before the argument for it begins: Christ “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world”. Everything contested in the letter is already present in the salutation.
No Other Gospel: Astonishment in Place of Thanksgiving (vv.6-9): Paul's letters open with thanksgiving. This one does not, and to first readers the omission would have been loud. “I marvel that ye are so soon removed” stands where gratitude belongs. The rival message is called “another gospel: which is not another” — a different thing wearing a borrowed name. The anathema of vv.8-9 is pronounced twice, the repetition deliberate, and it falls on the message and its messengers rather than on the Galatians themselves, who are being warned rather than condemned.
Not Seeking to Please Men (vv.10-12): Behind the rhetorical question lies the accusation that Paul trimmed his requirements to make converts easier to win among Gentiles. His answer is that the gospel he preaches is “not after man”: he neither received it from a human source nor was taught it, but received it by revelation. That claim is not left as an assertion — the remainder of the chapter is the evidence for it, laid out as dates and movements.
His Former Life in the Jews' Religion (vv.13-14): Paul produces his own past as exhibit rather than confession. He persecuted the church “and wasted it”, and outpaced his contemporaries in zeal for ancestral tradition. The argument is about direction of travel: no human persuasion produced this change, because he was moving hard the other way and had every incentive to keep going.
Separated from the Womb, Sent to the Gentiles (vv.15-17): The calling is dated before his birth and attributed to God's pleasure rather than to any search of his own. The detail that carries the argument is what he did next: he went into Arabia, and did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before him. He is establishing that his commission never passed through Jerusalem for authorisation, because a commission that needed approval could be revised by whoever granted it.
Three Years Later, Fifteen Days with Peter (vv.18-20): The first Jerusalem visit comes three years on, lasts fifteen days, and involves Peter and James alone. The precision is the point: fifteen days is a visit, not an apprenticeship, and too short to account for what he preaches. Verse 20's oath — “before God, I lie not” — shows that these were contested facts rather than uncontroversial background.
Unknown by Face, Glorified in Report (vv.21-24): Paul was personally unknown to the churches of Judea, which knew him only by report: the man who once destroyed the faith now preaches it. “They glorified God in me” closes the chapter with an irony aimed at his critics. The congregations nearest Jerusalem accepted him on the evidence of the change itself, which is precisely what the teachers in Galatia would not do.

Map & Geography

  • Galatia (v.2): Region in central Asia Minor; Paul wrote to churches there.
  • Jerusalem (v.17, v.18): Capital of Judah; the holy city where the Temple stood.
  • Damascus (v.17): Ancient Syrian city; site of Paul's conversion.

Places on this map

  • Galatiacentral TurkeyThe high inland plateau of Asia Minor, named for Gallic settlers and organized by Rome as a province stretching south to Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Whether Paul wrote to the northern tribes or the southern cities he planted is a long-running question. Wikipedia
  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia
  • DamascusDamascus, SyriaAn oasis city where the Barada river runs out of the Anti-Lebanon into the desert, about 135 miles north-east of Jerusalem. It sat astride the caravan roads to Mesopotamia and Arabia, which made Aram rich and made it Israel's most persistent northern rival. Wikipedia
  • Asia MinorTurkeyThe peninsula between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, a high dry plateau ringed by mountains with the Greek cities on its western coast. Roman Asia, the province Paul worked from Ephesus, was only its western end. Wikipedia
  • AramSyriaThe Syrian interior north-east of Israel, a set of city-states rather than one kingdom, with Damascus the strongest. Aramaic, its language, became the everyday speech of the whole region including Judea. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik examines the absent thanksgiving, the double curse, Paul's independence from human authority, and his divine calling.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Book of Galatians Summary: A Complete Animated Overview
BibleProject

Galatians 1-2 | Badges of Identity | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Galatians Overview: A Different Gospel | Podcast
Spoken Gospel

Galatians: The Bible Explained
Spoken Gospel

Galatians 1:1-9 - Danger of a Different Gospel
David Guzik

Galatians 1:10-24 - Where the Gospel Comes From
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Galatians -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Drifting From Grace (v.6) — Paul is stunned that the Galatians abandoned the gospel of grace for a different message so quickly. What pulls you toward earning God's favor instead of simply receiving it?
  • A Gospel Worth Defending (vv.8-9) — Paul pronounces judgment twice on anyone, even an angel, who preaches a different gospel, since nothing may be added to grace through faith. What would it look like for you to hold the gospel this firmly against pressure to compromise it?
  • Serving Christ, Not an Audience (v.10) — Paul says he could not be Christ's servant if he were still trying to please people. Where is people-pleasing quietly shaping your choices instead of faithfulness to Christ?
  • Set Apart Before You Knew It (vv.15-16) — Paul's calling came from God's initiative, set apart from birth and revealed by grace rather than from human teaching. How does knowing God's plan for you predates your own choices change how you see your identity?
  • A Testimony That Glorifies God (vv.23-24) — Paul's transformation from persecutor to preacher led others to praise God rather than him. Does the change in your life point people toward God, or toward you?