Read Better, Preach Better

Γνωρίζω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον

↑τὸ εὐαγγελισθὲν (ὑπ᾿ ἐμοῦ)

ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν (κατὰ ἄνθρωπον)·

This verse continues the thought of 1.10, in which Paul reveals his God-ward orientation: as a servant of Christ he does not seek to please people. Here in 1.11 we see Paul make a similar point about the gospel he preaches: it is not according to man (κατὰ ἄνθρωπον). The origin of the gospel is of great significance for Paul, and underscores why he does not seek to please people (1.10): the gospel he preaches is not from a human source. This is the sole point of this verse, and its positive answer lies in the following verse—the gospel was received by revelation from Christ (1.12).

The verse also connects to the discussion of 1.6–9, and in particular 1.8. The measure there of what constitutes a false gospel is any message that strays from what we have preached to you (1.8). While 1.8 suggests that the integrity of the gospel message is bigger than Paul’s apostleship in that even if he were to get it wrong, the gospel would trump his authority, here we begin to see why the gospel as originally delivered by Paul is the benchmark: its origins are not human. It is not, strictly speaking, Paul’s gospel; and yet, on the other hand, it is so described because it was entrusted to him.

In fact, the adjectival participial clause τὸ εὐαγγελισθὲν ὑπ᾿ ἐμοῦ (proclaimed by me) is of crucial importance in this verse because it once again stresses the fact that the true gospel is the one originally proclaimed by Paul. The perfective aspect of the aorist participle implies antecedent action (proclaimed), even though its function is adjectival.[1] This means that Paul is referring to a previous event: the gospel as proclaimed is the benchmark, regardless of whatever is currently being proclaimed. In the unlikely hypothetical situation of 1.8 in which Paul allows the (however remote) possibility that he might get the gospel wrong at some later point, the past proclamation of the gospel is fixed and serves as an anchor for the Galatians should they become confused by alternate versions of the gospel.

This participial clause also serves as a counterpoint to the last phrase of the verse. While the final phrase expresses the main point of the verse—that the gospel is not according to man—the mention of Paul’s proclamation of that gospel highlights the fact of human activity as servant of divine agency. While the gospel does not have human origins, it is proclaimed by human servants of Christ. Of course, this apparent tension represents no problem for Paul, even though it may do so for the Galatians. In fact, this apparent tension has been running through this first chapter so far: while Paul’s apostleship is from God and not man (1.1), his authority as an apostle does not supercede the authority of the gospel (1.8). While it is Paul’s apostolic proclamation of the gospel that makes it authentic, this does not preclude the apostle Peter from error. Indeed, it is this apparent tension between divine and human agency that leads to the Galatian problem: how can those whom God has called turn away to a false gospel (1.6)? The answer is the same that says that the divinely appointed apostle Peter can be wrong about the gospel, and that says that the gospel is not from man, yet was proclaimed by Paul.

Posted by Con Campbell

Ἄρτι γὰρ ἀνθρώπους πείθω ἢ τὸν θεόν;

ἢ ζητῶ ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκειν;

↓εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον,

Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην.

Paul begins this section with two rhetorical questions: For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? and Or am I striving to please people? The contrast between seeking to please people rather than God is sharpened in the second part of the verse: If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. The antithesis that is set up between pleasing people and pleasing God creates a thematic link with the opening verse of the epistle, which stresses the fact that Paul is appointed an apostle by Jesus Christ and God the Father, and not from men or by man. Since his apostleship is not derived from people, so he is not concerned with pleasing people.

Beginning the section with Ἄρτι, now, seems to create a contrast with a previous state of affairs. While now in English might be used in a rhetorical, rather than temporal sense—to mean now, my first impulse was to run away—the Greek word ἄρτι has only temporal connotations (BDAG). Thus, Paul is talking about now as opposed to a previous time; he is not employing a rhetorical device. The previous time to which he alludes is not stated here, but it is natural to understand Paul as referring to his former way of life in Judaism, which is mentioned only a few verses along (1.13–14).

While πείθω normally refers to the act of persuasion, it does have the rare meaning to win over, strive to please (BDAG). To suggest, however, that Paul seeks to win God over, or to win his favour, creates tension with the fact that he regards himself as chosen by God, who has lavished his favour upon him. To strive to please God, rather than people, seems the most natural way to take 1.10a, but then this is not without difficulty also. Reading the rhetorical question this way creates a redundancy, since 1.10b asks do I seek to please people? There are, however, at least two reasons why this option is nevertheless acceptable. First, redundancy itself is no reason to dismiss a particular reading, and in fact is a common highlighting device[1]—a plausible possibility here. Second, this reading does not create a complete redundancy in any case. The obvious distinction between 1.10a and 1.10b is that the former contrasts pleasing people with pleasing God, while 1.10b simply asks whether Paul seeks to please people at all. The effect of this, then, is for 1.10b to partially answer the question of 1.10a: does Paul strive to please people or God? That question is answered by another question: does he seek to please people at all? Indeed, this movement is repeated between 1.10b and 1.10c, in that 1.10c also answers the previous question: does Paul seek to please people? Well, he could not do so and remain a slave of Christ.

The two present indicative verbs in 1.10a and 1.10b (πείθω, ζητῶ) encode imperfective aspect, and are normally translated with a progessive sense: am I striving to please; am I seeking to please. While this reading is quite normal for imperfective verbs, and is certainly possible here, it may not provide the best rendering of Paul’s point. A progressive sense implies that Paul conceives of an ongoing action in which he is currently occupied. It may fit Paul’s purpose better to regard these present indicatives as gnomic, describing a general reality: do I strive to please people or God? Do I seek to please people? This is a natural implicature of imperfective aspect, and has the effect of characterising Paul’s manner of behaviour rather than referring to specific activity.

The second half of the verse forms a second class conditional sentence, which is indicated by imperfect indicative verbs in the protasis (ἤρεσκον) and apodosis (ἤμην), as well as ἂν in the apodosis. According to Wallace, ‘The second class condition indicates the assumption of an untruth (for the sake of argument).’[2] When the second class condition employs imperfects, it normally expresses present temporal reference.[3] The reason for using imperfects even when present temporal reference is meant is that the remoteness of the imperfect form suits the logical remoteness of unreality. Rather than expressing past temporal reference (as it usually does), the remoteness of the imperfect expesses unreality.[4] Since the second class condition is ‘unreal’, or contrary to fact, the remote tense-forms are used (imperfect, aorist, pluperfect).

The force of this unreality is that while Paul says If I were still trying to please people, it is understood that he is not doing so. But the point of the conditional sentence is that if he were trying to please people, this would mean that he would not be a slave to Christ. Apparently, then, being Christ’s slave does not allow one to be a people-pleaser; one’s allegiance is entirely caught up in this slavery, and pleasing Christ is its aim.

The use of ἔτι, still, in the protasis If I were still trying to please people parallels ἄρτι in 1.10a, and likewise refers to an earlier time, most likely Paul’s previous life in Judaism. As such, Paul seems to imply that he was concerned with pleasing people in his previous way of life. But, as the conditional sentence makes clear, his former condition as a people-pleaser means that he was not a slave of Christ at that time.

The way this verse contributes to its immediate context is to point out that declaring an altered gospel (1.6–9) is not pleasing to God, and it implies that alterations to the gospel occur through people-pleasing rather than unswerving commitment to Christ. Indeed, Paul will claim in the next verse that his gospel is not at all derived from a human source, but came by revelation from Christ. As a bearer of that revealed gospel, it is important that Paul not be swayed by the favour of people, so that he may declare the genuine gospel in its unaffected, revealed form.

Posted by Con Campbell

[2] Wallace, 694.

[3] Wallace, 695.

[4] See my Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative, 98–99.