FOOTNOTES:

^a The first Greek word here is O. It doesn’t have a direct English translation, though it shares some uses of English, ‘oh.’ It signals that the writer is addressing someone (or a group) directly and that what they are about to say is emotionally charged. Many translations historically have just brought that into English, and some have replaced it with ‘you’ as an attempt to make it feel more natural so that it either reads ‘O, foolish Galatians,’ or ‘You foolish Galatians!’ The word most translations render as ‘foolish’ is anoetos. It is very literally ‘no-minded’ or ‘unminded.’ Some sources describe it as ‘inconsiderate, unintelligent, unwise’ or ‘brutish’ or ‘not understanding, foolish.’

^b It literally says “I only wish to learn this from you” but the sentence “I only have one question for you” carries the rhetorical sense of it too well to pass up.

^c The Greek word akoe has to do with the sense of hearing. In fact, it can refer to that sense directly and be translated as ‘hearing.’ It can also refer to something that is heard and be translated as ‘sound’ or ‘what is heard.’ In this case, it is hearing about something, so ‘report’ seems to cover it well.

^d In this paragraph akoes pisteos is used twice, translated here as ‘a report of faithfulness.’ Other translations render it as ‘hearing with faith’ (ESV) and ‘believing what you heard’ (NET). Technically, all of these could be accurate, so context becomes critical in determining how best to proceed, both immediate context and overall context of letters attributed to being written by Paul and the Christian Testament and the Bible in its entirety with the help of linguistics, anthropology, and the study of Christian history throughout all its centuries. Based on that study, both ‘believing’ and ‘faith’ are words that seem to be more misleading than helpful ever to use in Bible translation. Appropriate words based on more immediate context seem to be ‘faithful,’ ‘trust,’ ‘commitment,’ and ‘allegiance.’ Paul especially seems to use it with the ‘faithful’ and ‘allegiance’ aspects in mind most frequently. As for akoe, it seems not just to be the fact of hearing but the transmission of information in view in this context, and in particular the report of Jesus’ faithfulness, so that translating it as ‘hearing’ takes the focus away from Christ and onto the hearer in a way that seems to be a distraction. ‘A report of faithfulness’ then maintains the focus on Christ’s faithfulness and what people have been informed about it.

^e Traditionally, ‘flesh.’ This word, sarx, is often translated as body or used in a construction for ‘personal’ or ‘physical.’ Here it’s referring literally to the stuff bodies are made out of in a symbol of something larger that is in contrast with life-breath. It seems to be connected to ‘actions from Torah’ and being active and accomplishing things seems to be in view. ‘Muscle’ then manages to both be ‘flesh’ and related to ‘effort’ and being ‘active.’ It also can be connected with force or the use of power over others, which fits as a contrast to receiving a clear report of Jesus as crucified, the leader who sacrifices self for others rather than claiming power over others.

^f The Greek pistis carries the idea of a reciprocal state of committed faithfulness and allegiance grounded deeply in trust and trust that is deeply grounded in receiving faithful actions that evidence commitment and allegiance. Any of the four words may be most appropriate based on context, but all should be understood as connected. In this verse, Abraham is demonstrating faithfulness, a commitment to and allegiance to Yahweh, grounded in his trust toward Yahweh. It is being used as an example to explain further what the author was discussing in verses 2 and 5 regarding a ‘report of faithfulness,’ where ‘faithfulness’ is the same Greek word as what is translated as ‘faithfully committed.’ The Hebrew word in Genesis 15:6 is aman. The specific form in that verse is referred to as the ‘Hiphil’ form, and when aman is in that form it carries the weight of standing firm, trusting. In other forms it focuses more on faithfulness and providing support or upholding, and therefore, being trustworthy or reliable, faithful in commitment.

^g Quotation of Genesis 15:6. It is word-for-word with the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. In the Septuagint, theos (God) is used, while in the Hebrew Bible Yhwh, ('Yahweh' or ‘LORD’) is used.

^h The Greek words for ‘receive the Life-breath’ but it is a shorthand referring to Galatians 3:2 and implies that this is in mind.

ⁱ Literally, ‘sons’

^j The Greek word proarao can mean ‘see before’ in two ways: 1) foresee, see in advance, preview, prediction; 2) maintain within view, stay attentive, keep in sight, be mindful. There is certainly a chronological aspect here, but it is also about remembrance, staying mindful of what has been stated to be coming. It’s not so much about fortune telling but about expecting that God would do what God said the plan was.

^k This word eneulogeo (related to the English word ‘eulogy’) has to do with speaking over or about someone in a positive way, wishing them well and also attributing worthiness, high esteem to them. It’s both a statement of perceived value and also a proclamation to set positive things in motion for their benefit.

^l Citation of Genesis 12:3

^m The Greek words for ‘receive the Life-breath’ but it is a shorthand referring to Galatians 3:2 and implies that this is in mind.

ⁿ Traditionally, ‘under a curse.’ Technically, that is a correct translation, though outdated; however, our culture’s understanding of ‘curse’ has shifted to something magical or superstitious. In the original English meaning, and the meaning of the Greek word here, it was not about a magical force causing bad luck like a spell that needs to be broken. It is the opposite of speaking a blessing over someone, of wishing someone well and authoritatively declaring that your well wishes for them will become reality, predicting it based on what you know of them. This word is speaking ill over someone, based on what you know of them, predicting poor outcomes and hardship to come based on the harm they cause around them, to others and to themselves. It’s not magic; it’s wisdom to see where people’s paths are taking them and saying it aloud.

^o Quotation of Deuteronomy 27:26

^p The Greek word zao means ‘to live’ but not in the English idiomatic sense of what someone does with their life, how they behave, what lifestyle they have, or what they do with their time and choices. It means ‘to live’ as opposed to being dead, ‘to be alive.’

^q Quotation of Habakkuk 2:4

^r This verse clarifies that there is an essential difference between ‘faithfulness’ (commitment, trust, allegiance) and ‘obedience.'

^s Citation of Leviticus 18:5

^t This word implies paying a purchase price for a person who was enslaved, whether to pay off debt or as a captive in war or otherwise, whether to own them as one’s slave or to free them.

^u See Deuteronomy 28:15-68

^v Not put under a magic spell (a ‘curse’) but he became the communication, the means of declaring that hardship was the outcome of continuing to follow the path the people were following, by demonstrating it personally.

^w Traditionally, ‘tree’ but the word can be used of wood or anything made of wood.

^x Quotation of Deuteronomy 21:23

^y Literally, ‘brothers’

^z Traditionally, ‘covenant,’ but the word existed in the wider Greek world and was not limited to the Hebrew Bible understanding of divine covenants with people. The specific type of legal agreement here seems to be about a ‘last will and testament’ regarding the disposition of a person’s estate after their death.

^aa Sometimes translated as ‘descendants’ or ‘descendant’ or ‘offspring.’ The word sperma is literally ‘seed’ (and where the English word ‘sperm’ comes from), and it is used metaphorically for those who descend from a person. There are other more literal words in Greek, like genea or using houioi (‘sons’) for any descendants; however, the ‘seed’ metaphor was selected on purpose here to connect it to the passage in Genesis that Paul cites. The problem with translating it as ‘descendant/s’ is that ‘seed’ or ‘progeny’ or ‘offspring’ or other options can be used as a collective or a singular. ‘Descendant/s’ forces it to either be plural or singular. That becomes especially important in this paragraph where Paul draws attention to the distinction between a collective use and a singular use.

^bb Quotation of Genesis 17:7. Notice that in the original context of Genesis, it is clearly talking about many people over many generations.

^cc ‘Received’ and ‘doing’ are added for clarification, referring back to the discussion of the previous paragraph.

^dd Traditionally, ‘angels.’ While spirit beings from a divine realm could be in view, the word simply means ‘messengers.’ What type of messengers (angel, human, community, or even natural phenomenon) must be determined by context.

^ee ‘to be accomplished by’ in the Greek is more literally ‘with the hand of’ and the word cheir, ‘hand,’ is commonly used to community how or with what something is done.

^ff The meaning of this verse is disputed; however, this last phrase “God is one” seems to be a reference to Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

^gg This could be taken two ways, and the Greek could legitimately be translated either way. 1) ‘enclosed together everything that is/was under deviation’ or 2) ‘enclosed everything together under deviation.’ Therefore, it either enclosed everything that was already categorized as deviation or it enclosed everything and then labeled it deviation. Either way it seems to be the sense of that which is classified under deviation, considered to be deviation.

^hh The word is a participle of pisteuo, referring to those who are doing the verb of ‘trusting/being faithful/being committed/maintaining allegiance.’

ⁱⁱ This word paidagogos, is where the English word ‘pedagogy’ comes from, and a more literal translation would probably be ‘tutor.’ However, present day tutors in our culture just spend an hour or two helping kids with homework, learning school subjects. This Greek word had in view people who were an enslaved worker who lived with a wealthy or powerful family and raised the sons (instead of the parents), overseeing all their care and their training in learning and skills to prepare them for adulthood. ‘Nanny’ also does not fully capture that, but since no equivalent exists in our culture, ‘nanny’ seems to be the closest current role.

^jj Literally, ‘sons’

^kk Or ‘in.’ The ‘with’ here is not, like it has other times been in the English—though with different Greek—a sense of joining or accompanying Jesus. It is that the thing covering them is Christ. The image is that like their skin was covered in water after being submersed, their person is covered over with Christ, dripping with it. You can’t look at them without seeing Christ all over them.

^ll Traditionally, ‘in.’ The Greek word en has historically been translated as ‘in’ frequently. However, that is only an appropriate translation when it is about time or location. It seems to be used as the catch-all translation when translators don’t know exactly what to do with it when it is showing a connection and the translation could be something like ‘with regard to.’ Several uses according to Wallace (1996) involve use of the word ‘with,’ which seems to be a much clearer and less misleading basic meaning; however, it is a ‘with’ related more to ‘association’ or ‘means’ or ‘instrument’ (answering the questions of ‘what is the connection’ or ‘how/with what/with whom is something done) than to other uses of the English word ‘with.’ This instance of ‘with’ could be seen as showing something of an instrumental connection rather than Christ being the same or unified with the audience (though other places in scripture do discuss that idea). A longer phrase could be ‘because you are connected with Christ.’ Another way to see it, with the translation ‘within,’ is that having covered themselves over with Christ like clothing, they are all one body together within that Christ-outfit, and the things that allow in-out/us-them/better-worse kind of value judgments have been obscured and all that is evident is Christ. This way of understanding it borrows on Paul’s use of ‘put on/clothe oneself/cover oneself’ in Ephesians and Colossians.

^mm Literally, it is ‘if you Christ’ with ‘Christ’ in the genitive case, indicating something else in English needs to help show the relationship. The simplest word would be ‘of’ and some translations take that to mean ‘possessed by’ in this sentence. In context, ‘possessed by’ would have no connection to anything else being said. This seems to be a continuation of the image from the previous verses, that those who were submerged covered themselves over with Christ like a body covering itself with clothes, and that those who comprise the body of Christ are Abraham’s seed, since Christ is Abraham’s seed, and they are Christ’s body.

ⁿⁿ See Galatians 3:16