Those who want to make a good impression outwardlyThis phrase refers to individuals who are more concerned with external appearances and human approval than with genuine spiritual transformation. In the context of Galatians, these individuals are likely the Judaizers, who were advocating for adherence to Jewish customs, such as circumcision, as necessary for salvation. This reflects a broader biblical theme where God emphasizes the importance of the heart over outward appearances, as seen in
1 Samuel 16:7, where God tells Samuel that He looks at the heart rather than outward appearances.
are trying to compel you to be circumcised.
Circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham (Genesis 17:10-14) and became a central practice in Jewish identity. In the early church, there was significant debate over whether Gentile converts needed to adopt Jewish customs, including circumcision, to be true followers of Christ. The Jerusalem Council inActs 15 addressed this issue, ultimately deciding that Gentile believers were not required to be circumcised. Paul's letter to the Galatians strongly argues against the necessity of circumcision for salvation, emphasizing faith in Christ alone (Galatians 5:6).
They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ.
The cross of Christ represents the core of the Christian gospel, emphasizing salvation through faith in Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. For early Christians, the cross was a symbol of shame and suffering, as crucifixion was a brutal form of Roman execution. By insisting on circumcision, the Judaizers were attempting to align Christianity more closely with Judaism, which was a legally recognized religion in the Roman Empire, thereby avoiding the persecution associated with the distinct and radical message of the cross. This reflects a broader biblical theme of suffering for the sake of Christ, as seen in passages like2 Timothy 3:12, which states that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will face persecution.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Paul the ApostleThe author of the letter to the Galatians, addressing issues of legalism and the true gospel.
2.
GalatiansThe recipients of the letter, a group of early Christians in the region of Galatia who were being influenced by Judaizers.
3.
JudaizersA group of Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentile converts must adhere to Jewish law, including circumcision, to be truly saved.
4.
Cross of ChristCentral to Paul's message, representing the sacrifice of Jesus and the basis of salvation by faith, not by works.
5.
CircumcisionA physical act required by Jewish law, symbolizing the old covenant, which some were wrongly insisting was necessary for salvation.
Teaching Points
Outward Appearance vs. Inward FaithThe focus on outward religious acts, like circumcision, can detract from the true essence of faith in Christ. Believers should prioritize internal transformation over external conformity.
Avoiding PersecutionThe desire to avoid persecution can lead to compromising the gospel. Christians are called to stand firm in their faith, even when it leads to suffering or opposition.
The Sufficiency of the CrossThe cross of Christ is sufficient for salvation. Adding requirements like circumcision undermines the grace of God and the finished work of Jesus.
Legalism vs. GraceLegalism imposes human standards and rituals as necessary for salvation, while grace offers freedom through faith in Christ. Believers should embrace the liberty found in the gospel.
Courage in FaithStanding for the truth of the gospel requires courage. Believers should seek strength from the Holy Spirit to resist pressures to conform to false teachings.
Lists and Questions
Top 10 Lessons from Galatians 6
What is the significance of circumcision in the Bible?
What defines being part of God's people?
Does the call to 'do good to all people' (Galatians 6:10) conflict with other biblical passages that focus primarily on serving fellow believers?
How does prayer influence personal and spiritual growth?(12)
To make a fair shew in the flesh.--To obtain a reputation for religiousness in externals, like the hypocrites, who "love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men" (
Matthew 6:5). The object of the Judaisers was by this means to keep in with their countrymen, the Jews, and even to gain favour amongst them by seeming to win over proselytes to the Mosaic law.
Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.--What aroused the antagonism of the Jews against the Christians was evidently not so much the confession of the Messiahship of Jesus as the declared abolition of the Law of Moses. By suppressing this side of Christian teaching, the Judaisers could easily obtain toleration for their other tenets. If, on the other hand, they were to emphasise it, the full weight of persecution would fall upon them--its ostensible ground being the doctrine of a crucified Messiah. Accordingly, they persuaded as many of the Galatians as they could to accept circumcision, and made the most of this propagandist zeal to their Jewish neighbours.
Verse 12. -
As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh (
ὅσοι θελουσινεὐπροσωπῆσαι ἐν σαρκί);
all those who wish to make a fair show in the flesh. In this verse and the next the apostle singles out for especial animadversion certain Christians, Galatian Christians no doubt, who were actuated by the aim of standing fair with the religious world of Judaism. They were Gentile Christians and not Jews; this appears from their not themselves wishing to keep the Law; for if they had been Jews, the external observance of the Law, being natural to them from their infancy, would have been with them a matter of course: St. Paul himself would probably not have urged them to relinquish it. The verb
εὐπροσωπεῖν is not found by the critics in any earlier Greek writer, though the adjective
εὐπρόσωπος, fair-faced, is used of "specious" answers in Herodotus (7:168), and "specious words" conjoined with "fables" in Demosthenes ('De Corinthians,' p. 277). Aristophanes uses the word
σεμνοπροσωπεῖν ('Nub.,' 362) to "
carry a solemn and worshipful face." The notion of falsity, plainly hinted by
εὐπροσωπῆσαι, reminds us, Bishop Lightfoot observes, of our Lord's words respecting whited sepulchres, which "outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly," etc. (
Matthew 23:27). Compare the use of
πρόσωπον, face, in
2 Corinthians 5:12, "
glory in
appearance, and not in heart." As the aorist of verbs denoting a certain state frequently expresses an entrance upon such a state (see
ζήσω above,
Galatians 2:19 and note), it probably is intimated that the persons referred to were conscious that their "
outward appearance" was hitherto not acceptable to Jewish minds, but that they now were desirous of making it so. Time had been when they did not care so much about it. "In the flesh." This word "flesh" not unfrequently designates men's condition as unmodified by the Spirit of God; as when the apostle speaks of "
being in the flesh" (
Romans 7:5;
Romans 8:8, 9): thence also circumstances or relations pertaining to this unspiritual condition, as in
Philippians 3:3, 4; where the apostle speaks of "having confidence in the flesh," and goes on, in vers. 5, 6, to enumerate some of those circumstances or relations. Thus, again, in
Ephesians 2:11, "ye, the Gentiles in the flesh," that is, who in that state of things in which men lived before the spiritual economy intervened, were the "uncircumcision (
ἀκροβυσρία)," while the Jews were the "
circumcision." But as the distinction between these two classes was signalized by an external corporeal mark, the apostle in that passage immediately after uses the expression, "in the flesh," in a varied sense, with reference to this latter, "that which is called circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands." With similar variation of meaning the word "
flesh" is used here. The Christians spoken of, losing sight of the cross of Christ and the Spirit's work, were becoming possessed by feelings belonging to the old "
carnal" relations between Jews and Gentiles, and so were making it their ambition to figure with advantage in the eyes of the circumcision, as well as to escape their enmity. And then, as in the passage just referred to (
Ephesians 2:11), the apostle passes from this sense of the phrase, "in the flesh," to another relating to corporeal flesh; for this he does in the next verse, in the words, "that they may glory in your flesh."
They constrain you to be circumcised (
οϋτοι ἀναγκάζουσινὑμᾶς περιτέμνεσθαι);
these compel you to be circumcised. "Compel;" the same verb as was used above (
Galatians 2:14) of St. Peter's attitude towards the Gentile believers at Antioch.
As here applied,
it means "
advise," "
urge," argue for it as right and necessary for salvation, insist upon it as a condition of friendship. "These;" not, perhaps, meaning "
these only," "
none but these;" it appears enough to suppose that the apostle, from definite information which he had received, was persuaded that some of those who took the lead in urging onward the Judaizing movement were led to join in it by the cowardly motives here described. With indignant scorn, he says," As surely as a man wants to stand well with the world, so surely will he be found with these circumcisers."
Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ (
μόνονἵνα τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Ξριστοῦ μὴ διώκωνται [Textus Receptus,
μόνον ἵνα μὴ τῷ σταυρῷτοῦ Ξριστοῦ διώκωνται]);
only that they may not by means of the cross of Christ suffer persecution. "Only that;" that is, for no other reason than that. The
μὴ is thrust out of its proper position in the sentence (which is that assigned to it in the Textus Receptus) by the fervent of the writer's feelings. To himself the cross of Christ seemed the centre of all glory and blessedness; to be connected with it he would be well pleased to suffer martyrdom; but these men could be well content to shelve it out of sight, and, in fact, were doing so; and what for? because the Jews did not like it, and they did not wish to get into trouble by offending
them! A grand disdain prompts the apostle, at the cost of impairing the smooth run of the sentence, to (as it were) balance against each other the "cross of Christ" and "not being persecuted." The construction of the dative to express "by means of," that by which a certain result is brought about, is not very common; but we have it in
Romans 11:20,
τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ἐξεκλάσθησαν and ibid., 30,
ἠλεήθητε τῇ τούτωνἀπιστίᾳ:
2 Corinthians 2:12,
τῷ μὴ εὑρεῖν. Our attention is in this passage again drawn to the manner in which the Jews regarded "the word of the cross" (
1 Corinthians 1:18), as that "word" was unfolded by St. Paul and received by his disciples among the Gentiles. The great point of offence (
σκάνδαλον) in the apostle's teaching respecting it lay in his presenting its pollution in the view of the Law, as inferring the abrogation of the ceremonial institute itself. On this account the Jews could not abide him nor those who attached themselves to him as their teacher, though in a degree able to put up with Christians not anti-Judaists. To the Galatians he had presented "Christ crucified" (
Galatians 3:1) as
he saw him to be, and they had accepted the doctrine. But now some, at least, of them were beginning to feel uneasy at observing how the Jews in their neighbourhood regarded Paul and those who attached themselves closely to Paul. Had not the Jews (they felt) high claims to consideration? Were they not the original depositaries of the oracles of God? Was not their religion venerable for its antiquity, magnificent in its temple and ritual, and in origin Divine? To these new converts from the gross spiritual darkness and degradation of heathenism, some of them, perhaps, drawn from it originally by the teaching of non-Christian Jews, the adherents to the ancient faith would naturally appear entitled to high respect - respect which they themselves were also not backward in claiming (see
Romans 2:19, 20). When the personal influence exercised upon their minds by the holy love and fervour of the apostle had through his absence begun to wane, they also, we may imagine, began to get disheartened, by feeling that their Christian discipleship was viewed with disfavour by their Jewish neighbours, by reason of its Pauline complexion; that on this account the Jews looked upon themselves, though worshippers of the same God, as unworthy of notice; nay, were even disposed to point them out to the surrounding heathens, only too willing to follow up the hint, as proper objects of contempt and ill usage (see for illustration,
Acts 13;
Acts 14:22;
Acts 17;
Acts 18;
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16). And herewith we have to bear in mind also that Judaism was in Roman jurisprudence treated as a tolerated religion (
religio licita); and that, as long as Christians were regarded as belonging to a sect or branch of Judaism, they might seem to be entitled, in the eyes of Roman law, to the same toleration as the Jews themselves enjoyed. But if the Jews cast them off or disowned them they might forfeit such immunity, and become liable to be treated, not only by mobs, but by the Roman law itself, as offenders. The persons, then, here censured by the apostle may be supposed to have pursued the course they did with the idea that, by making themselves acceptable to the Jews through the adoption to a limited extent of Jewish ceremonies, and especially through the acceptance in their own person and the urging upon others of circumcision, they would relieve themselves of "the offence of the cross" (ch. 5:4). Without ceasing to be Christians, they would wipe themselves clear of the odium which with the Jews attached to Paul and those who held with Paul. Such seems to be the situation to which St. Paul's words allude. Bishop Lightfoot interprets it somewhat differently.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Those whoὍσοι(Hosoi)Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3745:How much, how great, how many, as great as, as much. By reduplication from hos; as As.wantθέλουσιν(thelousin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2309:To will, wish, desire, be willing, intend, design.to make a good impressionεὐπροσωπῆσαι(euprosōpēsai)Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 2146:From a compound of eu and prosopon; to be of good countenance, i.e. to make a display.outwardlyσαρκί(sarki)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4561:Flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred.are trying to compelἀναγκάζουσιν(anankazousin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 315:To force, compel, constrain, urge. From anagke; to necessitate.youὑμᾶς(hymas)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771:You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.to be circumcised.περιτέμνεσθαι(peritemnesthai)Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive
Strong's 4059:To cut around, circumcise. From peri and the base of tomoteros; to cut around, i.e. to circumcise.[They] only [ do this ]μόνον(monon)Adverb
Strong's 3440:Alone, but, only. Neuter of monos as adverb; merely.toἵνα(hina)Conjunction
Strong's 2443:In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.avoidμὴ(mē)Adverb
Strong's 3361:Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.persecutionδιώκωνται(diōkōntai)Verb - Present Subjunctive Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1377:To pursue, hence: I persecute. A prolonged form of a primary verb dio; to pursue; by implication, to persecute.for theτῷ(tō)Article - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.crossσταυρῷ(staurō)Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4716:A cross.of Christ.Χριστοῦ(Christou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547:Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.
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NT Letters: Galatians 6:12 As many as desire to look good (Gal. Ga) 
