Who Were the Galatians?

Hi friends!

I'm trying to perform a study about who were exactly the addressees of this book (Galatians), preferably messianic standpoint. I already consulted sources such as Anchor Yale Bible, Introduction to Galatians, (LeRoy Lawson), and The Jerome Biblical Commentary (Spanish version). I try to determine if there is evidence that it was a Jewish community of converts. Thanks in advance!

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Mark Smith

Roger, I think we can reasonably eliminate the idea the Galatian Christians were primarily of Jewish background. Why? Because the false gospel being promoted in Galatia had at least the demand for circumcision in its teaching. Why preach circumcision to the circumcised? If the Galatian churches were those in Roman political Galatia they could well have been those in Iconium, Antioch, and Derby. If so, those congregations had both Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Josh

David Paul

Hi Roger, I consider myself a Messianic disciple of Yeishuu`a, but I don't necessarily swim in the same stream that most Messianics do in terms of Bible interpretation. I am aware of 2-3 main perspectives regarding Galatians that most Messianics adhere to, which are all different in some fairly significant ways. Frankly, I don't agree with any of them. Regarding the make-up of Paul's "audience", I think Mark is correct. They were primarily Gentile, although there certainly could have been some God-fearers, such as Cornelius, or even full covenantal converts in the congregation. Obviously, anytime someone is speaking generally, one must omit or ignore the few exceptions to the majority. I think many Messianics find themselves in situations where they have to find explanations for things they feel are true even when the evidence doesn't point in that direction. Not coincidentally, I find that most non-Messianics find themselves pretty much in that same boat, just paddling in the opposite direction.

Mark Barnes

Frankly, I don't agree with any of them.

Really?? I'm shocked. [6] [:P]

Mark Barnes

I'm trying to perform a study about who were exactly the addressees of this book (Galatians),

The best way to do this is to create a collection of Galatian commentaries (use the rule type:commentary subject:galatians), and search that collection for the audience OR recipient OR addressed, with Match All Word Forms turned on.

You might want to view the search By Title to make it easier to find the correct section in each resource (particularly as it will probably be near the beginning). You could then use CTRL+F to search for "Jewish" if you want.

Here's what I found in five minutes:

the apostle assumes that those addressed have sufficient knowledge of the Old Testament to follow his reasoning, even including that of Gal. 4:21–31. Does not this fact rather point in the direction of the presence of at least some Jews among the addressed and of considerable Jewish influence even in these predominantly Gentile congregations? (Hendriksen)
even on the latter alternative (Galatia as the Roman province) a description of the recipients as ‘Galatians’ almost certainly implies that non-Jews were in view (as 4:8 confirms—‘you did not know God and were in slavery to beings that by nature are no gods’). (Dunn)
Most of the converts were Gentiles (2:5, 4:8, 5:2, 6:12, and the subject of the Epistle), but some were Jews (3:27–29) and many must have been well acquainted with Jewish modes of exposition (4:22–31). (A Lukyn Williams)

EDUARDO JIMENEZ

Thanks Mark.

Precisely the requirement of circumcision is evidence to the contrary. When Paul says, "Even those who are circumcised don’t obey the law. (Gal 6:13)", refers to the fact of convert through the rite of circumcision. Those born Jews are circumcised on the eighth day.
And yes, some argue that the target audience are those churches you mentioned.

And remember, the teaching came from Judaea: "And certain men came down from Judaea and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised..." (Act 15:1)

Interesting what Anchor Yale Bible Dict says:

Galatians, Epistole to the

(...)

Lütgert (1919) assumed that Paul fought on two fronts, against law-observant Judaists and against libertine enthusiasts (“pneumatics”); the evidence for the latter, however, came largely from 1 Corinthians. Schmithals (for bibliography, see Betz Galatians Hermeneia 7, n. 46; Schmithals 1983a: 27–58; 1983b: 111–13) took the opponents to be Jewish-Christian gnostics who for magical reasons were interested in Jewish rituals but not in the Torah as a whole. Other scholars opted for other syncretistic combinations of Christian, Jewish, gentile, and gnostic elements. Galatians, however, shows no evidence of gnosticism, and one must not supply it from other Pauline letters or later sources. At present, there is a growing consensus that Paul’s opponents were rival Jewish-Christian missionaries opposed to the Pauline mission. For them, the Christian Church was an extension of the Jewish religion, so that joining the Church required conversion to Judaism with mandatory observance of the Torah and submission to circumcision. Jewett (1970–71: 198–212) pointed out their connection with Palestinian Judaism, both Christian and non-Christian. A further question is whether James (2:12) was in fact behind the agitators(see Lüdemann 1983a: 64–66).

Mark Barnes

You missed out the most important bit of Gal 6:13. Surely "they desire to have you circumcised" means most of the recipients weren't Jews.

David Paul

Frankly, I don't agree with any of them.

Really?? I'm shocked.

Yeah, I know, big surprise there. [8-)] One day I will get around to explaining what the "boat" is that both sides are paddling in opposite directions, but not here on the forums. Both sides (Messianic and Non-messianic) have big differences of perspective, but they pivot on the same fundamental concept. Problem is, the pivot IS the problem. And prophecy couldn't be clearer if it just came right out and said it...pretty much because it does come right out and says it.

David Paul

Precisely the requirement of circumcision is evidence to the contrary. When Paul says, "Even those who are circumcised don’t obey the law. (Gal 6:13)", refers to the fact of convert through the rite of circumcision. Those born Jews are circumcised on the eighth day.

Not to be confrontational, but if you aren't engaging in eisegesis, you are certainly kissing it squarely on the lips. You seem to be clearly insisting that "those who are circumcised" can't refer to ethnic Jews because they "are circumcised on the eighth day." There is nothing about "those who are circumcised" that must refer (as you say) "to the fact of convert through the rite of circumcision." The phrase "those who are circumcised" can easily refer to either and both the ethnic 8th-day circumcised & the adult-conversion circumcised. Nothing about that phrase allows for making a distinction between the two groups.

You missed out the most important bit of Gal 6:13. Surely "they desire to have you circumcised" means most of the recipients weren't Jews.

[Y]

EDUARDO JIMENEZ

Dear friends, the idea was not to start an argument. I still want to know if anyone has rabbinic sources (messianic) on the subject.

Something that seems clear is that the issue of Paul (Acts 15, Galatians and other references), is that we (non Jews) come to the Kingdom not by flesh (circumcision), but by faith (in the spirit). Still Paul circumcised Timothy, not Titus, and the main topic at the Council of Jerusalem, is do not impose to the new converts with a heavy yoke (which is not the Torah, Paul says it is pure and holy), Thanks for the help.