Galatians 5:2

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Behold	εἴδω eídō	G1492	used only in certain past tenses
I	ἐγὼ egō	G1473	I · personal pronoun — 1st person nominative singular
Paul	Παῦλος Paulos	G3972	(little · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
say	λέγω legō	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
you	ὑμῖν hymîn	G5213	to (with or by) you
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
if	ἐὰν ean	G1437	a conditional particle · conditional particle
circumcised	περιτέμνησθε, peritemnēsthe	G4059	to cut around · verb — present passive subjunctive, 2nd person plural
Christ	Χριστὸς Christos	G5547	anointed · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
profit	ὠφελήσει· ōphelēsei	G5623	to be useful · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
you	ὑμᾶς hymâs	G5209	you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
nothing	οὐδὲν ouden	G3762	not even one (man · adjective — accusative singular neuter

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Acts 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be s…
Romans 9:31-32 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Galatians 2:3-5 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
Acts 16:3-4 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all t…
Romans 10:2-3 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Galatians 5:3-4 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Galatians 5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 5:1-12

In the former part of this chapter the apostle cautions the Galatians to take heed of the judaizing teachers, who endeavoured to bring them back under the bondage of the law. He had been arguing against them before, and had largely shown how contrary the principles and spirit of those teachers were to the spirit of the gospel; and now this is as it were the general inference or application of all that discourse. Since it appeared by what had been said that we can be justified only by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by the righteousness of the law, and that the law of Moses was no longer in force, nor Christians under any obligation to submit to it, therefore he would have them to stand fast i…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 5:2

Behold--that is, Mark what I say. I Paul--Though you now think less of my authority, I nevertheless give my name and personal authority as enough by itself to refute all opposition of adversaries. if ye be circumcised--not as ALFORD, "If you will go on being circumcised." Rather, "If ye suffer yourselves to be circumcised," namely, under the notion of its being necessary to justification (Gal 5:4; Act 15:1). Circumcision here is not regarded simply by itself (for, viewed as a mere national rite, it was practiced for conciliation's sake by Paul himself, Act 16:3), but as the symbol of Judaism and legalism in general. If this be necessary, then the Gospel of grace is at an end. If the latt…

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Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:2

If ye be circumcised - By circumcision you take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, and consequently profess to seek salvation by means of its observances; and therefore Christ can profit you nothing; for, by seeking justification by the works of the law, you renounce justification by faith in Christ.

John Gill on Galatians 5:2

Behold, I Paul say unto you,.... The apostle proceeds to give some reasons and arguments to enforce the above exhortation and dissuasion: the first of which is introduced with a note of attention, "behold"; what he was about to say being matter of great moment and importance; and also mentions himself by name, as the assertor of it; and that, either because his name was well known to them, and the rather because of his apostolical authority; and to show his full assurance of this matter, and his intrepidity, and that he was no ways ashamed of it, they might, if they pleased, say it to whomsoever they would, that Paul the apostle affirmed, that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you no…

The Church Fathers

His statement, "I, Paul, say to you," implies that the words are to be accepted not as Paul's alone but as God's.
— Jerome, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.2

Writing also to the Galatians, he inveighs against such men as observed and defend circumcision and the (Mosaic) law. Thus runs Hebion's heresy.
— Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics

The letter that he wrote to the Romans was addressed to believers from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.… But writing to the Galatians he argues differently, since they belonged not to the circumcision party but to the believing Gentiles.
— Jerome, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Galatians, The Epistle To The — was written by the apostle St. Paul not long after his journey through Galatia and Phrygia, (Acts 18:23) and probably in the early portion of his two-and-a-half-years stay at Ephesus, which…
Circumcision · Abrogated — Abrogated

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Galatians 5:2

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 5:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 5:2

Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:2

John Gill on Galatians 5:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Galatians 5:2

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 5:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 5:2

Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:2

John Gill on Galatians 5:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Galatians 5:1-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Galatians 5:2-6