the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
soweth
σπείρωνspeirōn
G4687
to scatter · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
to
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
his
ἑαυτοῦhe'autou
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
flesh
σάρκαsarka
G4561
flesh (as stripped of the skin) · noun — accusative singular feminine
shall
θερίσειtherisei
G2325
to harvest · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
flesh
σαρκὸςsarkos
G4561
flesh (as stripped of the skin) · noun — genitive singular feminine
reap
θερίσειtherisei
G2325
to harvest · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
corruption
φθοράν,phthoran
G5356
decay · noun — accusative singular feminine
but
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
tha
τὴνtēn
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative singular feminine
soweth
σπείρωνspeirōn
G4687
to scatter · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
to
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Spirit
πνεῦμαpneuma
G4151
a current of air · noun — accusative singular neuter
shall
θερίζωtherízō
G2325
to harvest
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
Spirit
πνεύματοςpneumatos
G4151
a current of air · noun — genitive singular neuter
reap
θερίζωtherízō
G2325
to harvest
life
ζωὴνzōēn
G2222
life (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
everlasting
αἰώνιον.aiōnion
G166
perpetual (also used of past time · adjective — accusative singular feminine
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
Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in…
Hosea 10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude o…
Job 4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Romans 6:21-22 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Galatians 6:1-10
The apostle having, in the foregoing chapter, exhorted Christians by love to serve one another (Gal 6:13), and also cautioned us (Gal 6:16) against a temper which, if indulged, would hinder us from showing the mutual love and serviceableness which he had recommended, in the beginning of this chapter he proceeds to give some further directions, which, if duly observed, would both promote the one and prevent the other of these, and render our behaviour both more agreeable to our Christian profession and more useful and comfortable to one another: particularly,
I. We are here taught to deal tenderly with those who are overtaken in a fault, Gal 6:1. He puts a common case: If a man be overtaken i…
Translate, "He that soweth unto his own flesh," with a view to fulfilling its desires. He does not say, "His spirit," as he does say, "His flesh." For in ourselves we are not spiritual, but carnal. The flesh is devoted to selfishness.
corruption--that is, destruction (Phi 3:19). Compare as to the deliverance of believers from "corruption" (Rom 8:21). The use of the term "corruption" instead, implies that destruction is not an arbitrary punishment of fleshly-mindedness, but is its natural fruit; the corrupt flesh producing corruption, which is another word for destruction: corruption is the fault, and corruption the punishment (see on Co1 3:17; Pe2 2:12). Future life only expands the seed s…
He that soweth to his flesh - In like manner, he that sows to the flesh - who indulges his sensual and animal appetites, shall have corruption as the crop: you cannot expect to lead a bad life and go to heaven at last. According as your present life is, so will be your eternal life whether your sowing be to the flesh or to the Spirit, so will your eternal reaping be. To sow, here, means transacting the concerns of a man's natural life. To reap, signifies his enjoyment or punishment in another world. Probably by flesh and Spirit the apostle means Judaism and Christianity. Circumcision of the flesh was the principal rite of the former; circumcision in the heart, by the Spirit, the chief rite o…
The Church Fathers
To sow in the spirit is to serve righteousness from faith and with love and not to heed the desires of sin, even though they arise from mortal flesh.… When we are under grace, we sow in tears, when desires arise from our animal body, which we resist by not consenting, so that we may reap in joy. We reap when, by the reformation of our body, no vexation or peril of temptation comes to trouble us from any physical source.
"for the one who sows to his own flesh." What, then, does one sow in the flesh? Drunkenness, corruption, gluttony, wastefulness. Such a person, from the flesh, that is, on account of the defective flesh, will receive a punishment there. But "to his own flesh" means through the sins sown in the flesh. "But the one who sows to the Spirit." What does it mean to sow to the Holy Spirit? What else but almsgiving, and self-discipline, and every virtue? "will from the Spirit reap eternal life." For as the seeds of the flesh and of the spirit are different, so also is the harvest. There corruption, here eternal life.
All that we say, do or think is sown in two fields, the fallen nature and the Spirit. If what comes from our hand, mouth and heart is good, it is sown in the Spirit and will produce fruits of eternal life. If it is bad, when harvested from the field of the sin nature it will produce an unsavory crop of corruption for us.… It should be observed that to the one who sows in the flesh is given an additional term, "in his flesh." But the one who sows in the Spirit is said not to sow in his spirit but simply "in the Spirit." For the one who sows good things sows not in his own spirit but in God's, from whom he will also reap eternal life.
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
Cutting — The flesh in various ways was an idolatrous practice, a part of idol-worship (Deut. 14:1; 1 Kings 18:28). The Israelites were commanded not to imitate this practice (Lev. 19:28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1).…
Eternal life — This expression occurs in the Old Testament only in Dan. 12:2 (R.V., “everlasting life”). It occurs frequently in the New Testament (Matt. 7:14; 18:8, 9; Luke 10:28; comp. 18:18). It comprises the…
Carnal Mindedness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
For he that soweth to his flesh,.... Not that taking due care of a man's body, seeking the preservation of its health, providing proper food and raiment for himself, and all necessaries for the good and support of his family, is to be called sowing to his flesh, nor is he to be called a carnal sower; but he is such an one that pampers his flesh, gratifies and indulges the lusts of it, who minds the things of the flesh, lives after it, and does the works of it, who spends his substance in a luxurious way upon himself and family; or whose whole bent, and study, and employment, is to increase his worldly riches, to aggrandize himself and posterity, to the neglect of his own soul, the interest o…
Galatians 6:6-10
6. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
6. Coremunicet is, qui instituitur in sermone, cum doctore, in omnibus bonis.
7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
7. Ne erretis: Deus non subsannatur; quod enim seminaverit homo, hoc etiam metet.
8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
8. Nam qui seminat carni suae, ex carne metet corruptionem; qui autem seminat Spiritui, ex Spiritu metet vitam aeternam.
9. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we…
Living to please the Spirit is only possible in the Spirit’s power (3:3; 5:16). Those who trust in human effort and those who think they can do as they wish are in the same position: They live to satisfy their own sinful nature. Such people harvest decay and death. Those who live by the Spirit’s power and trust in God will harvest everlasting life.
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).
