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11 (A)And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.[a] 12 For, until some people came from James,[b] he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised.(B) 13 And the rest of the Jews[c] [also] acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.(C) 14 But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all,(D) “If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”[d]

Faith and Works.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. 2:11 Clearly was wrong: literally, “stood condemned,” by himself and also by Paul. His action in breaking table fellowship was especially grievous if the eating involved the meal at the Lord’s supper (cf. 1 Cor 11:17–25).
  2. 2:12 Some people came from James: strict Jewish Christians (cf. Acts 15:1, 5; 21:20–21), either sent by James (Gal 1:19; 2:9) or claiming to be from the leader of the Jerusalem church. The circumcised: presumably Jewish Christians, not Jews.
  3. 2:13 The Jews: Jewish Christians, like Barnabas. Hypocrisy: literally, “pretense,” “play-acting”; moral insincerity.
  4. 2:14 Compel the Gentiles to live like Jews: that is, conform to Jewish practices, such as circumcision (Gal 2:3–5) or regulations about food (Gal 2:12).
  5. 2:15–21 Following on the series of incidents cited above, Paul’s argument, whether spoken to Cephas at Antioch or only now articulated, is pertinent to the Galatian situation, where believers were having themselves circumcised (Gal 6:12–13) and obeying other aspects of Jewish law (Gal 4:9–10; 5:1–4). He insists that salvation is by faith in Christ, not by works of the law. His teaching on the gospel concerns justification by faith (Gal 2:16) in relation to sin (Gal 2:17), law (Gal 2:19), life in Christ (Gal 2:19–20), and grace (Gal 2:21).