15 and when God was well pleased -- having separated me from the womb of my mother, and having called `me' through His grace --
And I give thanks to him who enabled me -- Christ Jesus our Lord -- that he did reckon me stedfast, having put `me' to the ministration, who before was speaking evil, and persecuting, and insulting, but I found kindness, because, being ignorant, I did `it' in unbelief, and exceedingly abound did the grace of our Lord, with faith and love that `is' in Christ Jesus:
And we -- we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, that God did choose you from the beginning to salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, to which He did call you through our good news, to the acquiring of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ;
`Not because of your being more numerous than any of the peoples hath Jehovah delighted in you, and fixeth on you, for ye `are' the least of all the peoples, but because of Jehovah's loving you, and because of His keeping the oath which He hath sworn to your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out by a strong hand, and doth ransom you from a house of servants, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
and he said, The God of our fathers did choose thee beforehand to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of his mouth, because thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard;
for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother's womb; and many of the sons of Israel he shall turn to the Lord their God,
`And Jehovah, God of Israel, doth fix on me out of all the house of my father to be for king over Israel to the age, for on Judah He hath fixed for a leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, on me, `me' He hath been pleased to make king over all Israel; and out of all my sons -- for many sons hath Jehovah given to me -- He also fixeth on Solomon my son, to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Galatians 1
Commentary on Galatians 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 1
In this chapter, after the preface or introduction (v. 1-5), the apostle severely reproves these churches for their defection from the faith (v. 6-9), and then proves his own apostleship, which his enemies had brought them to question,
Gal 1:1-5
In these verses we have the preface or introduction to the epistle, where observe,
The apostle, having thus taken notice of the great love wherewith Christ hath loved us, concludes this preface with a solemn ascription of praise and glory to him (v. 5): To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Intimating that on this account he is justly entitled to our highest esteem and regard. Or this doxology may be considered as referring both to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom he had just before been wishing grace and peace. They are both the proper objects of our worship and adoration, and all honour and glory are perpetually due to them, both on account of their own infinite excellences, and also on account of the blessings we receive from them.
Gal 1:6-9
Here the apostle comes to the body of the epistle; and he begins it with a more general reproof of these churches for their unsteadiness in the faith, which he afterwards, in some following parts of it, enlarges more upon. Here we may observe,
Gal 1:10-24
What Paul had said more generally, in the preface of this epistle, he now proceeds more particularly to enlarge upon. There he had declared himself to be an apostle of Christ; and here he comes more directly to support his claim to that character and office. There were some in the churches of Galatia who were prevailed with to call this in question; for those who preached up the ceremonial law did all they could to lessen Paul's reputation, who preached the pure gospel of Christ to the Gentiles: and therefore he here sets himself to prove the divinity both of his mission and doctrine, that thereby he might wipe off the aspersions which his enemies had cast upon him, and recover these Christians into a better opinion of the gospel he had preached to them. This he gives sufficient evidence of,