Galatians 1:14

Galatians 1:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
• New International Version (NIV)I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

Context of Galatians 1:14

12Nobody on earth gave it to me. Nobody taught it to me. No, it was Jesus Christ himself who showed it to me clearly. 13You know about the things that I did before, when I obeyed the Jewish rules. I caused very much trouble against God's church. I tried to destroy those people completely. I obeyed the Jewish rules better than many other Jews who were my friends. I tried very much to obey the ideas that our Jewish ancestors taught. 15But God had chosen me to serve him even before I was born. He chose me to be his servant because he is very kind. 16He decided to show his Son clearly to me, so that I could tell the Gentiles about him. When God chose me to do that, I did not talk about it with any person.

Galatians 1:14 word by word

καὶ προέκοπτον ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ ὑπὲρ πολλοὺς συνηλικιώτας ἐν τῷ γένει μου περισσοτέρως ζηλωτὴς ὑπάρχων τῶν πατρικῶν μου παραδόσεων.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• profitedπροκόπτωprokoptō · to advanceG4298
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the Jews’ religionὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the Jews’ religionἸουδαϊσμόςIoudaismos · JudaismG2454
• aboveὑπέρhuper · above/forG5228
• manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• my equalsσυνηλικιώτηςsunēlikiōtēs · contemporaryG4915
• mine ownἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• nationγένοςgenos · family: descendantG1085
• beingὑπάρχωhuparchō · be alreadyG5225
• more exceedinglyπερισσῶςperissōs · excessivelyG4057
• zealousζηλωτήςzēlōtēs · zealotG2207
• of the traditionsπατρικόςpatrikos · paternalG3967
• fathersπαράδοσιςparadosis · traditionG3862

Cross-references for Galatians 1:14

• Isaiah 29:13The Lord God says, ‘These people open their mouths to worship me. They use their lips to say that I am great. But they are not really thinking about me. When they worship me, they use rules that people have taught them.
• Isaiah 57:12Now I will speak against the things that you do. You think that they are good and right, but those things will not help you.
• Acts 22:3‘I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in the region of Cilicia. I lived here in Jerusalem when I was a boy. I studied God's Law for many years and Gamaliel was my teacher. I learned very well how to obey the laws of our ancestors. I tried to obey God as carefully as all of you do today.
• Acts 26:5So they have known me for a long time. They could tell you that I always obeyed our Jewish laws. They know that I was a Pharisee. I carefully obeyed God's Law, as a Pharisee does. But maybe they do not want to tell you all that.
• Philippians 3:4For myself, I could have trusted those human ideas. Perhaps somebody may think that they could trust in those things to save them. Then I would have an even better reason to trust in them.
• Jeremiah 15:2They may ask you, “Where should we go?” Then tell them, “This is what the Lord says: Those who should become ill and die will die. Those who should die in war will die in war. Those who should die from famine will die from famine. Those who should go away as prisoners will go away as prisoners.”
• Matthew 15:2They said, ‘Our leaders in past times taught us the right way to do everything. But your disciples do not obey the things that our leaders taught us. They do not wash their hands in the right way before they eat a meal. Why is that?’
• Mark 7:3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat food until they have washed their hands carefully. They do this because of what their leaders taught them.
• Colossians 2:8Be careful that you do not believe any false teachers. The ideas that they teach may seem clever. But they really want to deceive you. They are ideas that have come from the human minds of our ancestors. Or ideas that come from spirits that belong to this world. They are not the true message about Christ.
• 1 Peter 1:8You have never seen Jesus, but still you love him. You do not see him now, but you believe in him. As a result, you are very happy. There are no words to describe how happy you are.

Commentaries on Galatians 1:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14And profited in the Jews' religion - The apostle does not mean that he became more exemplary in the love and practice of the pure law of God than any of his countrymen, but that he was more profoundly skilled in the traditions of the fathers than most of his fellow students were, or, as the word may mean his contemporaries.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14And profited - Made advances and attainments. Paul made advances not only in the knowledge of the Jewish religion, but he also surpassed others in his zeal in defending its interests. He had had better advantages than most of his countrymen; and by his great zeal and characteristic ardor he had been able to make higher attainments than most others had done. Above many my equals - Margin, Equal in years. This is the true sense of the original. It means…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-14Verses 10-14 In preaching the gospel, the apostle sought to bring persons to the obedience, not of men, but of God. But Paul would not attempt to alter the doctrine of Christ, either to gain their favour, or to avoid their fury. In so important a matter we must not fear the frowns of men, nor seek their favour, by using words of men's wisdom. Concerning the manner wherein he received the gospel, he had it by revelation from Heaven. He was not led to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14zealous for the traditions of my fathers: Paul was very passionate about following the Jewish religious traditions he learned from his ancestors (see Mark 7:6–13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. profited--Greek, "I was becoming a proficient"; "I made progress." above--beyond. my equals--Greek, "Of mine own age, among my countrymen." traditions of my fathers--namely, those of the Pharisees, Paul being "a Pharisee, and son of a Pharisee" (Ac 23:6; 26:5). "MY fathers," shows that it is not to be understood generally of the traditions of the nation.Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 1:14

• Bigotry
• Ignorance
• Paul
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Equal
• Faith
• Tradition
• Christianity
• Countryman
• Criticism of the Bible
• Discrepancies, Biblical
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Jew, Jewess, Jewish
• Laodiceans, Epistle to the

Commentaries on Galatians 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings