Galatians 2:18

Galatians 2:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
• New International Version (NIV)If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

Context of Galatians 2:18

16But we know that we do not become right with God because we obey his Law. A person only becomes right with God when they believe in Jesus Christ. And we, as Jewish believers, have believed in Christ Jesus. We have become right with God because we trust in what Christ has done. It is not because we obey God's Law that he accepts us. Nobody becomes right with God only because they obey the rules in God's Law. 17So then, we Jews become right with God when we believe in Christ. That means that we no longer obey all the Jewish rules. But that does not mean that Christ causes us to do wrong things. Certainly, it does not mean that! Instead, I would really be doing something wrong if I tried to obey all those rules again. I would be building again something that I had destroyed. That would really be against God's Law. 19But God's Law showed me that I could never obey all its rules. So I became like a dead person, free from the authority of those rules. That means that I can now live to please God. 20Christ died on the cross on my behalf. It is like I died there with him. So I do not live my own life any more. Instead, Christ lives in me. The life that I live now in my body, I live because I trust what he has done for me. He has loved me so much that he died on my behalf.

Galatians 2:18 word by word

εἰ γὰρ ἃ κατέλυσα, ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ, παραβάτην ἐμαυτὸν συνιστάνω·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• I buildοἰκοδομέωoikodomeō · to buildG3618
• againπάλινpalin · againG3825
• the thingsοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• I destroyedκαταλύωkataluō · to destroy/lodgeG2647
• I makeσυνίστημι, συνιστάωsunistaō sunistanō sunistēmi · to commendG4921
• myselfἐμαυτοῦemautou emautō emauton · myselfG1683
• a transgressorπαραβάτηςparabatēs · transgresorG3848

Cross-references for Galatians 2:18

• Galatians 2:4But some men did want us to obey all the Jewish rules. Those men came secretly among our group. They said that they were believers, but they were not really true believers. They wanted to see how we lived as believers. They wanted to know how Christ Jesus has made us free from the Jewish rules. They wanted to make us slaves to those rules.
• Galatians 4:9But now you do know God. Or really, I should say that God knows you. So you must not turn back to serve those weak spirits that rule this world. Why do you want to obey their useless rules and become their slaves again?
• Galatians 5:11My Christian friends, do you think that I still teach that someone must circumcise believers? If I really taught that, then I would not still receive trouble from people. What I teach about Christ's death on the cross would not cause anyone to become angry.
• Romans 14:15You should not cause another believer to be sad because of what you eat. If you do make him sad, then you are not really loving him. Remember that Christ died on behalf of that person. So do not let your food make him turn away from God.
• 1 Corinthians 8:11Because you understand properly, you are hurting someone who does not understand so well. In that way, the life of your Christian friend has become completely spoiled. Remember that Christ died to save that friend.

Commentaries on Galatians 2:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18For if I build again the things which I destroyed - If I act like a Jew, and enjoin the observance of the law on the Gentiles, which I have repeatedly asserted and proved to be abolished by the death of Christ, then I build up what I destroyed, and thus make myself a transgressor, by not observing the law in that way in which I appear to enjoin the observance of it upon others.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18For if I build again the things which I destroyed - Paul here uses the first person; but he evidently intends it as a general proposition, and means that if anyone does it he becomes a transgressor. The sense is, that if a man, having removed or destroyed that which was evil, again introduces it or establishes it, he does wrong, and is a transgressor of the Law of God. The particular application here, as it seems to me, is to the subject of circumcision…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-19Verses 15-19 Paul, having thus shown he was not inferior to any apostle, not to Peter himself, speaks of the great foundation doctrine of the gospel. For what did we believe in Christ? Was it not that we might be justified by the faith of Christ? If so, is it not foolish to go back to the law, and to expect to be justified by the merit of moral works, or sacrifices, or ceremonies? The occasion of this declaration doubtless arose from the ceremonial law…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18I prove myself to be a lawbreaker: Abandoning faith and returning to the law places a person under the law's authority, where everyone faces God’s judgment (Romans 3:10–12, 23–24; see Hebrews 6:1–8). This act is a serious sin against Christ (Galatians 5:2–4; compare Hebrews 6:4–6). See also study note on 2:19. If I rebuild: This refers to insisting on following Jewish laws about food and circumcision (Galatians 2:11–13). When Jesus died on the cross, he…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Greek, "For if the things which I overthrew (by the faith of Christ), those very things I build up again (namely, legal righteousness, by subjecting myself to the law), I prove myself (literally, 'I commend myself') a transgressor." Instead of commending yourself as you sought to do (Ga 2:12, end), you merely commend yourself as a transgressor. The "I" is intended by Paul for Peter to take to himself, as it is his case, not Paul's own, that is…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 2:18

• Justification

In the dictionaries

• Add
• Blame
• Bondage
• Conference
• Crucify
• Forward
• Live
• Pillar
• Remember
• Withstand

Commentaries on Galatians 2

• 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