Galatians 6:13

Galatians 6:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
• New International Version (NIV)Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

Context of Galatians 6:13

11Now I am writing these last words to you myself. You can see how large the letters are, when I write them with my own hand! 12Do not agree with those people who want to make you obey the Jewish rules. They say that you must let someone circumcise you. They want other people to think that they are important. They do not want to receive any trouble from others. They are afraid to teach that Christ's death on the cross is enough to save us. Even those men that someone has circumcised do not obey all the Jewish rules. They want to circumcise you only to make themselves seem important. They want to show that they have authority over your bodies. 14But I do not want to say any great things about myself. The only thing that makes me great is our Lord Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, it is like I have also died. The things that belong to this world have become dead to me, and I have become dead to them. 15It does not matter whether anyone has circumcised you or not. What matters is that God has made you a new person.

Galatians 6:13 word by word

οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ περιτεμνόμενοι αὐτοὶ νόμον φυλάσσουσιν, ἀλλὰ θέλουσιν ὑμᾶς περιτέμνεσθαι, ἵνα ἐν τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ σαρκὶ καυχήσωνται.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• neitherοὐδέoude · norG3761
• themselvesαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• are circumcisedπεριτέμνωperitemnō · to circumciseG4059
• keepφυλάσσωphulassō · to keep/guard: observeG5442
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• desireθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• youσύsu · youG4771
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• they may gloryκαυχάομαιkauchaomai · to boastG2744
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourὑμέτεροςhumeteros · yourG5212
• fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561

Cross-references for Galatians 6:13

• Matthew 23:3So you must obey everything that they teach you. But you should not do the same things that they do. They tell you what the Law of Moses teaches. But then they themselves do not obey it.
• Romans 2:17Do you say that you are a Jew? Maybe you trust in the Law that God gave to Moses. You are proud that you belong to God.
• Romans 3:9So then, what do we learn from that? We cannot say that we Jews are better than other people. No, certainly we cannot say that! I have said already that sin has power over everyone. That is true for both Jews and Gentiles.
• 2 Peter 2:19The false teachers tell these believers to do whatever they want to do. They promise that this will make them really free. But the false teachers themselves are not free. Instead, they are like slaves. They cannot stop doing the bad things that will destroy them. We know that if something has power over a person, then that person is its slave.
• 1 Corinthians 3:21Because of that, you should not be proud of any human leader. All leaders are there to serve you, as God's people.
• 1 Corinthians 5:6You should not be so proud of yourselves. Think about what yeast does in bread. A very small amount of yeast changes the whole loaf of bread.
• 2 Corinthians 11:18But many other people are using human ideas to praise themselves. So I will also do that.

Commentaries on Galatians 6:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Neither they themselves who are circumcised - They receive circumcision and profess Judaism, not from a desire to be conformed to the will of God; but Judaism was popular, and the more converts the false teachers could make; the more occasion of glorying they had, and they wished to get those Christian converts, who had been before proselytes of the gate, to receive circumcision, that they might glory in their flesh. Behold my converts! Thus they gloried…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13For neither they themselves who are circumcised - The Jewish teachers, or perhaps all Jews. It was true in general that the Jews did not wholly and entirely obey the Law of Moses, but it is probable that the apostle refers particularly here to the judaizing teachers in Galatia. Keep the law - The Law of Moses, or the Law of God. Paul‘s idea is, that if they were circumcised they brought themselves under obligation to keep the whole law of God; see the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-15Verses 12-15 Proud, vain, and carnal hearts, are content with just so much religion as will help to keep up a fair show. But the apostle professes his own faith, hope, and joy; and that his principal glory was in the cross of Christ. By which is here meant, his sufferings and death on the cross, the doctrine of salvation by a crucified Redeemer. By Christ, or by the cross of Christ, the world is crucified to the believer, and he to the world. The more we…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-13Despite their theological arguments, the false teachers were self-serving. They wanted approval from non-Christian Jews and cared more about their reputation than honoring God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Translate, "For not even do they who submit to circumcision, keep the law themselves (Ro 2:17-23), but they wish you (emphatical) to be circumcised," &c. They arbitrarily selected circumcision out of the whole law, as though observing it would stand instead of their non-observance of the rest of the law. that they may glory in your flesh--namely, in the outward change (opposed to an inward change wrought by the Spirit) which they have effected in…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 6:13

• Circumcision
• Hypocrisy

In the dictionaries

• Communicate
• Crucify
• Cutting
• Fault
• Overtake
• Reap
• Rejoicing
• Restore
• Galatians, Epistle to the

Commentaries on Galatians 6

• 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