New King James Version
Galatians 5:12
12I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
Galatians 5:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
- New International Version (NIV)As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
- English Standard Version (ESV)I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
- New Living Translation (NLT)I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
Context of Galatians 5:12
10I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! 13For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Read all of Galatians 5Galatians 5:12 word by word
ὄφελον καὶ ἀποκόψονται οἱ ἀναστατοῦντες ὑμᾶς.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 5:12
- Galatians 5:10I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
- Galatians 1:8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
- Genesis 17:14And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
- Exodus 12:15Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
- Exodus 30:33Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
- Leviticus 22:3Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.
- Joshua 7:12Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.
- John 9:34They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.
- Acts 5:5Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.
- 1 Corinthians 5:13But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
- Acts 15:1And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Commentaries on Galatians 5:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12I would they were even cut off which trouble you - This saying has puzzled many, and different interpretations of the place have been proposed by learned men. At first sight it seems as if the apostle was praying for the destruction of the false teachers who had perverted the Churches of Galatia. Mr. Wakefield thought might be translated, I wish that they were made to weep; and in his translation of the New Testament the passage stands thus: "I wish that…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12I would they were even cut off - That is, as I understand it, from the communion of the church. So far am I, says Paul, from agreeing with them, and preaching the necessity of circumcision as they do, that I sincerely wish they were excluded from the church as unworthy a place among the children of God. For a very singular and monstrous interpretation of this passage, though adopted by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Jerome, Grotius, Rosenmuller…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inquire what hinders them. The opinion or persuasion, ver. #(8), was…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12emasculate themselves (literally cut themselves off; compare Philippians 3:2): Paul uses strong words to criticize people who demanded circumcision (cutting off the foreskin from the male sex organ). Paul might refer to pagan priests in Galatia who castrated themselves (removed their testicles) for their gods. Insisting on circumcision for Christians is similar. It involved cutting the flesh to please God through physical actions instead of faith in…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. they ... which trouble you--Translate, as the Greek is different from Ga 5:10, "they who are unsettling you." were even cut off--even as they desire your foreskin to be cut off and cast away by circumcision, so would that they were even cut off from your communion, being worthless as a castaway foreskin (Ga 1:7, 8; compare Php 3:2). The fathers, Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, and Chrysostom, explain it, "Would that they would even cut themselves off,"…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 5:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Galatians 5
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries