New Living Translation
Galatians 2:15
15“You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles.
Galatians 2:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
- New International Version (NIV)“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles
- English Standard Version (ESV)We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
- New King James Version (NKJV)We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Context of Galatians 2:15
13As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” 17But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!
Read all of Galatians 2Galatians 2:15 word by word
ἡμεῖς φύσει Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἁμαρτωλοί·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 2:15
- Matthew 3:7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?
- John 8:39“Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.
- Romans 4:16So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
- Ephesians 2:3All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
- Matthew 9:11But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
- Mark 7:26and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia,
- Acts 22:21“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”
- Romans 3:9Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.
- Ephesians 2:11Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
Commentaries on Galatians 2:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15We who are Jews by nature - We who belong to the Jewish nation - who have been born, bred, and educated Jews. And not sinners of the Gentiles - ̔· Not without the knowledge of God, as they have been. ̔ often signifies a heathen, merely one who had no knowledge of the true God. But among the nations or Gentiles many Jews sojourned; who in Scripture are known by the name of Hellenists, and these were distinguished from those who were termed ̔, sinners of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15We who are Jews by nature - It has long been a question whether this and the following verses are to be regarded as a part of the address of Paul to Peter, or the words of Paul as a part of the Epistle to the Galatians. A great variety of opinion has prevailed in regard to this. Grotius says, “Here the narrative of Paul being closed, he pursues his argument to the Galatians.” In this opinion Bloomfield and many others concur. Rosenmuller and many others…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. 15Gentiles were considered "sinners" because they did not have the law and could not obey God's commands. Paul used Jewish thinking categories (compare Matthew 15:21–28; 26:45; Luke 6:32–34; 18:9–14) with strong irony, emphasizing that everyone is sinful (Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:23).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-1615-16. Connect these verses together, and read with most of the oldest manuscripts "But" in the beginning of Ga 2:16: "We (I and thou, Peter) by nature (not by proselytism), Jews, and not sinners as (Jewish language termed the Gentiles) from among the Gentiles, YET (literally, 'BUT') knowing that ... even we (resuming the 'we' of Ga 2:15, 'we also,' as well as the Gentile sinners; casting away trust in the law), have believed," &c.Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 2:15
In the dictionaries
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
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