New Living Translation
Galatians 5:12
12I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
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 King James Version (NKJV)I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
Context of Galatians 5:12
10I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. 11Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves. 13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “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 am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.
- Galatians 1:8Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.
- Genesis 17:14Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
- Exodus 12:15For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel.
- Exodus 30:33Anyone who makes a blend like it or anoints someone other than a priest will be cut off from the community.’”
- Leviticus 22:3Give them the following instructions. “In all future generations, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean when he approaches the sacred offerings that the people of Israel consecrate to the Lord, he must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.
- Joshua 7:12That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.
- John 9:34“You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
- Acts 5:5As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified.
- 1 Corinthians 5:13God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
- Acts 15:1While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law 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
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