New Living Translation
Galatians 5:2
2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Galatians 5:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
- New International Version (NIV)Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
Context of Galatians 5:2
1So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
Read all of Galatians 5Galatians 5:2 word by word
Ἴδε ἐγὼ Παῦλος λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν περιτέμνησθε, Χριστὸς ὑμᾶς οὐδὲν ὠφελήσει·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Beholdὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
- Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- PaulΠαῦλοςPaulos · PaulG3972
- sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- unto youσύsu · youG4771
- thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
- ifἐάνean · ifG1437
- ye be circumcisedπεριτέμνωperitemnō · to circumciseG4059
- ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
- shall profitὠφελέωōpheleō · to helpG5623
- nothingοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
Cross-references for Galatians 5:2
- 1 Corinthians 16:21Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul.
- 2 Corinthians 10:1Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ—though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:18We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.
- Philemon 1:9But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me—Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 5:4For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
- Galatians 2:3And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.
- 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.”
- Acts 16:3so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.
- Romans 9:31But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.
- Romans 10:2I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.
- Hebrews 4:2For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.
Commentaries on Galatians 5:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2If ye be circumcised - By circumcision you take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, and consequently profess to seek salvation by means of its observances; and therefore Christ can profit you nothing; for, by seeking justification by the works of the law, you renounce justification by faith in Christ.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Behold, I Paul say unto you - I, who at first preached the gospel to you; I, too, who have been circumcised, and who was formerly a strenuous assertor of the necessity of observing the laws of Moses; and I, too, who am charged (see Galatians 5:11) with still preaching the necessity of circumcision, now solemnly say to you, that if you are circumcised with a view to being justified by that in whole or in part, it amounts to a rejection of the doctrine of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Paul reminded the Galatians who it was that was speaking to them. He was the apostle of Jesus Christ who represented the Lord to non-Jewish people and first preached the good news to them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Behold--that is, Mark what I say. I Paul--Though you now think less of my authority, I nevertheless give my name and personal authority as enough by itself to refute all opposition of adversaries. if ye be circumcised--not as Alford, "If you will go on being circumcised." Rather, "If ye suffer yourselves to be circumcised," namely, under the notion of its being necessary to justification (Ga 5:4; Ac 15:1). Circumcision here is not regarded simply by…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 5:2
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 Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
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