Galatians 1:15

Galatians 1:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
• New International Version (NIV)But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
• English Standard Version (ESV)But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
• New King James Version (NKJV)But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,

Context of Galatians 1:15

13For you have heard of my earlier behavior in Judaism—how I persecuted God’s community beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14I was even advancing within Judaism beyond many my own age among my people, being a more extreme observer of my fathers’ traditions. But when God—who set me apart from birth and called me through His grace—was pleased 16to reveal His Son to me so I would proclaim Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with any human. 17I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were emissaries before me, either. Instead I went away to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

Galatians 1:15 word by word

ὅτε δὲ εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου καὶ καλέσας διὰ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• whenὅτεhote ho te hē te tō te · whenG3753
• it pleasedεὐδοκέωeudokeō · to delightG2106
• Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• separatedἀφορίζωaphorizō · to separateG873
• meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• fromἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• mother’sμήτηρmētēr · motherG3384
• wombκοιλίαkoilia · belly/womb/stomachG2836
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• calledκαλέωkaleō · to call: callG2564
• byδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• graceχάριςcharis · graceG5485

Cross-references for Galatians 1:15

• Deuteronomy 7:7“It is not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that Adonai set His love on you and chose you—for you are the least of all peoples.
• 1 Samuel 12:22For Adonai will not forsake His people for His great Name’s sake, because it has pleased Adonai to make you a people to Himself.
• 1 Chronicles 28:4Yet Adonai, the God of Israel, has chosen me out of all my ancestral house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as ruler, and of the house of Judah, my father’s house, and of my father’s sons, He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.
• Matthew 11:26Yes, Father, for this way was pleasing to You.
• Luke 10:21In that very hour, He was overjoyed in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and said, “I praise You, Father, Master of the universe, that You have hidden these things from the wise and discerning and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was pleasing to You.
• 1 Corinthians 1:1Paul, called as an emissary of Messiah Yeshua by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
• Ephesians 1:5He predestined us for adoption as sons through Messiah Yeshua, in keeping with the good pleasure of His will—
• Ephesians 3:11which is in keeping with the eternal purpose that He carried out in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
• Isaiah 49:1Listen, to Me, islands! Pay attention, peoples far away. Adonai called Me from the womb, from My mother’s belly He named Me.
• Jeremiah 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart— I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
• Luke 1:15He will be great before Adonai; and he should not drink wine and intoxicating beverage, but he will be filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh just out of his mother’s womb.
• Acts 9:15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a choice instrument to carry My name before nations and kings and Bnei-Yisrael.
• Acts 13:2While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Ruach ha-Kodesh said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
• Acts 22:14“And he said, ‘The God of our fathers handpicked you to know His will—to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.
• Romans 1:1Paul, a slave of Messiah Yeshua, called to be an emissary and set apart for the Good News of God,
• Romans 1:5Through Him we have received grace and the office of emissary, to bring about obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of His name.

Commentaries on Galatians 1:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Who separated me from my mother's womb - Him whom I acknowledge as the God of nature and the God of grace; who preserved me by his providence when I was a helpless infant, and saved me by his grace when I was an adult persecutor. For some useful remarks on these passages see the introduction, sec. 2.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15But when it pleased God - Paul traced all his hopes of eternal life, and all the good influences which had ever borne upon his mind, to God. Who separated me … - That is, who destined me; or who purposed from my very birth that I should be a preacher and an apostle. The meaning is, that God had in his secret purposes set him apart to be an apostle. It does not mean that he had actually called him in his infancy to the work, for this was not so, but that…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-24Verses 15-24 St. Paul was wonderfully brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ. All who are savingly converted, are called by the grace of God; their conversion is wrought by his power and grace working in them. It will but little avail us to have Christ revealed to us, if he is not also revealed in us. He instantly prepared to obey, without hesitating as to his worldly interest, credit, ease, or life itself. And what matter of thanksgiving and joy is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-16God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb: God chose Paul for special work even before he was born. This is like how God chose other leaders (see Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13–16; Isaiah 49:1–6; Romans 9:10–13). called me by His grace: For Paul's conversion story (how he became a follower of Jesus), see Acts 9:1–19; 22:1–21; 26:9–23. Paul was called to share the good news about Jesus with non-Jews (Galatians 2:7). He even taught other apostles what this…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. separated--"set me apart": in the purposes of His electing love (compare Ac 9:15; 22:14), in order to show in me His "pleasure," which is the farthest point that any can reach in inquiring the causes of his salvation. The actual "separating" or "setting apart" to the work marked out for him, is mentioned in Ac 13:2; Ro 1:1. There is an allusion, perhaps, in the way of contrast, to the derivation of Pharisee from Hebrew, "pharash," "separated." I was…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 1:15

• Gentiles
• Grace of God
• Ignorance
• Minister, Christian
• Paul
• Predestination
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• God
• Equal
• Faith
• Criticism of the Bible
• Discrepancies, Biblical
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Immaculate Conception, the
• Inspiration
• Laodiceans, Epistle to the
• Paul, the Apostle

Commentaries on Galatians 1

• 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