Galatians Chapter 3 Series

Galatians Chapter 3: *This may need to be trimmed or summarized.

Gal. 3.1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (KJV)

3:1 O you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom--right before your very eyes--Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]? (Amplified)

A. O foolish Galatians

1. Foolish = to call someone a fool you are saying that they are mentally deficient

a. not understanding, thoughtless, unintelligent, unwise

b. Observe that when Paul calls the Galatians foolish, the word is meant in no

worse sense, than that of weakness in faith.

c. In that sense, and some others, the term evidently meant, reprobate.

(Robert Hawker)

d. Mat_25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

e. Tit_3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,

serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and

hating one another.

2. O infatuated people; you make as little use of reason as those who have none; you

have acted in this business as those do who are fascinated - they are led blindly

and unresistingly on to their own destruction.

B. who hath bewitched you

1. who

a. Definition: who? which? what? Usage: who, which, what, why.

b. Who has invaded your heart and stolen your ability to think?

2. Bewitched

a. to cast a spell on someone and bring them under their control

b. to slander, to bewitch Usage: give the evil eye to, fascinate, bewitch,

overpower.

c. bewitched—fascinated you so that you have lost your wits. Themistius says the

Galatians were naturally very acute in intellect. Hence, Paul wonders they

could be so misled in this case. (JFB)

d. used with pagan magical art

3. The Greek word for this is probably connected in origin with the Latin word from

which is derived our own “fascinate,” and the idea prominent in both is that which

is embodied in the popular superstition of the evil eye. This superstition lingers

still, especially in some southern countries, such as Italy and Spain. (Ellicott)

C. Now, a very striking metaphor runs through the whole of this question, which may easily be lost sight of by ordinary readers. You know the old superstition as to the Evil Eye, almost universal at the date of this letter and even now in the East, and lingering still amongst ourselves. Certain persons were supposed to have the power, by a look, to work mischief, and by fixing the gaze of their victims, to suck the very life out of them. So Paul asks who the malign sorcerer is who has thus fascinated the fickle Galatians, and is draining their Christian life out of their eyes. (MacLaren)

D. that ye should not obey the truth

The truth of the gospel. That you should yield your minds to falsehood and error. It should be observed, however, that this phrase is lacking in many manuscripts. It is omitted in the Syriac version; and many of the most important Greek and Latin Fathers omit it. (Albert Barnes)

E. before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

1. As Christ was "crucified," so ye ought to have been by faith "crucified with Christ," and so "dead to the law" (Ga 2:19, 20). Reference to the "eyes" is appropriate, as fascination was supposed to be exercised through the eyes. The sight of Christ crucified ought to have been enough to counteract all fascination. (JFB)

2. This of course does not imply that they had actually witnessed His Crucifixion—indeed the tense of the participle ‘crucified’ (better, ‘as having been crucified’) excludes such an explanation. One verb in the original stands for ‘hath been evidently set forth’. Render, ‘was set forth’. The same word occurs Romans 15:4, where it is rightly translated “were written before”. It is not probable that this can be the sense in this passage, first, because there is no specific mention of our Lord’s death by Crucifixion in the Messianic prophecies of the O.T.; and secondly, because in such prophecies Christ could not be said to have been described as crucified ‘before their eyes’. (Cambridge)

3. As if he had said, Who hath so deluded you, as to prevail with you thus to contradict both your own reason and experience? For ye have been as fully and clearly informed of the nature and design of Christ’s sufferings, as if they had been endured by him in your very sight; and you have witnessed their efficacy in procuring for you reconciliation with God, peace of conscience, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Joseph Benson)

Gal. 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (KJV)