Paul expands on his argument by the use of two other negative statements: I did not receive it from any man refers to the initial reception of the gospel, while nor did anyone teach it to me refers to his growing understanding of its contents. The first statement may be rendered as “No man told me this good news,” and the second may then be rendered as “and no one taught me what this good news was.” The two statements are essentially only two different ways of speaking about the same reality, though the second may be regarded as emphasizing more the fact that Paul was not specifically taught the good news by some qualified teacher.

Finally, Paul informs his readers of the source of his message. The Greek itself is literally “but through a revelation of Jesus Christ”; the “of” could mean either (1) that the revelation was made by Christ to Paul (for example, Good News Translation, compare New American Bible “revelation from Jesus Christ”) or (2) that the content of the revelation, which was from God, was Jesus Christ. In view of 1.16, the second of these alternatives is to be preferred, but most translations carry over the ambiguous construction of the Greek. Who revealed it to me may be rendered as “who showed it to me,” “who caused me to see it,” or even “who caused me to understand the good news.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .