The effect of Peter’s withdrawal is now mentioned: the other Jewish members of the congregation, and even Barnabas, likewise began to dissociate themselves from the Gentile members.

The words translated acting like cowards and cowardly action come from a Greek root usually rendered as “hypocrisy,” “pretense,” or “make believe”; it means hiding one’s real self through actions that would convey a different impression (Phillips “deception”; Jerusalem Bible “pretence”; Knox “insincerity”; New English Bible “showed the same lack of principle”). The use of this word to describe Peter’s action and that of the rest of the Jewish Christians in Antioch implies that Paul still believed that they knew what was right, but that they were acting against their own convictions in the matter. Failure to act in accordance with one’s convictions because of fear of what some persons might say certainly is “to act like a coward.” In this sense the rendering of Good News Translation is justified. Nevertheless, the focus seems to be primarily upon the failure of one to act according to his own principles. Therefore one may translate the first clause of this verse as “the other Jewish believers also started to behave in the way they knew they shouldn’t” or “… in a way that they knew was not right.” The phrase along with Peter may be rendered as “they did the same thing that Peter was doing,” or “they acted in the same way Peter was acting.”

The clause Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action means that Barnabas not only felt pressured to join, but that he actually did join the rest of the Jewish Christians in separating themselves from the Gentile believers (New English Bible “Barnabas was carried away and played false like the rest”; Jerusalem Bible “Barnabas felt himself obliged to copy their behavior”). One may also say “even Barnabas felt that he must do the same,” “… act in the same way they did,” “… imitate them in doing what he knew he shouldn’t do,” or “… in doing what he knew was not right.”

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 .