The blessing is as terse as the salutation. Only Jesus Christ is mentioned, a departure from Paul’s usual practice of mentioning also the Father and the Holy Spirit. For grace, see the comments on 1.3. One should remember that this term is used here also as part of a benediction formula. One should not read too much theological meaning into it here.

Instead of addressing the Galatians directly, Paul refers to their spirit (Revised Standard Version “grace … be with your spirit”). It is a fitting ending, since the letter, particularly the last two chapters, has been dealing with the subject of the Spirit.

This final benediction is essentially a type of prayer, and in some languages it must be introduced as such, for example, “I pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with you all.” In a number of languages, however, grace is translated as “showing mercy” or “being good to” in the sense of kindness which is unmerited. Therefore, one may translate “I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ may be good to you all.”

Finally, Paul again addresses the Galatians as my brothers. Despite all his misgivings, he has kept faith with them to the end, and in this way he voices the confidence that they will overcome.

Many translators simply transliterate the word Amen since it is widely used in Christian circles for the conclusion of a prayer. In this particular context a transliteration would be quite fitting. However, Amen may be translated as “Indeed, let it be so,” or “That is just what should be.” A number of languages have their own equivalents to Amen, more or less literally translatable as “Yes, indeed,” or “And so it should be.”

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 .