SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 2:13

2:13a

The other Jews: This phrase refers to the other Jewish believers in Antioch who were also eating with Gentiles.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

The other Jewish believers (Good News Translation)
-or-
The other ?Christians in Antioch who were? Jews

joined him in his hypocrisy: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hypocrisy is related to the word “hypocrite.” It refers to believing/saying one thing but doing something different. Here, it indicates that Peter and the other Jews in Antioch knew that eating with Gentiles was a good thing. But in front of the Jews from Jerusalem, they pretended that they believed that it was not good. They acted in a way that they did not believe was correct. They did that because they wanted to please other people.

Some other ways to translate this verb are:

acted/behaved in a way that was not right
-or-
they began doing things that they knew were not correct

joined him: This phrase indicates that the other Jewish believers followed Peter’s example. They, too, began to have less fellowship with the Gentile believers.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

along with him (English Standard Version)
-or-
followed Peter’s example

2:13b

so that: In this context, the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that indicates a result. Peter and the other Jewish believers stopped eating with the Gentiles, and as a result, Barnabas also stopped eating with them. Here is another way to translate this:

with the result that (New American Standard Bible)

Some English versions, such as the New Century Version, do not translate this conjunction. In some languages, it may not be necessary to translate this conjunction either.

even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hypocrisy is a noun form of the verb “acted hypocritically,” which Paul used in 2:13a. (The Berean Standard Bible translates the verb there with the noun “hypocrisy”). It refers to the actions of Peter and the other Jews: they started to do what they knew was wrong. Their wrong actions caused even Barnabas to do what was wrong.

This clause is passive. Some ways to translate it are:

Use a passive clause. For example:

even Barnabas was influenced to join them in their hypocrisy (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
Even Barnabas was influenced by what these Jewish believers did. (New Century Version)

Use an active clause. For example:

Their hypocrisy led even Barnabas astray.
-or-
What they did fooled/deceived even Barnabas into doing what was wrong.
-or-
Even Barnabas went along with their hypocrisy.
-or-
Even Barnabas followed them in doing what was wrong.

even Barnabas: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as even indicates that Paul was surprised at Barnabas’ actions. Because they had worked closely together, he did not expect Barnabas to do such a thing. Here is another way to translate this:

Barnabas himself

was led astray: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as led astray is used in a figurative sense. It has the meaning of being led down the wrong moral path. Barnabas was led away from the truth of the gospel to follow the example of Peter and the other Jewish believers. He, too, stopped eating with the Gentile believers. He should have known better, but he yielded to the pressure of the others.

Some other ways to translate this verb are:

was carried/pulled/dragged along
-or-
was influenced (New Century Version)

© 2016 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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