Good News Translation indicates that this is a genuine letter by beginning with From Paul (see also New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible; Phillips has “I, Paul”). In a number of languages it is necessary to indicate clearly the author of this letter by the first person singular pronoun “I.” Therefore, in some languages the letter may most appropriately begin “I Paul … send greetings to the churches of Galatia.”
Paul introduces himself as an apostle. This term usually refers to one who is sent to proclaim an important message, in this instance Christ’s message. This term has been described as having both an exclusive and inclusive usage. In the exclusive sense it refers to the original twelve disciples of Jesus (compare Luke 6.13), but in an inclusive sense it is applied to others who were engaged in the mission and proclamation of the Good News (compare Acts 14.4; Rom 16.7). In several of his letters Paul uses this term to designate his own ministry (for example, the Corinthian letters), thereby claiming equal status with the original disciples of Jesus.
One of the issues raised by Paul’s opponents is his qualifications and right to be an apostle. Not only are his credentials for this office called into question, but the very message which he has proclaimed and continues to proclaim is challenged. Paul meets the challenge head on. The first thing he does is to claim his right to be an apostle (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Paul, an apostle, writes this letter”).
His call, he claims, did not come from man or by means of man (literally, “not from men nor through man”). This means that his apostleship is not derived from any human source (“not from men”) or dependent upon any human agency (“nor through man” or by means of man). In the Greek text, Paul switches from the plural “men” when talking about source to the singular “man” when talking about agency; this distinction is retained in some translations (for example New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible). However, many interpreters understand this change to be simply a matter of style, and therefore do not recommend its retention in translation (compare New English Bible “not by human appointment or human commission”; Phillips “appointed and commissioned … not by man”).
Paul’s call to be an apostle is not therefore dependent on human influence of any kind; on the contrary, it is from Jesus Christ and God the Father. The emphasis here is twofold; that is, his call is from Jesus Christ as well as from God. In the latter part of this chapter, he expands on this point (see verses 11-24). The Greek preposition in this phrase can be translated “through” (as in Revised Standard Version); most modern translations, however, understand it as Good News Translation does. Jesus Christ and God are linked to only one preposition, suggesting that for Paul there is no distinction between the calling by Jesus Christ and the calling by God.
Because of the elliptical structure of verse 1 and because of the passive construction, it may be necessary in some languages to restructure this beginning statement rather extensively. For example, in some languages one must say “Jesus Christ and God the Father called me to be an apostle,” or “… appointed me to be an apostle.” A further difficulty may be involved in the expression God the Father, since in some languages the term Father must always occur with some so-called possessive pronoun indicating the relationship of “Father” to someone else. In general, the most satisfactory expression is “God our Father,” and since Paul was here addressing his letter to the Galatians who were presumably believers in God, it would be possible to use “our” in the first person plural inclusive sense for those languages which make a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural.
In translating the verb call, it is important to avoid an expression which would mean “to shout at.” The meaning here is “to summon” or “to appoint” or even, as in some languages, “to give a work to.”
In a number of languages an apostle is “a sent one” or “one given a special commission.” In some languages the term is almost equivalent to “ambassador,” that is, an individual who represents another person by carrying a message.
In some languages it is important to state the positive fact before the negative one, and therefore it may be perfectly appropriate to begin in some such form as “Jesus Christ and God our Father called me to be an apostle,” followed by the negative contrast, for example, “No man appointed me to be an apostle, and no man was sent in order to appoint me as an apostle.” The expression by means of man must refer to secondary agency; that is to say, Jesus Christ and God the Father did not appoint Paul by means of some human intermediary.
Since so much is interspersed between the statement of Paul as the author and his greetings to the churches of Galatia in verse 2, it may be useful to introduce the matter of greetings at two different points, for example, “I, Paul, send greetings to the churches of Galatia. Jesus Christ and God our Father have called me to be an apostle…. All the fellow Christians here join me in sending greetings to you in the churches of Galatia.” Only in this way can one do justice to the fact that the letter does begin with both a form of greeting and some defense of Paul’s position as an apostle. It must be noted, however, that if the greeting is introduced before the matter of Paul’s apostleship is discussed, then the intended emotive impact, which is so basic to the purpose of the letter, may be minimized, if not lost altogether.
The expression who raised him from death is added here without any explanation. It is Paul’s practice, when referring to God, to mention something of what he is and what he has done, usually in terms of what he has done in Christ Jesus. Elsewhere in his letters, God’s act of raising Jesus from death is taken as proof that Jesus is God’s Son (see Rom 1.4). Furthermore, the doctrine of Jesus being raised from death is central to early Christian preaching (see 1 Cor 15.4,12-20).
The clause who raised him from death must be clearly marked as nonrestrictive; that is to say, it does not specify which God it was who raised Jesus from death. In some languages a nonrestrictive meaning must be set off as a separate sentence, for example, “… God our Father. He raised Jesus from death,” “… caused Jesus to live again,” or “… come back to life.”
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 .