The tone of the whole verse—and of the whole section, for that matter—is one of unbelief. It is unthinkable to Paul that the Galatians have changed so quickly. The only explanation possible is that they have gone out of their minds!
Foolish (New American Bible “senseless,” New English Bible “stupid,” Jerusalem Bible “mad”) puts the emphasis not on natural stupidity but on failure to use one’s mental and spiritual powers.
A vocative expression such as You foolish Galatians! may be both grammatically awkward and misleading in sense. It might mean, for example, that all the people in Galatia were stupid, which, of course, is not what Paul means. He is addressing particular Galatians and he is saying that they are “not using their heads” or “not thinking right.” It may be necessary, therefore, to say in some languages “You Galatians are not thinking right,” or “… not using your minds as you should.” In some languages the meaning of foolish is expressed idiomatically, for example, “you have lost your heads,” “your minds have left you,” or “your heads are empty.”
Who put a spell on you? (literally, “who has bewitched you?”) is a rhetorical question, and the “who” probably refers to the same people spoken of in 1.7. The emphasis here, however, is not on who did the bewitching, but on the fact that the Galatians are indeed bewitched (New English Bible “You must have been bewitched”). The word “bewitched” itself suggests the use of magic, particularly the casting of a spell through the use of the evil eye. The belief that one person could cast a spell over another is common in many parts of the world, but one must not deduce from this statement that Paul believed in magic. He is more likely using “bewitched” in a metaphorical sense, and he probably means by it “to pervert,” “to lead astray,” or “to confuse the mind.” The form of the question Who put a spell on you? might seem to focus attention upon the individual responsible for bewitching the Galatians. Since, however, the focus is upon the condition of the Galatians and not upon who caused the trouble, it may be better to change the question into a statement, for example, “You are indeed bewitched,” “You certainly must have been bewitched,” or “Someone must have certainly put a spell upon you.”
Before your very eyes is a part of a dependent clause in the Greek, and while most translations retain the original form, Good News Translation makes the clause into a separate sentence. The whole expression is metaphorical and describes the familiar practice of making public announcements by means of bills or posters. In this case the announcement is “the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.”
The final sentence in this verse is related to the preceding as a reason for Paul’s having concluded that the Galatians had been bewitched. It may be important in some languages to indicate this connection by rendering the final sentence as “How could this have happened, since before your very eyes you had a clear description…?”
It may, however, be quite difficult to employ a more or less literal translation of this final sentence in verse 1, for it is rare that one can speak of “having a clear description.” Since it was Paul himself who had described the death of Jesus Christ, it may be better to say “since I described to you so clearly how Jesus Christ died on the cross.” The form of the Greek participle referring to the death of Jesus Christ is perfective; it indicates something which took place in the past but which has present implications. One may therefore wish to use some such form as “how Jesus Christ has died on the cross.” In some languages, however, the cross must be interpreted not simply as the location of Christ’s death but as the means of it. Therefore one may need to say “how Jesus died by means of the cross,” or “how people caused Jesus Christ to die by means of a cross.”
Whether one employs a definite or indefinite article to go with the term corresponding to cross depends largely upon the syntactic requirements of the receptor language in question. In some languages it may be necessary to say “a cross.” However, since this letter is part of a much larger text (the entire New Testament), it may seem quite appropriate in other languages to use a definite article and therefore translate “the cross,” in the sense that the particular cross on which Jesus Christ dies is identified by the larger context.
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 .