Here Paul goes back to his youth, and he has important things to say about himself. First, he was ahead of most fellow Jews of his own age in his practice of the Jewish religion. Concerning the nature of this advancement, we can only speculate. It would certainly include bigger responsibilities within Judaism, particularly within the Pharisaic sect of which Paul was a part (compare Phil 3.5). Perhaps also it would include achievement in the realm of conduct, that is, in the realm of attaining the ideal way of life in terms of obedience to the Law. As a third alternative it is possible to interpret the following clause as providing the content of this advancement, that is devotion to the traditions of his ancestors (New English Bible “I was outstripping many of my Jewish contemporaries in my boundless devotion to the traditions of my ancestors”), or again, his zeal for the Jewish traditions (New American Bible “I made progress … in my excess of zeal to live out all the traditions of my ancestors”). Most commentators and translators, however, take Paul’s “advancement” and his “zeal” to be two different things.

The phrase in my practice of the Jewish religion may be understood as the means by which Paul outdistanced his fellow Jews of the same age group. Therefore one may translate “by means of the way that I worshiped God as Jews customarily worship God.” I was ahead of most fellow Jews of my age may be rendered as “I was superior to most other Jews of my age,” “I surpassed most other Jews of my age,” “I did even more than most other Jews my age did,” “… who were the same age I was,” or “… had as many years as I had.”

In the last clause the word translated much more devoted is literally “more a zealot.” This should not, however, be taken to mean that Paul was a member of the party of the Zealots, but rather as an adjective which means “zealous for” (compare New English Bible “boundless devotion to,” Phillips “greater enthusiasm”; Moffatt “special ardour”).

Traditions are teachings which are transmitted from one generation to another over a long period of time and which in the process become authoritative. In the phrase the traditions of our ancestors, it is possible that Paul refers to the particular teachings of his own family (Moffatt “traditions of my house”), or to the teachings of the sect to which he belonged, the Pharisees. It is more likely, however, that he refers to the traditions of the Jewish nation as a whole.

In some languages it may be difficult to speak of being “devoted to one’s traditions.” One may say, however, “I tried with all my strength to do what our ancestors had passed on to us,” “… had handed down to us,” “… what we had heard from many generations of our ancestors,” “… what our ancestors kept saying generation after generation,” or “… what they kept saying repeatedly from father to son.”

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 .