The Letter to the Galatians (New International Commentary on the New Testament | NICNT)

by David A. deSilva

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2018

Overview

Writing a commentary on Galatians is a daunting task. Despite its relative brevity, this Pauline letter raises a number of foundational theological issues, and it has played a vital role in shaping Christian thought and practice over the centuries.

In this replacement of Ronald Y. K. Fung’s 1988 New International Commentary volume, David deSilva ably rises to the challenge, providing a coherent account of Galatians as a piece of strategically crafted communication that addresses both the immediate pastoral challenges facing Paul’s converts in Galatia and the underlying questions that gave rise to them.

Paying careful attention to the history, philology, and theology of the letter, and interacting with a wealth of secondary literature on both Galatians and the rest of the Pauline corpus, deSilva’s exegetically sound commentary will serve as an essential resource for pastors and theological students.

Key Features

• Verse-by-verse commentary
• In-depth discussion of textual and critical matters
• Introduction to the authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology of Galatians

Contents

Top Highlights

“The fact that Paul, Peter, Barnabas, James, and every other Jewish Christ-follower became a Christ-follower in the first place is evidence that they did not consider aligning themselves with the Torah to be a sufficient path to acquittal before God’s judgment seat.” (Page 213)

“The indisputable sign for Paul that Jesus’s work was sufficient and effective on the Galatians’ behalf is the Galatians’ reception of the Holy Spirit.” (Page 7)

“Paul and his hearers would understand God’s ‘freely giving’ to mean ‘without any external force coercing the giving,’ without the recipient having done something to leverage the gift. And while they would understand that a gift, to be a gift, comes ‘at no cost,’ they would understand that it cannot be received and retained ‘at no cost,’ for receiving something of great value meant accepting the obligation to return something of great value.” (Page 254)

“Paul realizes that the Spirit’s adequacy does not mean that the Christians cannot sin; he will immediately make provision for just this possibility in 6:1. But he also promises that the Spirit is more powerful than the flesh and that the Christian who consistently lives from the Spirit will not give himself or herself over to bring the flesh’s impulses to their consummation.⁴² The challenge lies in consistently thus walking.” (Page 454)

“Since Paul has elevated the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself as the essence of the ethical demand of the law, and thus elevated acting in love as that which fulfills Torah, it may be appropriate to see in his list of representative ‘works of the flesh’ behaviors that display an absence or perversion of love for the other.” (Page 458)

Product Details

• Title: The Letter to the Galatians
• Author: David A. Desilva
• Series: New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT)
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 622
• Resource Type: Commentary
• Topic: Galatians

About David A. deSilva

Dr. David A. deSilva, PhD, is the Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, where he’s taught since 1995.

He’s written over 20 books in the areas of New Testament and Second Temple Judaism, including Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation's Warning (Hendrickson, 2013), The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude (Oxford, 2012),Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (WJKP, 2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (IVP, 2004), Introducing the Apocrypha (Baker Academic, 2002), and Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Eerdmans, 2000). He’s also interested in spiritual formation, having written Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation through the Book of Common Prayer (IVP, 2008) and Praying with John Wesley (Discipleship Resources, 2001).

He’s ordained in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, and serves as director of music and organist at Christ United Methodist Church in Ashland. He and his wife, Donna Jean, have three sons.