A Key to Bible Study: The Bible does not mean just anything that you want it to mean, but it can be applied to all the situations of our lives. The key is to determine what it meant to its original audience, and then to apply those principles to a given situation. The first process is called “exegesis,” the second is called “hermeneutics.”
Who wrote it? Gal 1:1 indicates Paul as the author, while Gal 6:11 seems to indicate that Paul personally wrote the entire letter.
To whom was it written? Gal 1:2 indicates that the audience is the churches of Galatia. Now, Galatia was not a city, but rather, it was a province of Rome. This province was in the middle of the Anatolian Peninsula, in what is present day Turkey.
What kind of people were they? In the 3rd century BC, three Gallic tribes invaded the region and conquered it. In the 2nd century BC, the Gallic tribes were in turn conquered by Rome. Under Roman rule, the region eventually became a Roman province, as stated before. These Gauls were related to the Gauls of France and the Celts of Britain. They retained their own language even into the 3rd century AD, but they also spoke Greek. The province is named after these Gallic tribes. But, the Romans expanded the province beyond just the area occupied by the Gauls. The southern part of the province included many of Greek heritage. Eventually, there were churches through the whole region, but it was the people in the south that were first reached, during Paul‘s First Missionary Journey.
A good map of Paul's First Missionary Journey can be found here:
When was the letter written? The book of Romans contains more developed theology along the same lines as what is in Galatians. This seems to indicate that Galatians is an earlier work, containing less developed arguments. Romans was written around 58 AD, giving an absolute latest date for Galatians of about 57 AD. Gal 2:1 may allude to the Jerusalem Council, which occurred around 49, but it could also relate to an earlier event. Paul’s First Missionary Journey began in about 46 AD, so the book could not have been written before then.
There are two theories for the dating of Galatians. These hinge upon whether the letter was intended for the people in southern Galatia or the people in northern Galatia. The only Galatian cities that Paul is said explicitly to have visited are those in southern Galatia. i.e. Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and possibly Derbe. (Acts 13:4 – 14:28). Since Luke didn’t include the names of any northern Galatian cities in Acts, it is probably safe to assume that the letter was addressed to churches in the southern Galatian. This, combined with the fact that Paul does not explicitly cite the Jerusalem Council as authority, means that the book of Galatians was probably written just before the Jerusalem Council. i.e. Around 49 AD.
Where was the letter written? If the letter was written to southern Galatian churches, the letter was likely written as Paul traveled to Jerusalem for what became known as the Jerusalem Council. If the letter was written to northern Galatian churches, the letter could have been written from Macedonia or Corinth around 56 or 57 AD, during his Third Missionary Journey.
Rough dates for Paul’s Missionary Journeys and the Jerusalem Council:
First: 46 to 48 AD (Acts 13:4 to 14:28)
Jerusalem Council: 48 or 49 AD (Acts 15:1-29)
Second: 49 to 52 AD (Acts 15:40 to 18:23a)
Third: 53 to 58 AD (Acts 18:23b to 21:15)
Why was the letter written? Judaizers had infiltrated the churches of Galatia and were teaching that the Gentiles had to convert to Judaism to be saved. This was in conflict with what had been revealed to Peter in Acts 10, when he visited Cornelius, and which he defended in Acts 11. This view was also overthrown in the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. If Galatians was written before the events of Acts 15, then Paul was vindicated by the Jerusalem Council. If Galatians was written after the events of Acts 15, then the Judaizers were purposefully standing against the authority of the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem. In this, it seems more likely that Galatians was written before the Jerusalem Council had taken place.
Broad Outline of the Galatians:
I. Paul’s Salutation (1:1-1:5)
II. Reason for the Letter (1:6-1:10)
III. Paul’s Autobiography (1:11-2:14)
IV. The True Gospel (2:15-5:1)
V. Life in the Spirit (5:2-6:17)
VI. Benediction (6:18)
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