And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
Parallel translations
- WEB I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
- BSB I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
- NKJV And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
- NASB and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
- NLT I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul was advancing beyond his peers in Judaism, intensely devoted to ancestral traditions. His credentials in the very system the agitators promoted were impeccable.
Overview
Paul stresses his exceptional zeal for 'the traditions of my fathers' to show he understood law-keeping from the inside. He was no ignorant outsider but a leading exponent of the system. This makes his abandonment of works-righteousness all the more telling: he found something greater in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Col 2:8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
- Acts 26:5Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
- Acts 22:3I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
- Phil 3:4–6Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
- Matt 15:6And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
- Acts 26:9I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- Jer 9:14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
- 1 Pet 1:8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
- Isa 57:12I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
- Matt 15:2–3Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
- Mark 7:3–13For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
- Isa 29:13Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
- Jer 15:2And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 1:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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