Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.
Parallel translations
- WEB They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them.
- KJV They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
- NKJV They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.
- NASB They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them.
- NLT Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them.
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
The false teachers court the Galatians eagerly, but for selfish ends, to cut them off so they will depend on them. Paul exposes their manipulative motives.
Overview
Paul unmasks the agitators' flattering attention as a self-serving strategy to isolate the Galatians and bind them to themselves. Their zeal is not for the Galatians' good but for their own influence. This warns the church to test the motives behind those who eagerly seek followers, especially when they undermine the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Cor 11:13–15For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
- Rom 16:18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- 2 Pet 2:3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
- Matt 23:15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
- 1 Cor 4:8Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. How I wish you really were kings, so that we might be kings with you!
- 1 Cor 11:2Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.
- 1 Cor 4:18Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
- Rom 10:2For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.
- Phil 2:21For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
- Gal 6:12–13Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ.
- 2 Pet 2:18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- 2 Cor 11:3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
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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 4:17 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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