ApostateAbe

In Galatians 3:1, Paul wrote:

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed {as} crucified?

Without knowing anything else, there can be some ambiguity about this passage. Maybe "before whose eyes" are the eyes of the "foolish Galatians," and some translations have used that interpretation. I propose that the "eyes" belong to the bewitchers, and the bewitchers are Paul's rhetorical opponents.

I don't know if this is a fringe interpretation, as Toto thinks, though I strongly doubt it.

• Paul's rhetorical opponents are listed in the previous chapter: "...and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised." Paul then writes that he confronted Cephas and "opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned." Paul's rhetorical opponents would be the ones who "bewitched" the foolish Galatians.
• Cephas, John and James were reputed to be present at the crucifixion, not the foolish Galatians. According to the myth (or close to it), Jesus was literally crucified before the eyes of his disciples.
• Who else could it possibly be? What could be another interpretation?

Agree or disagree? This is a hot issue, because it seems to be another good line of evidence against the idea that Jesus never existed.

Toto

I don't know if there is a grammatical interpretation that would connect the "eyes" to the bewitchers, as opposed to the eyes of the Galatians.

A common interpretation of this passage is that there was some theatrical portrayal of Jesus' crucifixion for the Galatians, or that Paul is referring to his own vivid exposition of the crucifixion. But I think it is one of those Bible difficulties. You can see varying translations here e.g.Besides - were Cephas, John and James commonly portrayed as present at the crucifixion? I think that they were presumed to be in hiding. The Gospel kata John says at 19:25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby . . .

which might put "John" at the crucifixion, if you feel that there is any shred of historical credibility in that gospel and if you think that John was the beloved disciple.

dogsgod

"Cephas, John and James were reputed to be present at the crucifixion, not the foolish Galatians. According to the myth (or close to it), Jesus was literally crucified before the eyes of his disciples."

There is no indication from Paul that these people witnessed the crucifixion. You get that notion from reading the gospels which were written later, not the epistles.

Toto

Is there any indication in the synoptic gospels that the disciples witnessed Jesus' crucifixion?

aa5874

But, the Pauline writers did not even mention that they themselves witnessed the crucifixion.

And, the Pauline writers did give the notion that the crucifixion did occur BEFORE they wrote their letters.

The very passage in Galatians 3.1 imply that the Pauline writers were aware of the crucifixion story of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:1 -
Galatians 2:20 - It is MOST obvious that the Pauline WRITERS and AUDIENCE were aware of the crucifixion story of Jesus and that the Pauline writers were explaining the significance of the CRUCIFIXION.

spamandham

I think we need one of our local Greek experts to chime in as to whether or not this is a valid interpretation.

It's seems an odd interpretation though. If the 'before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified' refers to the bewitchers of 'who has bewitched you', then for what reason is Paul calling them foolish? It seems to be two disjoint ideas when interpreted that way.

Huon

Galatians 3 speaks of the conflict between "the Law" i.e. the traditional Jews (circumcised, for instance), and "the faith", i.e. the Gentiles, followers of Christ (but not circumcised, for instance).

The foolish Galatians are those who accepted "the faith", and later, went back to a more traditional point of view, perhaps that of the followers of James, at Antioch : Cephas and Barnabas.

Clivedurdle

I repeat, I thought there was no argument about this - bewitchers are celts.

Huon

Celts of Galatia, naturally... and not circumcised !

John Kesler

The word translated "bewitched" means "to cast the evil eye," which reflects the belief that "a certain look, or a malformed or diseased eye, could cast an evil spell" (Simmons, Peoples of the New Testament World: An Illustrated Guide (or via: amazon.co.uk), page 200). See also this article by Jerome H. Neyrey titled Bewithced in Galatia: Paul and Cultural Anthropology. Paul is accusing his Judaizing opponents of practicing sorcery to lead Paul's Galatian converts astray.

With this in mind, it seems apparent that Paul is using a play on words with a dual reference to "eye," with the second "eyes" those of the Galatians. Thus: