“I was convinced…” (5.10)

by Kent Leslie ✉️

In class I gave my own translation of this verse. It differs a little from the CSB, and here I have more time and space to explain why.

Back in college I minored in biblical languages because I wanted to read the scriptures in the original text. So when I do personal bible study, that’s what I read. Usually the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, but I have other Greek bibles I compare it with, like the Textus Receptus, the Tyndale House Greek New Testament, and digital copies of ancient codexes and manuscripts. (I have a lot of bible software modules. Maybe too many. I’m a big bible nerd.) That’s why every once in a while I’ll read the original text, compare it with an English translation, and say, “Now why’d you translate it that way?…”

Here’s what I saw when I read the first sentence of verse 10.

ORIGINAL	MEANS	IN THE CSB
ἐγὼ egó	I	I myself
πέποιθα pépetha	had been convinced	am persuaded
εἰς eis	about	—
ὑμᾶς ymás	you	—
ἐν en	by	in
κυρίῳ kyrío	the Lord	the Lord
ὅτι óti	that	—
οὐδὲν udén	nothing	not
ἄλλο állo	more	any other view
φρονήσετε fronísete	you will think	you will… accept

• CSB: “I myself am persuaded in the Lord you will not accept any other view.”
• Me: “I was convinced by the Lord about you: You will not think any more about this.”

The CSB (and to be fair, lots of translations) makes it sound like Paul is hoping to God the Galatians will stop thinking this way. But I’m pretty sure it’s more accurately translated that the Lord himself told Paul the Galatians would cut it out.

In part because you notice Paul spent a lot of time, up to this point in the letter, agitating about how the Galatians were going wrong, and how he wasn’t sure what to do about it: “I don’t know what to do about you.” [Ga 4.20] But now he kinda just drops it. He’s done. He’s not worried anymore. Somebody calmed him down. And in this verse he says who that is: The Lord. Well somewhere between writing those words and writing these words, Jesus told him, “Chill out, Paul. I got this. They’ll be fine.”

The reason for the other translations? Well it’s a lot safer to be less radical about what Paul might mean here. You can get away with translating this text to make it sound like Paul felt the Galatians might improve… and if your own personal experience doesn’t have any God-encounters in it that you know of, this bias is sometimes gonna come out in your bible translations.

As for the other sentence in the verse, I’m okay with the way the CSB puts it: But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. And again, this isn’t wishful thinking on Paul’s part: “I hope God gives those legalists some serious consequences for leading you astray.” It’s Jesus telling him so.

There are some other bible translations which are similar to my translation:

• God’s Word translation: “The Lord gives me confidence that you will not disagree with this. However, the one who is confusing you will suffer God’s judgment regardless of who he is.”
• The Message: “Deep down, the Master has given me confidence that you will not defect. But the one who is upsetting you, whoever he is, will bear the divine judgment.”
• Names of God Bible: “The Lord gives me confidence that you will not disagree with this. However, the one who is confusing you will suffer God’s judgment regardless of who he is.”
• New International Readers Version: “The Lord makes me certain that you will see the truth of this. The one who has gotten you all mixed up will have to pay the price. This will happen no matter who has done it.”
• Worldwide English New Testament: “The Lord makes me sure that you will not think any other way. But the teacher who is troubling your minds will be punished. It does not matter who he is.”