Question3: Have your experiences been useless? "Suffer" can mean suffer persecution or simply to experience something. In the former case it would refer to the persecution the Galatians had experienced since they became Christians (cf. Acts 14:21-22). The point would be that all of those afflictions would have been needless suffering. In the latter case it would refer to all the experiences that the Galatians had gone through, good and bad, since their conversion. The point would be that all of those experiences would have been meaningless. Perhaps we should prefer the wider significance here since the other questions in this pericope concern positive benefits the Galatians had received from God by faith. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
Galatians 3:1-10 - Righteousness Based On Faith
The strong tendency of the Galatian Christians to depend upon ceremonies or upon legal obedience, in addition to their faith in Christ, elicits in this chapter a magnificent demonstration of the simplicity and sufficiency of faith alone.
Faith had underlain the commencement of their Christian life, Galatians 3:1-5. They had found peace with God through faith. Through faith they had received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As they had begun, so let them finish!
Faith had been the means, too, of Abraham's acceptance with God, Galatians 3:6-10. From the first the gospel of faith had been proclaimed to him by the divine Spirit. Long before he had become a Jew by the initial rite of Judaism, he had been a humble believer in God's promise, on the basis of which he was reckoned righteous. Simple faith was the only condition that he had fulfilled, and the promise that all flesh should be blessed through him had been given when he was still a believing Gentile. Surely what had sufficed for the father of the faithful was good enough for his children! Let each reader see to it that he does not merely believe about Christ, but believes in Him, so as to be no longer under the curse, but within the blessing. [source]
Chapter Summary: Galatians 3
1He asks what moved them to leave the faith, and hold onto the law 6Those who believe are justified, 9and blessed with Abraham 10And this he shows by many reasons 15The purpose of the Law 26You are sons of God
Greek Commentary for Galatians 3:4
Did ye suffer? [επατετε] Second aorist active indicative of πασχω paschō to experience good or ill. But alone, as here, it often means to suffer ill In North Galatia we have no record of persecutions, but we do have records for South Galatia (Acts 14:2,Acts 14:5,Acts 14:19,Acts 14:22). [source]
If it be indeed in vain [ει γε και εικηι] On εικηι eikēi see note on 1 Corinthians 15:2; note on Galatians 4:11. Paul clings to hope about them with alternative fears. [source]
Have ye suffered [ἐπάθετε] Or, did ye suffer. The exact sense is doubtful. By some it is held that the reference is to sufferings endured by the Galatian Christians either through heathen persecutions or Judaising emissaries. There is, however, no record in this Epistle or elsewhere of the Galatians having suffered special persecutions on account of their Christian profession. Others take the verb in a neutral sense, have ye experienced, or with a definite reference to the experience of benefits. In this neutral sense it is used in Class. from Homer down, and is accordingly joined with both κακῶς evillyand εὖ wellPaul habitually used it in the sense of suffering evil, and there is no decisive instance, either in N.T. or lxx, of the neutral sense. In Class., where it is used of the experience of benefits, it is always accompanied by some qualifying word. When it stands alone it signifies to suffer evil. The evidence on the whole makes very strongly for the meaning suffer; in which case the reference is, probably, to the annoyances suffered from Judaising Christians. It must be said, on the other hand, that a reference to such annoyances seems far-fetched. If we could translate did ye experience (so Weizsäcker, Lipsius, Sieffert), the reference would be to the impartation of the gifts of the Spirit. [source]
If it be yet in vain [εἴ γε καὶ εἰκῇ] The A.V. misses the force of the particles. Καὶ should be closely joined with εἰκῇ , with the sense of really. If, that is, it be really in vain. [source]
Galatians 3:5Therefore [οὖν] Resumes the thought of Galatians 3:2(Galatians 3:3,Galatians 3:4being, practically, parenthetical), in order to adduce the example of Abraham as a proof of justification by faith. The thought of Galatians 3:2is further emphasized. The gift of the Spirit, and the bestowment of miraculous powers, is a purely divine operation in believers, which is not merited by legal works, but can be received and experienced only through the message of faith. [source]
What do the individual words in Galatians 3:4 mean?
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: πάσχω
Sense: to be affected or have been affected, to feel, have a sensible experience, to undergo.
Greek Commentary for Galatians 3:4
Second aorist active indicative of πασχω paschō to experience good or ill. But alone, as here, it often means to suffer ill In North Galatia we have no record of persecutions, but we do have records for South Galatia (Acts 14:2, Acts 14:5, Acts 14:19, Acts 14:22). [source]
On εικηι eikēi see note on 1 Corinthians 15:2; note on Galatians 4:11. Paul clings to hope about them with alternative fears. [source]
Or, did ye suffer. The exact sense is doubtful. By some it is held that the reference is to sufferings endured by the Galatian Christians either through heathen persecutions or Judaising emissaries. There is, however, no record in this Epistle or elsewhere of the Galatians having suffered special persecutions on account of their Christian profession. Others take the verb in a neutral sense, have ye experienced, or with a definite reference to the experience of benefits. In this neutral sense it is used in Class. from Homer down, and is accordingly joined with both κακῶς evillyand εὖ wellPaul habitually used it in the sense of suffering evil, and there is no decisive instance, either in N.T. or lxx, of the neutral sense. In Class., where it is used of the experience of benefits, it is always accompanied by some qualifying word. When it stands alone it signifies to suffer evil. The evidence on the whole makes very strongly for the meaning suffer; in which case the reference is, probably, to the annoyances suffered from Judaising Christians. It must be said, on the other hand, that a reference to such annoyances seems far-fetched. If we could translate did ye experience (so Weizsäcker, Lipsius, Sieffert), the reference would be to the impartation of the gifts of the Spirit. [source]
So that ye have fallen from the faith and missed the inheritance of suffering and the rich fruitage of your spiritual gifts. See Matthew 5:10-12; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 4:17. [source]
The A.V. misses the force of the particles. Καὶ should be closely joined with εἰκῇ , with the sense of really. If, that is, it be really in vain. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Galatians 3:4
Comp. Galatians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:2, and εἰς tono purpose, Philemon 2:16; 2 Corinthians 6:1; Galatians 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:5. After all my labor, you may return to Judaism. Luther says: “These words of Paul breathe tears.” [source]
Resumes the thought of Galatians 3:2(Galatians 3:3, Galatians 3:4being, practically, parenthetical), in order to adduce the example of Abraham as a proof of justification by faith. The thought of Galatians 3:2is further emphasized. The gift of the Spirit, and the bestowment of miraculous powers, is a purely divine operation in believers, which is not merited by legal works, but can be received and experienced only through the message of faith. [source]