SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:10
¶ Porque, ¿persuado yo ahora a hombres o a Dios? ¿O busco agradar a los hombres? Cierto, que si todavía agradara a los hombres, no sería siervo de Cristo.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Galatians 1:10
Verse 10. Do I now persuade men, or God?] The words peiqein ton qeon may be rendered to court or solicit the favour of God as the after clause sufficiently proves. This acceptation of peiqein is very common in Greek authors. While the apostle was a persecutor of the Christians, he was the servant of men, and pleased men. When he embraced the Christian doctrine, he became the servant of GOD, and pleased HIM. He therefore intimates that he was a widely different person now from what he had been while a Jew.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. For do I now persuade men, or God ? etc..] To persuade, is to teach; (see Acts 18:4, 2 Corinthians 5:11) the sense of which, with respect to men, is easy, but, with regard to God, difficult; and indeed cannot be applied to him, consistent with his divine perfections; and therefore something must be understood, and which may be supplied either thus, do I now persuade, you or others, that men or God are to be hearkened to? not men, but God; the apostle did not teach them to hearken either to himself, or any of the other apostles, Peter, James, and John, any further than as he and they preached the pure Gospel of Christ; but should they do otherwise, they were not to be attended to, but God, who spake by his Son; or Christ, who is God as well as man; who is the great prophet in the church, a son in his own house, whose voice is to be hearkened to in all matters of doctrine, worship, and duty: or thus, do I now persuade you, to obey men or God; not men, but God; he did not teach them to regard the traditions of the elders, or to obey the commandments of men, but, on the contrary, the ordinances of Christ, who is the one Lord, and only master, whose orders are to be observed: or thus, do I now persuade, to trust in men or God? to believe in the one or the other; not in men, in the wisdom, strength, riches, and righteousness of men, but in the living God; in the grace of God, and in the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ: or thus, do I persuade for the sake of men, or God? not for the sake of gaining honour, glory, and applause from men, as the Pharisees and false apostles did, but for the glory of God, the hour of Christ, and the good of immortal souls: or else not persons, but things are meant, by men and God: and the sense is, that the apostle taught and persuaded men to believe, not things human, but divine; he did not preach himself, or seek to set up his own power and authority over men; or set forth his eloquence, learning, parts, and abilities; or to gain either applause or riches to himself; he did not teach human wisdom, the vain philosophy of the Gentiles, and opposition of science, falsely so called; nor the traditions of the elders, nor the commandments of men; nor the power and purity human nature, or the righteousness of man: but delivered things divine; he persuaded to things concerning God, and the kingdom of God; (see Acts 19:8) he taught, that without the regenerating grace of the Spirit of God, no man should see, and without the justifying righteousness of Christ, no man should enter into the kingdom of heaven, as his Lord had done before him; he preached the things concerning the grace and love of God, the person and offices of Christ, and the Spirit's work of regeneration and sanctification: the word now, refers to all the time since his conversion, to the present: before his call by grace, he persuaded persons to hearken to men, to obey the traditions of the elders, to trust in their own righteousness for justification before God; but now he saw otherwise, and taught them to lay aside everything that was human, and to believe in God, trust in and depend on his justifying righteousness; and this he did, without any regard to the favour and affection of men, as appears from what follows: or do I seek to please men ? no, he neither pleased, nor sought to please them; neither in the matter of his ministry, which was the grace of God, salvation by a crucified Christ, and the things of the Spirit of God; for these were very distasteful to, and accounted foolishness by the men of the world; nor in the manner of it, which was not with excellency of speech, or the enticing words of man's wisdom, with the flowers of rhetoric, but in a plain and simple style. There is indeed a pleasing of men, which is right, and which the apostle elsewhere recommends, and was in the practice of himself; (see Romans 15:2, 1 Corinthians 10:33). This proceeds from right principles, by proper ways and means, and to right ends, the glory of God, the good, profit, edification, and salvation of men; and there is a pleasing of men that is wrong, which is done by dropping, concealing, or corrupting the doctrines of the Gospel, to gain the affection and applause of men, and amass wealth to themselves, as the false apostles did, and who are here tacitly struck at; a practice the apostle could by no means come into, and assigns this reason for it: for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ : formerly he had studied to please men, when he held the clothes of those that stoned Stephen, made havoc of the church, hating men and women to prison; and went to the high priest, and asked letters of him to go to Damascus, and persecute the followers of Christ, thereby currying favour with him; but now it was otherwise, and he suggests, that was this his present temper and conduct he should have continued a Pharisee still, and have never entered into the service of Christ; for to please men, and be a servant of Christ, are things inconsistent, incompatible, and impracticable; no man pleaser can be a true faithful servant of Christ, or deserve the name of one: the apostle here refers to his office as an apostle of Christ, and minister of the Gospel, and not to his character as a private believer, in which sense every Christian is a servant of Christ; though to men is even contrary to this; for no man can serve two masters, God and the world, Christ and men. The Septuagint version of ( Psalm 53:5) is, for God hath scattered the bones, anyrwpareskwn , of men pleasers, to which agree the Syriac and Arabic versions.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 10-14 - In preaching the gospel, the apostle sought to bring persons to the obedience, not of men, but of God. But Paul would not attempt to alte the doctrine of Christ, either to gain their favour, or to avoid their fury. In so important a matter we must not fear the frowns of men, no seek their favour, by using words of men's wisdom. Concerning the manner wherein he received the gospel, he had it by revelation from Heaven. He was not led to Christianity, as many are, merely by education.
Greek Textus Receptus
αρτι 737 γαρ 1063 ανθρωπους 444 πειθω 3982 5719 η 2228 τον 3588 θεον 2316 η 2228 ζητω 2212 5719 ανθρωποις 444 αρεσκειν 700 5721 ει 1487 γαρ 1063 ετι 2089 ανθρωποις 444 ηρεσκον 700 5707 χριστου 5547 δουλος 1401 ουκ 3756 αν 302 ημην 2252 5713
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. For do I now persuade (arti gar - peiqw). For introduces a justification of the severe language just used. The emphasis is on now, which answers to now in verse 9. I have been charged with conciliating men. Does this anathema of mine look like it? Is it a time for conciliatory words now, when Judaising emissaries are troubling you (verse 7) and persuading you to forsake the true gospel? Persuade signifies conciliate, seek to win over.
Or God. Persuade or conciliate God is an awkward phrase; but the expression is condensed, and persuade is carried forward from the previous clause. This is not uncommon in Paul's style: See Philemon 5; Eph. i. 15; Philip. ii. 6, where morfh form, applied to God, is probably the result of morfhn doulou form of a servant (verse 7) on which the main stress of the thought lies.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:10 {Am I persuading?} (peiqw?). Conative present, trying to persuade like zetw areskein (seeking to please) where the effort is stated plainly. See #2Co 5:11. {I should not be} (ouk an emen). Conclusion of second class condition, determined as unfulfilled. Regular construction here (ei and imperfect indicative in the condition ereskon, ouk an and imperfect in the conclusion). About pleasing men see on 1Th 2:4. In #Col 3:22; Eph. 6:6 Paul uses the word "men-pleasers" (anqrwpareskoi).
