What Did He Say?

Hello.

As we continue on through chapter 5, we come to verses 11 and 12, which I have translated below.  Paul's frustration with his opponenets seems to boil over, and he bluntly says something that is quite surprising.

11 Brothers and sisters, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?  In that case, the offense of Cross is completely lost.  12 Oh, if only these agitators would just go ahead and castrate themselves. 

Paul’s meaning in verse 11 is not completely clear.  He asks, “if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?”  At this point in his argument against circumcision as necessary for salvation, it seems an odd question.  By this point, he has made his stance perfectly clear.  

Some scholars believe that Paul asks this question here because some of his critics are claiming that Paul supports their position on circumcision.  This is possible.  He would be basically saying, “if I support their position, why are they so critical of me?” 

It is important to understand that Paul is not anti-circumcision.  We know that he had Timothy circumcised in Acts 16, but he also supported Titus refusal to be circumcised.  Paul’s problem with what the Galatians are buying into is that he can't support the teaching that circumcision is necessary for salvation.  This point, again, he has made abundantly clear.  Paul is not teaching the typical Jewish view on circumcision. Paul's view: neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has bearing on one’s standing with God. 

In the second part of verse 11, Paul responds to his own question with this statement: “In that case, the revulsion of the Cross is completely lost.”  What I have translated as ‘offense’ comes from the Greek word, σκάνδαλον (skandalon). The Lexicon’s best definition for the context here is: "that which causes offense or revulsion and results in opposition, disapproval or hostility: fault, stain, etc.”  

Paul’s point:  If the message becomes circumcision, then the all the Jesus endured, the torture and grotesqueness of the Cross has become meaningless.

Then, Paul lays his feelings about his detractors out completely in verse 12:  “Oh, that these agitators would just go ahead and castrate themselves.”  Here, he obviously refers to the Judaizing teachers as, Οἱ ἀναστατοῦντες (hoi anastatountes), 'those who are troubling you.'  This can be translated as troublemakers or agitators. 

Clearly in his next statement Paul is taking off the gloves.   Ὄφελον καὶ ἀποκόψονται (Ophelon kai apokopsontai) Basically, Paul is saying “I wish they would just go ahead and castrate themselves.”  The Greek word Ὄφελον can be translated as, “I wish” or “if only.”  

The Greek word ἀποκόψονται comes from the verb αποκοπτό (apokoptó). Strong’defines these words as: to amputate, mutilate or castrate.  So, Paul is expressing his disdain for these men and their insistence on circumcision, and takes their argument to the extreme, with these men completely emasculating themselves. 

David deSilva explains it this way: “The verb refers to cutting off significantly more than the foreskin, effectively wishing that those who were so eager to circumcise the Galatian converts would cut off their own members.” (deSilva, 113.)

Paul's words in verse 12 may seem extreme, but they are born out of a frustration that the Judaizing teachers, and now the Galatians, are missing the meaning of second part of verse 11. If we could somehow gain salvation through removing a piece of flesh, then the scandal and torture that Jesus endured on the Cross become meaningless, and Jesus endured it all for nothing. If Paul is right, then the Cross means everything, as our only means of salvation.