Galatians 1

“Apostle” means “official messenger,” such as a delegate or an ambassador sent to deliver a message. The title “apostle” came to mean disciples handpicked by Jesus to tell his story and spread his teachings. The title usually referred to the 12 original disciples of Jesus and to Paul, who met Jesus in a miraculous encounter while Paul was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians (Acts 9:5).

Galatia was a Roman province in what is now central Turkey (see map). Paul wrote the book of Galatians to these people. But Galatia was also the name of territories in northern Italy and in what is now France, then called Gaul.

Literally, “Amen.”

The Greek word for “good news” is euangelion, from which we get words such as evangelize and evangelical.

The Greek word for exiled is anathema, often translated as “cursed.” Many Bible experts said the idea is similar to a “ban” in the Old Testament. When something was considered banned by God, the Jews destroyed it. That’s what happened when the Jews returned home from exile in Egypt and they came to the city of Jericho. They considered this city “banned,” so they destroyed it and everyone inside of it. Declaring someone cursed essentially declared them as guilty and then placed them in front of God, who would hold them accountable for what they had done.

The original Greek word, anathema, is often translated as “cursed.” See the footnote For Galatians 1:8.

The Greek word Paul uses to describe this is apokalypsis, often translated “revelation.” This word might refer to the message itself. But most Bible experts seem to think Paul was referring to the manner in which he got the message. “All of a sudden, a light beam hit him. It came from out of the sky and lit up the area all around him. . . . Saul [Paul] said, ‘Who are you, sir?’ The voice replied, ‘I’m Jesus, the one you’re persecuting’” (Acts 9:3, 5).

Literally, “grace.”

It’s unclear exactly where Paul went. Arabia could refer to what is now Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries east of what is now Israel. Why Paul went there is also a mystery. One popular theory is that he went there to spend some time alone rethinking his religion and studying his Bible to see how Jesus fits into the story. When he later started his public ministry, he taught about how the prophets had predicted Jesus.

Paul used the Aramaic form of Peter’s name, Cephas. Aramaic was a language spoken by people in many countries of the region. Many Jews spoke it, along with Hebrew and Greek.

Paul grew up in the Roman province of Cilicia, in the city of Tarsus (Acts 21:39).