New Testament Outlines: Galatians
An Overview of the Structure of Galatians
When I study the Bible, I’m always concerned about the literary structure and outline of the final form of the text. Whether I’m studying the whole book of the Gospel of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, or a specific passage in the gospels, I want to know the overall structure and outline of the text. Ever since I read Jacob Milgrom’s Continental commentary on Leviticus from Fortress Press, where he states “structure is theology,”1 I’ve taken the structures of texts very seriously. They communicate theology and are an excellent way to understand the basics of a text and what they are attempting to communicate. Thus, I’m going to start providing outlines of the texts of the New Testament.
As a caveat, not all scholars agree on the structure of individual texts and these posts are not arguing for one structure or outline in particular. I’m only presenting structures and outlines of texts that I find helpful even if I may agree or disagree. When reading, having any critical outline or structure can be very helpful when studying the New Testament. To be sure, there are a variety of ways scholars have sought to create or develop outlines and structures based on certain critical methods. For example, scholars have structured and outlined Galatians, and many other biblical texts, socio-rhetorically, epistolary, thematically, etc. I’m not going to provide all possible structures and outlines, just those that may prove to be beneficial from a more general perspective.
I recently read Paul’s letter to the Galatians, so it’s fresh in my mind and that’s the first outline that I will provide in this series of posts. Paul, in many ways, follows typical first-century letter or epistolary customs.
Some Outlines
Here’s a simple outline given by James Sweeney:
Opening (1:1–5)
Body (1:6–6:10)
Closing (6:11–18).2
Martinus de Boer’s commentary in The New Testament Library collections provides some helpful outlines for Galatians as well. First, the basic outline:
Opening
(1:1–5) Prescript (sender, recipients, grace greeting)
(1:6–10) Main theme/issue
(1:11–6:10) Body
(6:11–18) Closing
(6:11–17) Personal authentication, recapitulation, final appeal
(6:18) Final grace benediction3
Here’s his expanded outline:
Section I: Letter Opening (1:1–10)
(1:1–5) Prescript
(1:6–10) Rebuke and Imprecation
Section II: The Origin and the Truth of the Gospel (1:11–2:21)
(1:11–17) The Origin of the Gospel 1: Paul’s Conversion and Call
(1:18–24) The Origin of the Gospel 2: Paul’s Visit with Cephas in Jerusalem
(2:1–10) The Truth of the Gospel 1: The Apostolic Conference in Jerusalem
(2:11–14) The Truth of the Gospel 2: Conflict with Cephas in Antioch
(2:15–21) The Truth of the Gospel for the Galatian Situation
Section III: The Spirit and the True Heirs of the Promise Made to Abraham (3:1–4:7)
(3:1–5) The Reception of the Spirit in Galatia
(3:6–14) The Blessing of Abraham and the Curse of the Law
(3:15–22) The Promise to Abraham and the Law of Moses
(3:23–29) The True Offspring of Abraham
(4:1–7) The True Heirs of the Promise
Section IV: The Grave Dangers Confronting the Galatians (4:8–5:12)
(4:8–11) The Danger of Returning to Their Previous Religious Servitude
(4:12–20) The Danger of Abandoning Paul and His Gospel
(4:21–5:1) The Danger of Losing Their New Identity through Faulty Exegesis
(5:2–6) The Danger of Becoming Separated from Christ and Grace
(5:7–12) The Source of the Danger: The Leaven of the New Preachers
Section V: Life at the Juncture of the Ages (5:13–6:10)
(5:13–24) Love and the Spirit’s Strife against the Flesh
(5:25–6:10) Living by the Spirit and Fulfilling the Law of Christ
Section VI: Epistolary Closing (6:11–18)
(6:11–17) Recapitulation
(6:18) Final Benediction4
Conclusion
For recommendations for biblical commentaries on Galatians, Nijay Gupta’s The New Testament Commentary Guide: A Brief Handbook for Students and Pastors is a great resource recommending commentaries of various accessibility and technicality. He’s constantly updating his readers on the latest commentaries, so please check out his substack Engaging Scripture.
Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus: A Book of Ritual and Ethics (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2004), 294. Milgrom said this in the context of Leviticus, but I have no hermeneutical issues with extending this notion to every text of the Bible - and imagine Milgrom would agree.
James P. Sweeney, “Galatians, Letter to the,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Martinus C. de Boer, Galatians: A Commentary (Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2011), 12, ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nnu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3416785.
de Boer, Galatians, 12.