Bible Strands
Galatians 4:16
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Galatian churches, who have swung from intense affection (v. 15) to hostility after he confronted their drift toward a different gospel.
The words — ἔχθρος (echthros) is the noun for "enemy," not a mild disagreement; ἀληθεύων (alētheuōn) is a present participle, "speaking truth" as an ongoing act. The verse hinges on the collision between those two.
The thread — Amos 5:10 records those who despise the one who speaks with integrity, Proverbs 9:8 warns that rebuking a mocker earns hatred, and John 8:45 shows Jesus naming the same dynamic: "because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me."
Why it lands — It forces a reader to ask whether their rejection of a correction is about the content or about the person delivering it, and whether the hostility is proportional to the message.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Cross-references
- Amos 5:10 There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- Proverbs 9:8 Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
- John 8:45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!
- Galatians 5:7 You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth?
- Psalms 141:5 Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
- 1 Kings 22:8 The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
- John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- Galatians 2:5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
- 1 Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
- 1 Kings 21:20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.