Bible Strands
Galatians 6:13
For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Galatian believers immediately after warning them against those who compel circumcision to avoid persecution. He writes this to expose the hypocrisy of his opponents at a moment when external conformity is being demanded over internal faith.
The words — The Greek term περιτεμνόμενοι (peritemnomenoi) means "being circumcised," and φυλάσσουσιν (phulassousin) translates literally to "keep." The text states that those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law they require of others.
The thread — The theme of false boasting in outward ritual rather than spiritual reality appears in Romans 2:17, where relying on the law and boasting in God is contrasted with true obedience. Paul revisits this distinction in Philippians 3:3 by defining true circumcision as worshiping by the Spirit and glorying in Christ Jesus, while 1 Corinthians 5:6 warns that corrupt boasting spreads like leaven.
Why it lands — The passage demands that readers examine whether their religious practices serve genuine obedience or merely provide grounds for human pride. It requires abandoning external markers of status in favor of a commitment that aligns with the cross rather than social approval.
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
For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
Cross-references
- Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
- 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
- Romans 2:17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
- 2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
- Matthew 23:3 So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
- Matthew 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
- 2 Corinthians 11:18 Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.
- Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
- Romans 3:9 What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
- 1 Corinthians 3:21 Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,