God’s Word for You
Galatians 1:19-20 God’s name
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, June 6, 2024
19 I did not see any of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that I am not lying about the things I am writing to you.
There are at least four questions that we must address here. The first is the meaning of “apostle.” In the narrow sense, a Christian will use the word apostle for the twelve apostles of Christ. At this time, some of these had left Jerusalem to carry the gospel into the world. There are accounts in Acts of Peter and John traveling nearby, to the coast, to Antioch, and to Samaria. There are accounts outside of Scripture of some of the apostles traveling to the far east, into the north, and so on. In the wider sense, Barnabas and others are called apostles (Acts 14:14), and Paul as well. Here it seems best to take “apostles” in the narrow sense.
How shall we understand “except” (εἰ μὴ)? Does Paul mean to say, “I did not see any of the other apostles except James,” or “I did not see anyone other than the apostles, except for James”? Both of these are possible according to the Greek grammar of the passage. The first is the translation commonly found in most translations. In it, Paul’s meaning is taken to be that he did not see any of the other twelve apostles except for James—and yet this James was not one of the twelve, but held to be an important person on a sort of par with the apostles (we will discuss the “James” question below).
The second possible translation takes Paul’s meaning to be that he did not meet with anybody apart from the apostles and also James. This translation could be supported by Acts 9:27, where Luke says that Barnabas took Paul to see the other apostles. However, the simplest understanding of the Greek text favors the other translation, so that my preference is to use the common understanding as the translation but to mention the other possibility as a footnote.
The third question here is the identity of James. What does Paul mean by “the Lord’s brother”? Two men named James were among the Twelve Apostles. James son of Zebedee, the brother of John, was still alive, since Paul’s meeting with Peter was in about 38 AD and James was put to death in the 40s, perhaps 43 (Acts 12:1). The other James, the son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18) is less well known. Neither could easily be called “the Lord’s brother” when Peter is not. But the Lord’s brothers are listed for us in the Gospels: “Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” (Matthew 13:55). And again: “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3). These brothers and sisters of Jesus are identified in different ways. Epiphanius of Salamis (310-403 AD) thought that they were the children of Joseph by a previous marriage, which would allow Mary to remain a virgin throughout her whole life. Jerome (c. 340-420) thought that they were the cousins of Jesus, but that raises problems when the relatives of Jesus who took part in his burial are described (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40, 16:1). Also, it puts a fantastic strain on the grammar of the passages that describe his mother and his brothers in the same sentence (Luke 8:19) if they were half-brothers (but not by the same mother) and even more so if they were cousins. While it does not bear on the theology of the book at all, I think it is fair to note that Luther accepted the “cousins” position (LW 27:196). This important James who was in Jerusalem and who was the Lord’s brother was pastor of the church in Jerusalem after the Lord’s ascension. We would call him the chairman of the First Jerusalem Council (Acts 5:1-20). Paul also met with him when he visited Jerusalem.
Finally, in verse 20 Paul takes an oath about what he is saying. Does this violate the Second Commandment, when we are taught not to swear using the Lord’s name? Moses commands: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11). And Leviticus 19:12 says: “Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.” In the Large Catechism, Luther explains simply: “Since we are forbidden here to use the holy name in support of falsehood or wickedness, it follows, conversely, that we are commanded to use it in the service of truth and all that is good—for example, when we swear properly where it is necessary and required” (LC I:64). There are times when in is right and proper in God’s sight, therefore, to swear an oath, even using God’s name, even though our Lord Jesus laid out the principle: “Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God’s throne, or by earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerualem, for it is the city of the great king. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be “Yes’ and your ’No,’ ‘No’” (Matthew 5:34-35,37). But since there will be times when we are required to take an oath by a judge, or by a court, or to assert our faith before God’s people, we should swear only using God’s name (and not other things) and only when what we swear is certainly true. This is what Paul does here. For as the same Epiphanius I mentioned earlier says in his Ancoratus that this oath Paul makes in Galatians 1:20 is the same as saying that Christ and the Holy Spirit bear witness to truth we speak in God’s name. And as Luther concludes: “If it is not wrong to call upon God before having a drink of beer or a bite of bread, then it is also not wrong to use God’s name for the good of one’s neighbor.”
Use God’s name to call on him when you are in trouble, to praise him, to pray to him, and to thank him. Share your faith by describing who he is and what he has done for us, especially on the cross.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.