There is only one condition appended to the agreement: that Paul and Barnabas should remember the poor and needy (see Acts 11.30 and 2 Cor 9.1). These are the poor Christians in Jerusalem, a fact made clear by Good News Translation (compare New English Bible “their poor”). The needy in their group must be made somewhat more specific in some languages: “the poor people among the believers there in Jerusalem,” or “the poor people who belonged to their group of believers.”

The word translated eager in the clause the very thing I have been eager to do does not simply refer to one’s state of mind, but primarily to one’s activity. It could therefore be translated “worked hard at.” Some translations tend to put emphasis on the former (Good News Translation, also Jerusalem Bible “I was anxious to do”; Phillips “only too ready to agree”). Most translations, however, capture the spirit of the clause, being divided only as to whether this refers to a subsequent action and/or attitude of the apostle (as it seems to be in Knox) or to a previous action and/or attitude which continued up to the time of this letter (New American Bible “the one thing that I was making every effort to do”). In order to indicate clearly the continuous nature of Paul’s activity on behalf of the poor believers in Jerusalem, one may say “and I have always been eager to do just that.” Note, however, that in this context the verb remember does not imply necessarily that the poor had been forgotten. The meaning here is that “we should continue to think about,” or “should constantly be concerned for.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .