Some suggest a play on words between “persuade” and “obey,” since their roots are related. However, this is hard to reproduce in English, and few translators attempt it.

The action of the Galatians is hard to explain, and whoever caused it must have had some special method. Paul is only sure of one thing: this kind of persuasion did not come from God. Literally, the text has “him who calls you,” but from Pauline usage this clearly means God (see 1.6,15).

It was not done by God, who calls you may be understood as a negative response to the question Who made you stop obeying the truth! This verse may therefore be rendered as “It was certainly not God, since he is the one who calls you,” or “… has called you.” As in other contexts, it is important in employing a verb meaning call to avoid an expression which would simply mean “to shout at.” The meaning here is essentially “invite you to become his own,” or, as in some languages, “urges you to come to him.”

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 .