complete verse (Galatians 5:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 5:15:

  • Uma: “But if you continually fight and irritate one another, be careful, you will bring ruin upon yourselves.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But if that is what you do biting and fighting/quarreling like dogs, na be careful/watch-out because finally your being (of) one liver will be destroyed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But if the only thing you are doing is to harm each other and quarrel with each other, then your relationship as believers in Christ will be thoroughly destroyed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But if you continue to quarrel/fight like quick-tempered dogs who bite-each-other, watch-out, because its result is that you will destroy-each-other.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But if you keep on fighting/quarreling-with-one-another, the result will be that your fellowship-with-one-another will be reeally destroyed, and whatever could prove that you have belief/obedience would also be destroyed, just like animals who bite one another until they are all dead.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But if you fight among yourselves you bite each other and even eat your fellowman.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Galatians 5:15

The warning in this verse indicates that Paul pictures the Galatians as furiously fighting each other. The verb translated hurting is literally “to bite” and refers primarily to snakes and beasts. The verb translated harming is literally “devour” or “gulp down,” again used of wild beasts. It is clear, therefore, that Paul is comparing the Galatians to wild animals, and Good News Translation makes this explicit. Other translations do not mention animals at all (the phrase like wild animals does not occur in the Greek text) but try to recapture the image by the way they render the verbs (Jerusalem Bible “if you go snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces”; New English Bible “if you go on fighting one another, tooth and nail”). In referring to animals, it is important to identify the kinds of animals which would normally be wild or vicious, for example, “if you behave like wild animals,” or “… savage animals.” Hurting and harming each other may be rendered in some languages as “causing pain and suffering to one another.”

The expression watch out may be rendered simply as “beware,” or “I warn you.”

The result of all this, Paul asserts, is mutual destruction: you will completely destroy one another. The verb translated “completely destroy” is literally “to consume.” It is often used to describe the destruction caused by fire. The basic idea is that everything is destroyed—nothing remains.

What will be destroyed is either the Galatians themselves (New American Bible “you will end up in mutual destruction!”; also Good News Translation, New English Bible) or the Christian fellowship (Phillips “you destroy your fellowship altogether”; Jerusalem Bible “you will destroy the whole community”).

In light of Paul’s use of the present tense in the verbs, he is evidently thinking of an actual case. This means that the false teachers’ efforts have resulted in chaos and confusion among the Galatian believers, and one should translate this as an actual fact.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 5:15

5:15a

But: There is a contrast between 5:14b and 5:15. The contrast is between the command to love one another and the way that the Galatians were actually treating one another. The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.

if you keep on biting and devouring one another: This clause is a metaphor. In this metaphor, the way that the Galatians were treating one another is compared to the kinds of actions that wild animals do. Paul implied that the actions of the sinful nature are as destructive as the actions of wild animals.

Paul used two words, biting and devouring (that is, eating), to emphasize how serious the situation in Galatia was.

Some ways to translate this metaphor are:

• Keep the metaphor but make the image explicit. For example:

if you ?are wild animals that? bite and devour/eat one another

• Change the metaphor to a simile and make the image explicit. For example:

when you ?act like wild animals that? bite and eat each other
-or-
if you act like wild animals, hurting and harming each other (Good News Translation)

• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

if you criticize and attack each other (God’s Word)

devouring: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as devouring is a word used for wild animals eating food. They eat greedily and swallow food without chewing it. This is not the normal word used to describe humans eating.

5:15b

watch out, or you will be consumed by one another: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as consumed means “destroyed.” It refers to the results of biting and devouring one another. Paul asked the Galatians to stop and think about the effects of not loving one another.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

watch out or you will be destroyed by each other (New International Version)
-or-
look out! Beware ruining one another.
-or-
be careful that you don’t destroy each other (God’s Word)

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