When the apostle Paul ends his letter to the Galatians, he pronounces his benediction as follows in Galatians 6:16 “And as many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God”. Who the Israel of God is in this verse, is the exegetical issue that has generated the most discussion and disagreement among interpreters of the letter. Most in the history of interpretation have argued that Paul uses this phrase with reference to the church, the “true Israel” or “spiritual Israel.” Yet a number of scholars believe this view is very questionable, if not highly unlikely.
The following essay by Christopher W. Cowan, Adjunct Instructor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Seminary, considers the issues that have contributed to the competing understandings of the verse, looking first to the arguments of those who believe Paul uses “the Israel of God” to speak of ethnic Jews in some sense. Cowan then offers several reasons to justify the traditional interpretation and argue that Paul instead uses the phrase to refer to the church. In the context of Galatians (and the New Testament) it is best to see “the Israel of God” in Gal 6:16 as a reference to the unified people of God consisting of both Jews and Gentiles who have faith in Jesus Christ.
Cowan first lists the arguments of Ernest de Witt Burton, Peter Richardson and S. Lewis Johnson, to interpret “the Israel of God” as referring to ethnic Jews and not the church. Burton argues for the illogical order of “peace” and “mercy” in this benediction, compared to other NT benedictions and the lack of any other instance in which Paul uses the term “Israel” except to refer to the Jewish nation. Like Burton, Richardson also builds his case on the illogical order in the benediction, to prove that Paul, while writing this verse, had two groups in mind. Johnson objects to taking the kai (“and”) that follows “mercy” in an explicative or epexegetic sense ( as to mean “namely,” “that is”).
In response to these arguments, Cowan gives five reasons why he believes the traditional interpretation of this phrase, as referring to church is justified by the context of the letter. His reasons briefly are as follows :
(1) While it is certainly true that nowhere else in the New Testament do we find the term “Israel” being applied to the church, the concept is ubiquitous.
(2) The context of Galatians justifies understanding “the Israel of God” as designating all believers, Jew and Gentile.
(3) Believing that the church is the “true Israel” and that there is a future salvation for ethnic Israel are not inconsistent propositions.
(4) The infrequency of the epexegtical usage of kai is not sufficient evidence to deny its presence in Galatians 6:16.
(5) The unique construction of Paul’s benediction here and the unique combination of “peace and mercy” would appear to argue against its being a formulaic benediction.
Cowan thus concludes his brief essay, by reminding us the adage that “context is everything” and employing the context as the decisive factor in understanding Paul, he says, Paul identifies the church, those who conform to the new creation in Christ, as the true Israel.
Context Is Everything: “The Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16 Read
Footnotes
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[1] Christopher W. Cowan, Context Is Everything: “The Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16, SBJT Fall 2010
