Pauls Letter to the Galatians

Structure and Textual Features

Teacher Background
In examining the structure and textual features of the Letter (or Epistle) to the Galatians, we first
look at features of letter writing as a means of communication in the ancient Greco-Roman world.
Then, we examine structure and textual features of Pauline letters in general before turning our
attention to specifics of structure and textual features in the Letter to the Galatians.

Structure and Textual Features of Letters in the Greco-Roman World
In the Greco-Roman world, letters were understood as conversations between persons separated by
distance. The writer of the letter was thought to be present to the readers within the letter itself.
The text of the letter was understood as exhibiting the characteristics of the personality and social
status of the letter writer. Even though distinctions were made between official and personal letters,
the sense of conversational style remains, even in correspondence that is bureaucratic, philosophical
or theological in character. The broad functions of maintaining contact between sender and
recipient, imparting information and communicating requests or commands, are characteristic of
letters from the Greco-Roman world.

There were a number of Greco- Roman letter writing conventions that are typical of letters from this
period. The standard opening of a letter was the sender to receiver greeting. A prayer or a wish for
the health of the recipient and an assurance of the well-being of the writer, often followed this
greeting. A further feature of the opening section of the letter is an expression of joy or sorrow by
the writer, at news previously received from the recipients of the letter. The closing of a letter
usually consisted of a good wish for the health of the recipients and a formula of farewell. Both the
opening and closing formulas served to communicate the desired relationship between the sender
and the receiver. The selection of particular opening and closing formulas reveals whether a given
letter is between equals, from a superior to a subordinate, or from a subordinate to a superior.

Structure and Textual Features of Pauline Letters
We turn now to the structure and textual features of Pauline letters in general. Sender and receiver
of Pauls letters are incorporated into the opening sentence. Paul frequently addresses himself as
the apostle of Jesus Christ and signals that his letters have elements of official and authoritative
communication. In this respect Pauls letters might be compared with the letters of philosophers to
their disciples in the Greco-Roman world. Letter recipients are identified as churches, saints or
brothers (brethren, brothers and sisters). Such identification conveys an egalitarian, collective ethos
that stands in contrast to the letters of Greco-Roman philosophers to their disciples. Pauline
salutations also express the ethos of the early Christian communities, reminding recipients of their
shared participation with the writer in the new age of Christ. Pauline letters adapt a relatively
straightforward Greco-Roman thanksgiving formula (e.g. I thank the god Serapis for the safe
journey) lengthening it and filling it with theological content. In some cases the thanksgiving has
been expanded to such an extent that it becomes a sort of agenda for the letter and a table of
contents. The body of a Pauline letter opens with a disclosure formula such as I want you to know
brothers (brethren, brothers and sisters).

The typical Greco-Roman formula for closing the body of a letter, expressing the desire to be
favoured by compliance with a request, is replaced in Pauline letters with formulas that are more
elaborate and charismatic, expressing the wish that the recipients of the letter might be favoured by
some spiritual gift. Often the body of a Pauline letter closes with an extended blessing that includes
a summing up of the argument of the letter and an expressed wish that the divine presence and
power might be realised. Another feature found in the body of some Pauline letters is the travelogue
designed to express the presence of the apostle Paul in the letter. Pauline letters are characterised
by sections of text where the purpose is to exhort the recipients to particular attitudes, points of
view and behaviour.

The Pauline letters are characterised by a powerful sense of spiritual solidarity between writer and
recipients of these early Christian letters. Having initially experienced these letters as means of
encouragement for the Christian life, it was natural for the church to use them in later settings as a
means of reinforcing the shared values of Christian faith communities.

Pauline letters in the New Testament can be considered in relation to three rhetorical genres or
types, namely, judicial, deliberative and demonstrative. The judicial genre includes text whose
character is predominantly accusing and apologetic or argumentative. In the deliberative genre
there is material whose character is dominantly advising and consoling and in the demonstrative
genre text, the dominant characteristic of the text is praising and blaming. Many letters exhibit a
mixture of rhetorical genres and contain text that may contain a range of characteristics.

The introduction of a Pauline letter functions as an exordium, the classical opening of formal
discourse designed to establish rapport with the audience and state the issues to be discussed. In
some letters there is a narratio or narration of events relevant to the issue at hand as in Galatians
1:12 2:14. In other letters, we find a formal partitio, a statement of the thesis of the entire letter.
For example, in Galatians 2:15 21, there is a well-developed propositio, a formal statement of the
points of agreement and disagreement between Paul and the church.

The main body of most Pauline Letters consists of a series of well-organised proofs dealing with
theological, ethical and organisational issues in the church. The form of argument is dominantly
Jewish, supported by Scriptural examples and quotations. Common experiences and beliefs within
the Christian community are employed to support particular beliefs and behaviours and reject
others. Paul sometime resorts to Greco-Roman forms of argument from natural law, household
codes of behaviour and everyday experience. As an example, Galatians contains six interrelated
proofs (Gal. 3:1-5; 3:6-14; 3:15-18; 3:26-4:11; 4:12-20; 4:21-31). These six interrelated proofs are
followed by a proof in the form of an exhortation that argues against acceptance of the Jewish law
and following the lures of the flesh (5:16:10).

The conclusion of the Pauline Letters contain elements that are characteristic of the peroratio of
Greco-Roman rhetoric. Perorations contain recapitulations of the preceding argument and
emotional appeals to support the viewpoint of the speaker or writer. The intense sense of
commonality within the Christian communities to whom Paul was writing is often powerfully
expressed in the concluding sections of Pauline letters full of emotional appeals for unity and
integrity.

Structure and Textual Features of the Letter to the Galatians
The Letter to the Galatians exhibits many of the structural and textual features outlined above in
relation to letters in the Greco-Roman world in general and Pauline letters in particular. The letter
opens with a salutation (1:1-5) and ends with a conclusion written in the authors own hand (6:11-
18). At the beginning of most Pauline letters there is a conventional expression of thanksgiving for
the life and gifts of the community that Paul is writing to. In Galatians, however, the conventional
paragraph of thanksgiving is replaced by an expression of dismay and condemnation. (I am
amazed, 1:6). In this letter there are a variety of rhetorical expressions to develop the main lines of
the authors message: an autobiographical narrative (1:1 - 2:21); the authors central argument (3:1
4:31); and a final exhortation and instruction (5:1-6:10).

In addition to textual features referred to in the text above, the following textual features might be
noted. Textual features that are evident in the letter to the Galatians and reinforce its message
include literary features such as narrative, discussion, dialogue and speeches. The structure and
textual features of the text suggests that numbers of the textual features of Pauline letters discussed
above can be applied to the Letter to the Galatians. Of particular note in the text is the use of the
language of persuasion, including examples of complaint, exhortation, emotive language, simile,
metaphor, repetition, logic, appeal to authority and rhetorical questions. Other textual features
reinforcing the message of the text are characterisation, repetition, contrast and voice.

A structural outline of the Letter to the Galatians is set out below:


1:1-10 INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTER
1:1-5 Greeting
1:6-10 Problematic Situation in Galatia


1:11 2:21 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE: PAULS LOYALTY TO THE GOSPEL
1:11-17 The Gospel Received by Revelation
1:18-24 Pauls visit to Jerusalem
2:1-10 The Jerusalem Conference
2:11-21 Confrontation in Antioch


3:1 4:31 PAULS ARGUMENT: THE GOSPEL HAS SUPERSEDED THE LAW
3:1-5 Appeal to the Experience of the Galatians
3:6-18 Arguments from Scripture
3:19-29 Giving of the Law and the Coming of Faith
4:1-11 Slavery and Adoption
4:12-20 Pauls Personal Appeal
4:21-31 The Allegory of the Two Sons


5:1 6:10 FINAL EXHORTATION AND INSTRUCTION
5:1-12 Freedom and the Slavery of Circumcision
5:13-26 Freedom and the Discipline of the Spirit
6:1-10 Practical Instruction to the Churches


6:11 18 CONCLUSION OF THE LETTER