Galatians 4:13
You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
BSB
ASV
but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the first time:
KJV
Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.14 (420)
This is an obscure passage and demands closer attention. "I preached to you initially," he says, "as if to infants and sucklings on account of your bodily weakness.… This economy and pretense of weakness in preaching was my own policy.
Ye know how - To show them the folly of their embracing the new views which they had adopted, he reminds them of past times, and particularly of the strength of the attachment which they had evinced for him in former days. Through infirmity of the flesh - Greek “Weakness” (ἀσθένειαν astheneian); compare the 1Co 2:3 note; 2Co 10:10; 2Co 12:7 notes.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
2 Corinthians 13:4For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. And though we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you.
leads to
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of…
For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
Through
1 Corinthians 2:3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.
leads to
For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. And though we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you.
We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.
Through
2 Corinthians 10:10For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.”
leads to
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Through
2 Corinthians 11:30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
leads to
I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses.
