Galatians 5:14
in Galatians 5The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
KJV
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
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This verse in Galatians 5
Commentary
17 notes on this verse(Verse 14) But serve one another through love; for the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' When he was free from all, he made himself a servant of all for the sake of love, so that he might gain more (I Cor. XIII). He rightly exhorts others to serve him through love, which does not seek its own, but that of the neighbor.
This site's exposition
Love your neighbor as yourself
Paul cites Leviticus 19:18, the commandment Christ named in Matthew 22:39: The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree, Love your neighbor as yourself. Love accomplishes what the law aimed at. Fulfilled, pepleroto, is a perfect tense, so love brings the law to its intended completion.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"For the whole law." If you really, he says, wish to fulfill the law, do not do so by circumcising, but by loving one another; in this way you fulfill it.
A commentator
Epiphanius of SalamisPANARION 42.12.3, FIFTH REFUTATION OF MARCION · Written before 403.
proposed
What need is there for the holy apostle to make use of the law, if the new covenant is foreign to the old legislation? He wants to show both covenants are from the one Lord. They are best perceived as sharing the same intent. The …
Now, if none other but the Creator shall be found to execute judgment, it follows that only He, who has determined on the cessation of the law, shall be able to condemn the defenders of the law; and what, if he also affirms the law in that portion of it where it ought (to be permanent)? "For," says he, "all the law is fulfilled in you by this: `Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' " If, indeed, he will have it that by the words "it is fulfilled" it is implied that the law no longer has to be fulfilled, then of course he does not mean that I should any more love my neighbour as myself, since this precept must have ceased together with the law.
The whole work of the law is fulfilled by this one command: love. For one who loves another neither murders nor commits adultery nor steals.… Now Paul himself adds a text: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But we ought to understand by "neighbor" …
A commentator
CyprianTreatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews · Written before 258.
proposed
That charity and brotherly affection are to be religiously and stedfastly practised. In Malachi: "Hath not one God created us? Is there not one Father of us all? Why have ye certainly deserted every one his brother? " Of this same thing according to John: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." Also in the same place: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love than this has no man, than that one should lay down his life for his friends." Also in the same place: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." Also in the same place: "Verily I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth concerning everything, whatever you shall ask it shall be given you from my Father which is in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am with them." Of this same thing in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: "And I indeed, brethren, could not speak unto you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I have given you milk for drink, not meat: for while ye were yet little ye were not able to bear it, neither now are ye able. For ye are still carnal: for where there are in you emulation, and strife, and dissensions, are ye not carnal, and walk after man? " Likewise in the same place: "And if I should have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods for food, and if I should deliver up my body to be burned, but have not charity, I avail nothing. Charity is great-souled; charity is kind; charity envieth not; charity dealeth not falsely; is not puffed up; is not irritated; thinketh not evil; rejoiceth not in injustice, but rejoiceth in the truth. It loveth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, beareth all things. […]
10 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
Seeing that they made so much of the Law, he says, "If you wish to fulfill it, do not be circumcised, for it is fulfilled not in circumcision but in love." Observe how he cannot forget his grief, but constantly touches upon what troubled him, even when launched into his moral discourse.
Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbours may perish? Where, then, is (the command), "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself? " "Care not merely about your own (things), but (about your) neighbour's? " No enunciation of the Holy Spirit ought to be (confined) to the subject immediately in hand merely, and not applied and carried out with a view to every occasion to which its application is useful.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then when he says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word," he explains what he says: First, about charity; Secondly, about not making liberty an occasion to the flesh (v. 16). As to the first he admonishes them to follow charity: First, because …
If fully, he says, you desire to fulfill the law, then fulfill it not by circumcision, but by love, because in this consists the fullness of the law. See, while setting forth moral instructions, he does not forget dogmatic teaching either. So greatly did he …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For all the law is fulfilled in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself - inasmuch as none can do this without loving God, 1 John iv, 12; and the love of God and man includes all perfection.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word,....
It will appear that we are the disciples of Christ indeed when we have love one to another ( John xiii. 35 ); and, where this temper is kept up, if it do not wholly extinguish those unhappy discords that are among Christians, yet at least it will so far accommodate them that the fatal consequences of them will be prevented.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
For all the law - Which respects our duty to our fellows, is fulfilled - is comprehended, in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. See the notes on Mat 19:19, and Rom 13:9 (note).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Love is "the law of Christ" (Ga 6:2; Ro 13:9, 10). is fulfilled--Not as received text "is being fulfilled," but as the oldest manuscripts read, "has been fulfilled"; and so "receives its full perfection," as rudimentary teachings are fulfilled by the more perfect doctrine.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For all the law is fulfilled ... - That is, this expresses the substance of the whole law; it embraces and comprises all. The apostle of course here alludes to the Law in regard to our duty to our fellow-men, since that was the point which he particularly enforces. He is saying that this law would counteract all the evil workings of the flesh, and if this were fulfilled, all our duty to others would be discharged. A similar sentiment he has expressed in Rom 13:8-10; see the notes at that passage. The turn here in the discussion is worthy of particular notice. With great skill he changes the subject from a doctrinal argument to a strain of practical remark, and furnishes most important lessons for the right mode of overcoming our corrupt and sensual passions, and discharging our duty to others. Thou shalt love thy neighbor ... - See this explained in the note at Mat 19:19.
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γὰρ | gar | For | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| πᾶς | pas | the entire | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| νόμος | nomos | Law | G3551 → | 192 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ἑνὶ | heni | one | G1520 → | 343 times |
| λόγῳ | logo | word | G3056 → | |
| πεπλήρωται, | peplerotai | has been fulfilled | G4137 → | |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | this | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀγαπήσεις | agapeseis | You will love | G25 → | |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πλησίον | plesion | neighbour | G4139 → | |
| σου | sou | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ὡς | hos | as | G5613 → | 500 times |
| σεαυτόν. | seauton | yourself. | G4771 → | 2973 times |
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
γὰρFor
garG1063 →1039 times
πᾶςthe entire
pasG3956 →1235 times
νόμοςLaw
nomosG3551 →192 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ἑνὶone
heniG1520 →343 times
λόγῳword
logoG3056 →
πεπλήρωται,has been fulfilled
peplerotaiG4137 →
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷthis
toG3588 →19766 times
ἀγαπήσειςYou will love
agapeseisG25 →
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
πλησίονneighbour
plesionG4139 →
σουof you
souG4771 →2973 times
ὡςas
hosG5613 →500 times
σεαυτόν.yourself.
seautonG4771 →2973 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Galatians 6:2Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
it leads to
- Romans 15:1
We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14
And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.
- John 13:34
A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
- Romans 15:1
Through
Matthew 7:12In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
it leads to
- Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 13:8–10
Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Luke 6:31
Through
Mark 12:31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
it leads to
- Romans 13:8–9
Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Romans 13:8–9
Through
Leviticus 19:18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Matthew 22:39–40
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Matthew 22:39–40
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies27
On this verse
On this chapter
- Bearing One Another's Burdens
- Faith and Works
- The Fruit of the Spirit
- The Words Tov and Agathosyne
- Holiness and Legalism
- Joy in the Spirit
Show the next 6 titles
- The Words Chesed and Chrestotes
- Known by Their Fruit
- Led by the Spirit
- Love Is Patient
- Strength Under Control
- The Words Anav and Praus
Show the next 6 titles
About Galatians
This page draws on 17 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyprian, Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews; Epiphanius of Salamis, PANARION 42.12.3, FIFTH REFUTATION OF MARCION; Gaius Marius Victorinus, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.5.14; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Galatians; John Chrysostom, Homily on Galatians 5; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V; Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Book II; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Galatians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians.