Galatians 4:15-17 15 Therefore, where is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by giving you the truth? 17 They zealous for you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.
Something happened to the Galatians between the time Paul had visited them and when he wrote this letter. Early on, they were blessed. Paul does not say what this blessing is here, but the context of the letter suggests that they had believed in the gospel and were growing in their faith before the false teachers arrived (5:7). They were where they needed to be with God. They were growing and going in the right direction. Apparently, they also had a lot of love and respect for Paul, as Paul’s over exaggeration in the last part of v. 15 implies. They would have even given him their eyes. This statement opens the possibility that Paul’s illness in Galatia had something to do with his eyes, possibly some eye infection or worse condition. This had led to theories that Paul had poor eyesight, and so he wrote in large letters at the close of his epistles (Galatians 6:11).
Verse 16 shows the potential big shift in the thinking of the Galatians. Paul warns against this in the form of a rhetorical question, with hopeful answer that Paul is not the Galatians’ enemy because he has been clear and truthful in this letter. The trust can hurt sometimes and may result in friction in relationships. People can either accept the truth and change, or they can put up defenses and pursue their own perilous path. Obviously, Paul wants the Galatians to see their errors and follow the path of truth. Paul has already clearly stated the truth of the gospel as the way of the cross, which requires faith and not trying to follow a set of laws or traditions.
The subject of the verb in v. 17 is simply a third person plural, translated as they. This would be the same as the “who” of 3:1. Paul does not know names of these false teachers but he knows what they teach and how their teaching will lead people astray from the truth. Everywhere he refers to these people in this letter is generic, so we have to piece together what they are like. In this verse, Paul faults them for building up the Galatians but only to turn around and shut them out. These “agitators” have a lot of enthusiasm and zeal for the Galatians but then turn around and exclude them. They are being hypocritical. They setup the Galatians to fail. The last part of v. 17 is a bit awkward as stated. By excluding the Galatians, these people want the Galatians to be zealous for them. By controlling what the Galatians do and think, these false teachers will make the Galatians dependent upon them. This is a subtle practice that most cult leaders do. They twist the truth and create a dependency upon them. In order to access this truth, followers must seek these leaders and follow what they teach. The agitators in Galatian were cult leaders, and the cult focused upon Jewish legalism.
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