Galatians 5:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet he is not speaking here of bodily biting and devouring, but of things still worse. In fact, the man who devours another's flesh does not harm so much as the one who bites his soul.

As much as the soul is more precious than the body, so much more grievous is the evil done to it.

"Take heed that you are not destroyed by one another," he says. Since deceivers and plotters come in order to destroy others, he therefore says: "See that the matter does not reach even you."

Division and strife are destructive and ruinous without doubt, both for those who accept them and for those who introduce them. They consume everything even more than a moth.

This may also be understood simply. We must not revile one another with insults, nor think of avenging ourselves on one who curses us. We must not desire to grieve others when we ourselves are grieved.

Nor should we bite and be bitten like wild beasts, so that after biting there follows death and destruction.

But it is far better to understand everything said as referring to circumcision and the observance of the Law. Otherwise, contrary to the meaning and sustained argument of the whole epistle, we would make the Apostle Paul turn suddenly to general admonitions.

If others trouble you, he says, then you too will be troubled. If, when reading all the Old Testament Scripture, you understand it as it is written, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Deut 19:21), then this follows.

Anger desires vengeance, and vengeance causes suffering, because the Law not only does not forbid repayment equal to injury, but even prescribes it.

Then the one stripped of clothing may strip another. The one who has received a wound may inflict one. The one being devoured may devour.

Thus what appears to be justice is destruction. It does not repay only one person. Rather, it devours both.

Walking in the Spirit (18), avoiding the works of the flesh (19-21), and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit (22-23) are precisely the reasons a man becomes free from the Law and is not under the Law (18).

How is this so? Defining the essence of the Old Testament Law, the Apostle says: "The whole Law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (v. 14).

When he shows the fruits of spiritual life (v. 22), he places love first, then joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, mercy, faith, meekness, and self-control.

It is clear that against such virtues the Old Testament Law can have no censure, condemnation, or punishment. "Against such there is no law" (v. 23).

On the contrary, having fulfilled the final aim and essential demand of this Law, Christians already become higher than it. "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law" (v. 18).

Thus, when proclaiming freedom, the Apostle means freedom from the Law of Moses. He bases this freedom on submission to another and higher law, the law of life in Christ.

He also bases it on participation in His sufferings through the crucifixion of the flesh with its passions and desires: "Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (v. 24).

"Thus we may acquire wisdom higher than the Law, since the bonds of the Law have been loosed. Then the Apostle shows the easy way to attain this. What is it? Through love, he says, serve one another."

"Lest they become disorderly after being freed from the yoke of the Law, he imposes on them another yoke, love. Though greater and stronger than the first, it is far lighter and more pleasant."

"Having considered the Law from every side, he says: if you wish to fulfill the Law, then do not be circumcised. For it is fulfilled not in circumcision, but in love."

Blessed Augustine asks: "Why does the Apostle speak only of love for neighbors?" He resolves the question in this way: "Love for God and love for neighbors are inseparable. Whoever loves God necessarily loves his neighbor also."

"Love is properly one: it loves God, and for God's sake it loves one's neighbor. But since religious disagreements had begun among the Galatians, love too had evidently begun to dry up."

"This also moved the Apostle to speak only of love for neighbors, in order to restore its weakening bonds."

According to Blessed Jerome, by the words "you bite and devour," the Apostle means something like this: "Having received freedom from the Law, serve one another through love. This will be the best fulfillment of the Law itself."

"But if you remain with the Law, you will have to accept everything, including an eye for an eye. By following this, you will bite and devour one another. Beware! This is where the Law will lead you. You will be destroyed by one another."

In this way a chain of injuries must arise. Since each one repaying an injury will naturally try to make his rival less able to harm him, every later injury must be heavier and more deadly than the one before it.

From this one can see how true the Apostle's reasoning is: "If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not destroyed by one another" (Gal 5:15).

Therefore it is not safe to conquer evil by evil, even if someone were not restrained from such a battle by the thought that it is not permitted.

Thus this verse would be connected not directly with verse 13, but with the presumed consequence of the way of life legislated there. But is it right to proceed this way? Therefore the question is not at all superfluous: why did Saint Paul say this, or give his speech such a turn?

Saint Chrysostom understands these words not as expressing a general thought, but as covertly rebuking the bad condition of the Galatians. He does this to bring them to their senses and, by indicating its source in the heresy that had entered, to present the heresy itself in an unfavorable light.

Already under verse 13, on the words, "serve one another through love," he said: "The Apostle lets it be understood that the cause of their error was love of dispute, disagreements, love of rule, and pride. For the mother of heresies is the passion for ruling. By the words, 'serve one another,' he showed that the evil arose precisely from this vainglory and pride. Therefore he presents the corresponding remedy. Since, he says, you have divided among yourselves, desiring to rule one another, serve one another, and you will be united again. Yet he does not openly name their sin, but openly sets forth only the means of correction, so that from this they may learn their sin. It is like someone who, without directly saying to an immoral man that he is immoral, only exhorts him to chastity."

Saint Chrysostom carries the same thought under verse 15: "He did not state his thought here directly, lest he grieve them, although he knew that this was happening among them. He says the same thing, but with the appearance of some doubt. For he did not say, 'Since you bite one another,' nor did he later say directly, 'You will be destroyed by one another.' Such speech belongs to one who only frightens and advises, not to one who condemns. Yet he used the most striking and sharp words. He did not merely say, 'bite,' which an irritated man sometimes does, but added, 'devour,' which belongs to one hardened in malice. The one who bites only satisfies the passion of anger, but the one who devours reveals in himself the extreme degree of savagery. Yet he means not bodily biting and devouring, but things far worse. For one who devours a man's flesh does not do as much harm as one who bites his soul. As much as the soul is more precious than the body, so much more grievous is the evil inflicted on it. 'Take heed that you are not consumed by one another.' Since deceivers and plotters come in order to destroy others, see to it, he says, that the matter does not reach even to you. Divisions and strife corrupt and devour both those who receive them and those who sow them. They consume everything even more than a moth."

Blessed Jerome sets forth another thought: "This passage must be interpreted so that Saint Paul does not seem suddenly to pass to unexpected instructions standing outside all connection with the content of the Epistle. He wishes to say to them: having received freedom from the Law, serve one another through love. This will be the best fulfillment of the Law itself. But if you remain with the Law, then you will already have to accept everything, including eye for eye. Following this, you will bite and devour one another. Beware. This is where the Law will lead you. You will be destroyed by one another." This is not word for word.