I have previously asserted that the proegraphē in Galatians 3:1 should be translated as “previously written,” rather than as “publicly portrayed” (LSB, ESV, NASB95) or as “vividly portrayed” (NET), and that in this passage Paul is making reference to a document that he had put before their eyes which recounted the crucifixion of Christ. Namely, a Gospel such as Matthew.1
We can debate whether Paul was referring to an OT passage or to a Gospel text but let us acknowledge that our English translations are not properly representing Paul’s method of presenting his gospel nor the source of authority behind his present chastisement.
Approaching this from the other direction, if Paul had actually meant to refer to a prior verbal presentation of a crucified Christ that Paul had put before their eyes, as commentaries often contend, then would he have used proegraphē?
Listen to how Paul and others refer to things that have been publicly declared:
28 for he powerfully refuted (διακατηλέγχετο/diakatēlencheto) the Jews in public (δημοσίᾳ/dēmosia), demonstrating (ἐπιδεικνὺς/epideiknys) by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 18:28 LSB).
20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching (διδάξαι) you publicly (δημοσίᾳ) and from house to house, (Acts 20:20 LSB)
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached (κηρύγματος), to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:21 LSB)
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached (κηρυχθείς) among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but has become yes in Him. (2 Corinthians 1:19 LSB)
21 if indeed you heard Him and were taught (ἐδιδάχθητε) in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, (Ephesians 4:21 LSB)
My point is that Paul had a variety of handy ways to refer to a message that had previously been preached orally which he could have employed, without using terms that refer to that which had been previously written.
- Daniel B. Moore, A Trustworthy Gospel: Arguments for an Early Date for Matthew’s Gospel (Wipf and Stock, 2024), 55–61. Paul’s Early Reference to a Gospel. ↩︎
