Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.
The letter was addressed to Christians in Galatia, a comparatively small district of Asia Minor lying on a great highway of commerce. Its population was largely composed of Gauls, giving it the name the Gaul of the East, mixed with Greeks and Romans and to some extent with Hebrews. Those Gauls had dwelt there from about the third century before Christ and were subjugated by the Romans in B.C. 189, while the church there had been founded by Paul in A.D. 52.
The mention of how large a letter is literal, pointing to the large size of the characters Paul formed with his own hand. Such large letters were needed because defective eyesight required them in order for him to see his writing. His usual custom was to dictate the body of his letters to a secretary or amanuensis and to write only the greeting, salutation, signature, or closing himself. Defective eyesight had kept him from writing many letters himself, and his weak eyes meant he ordinarily needed someone with him to minister to him and to serve as amanuensis.
Writing the entire Galatian letter with his own hand was therefore unusual, rare, and noteworthy, contrary to that ordinary practice. His weak and defective eyesight resulted from the loss of sight and blinding he suffered when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus, after which his eyes were never fully restored. That defective eyesight was his thorn in the flesh.
The handwritten salutation and signature was the mark by which the churches could know a letter truly came from him and served to authenticate it. That personal feature is evidence that he claimed the letter as his own. Such a safeguard mattered because letters forged in his name had troubled the brethren. Seizing the pen and writing the whole epistle himself despite that hindrance shows his consuming zeal and the urgency and importance of this epistle.
By writing the whole letter himself despite the difficulty, he reminded the Galatians of their former loving concern for his eyes and showed his continuing tenderness toward them. His warnings came from fear that they would lose the salvation freely given to them, not from ill feeling.
The letter was addressed to Christians in Galatia, a comparatively small district of Asia Minor lying on a great highway of commerce. Its population was largely composed of Gauls, giving it the name the Gaul of the East, mixed with Greeks and Romans and to some extent with Hebrews. Those Gauls had dwelt there from about the third century before Christ and were subjugated by the Romans in B.C. 189, while the church there had been founded by Paul in A.D. 52.
The mention of how large a letter is literal, pointing to the large size of the characters Paul formed with his own hand. Such large letters were needed because defective eyesight required them in order for him to see his writing. His usual custom was to dictate the body of his letters to a secretary or amanuensis and to write only the greeting, salutation, signature, or closing himself. Defective eyesight had kept him from writing many letters himself, and his weak eyes meant he ordinarily needed someone with him to minister to him and to serve as amanuensis.
Writing the entire Galatian letter with his own hand was therefore unusual, rare, and noteworthy, contrary to that ordinary practice. His weak and defective eyesight resulted from the loss of sight and blinding he suffered when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus, after which his eyes were never fully restored. That defective eyesight was his thorn in the flesh.
The handwritten salutation and signature was the mark by which the churches could know a letter truly came from him and served to authenticate it. That personal feature is evidence that he claimed the letter as his own. Such a safeguard mattered because letters forged in his name had troubled the brethren. Seizing the pen and writing the whole epistle himself despite that hindrance shows his consuming zeal and the urgency and importance of this epistle.
By writing the whole letter himself despite the difficulty, he reminded the Galatians of their former loving concern for his eyes and showed his continuing tenderness toward them. His warnings came from fear that they would lose the salvation freely given to them, not from ill feeling.