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Interpreting Galatians, 2d ed.
Addresses the key issues surrounding the exegesis of Galatians and the other Pauline Epistles, exploring how literary, historical, and theological factors impact interpretation. The first edition appeared as Explorations in Exegetical Method. This second edition features a new appendix and will be welcomed by all those studying the Pauline Epistles.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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About the author
Moisés Silva
68 books39 followersMoisés Silva (PhD, University of Manchester) has taught biblical studies at Westmont College, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He lives in Litchfield, Michigan.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 8, 2018
Exegesis is a fascinating subject. Mainly because we often agree that the historico-grammatic approach to exegetical work is a given, yet we often fail to develop a robust philosophy of exegesis. What is the link between the exegete and the theologian? Is such a dichotomy legitimate? Does exegesis presupppse theology or does our theology produce our exegetical work?
Questions worth asking. Silva is great and, in my opinion, an extremely fair critic. Will read again
Questions worth asking. Silva is great and, in my opinion, an extremely fair critic. Will read again
July 15, 2025
This was a good, if challenging, book on exegetical method using Galatians as a kind of case study. Silva balances well the historical-grammatical method with the theological content and application of the text. I read this for Greek Exegesis, and while I don’t know that I would ever have picked it up if it hadn’t been assigned, it was helpful in getting me to think more critically about some of the nuances in Galatians that I hadn’t paid attention to before or wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.
December 22, 2016
Raising the standard for seminary students.
April 25, 2023
More of a Summary than a Review
Interpreting Galatians: Explorations in Exegetical Method by Moisés Silva seeks to answer the question of why there are so many different interpretations of Scripture when many follow the same rules to exegete the text to reach their interpretations? His desire is to offer a guide to help students of the Word to “develop a strategy” (p. 11) to deal with text that is difficult to exegete. At the end of the day Silva suggests that we come to different interpretations because of our presuppositions, and that exegetes must recognize these presuppositions and use them carefully in understanding the Word. He opens the book with an introduction, then breaks the body of the work into three parts, followed by an epilogue and appendix. Part 1 deals with language and literature, part 2 history, and part 3 Pauline theology. The epilogue discusses the reader and relevance while the appendix looks at Paul’s use of Scripture in Galatians 3:6-14.
In the Introduction Silva rightly warns of the “encyclopedic” (p. 38) use of commentaries. He is not arguing against commentaries but is warning about the limited usefulness of commentaries in dealing with difficult questions due to the nature of the work. With the warning Silva encourages readers to look at monographs and journal articles, while keeping in mind that we are in a stream of history and ignore previous exegetes to our own peril.
In Part 1: Language and Literature Silva deals with four areas of language: Text, Vocabulary, Syntax, and Discourse and Literary Structure. In Chapter 1 he deals with the importance of textual criticism. He reminds the reader to think through several factors in textual criticism. First, Silva reminds the exegete not to write off readings supported by correctors of a manuscripts. Second, be mindful that the “whole manuscript- is part of a larger system” (p. 44). Third, there is a need to consider the variance that occurs between the MSS evidence. A variant in an older MSS can be even if the Majority text does not contain it, since the older MSS is closer to the original. Fourth, exegetes need to be careful of ascribing too much weight to scribal practices since we do not have a wealth of resources to make strong conclusions. Fifth, Silva reminds exegetes to be aware of the danger of applying an assimilated construction to a text due to the scribe’s familiarity or unconscious adjustment to a text (p. 45). Finally, he requests exegetes ask the question, “which variant better fits the context?” (p. 45). Chapter 3 is especially helpful in warning exegetes from using syntactical categories in the aspectual system to carry meaning and weight that the original Greek readers and speakers may not have understood. In Chapter 4 Silva reminds readers that discourse analysis benefits the exegete by helping “our understanding of intersentence relationships…” (p. 85) by granting us possible insights into the syntactical patterns present in texts.
Part 2 deals with distinctions in Paul’s message, Paul’s use of the Bible he had in hand, the eschatological concepts in Galatians and how the law was to function, working backward from Galatians 3:21, 3:18, and 3:12. Silva’s epilogue reminds the reader to seek relevance in in the exegetical process, careful use of systematic theology in exegesis, and remember the use of the Holy Spirit in interpretation. It should be noted that Silva seems to be describing illumination in this last section more than interpretation. The appendix seeks to help an exegete understand Paul’s use of the Old Testament in Galatians 3:6-14.
Interpreting Galatians: Explorations in Exegetical Method by Moisés Silva seeks to answer the question of why there are so many different interpretations of Scripture when many follow the same rules to exegete the text to reach their interpretations? His desire is to offer a guide to help students of the Word to “develop a strategy” (p. 11) to deal with text that is difficult to exegete. At the end of the day Silva suggests that we come to different interpretations because of our presuppositions, and that exegetes must recognize these presuppositions and use them carefully in understanding the Word. He opens the book with an introduction, then breaks the body of the work into three parts, followed by an epilogue and appendix. Part 1 deals with language and literature, part 2 history, and part 3 Pauline theology. The epilogue discusses the reader and relevance while the appendix looks at Paul’s use of Scripture in Galatians 3:6-14.
In the Introduction Silva rightly warns of the “encyclopedic” (p. 38) use of commentaries. He is not arguing against commentaries but is warning about the limited usefulness of commentaries in dealing with difficult questions due to the nature of the work. With the warning Silva encourages readers to look at monographs and journal articles, while keeping in mind that we are in a stream of history and ignore previous exegetes to our own peril.
In Part 1: Language and Literature Silva deals with four areas of language: Text, Vocabulary, Syntax, and Discourse and Literary Structure. In Chapter 1 he deals with the importance of textual criticism. He reminds the reader to think through several factors in textual criticism. First, Silva reminds the exegete not to write off readings supported by correctors of a manuscripts. Second, be mindful that the “whole manuscript- is part of a larger system” (p. 44). Third, there is a need to consider the variance that occurs between the MSS evidence. A variant in an older MSS can be even if the Majority text does not contain it, since the older MSS is closer to the original. Fourth, exegetes need to be careful of ascribing too much weight to scribal practices since we do not have a wealth of resources to make strong conclusions. Fifth, Silva reminds exegetes to be aware of the danger of applying an assimilated construction to a text due to the scribe’s familiarity or unconscious adjustment to a text (p. 45). Finally, he requests exegetes ask the question, “which variant better fits the context?” (p. 45). Chapter 3 is especially helpful in warning exegetes from using syntactical categories in the aspectual system to carry meaning and weight that the original Greek readers and speakers may not have understood. In Chapter 4 Silva reminds readers that discourse analysis benefits the exegete by helping “our understanding of intersentence relationships…” (p. 85) by granting us possible insights into the syntactical patterns present in texts.
Part 2 deals with distinctions in Paul’s message, Paul’s use of the Bible he had in hand, the eschatological concepts in Galatians and how the law was to function, working backward from Galatians 3:21, 3:18, and 3:12. Silva’s epilogue reminds the reader to seek relevance in in the exegetical process, careful use of systematic theology in exegesis, and remember the use of the Holy Spirit in interpretation. It should be noted that Silva seems to be describing illumination in this last section more than interpretation. The appendix seeks to help an exegete understand Paul’s use of the Old Testament in Galatians 3:6-14.
October 9, 2024
The epilogue deserves 5 stars. Silva asks thought provoking questions and doesn’t act like he has all the answers. Instead, he does his best to point the reader in the right direction for finding them. Good book.
December 13, 2017
Extraordinary. I wasn't sure which parts were more exciting, the exposition of the exegetical method or his actual exegesis of the passages.
July 26, 2024
Best for those who are comfortable with Greek, familiar with the flow of Galatians and has at least a rudimentary understanding of linguistics--still helpful.
August 1, 2025
Not a ton of fun to read outright. But I’ll be back for references….
February 20, 2021
This was one of the books I read for a sermon series on Galatians, and it was both dense and delightful! It was a hefty book, but the footnotes alone proved to harbour many hidden gems. It was overall a slow, but super, read!
July 11, 2021
Not your typical commentary. Silva spends much time in thoughtfully exploring exegetical methods using Galatians as the test case. The book fully delivers on the title. This is an excellent addition to any library, a multi-reader and reference book.
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August 4, 2011We had to read it for a Greek exegesis class. It was much better (and more useful) than the class. It is an exploration into the trickier passages in Galatians. Silva gives good discussions over some tough nuggets. For example, does the verse read "the faith *of* Jesus Christ" or "faith *in* Jesus Christ," the latter being a key prooftext for Protestant dogmatics. Exegesis is no longer the faithful ally many Protestants thought it was.
While Silva may not agree with all of Richard Hays' conclusions, he does alert the student the proper venues in studying Galatians. Unfortunately, students actually start reading these discussions and they get in trouble with their conclusions.
It's been a while since I read it, but I think Silva has his essay in here that he wrote for *Theonomy A Reformed aCritique.* The irony is that his supposedly anti-theonomic essay refuted all of Kline's theology.
Silva also has some interesting ideas on reading commentaries. He says to go ahead and read them ahead of doing your own exegesis of the passage. This actually makes sense, since no one comes to the passage with a blank slate anyway.
While Silva may not agree with all of Richard Hays' conclusions, he does alert the student the proper venues in studying Galatians. Unfortunately, students actually start reading these discussions and they get in trouble with their conclusions.
It's been a while since I read it, but I think Silva has his essay in here that he wrote for *Theonomy A Reformed aCritique.* The irony is that his supposedly anti-theonomic essay refuted all of Kline's theology.
Silva also has some interesting ideas on reading commentaries. He says to go ahead and read them ahead of doing your own exegesis of the passage. This actually makes sense, since no one comes to the passage with a blank slate anyway.
August 13, 2014
Why are you reading this book? For those wishing to explore "exegetical method" - this is a 5 star book. I am preparing to preach the book of Galatians, so I found the first half-or-so tedious; but the last half was incredibly helpful for my purposes. There are priceless nuggets of exegesis on some of the thorniest issues in interpreting Galatians.
May 13, 2008
that many times, exegetical research overemphasizes possibilities that are not really that probable. and instead, it should focus on the simplest, clearest meanings.
June 24, 2013
A treat. A meticulous biblical interpreter offers a behind the scenes look at his craft. Reason along with Silva as he works through the knotty passages of Galatians.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews