Galatians 5:12

The Judaizers had gone too far with circumcision. Paul’s wish that the Judaizers who were so keen on circumcision would mutilate (i.e., castrate) themselves reflects his deep feelings about the seriousness of their heresy. If God granted Paul’s wish, they could not produce converts, figuratively speaking. Priests of the Cybele cult in nearby Phrygia practiced castration. [Note: Barclay, p. 48; George, pp. 371-72.] Paul regarded his legalistic rivals as no better than pagan priests.

". . . for Paul to compare the ancient Jewish rite of circumcision to pagan practices even in this way is startling. For one thing, it puts the efforts of the Judaizers to have the Gentiles circumcised on the same level as abhorred pagan practices. For another, it links their desire for circumcision to that which even in Judaism disbarred one from the congregation of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:1)." [Note: Boice, p. 491.]

Thus Paul’s desire for the false teachers seems to have been that they would cut themselves off from the company of believers. [Note: Fung, p. 242.]

"Most often Galatians is viewed as the great document of justification by faith. What Christians all too often fail to realize is that in reality it is a document that sets out a Christ-centered lifestyle-one that stands in opposition to both nomism and libertinism. Sadly, though applauding justification by faith, Christians frequently renounce their freedom in Christ by espousing either nomism or libertinism, and sometimes (like the Galatians) both. So Paul’s letter to the Galatians, though directly relevant to the Galatian situation, speaks also to our situation today." [Note: Longenecker, p. 235.]