Help with Greek Grammar (Galatians 5:17d)

[B Griffin]

Galatians 5:17 (NKJV)

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."​

I am curious about the translation of the final phrase in the verse. Here is the Greek (UBS4 interlinear) with original word order.

ἵνα

μὴ

ἃ

ἐὰν

θέλητε

ταῦτα

ποιῆτε

that

not

what

if

you might want

these

you might do

CAR

TN

RR-APN

TC

VPAS2P

RD-APN

VPAS2P

[The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (Interlinear with Morphology)]

I know that Greek word order is not the same as English word order, but I do not understand why NKJV (and others) put "not" (which is at the beginning of the phrase) with "you might do" (which is at the end of the phrase) instead of putting it with "you might want" (which is in the middle of the phrase). The differnce is as follows:

Case 1: "not" goes with "you might want"

ἵνα​	ἐὰν​	μὴ θέλητε​	ἃ​	ποιῆτε​	ταῦτα​
in order that​	when​	you might not want​	things​	you might do​	them​
CAR​	TC​	TN VPAS2P​	RR-APN​	VPAS2P​	RD-APN​

Case 2: "not" goes with "you might do"

ἵνα​	ἐὰν​	θέλητε​	ἃ​	μὴ ποιῆτε​	ταῦτα​
in order that​	when​	you might want​	things​	you might not do​	them​
CAR​	TC​	VPAS2P​	RR-APN​	TN VPAS2P​	RD-APN​

Can an expert in Greek grammar help me understand why translators put "not" with "you might do"?

 

[Unqualified]

To me………. Its just the sense of the thing, reconstructed in to English by the translator.

it’s not what you wish, that these you might do. ‘It’s’. You don’t do the things that you wish.

see…

 

[Philip_B]

Galatians 5:17 Interlinear: for the flesh doth desire contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh, and these are opposed one to another, that the things that ye may will -- these ye may not do;

Galatians 5:17 - Original Greek Text


These two additional resources may help

 

[BobRyan]

Galatians 5:17 (NKJV)

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."​

In the NT - "the flesh" is often a reference to the sinful nature.

In Rom 3:10-18 you see the sinful nature defined this way -

10 as it is written:
“There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The venom of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And they have not known the way of peace.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

In Rom 7 the battle described in your post is stated this way:
18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

 

[Unqualified]

In the NT - "the flesh" is often a reference to the sinful nature.

In Rom 3:10-18 you see the sinful nature defined this way -

10 as it is written:
“There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The venom of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And they have not known the way of peace.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

In Rom 7 the battle described in your post is stated this way:
18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

I don’t think it’s all of the flesh that we don’t do. Because Paul clearly disagrees. He is doing what he doesn’t want to do. But it’s other things we get limited by the flesh from doing. There are things I can’t do because my flesh wont allow me.

 

[BobRyan]

I don’t think it’s all of the flesh that we don’t do. Because Paul clearly disagrees. He is doing what he doesn’t want to do. But it’s other things we get limited by the flesh from doing. There are things I can’t do because my flesh wont allow me.

In Romans 8 Paul says that those who live in the flesh (in their sinful nature) do not obey God because they can not.

Rom 8:
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

 

[Philip_B]

In Romans 8 Paul says that those who live in the flesh (in their sinful nature) do not obey God because they can not.

Rom 8:
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Perhaps you could explain in what way this helps with the Greek Grammar of Galatians 5:17

 

[BobRyan]

I don’t think it’s all of the flesh that we don’t do. Because Paul clearly disagrees. He is doing what he doesn’t want to do. But it’s other things we get limited by the flesh from doing. There are things I can’t do because my flesh wont allow me.

In Romans 8 Paul says that those who live in the flesh (in their sinful nature) do not obey God because they can not.

Rom 8:
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Perhaps you could explain in what way this helps with the Greek Grammar of Galatians 5:17

Paul uses the term the same way in Gal 5 as he does in Romans 8 -- the flesh in that context - is the sinful nature.

Gal 5:
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ...

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, ...

 

[Unqualified]

In Romans 8 Paul says that those who live in the flesh (in their sinful nature) do not obey God because they can not.

Rom 8:
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Paul uses the term the same way in Gal 5 as he does in Romans 8 -- the flesh in that context - is the sinful nature.

Gal 5:
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ...

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, ...

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We can do all things in Christ we need to do, but not everything. We have our gifts where we are strong. We have our weaknesses where we fall short. I’ve had experiences where I couldn’t make the grade in preaching, not sin, just things I’m not able to do. Good things, I’m only able to lift 100 lbs. I probably wouldn’t be good as a traveling preacher, I’m not cut out to be a pastor, but I’ve wanted to. I never wanted to be a dad. I can’t write a book that would sell. All things that my flesh is not able. But I think I am able to fight the flesh, resist temptation, obey God for the most part. We are not required to do everything and some things we are just not able because of the weakness of our flesh. I believe God what he says I can do. But things I want to I can not always do if not specifically called. See? Slightly different.

 

[BobRyan]

I’m only able to lift 100 lbs.

??

I turn 70 soon and can only lift my weight off the ground - (about 180 lbs) for chin ups. I hurt one of my shoulders doing that recently (was going to try 100 chin ups that day but stopped after 10 just to be safe) -- in any case -- I got better. However I don't do much dead lifting in my efforts to spare my back any possible issues that could come up that way. I can do around 650 lbs with the inclined leg press machine but I don't do that very often.

But in Gal 5 and Rom 8 "the flesh" is not the muscle in the upper body or legs - it is the sinful nature.

 

[B Griffin]

In Romans 8 Paul says that those who live in the flesh (in their sinful nature) do not obey God because they can not.

Rom 8:
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Paul uses the term the same way in Gal 5 as he does in Romans 8 -- the flesh in that context - is the sinful nature.

Gal 5:
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ...

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, ...

Clearly, living in the flesh and not in the Spirit is a problem. Thankfully, having Christ in our hearts means that we do not live in the flesh and it means that we live in the Spirit. You do agree with that, right?

Though Galatians 5:25 is not mentioned in the OP, it is still pertinent to this discussion. It says, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." The premise of this verse is that those who live in the Spirit do not always avail themselves of the opportunity to walk in lock-step with the Spirit of God as He leads, guides, and directs them. If walking in the Spirit was a foregone conclusion for those who live in the Spirit, verse 25 would have been stated differently, for example, "If we live in the Spirit, we also walk in the Spirit".

This is consistent with the OP's verse which states that the flesh and the Spirit have desires that are in adversarial opposition, either "preventing us from doing what we wish" or "causing us to do what we do not wish" (depending on the translation).

 

[Ed Parenteau]

Galatians 5:17 (NKJV)

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."​

I am curious about the translation of the final phrase in the verse. Here is the Greek (UBS4 interlinear) with original word order.

ἵνα

μὴ

ἃ

ἐὰν

θέλητε

ταῦτα

ποιῆτε

that

not

what

if

you might want

these

you might do

CAR

TN

RR-APN

TC

VPAS2P

RD-APN

VPAS2P

[The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (Interlinear with Morphology)]

I know that Greek word order is not the same as English word order, but I do not understand why NKJV (and others) put "not" (which is at the beginning of the phrase) with "you might do" (which is at the end of the phrase) instead of putting it with "you might want" (which is in the middle of the phrase). The differnce is as follows:

Case 1: "not" goes with "you might want"

ἵνα​	ἐὰν​	μὴ θέλητε​	ἃ​	ποιῆτε​	ταῦτα​
in order that​	when​	you might not want​	things​	you might do​	them​
CAR​	TC​	TN VPAS2P​	RR-APN​	VPAS2P​	RD-APN​

Case 2: "not" goes with "you might do"

ἵνα​	ἐὰν​	θέλητε​	ἃ​	μὴ ποιῆτε​	ταῦτα​
in order that​	when​	you might want​	things​	you might not do​	them​
CAR​	TC​	VPAS2P​	RR-APN​	TN VPAS2P​	RD-APN​

Can an expert in Greek grammar help me understand why translators put "not" with "you might do"?

I'm no Greek scholar, but I believe the translators are just placing the adverb "not" with the verbs "want" or "do" they believe it modifies.

 

[Philip_B]

Greek syntax means that word order in a sentence is a lot less significant than it would be in English.