An 'Old' Translation of Galatians - "El Ha'Galatim: From Tzi’yon Torah Goes Forth"

El Ha'Galatim: From Tzi’yon Torah Goes Forth

Uriel ben Mordechai’s re-translation of the Letter to the Galatians by Rav Sha’ul (the Apostle Paul), is a most fascinating and illuminating read.

By principally using the very earliest existing Greek manuscript of this letter (Papyri 46, circa 170 CE), rather than versions written a great many years later (as per the King James Version, which used the Textus Receptus for example, a translation which itself was based on 5 or 6 versions mostly dating to the 12^th century), Uriel has gone back to a time and source document much, much closer to the original.

With a date of around 170 CE, Papyri 46 (P46) could possibly be only two or even just one translation and/or copy away from the autograph which was most likely written around 49 CE by Rav Sha’ul. While 170 CE is decades after the great split in the community of believers in Yeshua that lead to the formation of a Gentile and Hellenistic church, P46 (as Uriel is able to demonstrate) is still remarkably Torah compliant (when read and understood from a Hebraic and Torah compliant perspective).

Uriel’s re-translation, or ‘old’ translation, is both revolutionary and revelatory.

It is revolutionary because, for most probably the first time since Sha’ul penned this letter, a version now exists that much more faithfully represents the true heart, focus and Hebraic mindset, of the author who was, and remained, a Torah observant Jew (for evidence for this fact please see my book ‘Defending The Apostle Paul: Weighing the Evidence’ – available on Amazon).



For those who are fully convinced that the message of the New Testament should clearly be in harmony with the message of the Tanakh (OT), this translation then is a breath of fresh air! 

Passages that in the past may have been difficult to read and understand from a Torah and Shema-centric perspective, now shout out with an empathic declaration of the supremacy of Torah! 

Galatians can now be clearly seen to be written by the man, Rav Sha’ul who stated in his other letters:


“So the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. ... For we know that the Torah is spiritual” Romans 7:12-14


“For it is not those who hear the Torah who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the Torah who will be declared righteous.” - Romans 2:13


“Do we, then, nullify the Torah by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold Torah.” - Romans 3: 31

“For in my inner being I delight in God's Torah” - Romans 7:22


“Keeping God's commands (Torah) is what counts.” -1 Corinthians 7:19


“We know that the Torah is good if one uses it properly.” - 1 Timothy 1:8

This translation is also revelatory. It reveals much more clearly the Torah-honouring and compliant message that Rav Sha’ul most surely wished to convey; but it also most clearly reveals some of the very serious redactions that permeate other translations.

That is, the pure and consistent message of El ha’Galatim in turn highlights and reveals some of the very serious and clearly deliberate changes that have been made, both to the Greek versions created after 170 CE, as well as apparently made in the process of translating these versions into the English versions we are familiar with.

These shocking redactions are made more obvious by the layout of ‘El ha’Galatim’.  Uriel has produced his translation with a middle column that displays the New King James Version so that the differences can easily be seen, and studiously meditated upon, by truth seekers.

For example, we can see some of the more subtle ways that the simple truth has often been hidden in the KJV and NKJV. Consider chapter 6 verse 6 where the NKJV has: “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. …”

It might be easy to gloss over the phrase ‘taught the word’ and not recognize the full meaning here or at best, perhaps imagine that this simply means ‘taught about the truth of Yeshua (as he is apparently the ‘word’).

Contrast this with Uriel’s version which reads: “He, however, who is being instructed from the Torah, should allocate, proportional to all things, to him who instructs. …”.



Here, there is no mistaking that ‘taught the word’ really means to be ‘taught Torah’ or ‘being instructed from the Torah’.

But there are much more serious differences. 



Without wanting to spoil your journey of revelation and discovery, here is just one. In Galatians 3:11, the NKJV has: “But that no-one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”


To the uninitiated, this surely seems to condemn Torah (the law). To paraphrase, the NKJV has, ‘the Torah justifies no-one’, that is no-one is made right with God via the Torah, via God’s ‘divine instructions’!

Surely, there is something seriously wrong here!

Let’s now consider Uriel’s translation and his ‘amplified translation’ as well, which reveals a totally opposite understanding, an understanding that is consistent with the chapter and verse being used to support the statement made here (namely, Habbakuk 2:4):

El ha’Galatim 3:11 “That except by Torah, no one is declared upright before G-d, is obvious, since, “the Tzadik, with his own trust, he shall live.”

And the amplified version: “[And] That except by [or besides] Torah, no one is declared upright before G-d, is obvious, since [quote from Habbakuk 2:4], “the Tzadik [i.e. the righteous man], with his own trust [in HaShem], he shall live.””

As the Prophet Habbakuk declared, if you trust HaShem, you will in turn obey His Torah, which will then make you righteous before HaShem and through this, you will have (eternal) life. What is also very clear is that such ‘righteousness’ and its salvic reward cannot be achieved outside of, or without Torah!

This is the message of the whole counsel of the Tanakh, not just of Habbukuk, and this is also the consistent message of the Torah observant Rav Sha’ul.



This translation may shock you to the core.

The revelation is great, but also the revolution is here! Rav Sha’ul and his writings are at last being reclaimed by his brethren, the Jewish people. This translation of Galatians gives Rav Sha’ul back to the faithful and zealous Jews who love their heavenly Father.

Uriel has produced a great work here. This translation should be read by all who profess to know and follow Yeshua haMashaich. It should become the de-facto standard translation of Galatians for all Bible theologians and students.

I congratulate Uriel and Adi ben Mordechai for all the long hours, loving effort and serious scholarship that has gone into creating this ‘old’ translation that removes much of the dirt and grime from hundreds of years of Hellenistic corruption of the text of Galatians.



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