MY OWN HAND

                                                        MY OWN HAND

“See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” (Gal. 4:11)

Introduction

There has been a lot written about this one verse, much of it is pure speculation! I had a look at various commentators to see what they had to say about this verse. It wasn’t long before I noticed that there was a fair bit of disagreement. Therefore, I was tempted just to skip over this verse and move on to the next. But since ALL Scripture is God-breathed, I think it best that we at least have a look at it!

The Hand

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        Whatever this verse means there is one thing for sure: Paul the Apostle wrote it! He took the pen in his own hand and he wrote this verse. I got to thinking: What kind of writing implement would the Apostle have used? There’s a verse in 3 John 13 in which the Apostle John mentions writing “with pen and ink.” The pen wasn’t a quill, you know, a bird’s feather, as some of you might imagine. Apparently, it would have been a reed. A piece of sharpened cane or such like.

The ink is mentioned in another two places, i.e., 2 Corinthians 3:3 and 1 John 12. The word for ink in those places just means that which is “black.” Apparently, ink was prepared from soot or vegetable or mineral substances. Gum and vitriol were also used, and some of the inks were also red and gold. Paul used the word “ink” in 2 Corinthians 3:3. Therefore, we can conclude thus far that Paul has a reed pen in his hand and he is using black ink.

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Now, whether he has it in his right hand or left, I don’t know. However, he was of the Tribe of Benjamin, as Paul informs us in Philippians 3:5. The word “Benjamin” literally means “son of the right hand”. A famous Benjaminite in the Old Testament is Ehud. You’ll remember that he was left-handed. He’s the man that thrust the dagger into the belly of Eglon (Judges 3:21). None of this helps us to know whether Paul was right-handed or left. But just before we move on, consider this verse of Scripture. “Among all this people there were seven hundred select men who were left-handed...” (Judges 20:16). So, for what it’s worth, the Tribe of Benjamin to which Paul belonged, had their fair share of lefties!

Right then, what we have thus far, is the Apostle Paul sitting with a sharpened cane reed in his hand, perhaps his left-hand. He is dipping the sharpened cane reed into black ink made from soot mixed with some liquid. And he is writing on... Well, what is he using for paper?

The word “paper” is used by the Apostle John in 2 John 12. “Having many things to write to you, I do not wish to do so with paper and ink...” The paper there would be papyrus. Papyrus was a tall, smooth reed, pasted together horizontally and vertically under pressure. Other writing materials would be leaves of the olive tree and palm leaves. They even wrote on the rinds of pomegranates and animal skins, presumably dead and cured! And also on tablets, like the one mentioned in Luke 1:63. “And he asked for a writing tablet...” But Paul here has the cane reed in his hand, perhaps his left-hand. And he’s writing with black ink upon papyrus probably.

But what is he writing? Well, we know for certain that he’s writing the verse we’re looking at! But what about the rest of this Epistle to the Galatians? Well, we may safely conclude that he’s writing from this verse (v.11) through to the end of the letter (i.e., v. 18). But what about the rest of the letter, didn’t he write that? Well, Paul was in the habit of using, what is called an amanuensis. An amanuensis is simply a scribe or a secretary. Paul would dictate the letter, and the amanuensis would write it down. Then Paul would write a concluding remark with his own hand. Eg, 1 Corinthians 16:21 “The salutation with my own hand – Paul.” Colossians 4:18 “This salutation by my own hand – Paul.” And listen to what he says in 2 Thessalonians 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write.” So, in light of that verse, and one or two other factors, I’m inclined to think that Paul wrote only the concluding remarks to the Galatians with his own hand. Whether you go along with me on this or not, is neither here nor there.

You might quote me Galatians 1:20 where Paul says: “Now concerning the things which I write to you...” But this doesn’t preclude the view that Paul is dictating to his secretary.   But let’s grab hold of what we do know for certain. Here’s the Apostle saying in Galatians 4:11 that he is writing to the Galatians with his own hand and not the hand of another. He is giving the letter his personal touch.

The Handwriting

        With the advent of emails, instant messages, and voice mail constantly appearing on our phones and computers, it’s hard to imagine what it was like back in the day. I remember a number of years ago thinking that, because computer word-processors were all the go at that time, that old fashioned letters written by hand seemed to have become so formal!

I remember the first time I used my computer to write a letter to my dad in Scotland. As I wrote I could just imagine him thinking as he read it: “Son, this is cold! I don’t want some computer print-out! I want to see your own handwriting! I want the personal touch – the touch of my son’s own hand!”

You know, some people have made a business out of analysing handwriting. They reckon they can tell you all sorts of things about a person by his or her style of handwriting. Well, I don’t want to make too much of that but I’m sure there’s something in it. However, here’s Paul inviting the Galatians to analyse his handwriting. He is drawing their attention to the large characters he’s using. Is he using upper-case letters whereas the amanuensis before him used lower case? Well, it would be nice if we had the original letter and we could check all this, but we don’t! But what we do have is a difficult grammatical Greek construction going on in this verse

It’s not that easy to know whether Paul is talking about the entire letter to the Galatians. Or is he talking about his ABCDEFG, i.e., alphabetical, type of letters. The KJV goes for the former, for it renders this verse: “Ye see how large a letter [singular] I have written unto you with mine own hand.” Whereas the NKJV has the word “letter” in the plural “letters” as does the NIV.

I certainly favour “letters of the alphabet” over “letter” as in “epistle” for a couple of reasons. The two letters to the Corinthians, and the ones to the Romans and the Ephesians are larger than this one to the Galatians. And that’s not counting the Letter to the Hebrews which possibly may have been written by him. Then there’s the grammar. The word in question may be translated either way. But I go along with Herman Ridderbos who says, “It is generally accepted that letters is the right version.”

Now then, why is Paul using such large letters, or characters? This is the point where some people start to speculate about Paul’s eyesight. They’ll tell you that Paul’s thorn in his flesh was poor eyesight. They’ll tell you that it was because he was blinded on the road to Damascus. However, is this the real reason why he is writing with such big letters? Well, I think this line of reasoning is a wee bit flawed.

Paul was a scholar. Read the book of Romans if you don’t believe me. The Apostle was an academic to the highest degree – the Rev. Prof. Dr. Paul. Paul was a man of letters, (even if he did count them as dung for the sake of Christ!) Paul wrote Galatians before he wrote 2 Timothy. Yet in 2 Timothy 4:13 he is asking for his books and his parchments to be brought to him. Therefore, we might conclude that he is still capable of study.

Right then, what does that have to do with his eyesight? Well, wouldn’t Paul want to read through his letter to the Galatians before he stuck it in the mailbox? This was an extremely important letter. Surely, he would want to make sure he was satisfied with what he had written before he sent it.

A friend of mine once told about a letter he wished he’d taken time to read again before he sent it. He sent a letter to the Government of Australia. He told them in no uncertain terms where they could go! He regretted his rashness in sending that letter! Paul the Apostle is not a rash man like my friend. He’s going to read and re-read his letter to make sure it’s just right. And, not to mention the fact that the Holy Spirit gave him 10/10 for it. And even saw to it that it was included in the Canon of Scripture! Paul got this letter just right, the way he wanted it. One wrong word and all could have been lost with the Galatians! So, I tend not to follow the poor eye-sight theory for the large letters.

So, what is with Paul writing with such large letters? Well, we certainly need to be careful about drawing any final conclusions, but here’s my two-cents worth:

The view I hold on this verse is based on a biblical principle and precedent. It should be noted, as will become clear to us as we continue our study of the rest of this chapter, that verse 11 to the end of the letter is basically a summary and restatement of the whole Epistle. It is Paul’s conclusion – his “therefore.”

In verse 12-13 he mentions again the problem the letter is written to address, i.e., salvation by works. In verse 14 he mentions again the solution, i.e., salvation by grace alone; which is on account of Christ’s cross alone. And that this is received through faith alone, which is what he means by glorying in the cross.

In verse 15 he spells it out one more time that in Christ Jesus works of the flesh count for nothing. It’s being regenerated and converted, i.e., being a new creation, which counts with God. Then, one more time, in verses 16-17 he mentions the fruit of the Spirit, which is the evidence of being a new creation. And then in the very last verse he mentions that word “grace” again, i.e., the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, the biblical principle and precedent that I mentioned is this: The principle is “grace” and the precedent is “the personal touch.” “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand.”

Paul, is the Lord’s Apostle – chosen by Jesus Christ Himself. That’s what Paul tells us in the very first line of this Epistle. He has the authority of Jesus Christ to write to these wavering Galatians. In chapter 1:3 he writes, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” God then, is declaring His grace and peace to these Galatians through His instrument, the Apostle Paul. In his office of an Apostle, Paul is an ambassador of God. He has been set apart by Jesus Christ as His representative of God’s grace on earth.

Now then, Paul used amanuensis, i.e., scribes or secretaries to write for him, we’ve seen that. I don’t know if there are any of his letters which DON’T mention the grace of God at the beginning. In all of them he declares the grace of God at the outset. The Epistle to the Hebrews, if written by Paul, would be the only exception. However, the very last line of that letter has these words: “Grace be with you al. Amen.” But the point I make is that Paul, as the Lord’s representative, in his Epistles, is declaring the grace of God. That’s the biblical principle I’m talking about.

The whole Bible is the written declaration of God’s grace! The whole Bible is God’s Epistle – His Letter – declaring His grace. But God Himself used amanuensis, you know, scribes or secretaries to write His Letter of Grace down for Him. Whether it be Moses, Jeremiah, Malachi, or Matthew, Mark,  Luke or John, these were God’s secretaries – as was the Apostle Paul.

Now, to be sure, God didn’t dictate to them what to write, directly. But He did so in a way that, what they wrote, was exactly what God intended them to write. Even though the Prophets and the Apostles wrote their own thoughts, they each wrote God’s mind on the matter. And though the Bible records God’s threatenings and punishments towards unrepentant sinners, it is indeed the record of His grace to undeserving sinners, such as ourselves.

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        But did God just stand there and dictate His Letter, i.e., the Bible from afar? Or did He add the “personal touch”? E.g., Exodus 31:18b, “He [ie, the LORD] gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony [or Covenant], tablets of stone, WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD.” And also Exodus 32:16, “Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the WRITING OF GOD engraved on the tablets.”

God set the precedent for the personal touch in His letter, Paul followed God’s lead! God used tablets of stone and carved into them using His own finger. Paul probably used papyrus a pen made out of cane and ink made out of soot. And what could we learn about the personality of God by studying His handwriting those two tablets? Did God use large letters when He wrote with His own hand? And don’t the Ten Commandments start with the grace of God? “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” However, let’s not get too carried away. Let’s just note that the Apostle Paul followed God’s principle of Grace. And that he also followed God’s precedent of “the personal touch.”

But, what about the principle subject of the whole Bible? What about the principle subject of Paul’s whole Epistle to the Galatians? What about Jesus Christ, the epitome of God’s grace? Who is Jesus Christ if He is not the Word of God in the flesh? Is there any more of a personal touch to be found than in Jesus Christ? God wrote His letter of Grace in His Son Jesus Christ!

If Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, then he does start it with grace after all. For that Epistle open with these words, “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son...”

God wrote the Ten Commandments of His Covenant in clay tablets by His own hand. And He wrote the final salutation of His Covenant using His Son as the pen and His blood as the ink! This is the grace of God, and it doesn’t get any more personal than this. Not only is Jesus the paper and ink that God used to declare His grace, but Jesus is also the handwriting of God! And He is the finger of God, He is the hand of God! For Jesus is God, and the all the Scriptures speak of Him.

Conclusion

We’ve seen then, something of God’s own hand and God’s own handwriting in this verse of Scripture that could almost be overlooked, “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!”