What Does Galatians 2:13 Mean?
And the rest of the Jews wore the same mask alongside him, so that even Barnabas was swept along by their masks.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.THE KEY
The Greek says the pretense spread together, and Barnabas was led along with it.
THE MEANING
This verse shows how a public performance can spread through a group until even a trusted person is swept into it. Shared behavior can hide the gap between what people show and what they truly stand by.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a pretense becomes sincere when many people join it, or that a respected person cannot be carried along by the group.
THE ROOT
ὑπόκρισις
hypokrisis
GROWS FROM
ὑποκρίνομαι
hypokrinomai
To play a part or pretend; the noun names the pretense itself.
“masks” in this verse is hypokrisis. The verse uses the noun for pretense and a related verb for joining in that pretense: the shared act is the point. Its repeated “together” forms show how performance can become a group current that draws others in.
ALSO GROWS
synypokrinomai: Join another in pretense.
συνυποκρίνομαι
The verse’s “dissembled likewise with him” uses this related verb, making the collective nature explicit.
anypokritos: Unfeigned; without acting a part.
ἀνυπόκριτος
This related word marks the contrast between an enacted appearance and what is unfeigned.
συναπήχθη
synapēchthē
GROWS FROM
ἄγω
agō
Lead, bring, or carry.
“swept along” in this verse is synapēchthē. Barnabas is described as being led along with the others; the verb’s “together” prefix links his movement to their shared pretense. The image is of a person caught in a group’s direction, not simply making an isolated choice.
ALSO GROWS
synagōgē: A gathering brought together.
συναγωγή
It shares the “bring together” family, showing how the same language of leading can also name people gathered as a group.
agōgē: A way of leading or guiding.
ἀγωγή
It keeps the root’s sense of direction, which helps illuminate how Barnabas is led along by the group.
THE PATTERN
A public pretense can spread through a community while concealing the gap between outward appearance and inward truth.
They speak emptiness, each one with his neighbor; with smooth lips, with two hearts, they speak.So also you outwardly appear aligned to people, but within you are full of masking and of living without boundary.Speaking lies from behind a mask, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.THE THREAD
So also you outwardly appear aligned to people, but within you are full of masking and of living without boundary.Matthew uses the same Greek noun, ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), rendered here as “dissimulation.” It opens the hidden split in Galatians: a shared outward performance can spread even while inward reality remains different.
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