Paul Wished Some Would Castrate Themselves?

"I would they were even cut off which trouble you." (Gal. 5: 12 kjv)

When I first read the book of Galatians as a new believer I thought Paul's wishing the trouble-makers among the Galatian churches, who theologians call "Judaizers" (people who said that Gentiles also need to be circumcised in the flesh and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved), to be "cut off" meant that he wished that they were dead. After all, being "cut off" in scripture sometimes denotes being put to death. By the flood in the day of Noah it is said that all who died in the flood were "cut off." (Gen. 9:11) We also read about the Messiah being "cut off," (Dan. 9: 26) which is a prophecy of his death by crucifixion. There are also numerous old testament texts that speak of people being "cut off" from the Hebrew community for certain crimes, which means they were kicked out of the land of Israel and not allowed to return.

I can understand why Paul would wish these people dead, or exiled from the Christian community, for they were preaching "another gospel" (Gal. 1: 6-9) which "bewitched" many (Gal. 3: 1) and was the reason why some were failing to be saved, or "falling from grace." (Gal. 5: 4) Just as it would have been proper for people to pray for the death of Hitler or some other murderous tyrant who was involved in genocide so that many people could be saved, so I thought that Paul wished the death of these Judaizers. But, now I am not so sure that this is what he meant to convey. So, what does Paul mean by his wishing that the Judaizers would be "cut off"?

The Greek word translated as "cut off" in Galatians 5:12 is ἀποκόψονται (apokopsontai). It is only used in this text and means to amputate, cut off, or mutilate, which many think was used by Paul to sarcastically refer to castration as a deeper form of the circumcision being promoted by legalists. That is possible, especially in lieu of the fact that he did elsewhere use a "play on words" in his denunciation of those who said that men must be circumcised in the flesh in order to be saved. For instance, we read where Paul warned against the Judaizers by saying "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision." Most other English translations use the word "mutilators," such as "Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh." (niv) We might even translate as "watch out for the butchers!"

Though apokopsontai is only used one time in the new testament, similar words are used in the following texts:

Mark 9:43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut (apokopson | ἀπόκοψον | aor act imperative 2 sg) it off (apokopson | ἀπόκοψον | aor act imperative 2 sg); it is better for you to enter into life crippled than having two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

Mark 9:45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut (apokopson | ἀπόκοψον | aor act imperative 2 sg) it off (apokopson | ἀπόκοψον | aor act imperative 2 sg); it is better for you to enter into life lame than having two feet to be cast into hell.

John 18:10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting (apekopsen | ἀπέκοψεν | aor act ind 3 sg) off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

John 18:26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut (apekopsen | ἀπέκοψεν | aor act ind 3 sg) off, said, “I saw you in the garden with him, did I not?”

Acts 27:32 Then the soldiers cut (apekopsan | ἀπέκοψαν | aor act ind 3 pl) the ropes from the dinghy and let it drift away.

The Greek word apokopsontai is a verb in the middle voice which indicates that "they" are not only the ones who are the recipients of the action of cutting off but are also the ones doing the action to themselves.

Some theologians think that by being "cut off" means being excluded or excommunicated from the society of saints, but I find that unlikely because it is the duty of the church to do the cutting off of heretics and apostates and it would be unlikely that the Judaizers would want to cut themselves off from that society as it was their intention to infiltrate it and make followers from it. So, Paul is not likely to be saying "I wish that they would sever themselves from the Christian community." If excommunication was the idea, Paul would have likely said "I wish the churches would cut them off."

Many think that Paul is saying, in a sarcastic way of a pun, "let these men who are so anxious to cut their foreskins and that of others go ahead and cut off their entire male parts, or fully castrate themselves." Or, "I wish they would fully cut themselves." I think that is the correct view. Some might think that such a statement is below the dignity of an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and the character of gentle and meek disciples. Many say it is sarcastic and even a prayer of deprecation, which we do see examples of in scripture, such as this:

"Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly, And let his net that he has hidden catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall." (Psa. 35: 8 nkjv)

These are not personal prayers of revenge but a prayer for God to execute justice and to protect the innocent. As far as sarcasm is concerned, that is used by many bible writers, holy men of God, and even by Jesus himself. I wrote a post on this (here) where I show that Job spoke sarcastically to his friends who came to chide and condemn him while he was in great suffering. Many biblical scholars agree that Jesus used sarcasm in calling out hypocrisy or calling attention to situational irony. His sarcasm was not mean-spirited, but was rather a linguistic tool used to reveal truth, expose deceit, deflate ego, and to stop the mouths of the gainsayers. When Jesus told some to "Go tell that Fox," speaking of wicked conniving kind Herod (Luke 13: 32), he was being sarcastic.

I also believe that when Adam and Eve sinned and were ashamed of their nakedness, running from God out of fear, God spoke sarcastically when he said: "Behold, the man who has become one of us!" (Gen. 3: 22) Eve thought she would become a god by eating the forbidden tree, and God says the above in a mocking way. We could paraphrase as - "Take a look at that! She thought she would become a god, and now look at her!"

So, I have no problem with Paul speaking sarcastically in our text.