G.K. Beale, «Peace and Mercy Upon the Israel of God. The Old Testament Background of Galatians 6,16b», Vol. 80 (1999) 204-223

This essay has contended that Paul’s reference to "new creation" and the pronouncement of "peace and mercy" on the readers in Gal 6,15-16 is best understood against the background of Isa 54,10 and the surrounding context of similar new creation themes elsewhere in Isa 32–66, which are echoed also earlier in Galatians, especially in 5,22-26. The analysis confirms those prior studies which have concluded that "the Israel of God" refers to all Christians in Galatia, whether Jewish or Christian. Lastly, the demonstration of an Isaianic background for the concept of new creation in Gal 6,15-16 falls in line with Paul’s other reference to "new creation" in 2 Cor 5,17 and John’s allusion to new creation in Rev 3,14, where Isa 43 and 65–66 stand behind both passages. Isa 54,10 was likely not the sole influence on Gal 6,16, but such texts as Psalm 84 (LXX), the Qumran Hymn Scroll (1QH 13,5), and Jub 22,9 may have formed a collective impression on Paul, with the Isaiah text most in focus; alternatively, the texts in Qumran and Jubilees may be mere examples of a similar use of Isaiah 54 on a parallel trajectory with that of Paul’s in Galatians 6.

Galatians must be considered in identifying "Israel". To identify "Israel" with only the ethnic nation would be introducing a new idea into the letter: whereas Paul has throughout underscored unity among redeemed Jews and Gentiles, it would seem, not only a new thought, but an odd notion to underscore at the end a blessing on Gentile and Jew separately⁹. Ultimately, immediate context must decide the meaning of the use of any word.

        Some have proposed that the wording "peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God" is derived from an early Jewish benediction preserved in later Jewish tradition in the nineteenth benediction of the Shemoneh ‘Esreh or one of the variant forms of that benediction: "Bring peace, goodness, and blessing, grace and favor and mercy over us and over all Israel, your people"¹⁰. The reference to "Peace be upon Israel" in the LXX of Pss 124,5 and 127,6 has also been proposed¹¹. Likewise, close to Gal 6,16 is Ezra 3,11: "it is good that his mercy is upon Israel forever"¹². These are possible