36 DEBBIE HUNN the end of v. 10 and thereby sets up the test he will use to show that his gospel is true 35. Verses 13-16 then flesh out the contrast between the two categories in v. 10 by depicting them as a contrast in Paul’s past and present life. He now (arti, v. 10a) tries to please God; he does not ¶ still (eti, v. 10c) cater to people. ÃHkoysate gar “ for you have ¶ ¥ ¥ heard ” at the beginning of v. 13 anticipates that Paul will confirm what he has just said with information familiar to his readers, and the verse continues on to describe his past in Judaism. Now Paul’s past in Judaism will not of itself support his assertion in vv. 11-12 that his gospel is from God, but it does pick up his allusion to his past in v. 10. There eti informs the reader that he speaks of the past, ¶ as pote does in v. 13. Paul indicates in v. 10 that he sought to please ¥ people in the past. If he still did so, he would not be a servant of Christ, but he wishes for them to know that he preached the gospel he received from God (vv. 11-12). Verses 13-16 correspond to vv. 10-12 in that Paul first describes his past in vv. 13-14 (cp. v. 10) and then his commission to preach in vv. 15-16 (cp. vv. 11-12). Thus Paul links his former practice of pleasing people in v. 10 with his advancement in Judaism in vv. 13-14 to show that for him pleasing people has the goal of self-promotion 36. He then explains the change By picking up both the verb and the direct object from v. 10b in v. 10c, 35 Paul plainly connects the end to the beginning of the verse. However, v. 10c — “ If I still pleased people, I would not be a servant of Christ” — actually states the converse of what Paul needs to use to argue his case. He must show that he does not please people (i.e. he pleases God) because if he pleases God, it follows that he is a servant of Christ in preaching the gospel since this is what God called him to do. However, the two conditionals are equivalent — Paul pleases God if and only if he teaches the gospel God gave him — and, therefore, if he proves one side of the equivalence, he proves the other. But why does Paul state the converse of the conditional he will actually use? He implicitly denies seeking to please people in v. 10ab, so he states in v. 10c what logically follows if he does. Exegetes have puzzled over Paul’s arguments in chaps. 1–2 because Paul does not overtly state what he will use to support his gospel. But in v. 10c, he does indicate the direction of his proof. Striving for recognition among Jewish leaders does not speak against 36 Judaism any more than seeking to please the Jerusalem apostles would speak against Christianity. One may try to please any group of people for advancement. See also M.D. NANOS, “How Inter-Christian Approaches to Paul’s Rhetoric Can Perpetuate Negative Valuations of Jewishness — Although Proposing to Avoid that Outcome”, Biblical Interpretation 13 (2005) 262, against the view that Gal 1,13-14 impugns Judaism.