Galatians 5:20

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups,

Revised Standard Version
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
ydolatrye witchecraft hatred variaunce zele wrath stryfe sedicion sectes

Hebrew Names Version
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,

New American Standard Bible
idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,

New Century Version
worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people,

Update Bible Version
idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,

Webster's Bible Translation
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

English Standard Version
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

World English Bible
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions,

Weymouth's New Testament
enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, intrigues, dissensions, factions, envyings;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
witchecraftis, enmytees, striuyngis, indignaciouns, wraththis, chidingis, discenciouns, sectis, enuyes,

English Revised Version
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies,

Contemporary English Version
They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are

Amplified Bible
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies],

American Standard Version
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,

Bible in Basic English
Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings,

Complete Jewish Bible
involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue

Darby Translation
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strifes, jealousies, angers, contentions, disputes, schools of opinion,

International Standard Version
idolatry, witchcraft,sorcery">[fn] hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions,

Etheridge Translation
the worship of idols, sorcery, enmity, contention, ambition, wrath, calumny, divisions, rendings,

Murdock Translation
idol-worship, magic, malice, contention, rivalry, wrath, strife, divisions, discords,

King James Version (1611)
Idolatrie, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

New Living Translation
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

New Life Bible
worshiping false gods, witchcraft, hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching,

New Revised Standard
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Idolatrie, witchcraft, hatred, debate, emulations, wrath, contentions, seditions, heresies,

George Lamsa Translation
Idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, seditions, heresies,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, factions, divisions, parties,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Worshippyng of images, witchcrafte, hatred, variaunce, zeale, wrath, strife, seditions, sectes,

Good News Translation
in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups;

Christian Standard Bible®
idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions,

King James Version
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Lexham English Bible
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions,

Literal Translation
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies,

Young's Literal Translation
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strifes, emulations, wraths, rivalries, dissensions, sects,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Idolatrye, witchcraft, hatred, variaunce, zele, wrath, stryfe, sedicion, sectes,

Mace New Testament (1729)
brutality, idolatry, poisoning, enmities, quarrels, emulations, animosities, strife, seditions, factions, envyings,

New English Translation
idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions,

New King James Version
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

Simplified Cowboy Version
worshiping things other than God, witchcraft, getting mad all the time, picking fights, being jealous, throwin' fits, thinking only of yourself, blaming others for everything, picking sides,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

Legacy Standard Bible
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,

Contextual Overview

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love. ¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁵But if you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out, or you will be consumed by each other. ¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,²¹and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

witchcraft: Ezekiel 22:18, Deuteronomy 18:10, 1 Samuel 15:23, 1 Chronicles 10:13, 1 Chronicles 10:14, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Acts 8:9-11, Acts 16:16-19

heresies: 2 Corinthians 11:19, Titus 3:10, 2 Peter 2:1

Reciprocal: Genesis 13:7 - a strife Exodus 22:18 - General Leviticus 19:18 - not avenge Leviticus 19:31 - General 2 Samuel 19:43 - our advice Psalms 31:20 - the strife Luke 9:46 - General Luke 21:34 - surfeiting John 3:26 - he that Acts 24:14 - heresy 1 Corinthians 1:11 - that there 1 Corinthians 11:19 - heresies Galatians 5:24 - crucified Ephesians 4:31 - wrath Philippians 2:3 - nothing Colossians 2:18 - fleshly Colossians 3:8 - anger 1 Timothy 6:4 - words James 1:19 - slow to wrath James 3:16 - where

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Idolatry,.... Which some understand of covetousness, which is so called; but rather it means the worshipping of other gods, or of graven images:

witchcraft; any real or pretended league and association with the devil, seeking to converse with familiar spirits, to gain unlawful knowledge, or to do hurt to fellow creatures; which, as it is doing honour to Satan, detracts from the glory of God, and rightly follows idolatry; conjuration, soothsaying, necromancy, and all kind of magic are included and condemned hereby:

hatred: internal hatred of any man's person, even of our very enemies, is forbidden; in the original text it is "enmities": as the carnal mind is nothing else but enmity against God and Christ, against law and Gospel, and all good men, and everything that is good:

variance, or "contentions"; fighting and quarrelling, by words scandalous and reproachful, what we commonly call scolding:

emulations or "zeals"; not good, but bad: a boiling and rising up of the spirits and passions, at the honour and happiness of another:

wrath or "wraths" violent emotions of the mind, moving to revenge, and seeking the hurt and mischief of others:

strife or "strifes"; perpetual contradictions and cavilings, either expressed by words, or working in the mind; for this strife may be in a man's heart, according to James 3:14

seditions or "divisions": schisms and factions, dissensions in things domestic, civil, and religious:

heresies; bad principles and tenets, relating to doctrine, which are subversive of the fundamentals of the Gospel and the Christian religion; and are the produce of a man's own invention, and the matter of his choice, without any foundation in the word of God; and these are works of the flesh, for they spring from a corrupt and carnal mind, and are propagated with carnal views, as popular applause, worldly advantage, and indulging the lusts of the flesh.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Witchcraft - Pretending to witchcraft. The apostle does not vouch for the actual existence of witchcraft; but he says that what was known as such was a proof of the corrupt nature of man, and was one of the fruits of it. No one can doubt it. It was a system of imposture and falsehood throughout; and nothing is a better demonstration of the depravity of the human heart than an extended and systematized attempt to impose on mankind. The word which is used here (φαρμακεία pharmakeia, whence our word “pharmacy,” from φάρμακον pharmakon, a medicine, poison, magic potion) means, properly, the preparing and giving of medicine. Then it means also poisoning, and also magic art, or enchantment; because in savage nations pharmacy or medicine consisted much in magical incantations. Thence it means sorcery or enchantment, and it is so used uniformly in the New Testament. It is used only in Galatians 5:20; Revelation 9:21; Revelation 18:23; Revelation 21:8. Some have supposed that it means poisoning here, a crime often practiced; but the more correct interpretation is, to refer it to the black art, or to pretensions to witchcraft, and the numerous delusions which have grown out of it, as a striking illustration of the corrupt and depraved nature of man.

Hatred - Greek: “hatreds,” in the plural. Antipathies, and lack of love, producing contentions and strifes.

Variance - Contentions; see the note at Romans 1:29.

Emulations - (ζήλοι zēloi). In a bad sense, meaning heart-burning, or jealousy, or perhaps inordinate ambition. The sense is ardor or zeal in a bad cause, leading to strife, etc.

Wrath - This also is plural in the Greek (θυμοὶ thumoi), meaning passions, “bursts of anger;” see the note at 2 Corinthians 12:20.

Strife - Also plural in the Greek; see the note at 2 Corinthians 12:20

Seditions - See the note at Romans 16:17.

Heresies - See the note at Acts 5:17; 1 Corinthians 11:19.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 20. Idolatry — Worshipping of idols; frequenting idol festivals; all the rites of Bacchus, Venus, Priapus, c., which were common among the Gentiles.

Witchcraft — φαρμακεια, from φαρμακον, a drug or poison because in all spells and enchantments, whether true or false, drugs were employed. As a drug, φαρμακον, might either be the means of removing an evil, or inflicting one, etymologists have derived it from φερον ακος, bringing ease, or φερον αχος, bringing pain. So spells and incantations were used sometimes for the restoration of the health; at others, for the destruction of an enemy. Sometimes, these φαρμακα were used to procure love; at other times, to produce hatred.

Hatred — εχθραι. Aversions and antipathies, when opposed to brotherly love and kindness.

Variance — ερεις. Contentions, where the principle of hatred proceeds to open acts; hence contests, altercations, lawsuits, and disputes in general.

Emulations — ζηλοι. Envies or emulations; that is strife to excel at the expense of another; lowering others to set up one's self; unholy zeal, fervently adopting a bad cause, or supporting a good one by cruel means. Inquisitions, pretending to support true religion by torturing and burning alive those who both profess and practise it.

Wrath — θυμοι. Turbulent passions, disturbing the harmony of the mind, and producing domestic and civil broils and disquietudes.

Strife — επιθειαι. Disputations, janglings, logomachics, or strife about words.

Seditions — διχοστασιαι. Divisions into separate factions; parties, whether in the Church or state.

Heresies — αιρεσεις. Factions; parties in the Church separating from communion with each other, and setting up altar against altar. The word, which is harmless in itself, is here used in a bad sense. In stead of αιρεσεις the Slavonic has σκανδαλα, scandals, offences or stumbling-blocks.