Paul’s illness in Galatia (4:13–15)

Says “You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you” (Gal 4:13; δι’ ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς, “because of a weakness of the flesh”; τὸ πρότερον). “And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me” (4:14; τὸν πειρασμὸν ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, “your trial in my flesh”). Paul testifies that “you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me” (4:15).

Ramsay holds that the illness was malaria fever: “an argument is founded on the remarkable analogy between the expression used by Paul himself to describe one specially prominent accompaniment of his disease” and the words of sufferers describing “the headache that accompanies each recurrence of chronic malaria fever”. Lightfoot is guarded: “we should be tempted by the closeness of the parallel to conjecture that it was of the nature of epilepsy.” These are their readings.

Implies Because Paul says the illness was the occasion of his first preaching to them (4:13) and that they welcomed him “as if I were an angel of God” (4:14), the text presents their first reception as warm despite his weakness.

Uncertain What the illness was is open; the text does not name it, and this background does not fix the meaning of the text.