Persuade and please (1:10)

Says Galatians 1:10 asks Ἄρτι γὰρ ἀνθρώπους πείθω ἢ τὸν θεόν; (Arti gar anthrōpous peithō ē ton theon, “Am I now persuading men, or God?”) Abbott-Smith gives πείθω as “to apply persuasion”, marks the present as “conative,” and lists this verse with a personal object under “to prevail upon or win over, persuade”. The second question is ἢ ζητῶ ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκειν; (ē zētō anthrōpois areskein, “or am I seeking to please men?”), with ἀρέσκω, “to please”, taking the dative.

Says The verse ends with a contrary-to-fact condition: εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον (ei eti anthrōpois ēreskon, “if I were still pleasing men”), imperfect in the protasis, and Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην (Christou doulos ouk an ēmēn, “I would not be a servant of Christ”), imperfect with ἄν in the apodosis.

Implies The form of the condition assumes the opposite of its “if”: Paul is not pleasing men, and he is Christ’s servant. The BSB renders the first question by its sense, as courting the favor of men or of God, rather than by the word “persuade,” which fits “men” directly and fits “God” only in that wider sense. ἔτι (“still”) looks back to a former way of life (1:13–14).