The tragedy of the Galatian Christians was that they went sadly wrong after beginning so well. “Foolish” means “spiritually dull and unwise”. (See Luke 24:25 where the same Greek word “anoeetos” is used.) Christians are deceived, says Paul in verse one, when they take their eyes off the Cross as the centre of their Christian life. The cross of Christ was always central with Paul.
Some commentators see the question, “Who has bewitched you?” as a sarcastic rhetorical one and favour a figurative explanation. For example, F. F. Bruce paraphrases, “Who is it that has hypnotized you?” [59] Others offer a more literal explanation involving witchcraft. Either way, the influence of a cunning satanic power corrupted the faith of the Galatians and used legalism to do so.
The Greek “baskaino”, Strong’s #940, translated “bewitched” (KJV; NIV) or “ put a spell on?” (TEV; JB) occurs only here in the NT. Thayer says it originally mean “to speak ill of one, to slander” [60]. Vine defines the word as “to slander anyone; to bring evil on a person by feigned praise, or mislead by an evil eye, and so to charm, or bewitch” (English, “fascinate” is connected); it is used figuratively in Galatians 3:1 of leading into evil doctrine.”
The UBS Handbook Series has “Who put a spell on you?” and adds this comment:
“The word “bewitched” suggests the use of magic, particularly the casting of a spell through the use of the evil eye. The belief that one person could cast a spell over another is common in many parts of the world, but one must not deduce from this statement that Paul believed in magic. He is more likely using “bewitched” in a metaphorical sense, and he probably means by it “to pervert,” “to lead astray,” or “to confuse the mind.” [61]
G. Delling offers a more literal interpretation of “baskaino”. He says, “This is not an exaggerated metaphor, for behind magic stands the power of falsehood and this has been exercised to do harm to the Galatians. The dangerous feature is that the Galatians have willingly yielded to these magicians and their influence without realising to what powers of falsehood they were surrendering.
