Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us - without the authority or even the knowledge of the church at Jerusalem, though they belonged to it, and probably pretended to represent its views,
Subverting (or 'unsettling') your souls, х anaskeuazontes (G384)]. Such strong language is evidently designed to express indignation at this attempt, by an unauthorized party, to bring the whole Christian Church under Judaical and legal bondage.
[Saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law]: to whom we gave no [such] commandment. The bracketed words are of very doubtful authority, and probably taken from Acts 15:1; Acts 15:5. Lachmann and Tischendorf exclude them. If we omit them, the genuine words, 'to whom we gave no charge,' will mean simply that they were wholly unauthorized by the church at Jerusalem.