Galatians 1:1,2 - Not from man, but through Jesus Christ

1:1

The letter follows the typical style of letters of the day of sender’s name; recipient's name; and a blessing. An apostle was one who was sent, an apostle was an emissary. The term was used in the secular world, though rarely so. Paul says “not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father”. Paul had not been sent by men, he was not the emissary of some human authority, but an emissary of God. He was giving God’s message. Note the close linking of the Father and Jesus Christ. They are treated as being of equal stature. And the Father raised Christ from the dead. So we have a number of vital elements in this first verse alone. There is the equality of Father and the Son, the resurrection of the Son, and that the message comes from God. Paul is not presenting a philosophy nor a set of ideas, but the revealed word of God.

1:2

“and all the brothers”. This does not imply that the “brothers” contributed to the letter, though they undoubtedly would agree with its content, but Paul worked with various people (eg Silas, Timothy etc), who do get mentioned in various letters.  As an aside, NIV (and other versions that use “gender inclusive” language) has “brothers and sisters”. Now the Greek says “brothers”. However, we do know from various letters (especially Romans 16) and Acts that many women helped Paul and were key workers in the church. So putting “brothers and sisters” is not a “grievous theological error”. I personally think it is better, on the whole, to stick to what the text actually says as there can be places (though not here) where we can actually miss out on some of the meaning if we translate it otherwise. See the Introduction for discussion of what “To the churches in Galatia” means, not as simple as one might think, but Southern Galatia seems the most likely.