This post tackles the question of how discourse grammar would interpret the variant readings of Gal 1:8. There are several variant readings both affecting the presence or placement of the pronoun, and the tense of the verb. These options include either eliminating the pronoun or placing it before or after the verb, and changing the tense from present to aorist subjunctive.  I will focus here only on the issues surrounding the pronoun. Here are the various readings:

  1. NA27: ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται [ὑμῖν] παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.
    The following witnesses support an unbracketed reading: D(*) L 6. 33. 945. 2464 pm vg
  2. NA25: ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίσηται ὑμῖν παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.
    Attested by א‎2 A 81. (104). 326. (1241s) d; Tertpt Ambst.
  3. NA 27 reading with preverbal pronoun: ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ὑμῖν εὐαγγελίζηται παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.
    Attested by  P51vid B H 630. 1175. 1739(*)vid pc.
  4. NA 25 reading, without any pronoun: ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίσηται παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.
    Attested by  א* b g; McionT Tertpt Lcf.
  5. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.
    NA27 reading without any pronoun: F G Ψ ar; Cyp.

The committee assign the NA27/UBS reading with the bracketed pronoun a {C}, adding these comments:

Since ὑμῖν is absent from several important witnesses (א* Ggr Ψ itg Tertullian Cyprian Eusebius Ambrosiaster Marius Victorinus Lucifer Cyril), and since it occurs before the verb in some witnesses and after it in others, a strong case can be made for the originality of the shorter text. On the other hand, however, since the presence of the pronoun may seem to limit unnecessarily the range of the statement, copyists may have deleted it in order make Paul’s asseveration applicable wherever he or an angel might preach. Because of these conflicting considerations, a majority of the Committee preferred to print the pronoun after the verb (on the strength of preponderant external evidence), but to enclose it within square brackets to indicate a certain doubt about its originality. The reading εὐαγγελίζηται has stronger and more diversified support than either εὐαγγελίζεται or εὐαγγελίσηται.1

Omanson has this to say about the pronoun:

The second problem concerns the second person plural pronoun ὑμῖν. Several important manuscripts, as well as several Church Fathers, omit the pronoun. REB follows this shorter text: “But should anyone … preach a gospel other than the gospel …” If the pronoun is original, copyists may have omitted it in order to make Paul’s comment apply to other readers and not just to the Galatian Christians. On the other hand, the fact that the pronoun occurs before the verb in some manuscripts and after the verb in other manuscripts may suggest that the original text had no pronoun. The pronoun has been put in the text in brackets to indicate uncertainty about the original text.2

So what can we learn about these matters from discourse? First, it should be noted that the semantics of the context do not require the presence of a pronoun. This is essentially what Metzger and Omanson are referring to regarding Paul’s statement being specific versus universal. In my view, this semantic function should be regarded as a secondary matter, as it does little to affect the overall statement. Even were it to have been specific, it would not be against the spirit of the statement for others outside the Galatian church to apply the same principle.

Part 2 continues here.

8 ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ✕εὐαγγελίζηται [ὑμῖν]✖ παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.
Eberhard Nestle et al., Novum Testamentum Graece (27. Aufl., rev.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 1993), 493.8 ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ✕εὐαγγελίζηται [ὑμῖν]✖ παρʼ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.

Eberhard Nestle et al., Novum Testamentum Graece (27. Aufl., rev.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 1993), 493.

  1. Bruce Manning Metzger and United Bible Societies, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition a Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (4th Rev. Ed.) (London; New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 521. []
  2. Roger L. Omanson and Bruce Manning Metzger, A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament : An Adaptation of Bruce M. Metzger’s Textual Commentary for the Needs of Translators (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006), 375. []