“See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand!”
See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand! (Galatians 6:11 BSB)
What it sounds like today
An odd remark about handwriting.
The cultural key
The moment the pen changes hands: the secretary (see the Tertius entry at Romans 16:22) has taken dictation to this point, and Paul now writes the closing himself, the standard authentication against forgery ('the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine,' 2 Thessalonians 3:17). Why large? Proposals: emphasis, like bold type; poor eyesight (the Galatians would once have 'gouged out your eyes and given them to me,' 4:15); or simply a craftsman's unpracticed hand beside a professional's. The practice is certain, the reason debated.
Recovered meaning
Paul's signature block, sized for effect: the letter's angriest argument gets its final paragraph in the apostle's own oversized script, so no one could claim the letter, or its freedom, was forged.