TEXT. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. 19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. 20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lye not. 21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia : 23 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. 23 But they had heard only, that he, which persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 24 And they glorified God in me. PARAPHRASE. Arabia, and from thence returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, to see 19 Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, but James, the brother of our 20 Lord. These things, that I write to you, I call God to witness, are all true; there is no falshood in them. 21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cili22 cia. But with the churches of Christ in Judea, I had had no communication: they had not so much as seen 23 my face"; Only they had heard, that I, who formerly persecuted the churches of Christ, did now preach the gospel, which I once endeavoured to suppress and ex24 tirpate. And they glorified God upon my account. NOTES. 18 f« Three years," i.e. from his conversion. 22 "In Christ," i. e. believing in Christ, see Rom. xvi. 7. This, which he so particularly takes notice of, does nothing to the proving, that he was a true apostle; but serves very well to show, that, in what he preached, he had no communication with those of his own nation, nor took any care to please the Jews. CHAP. II. TEXT. 1 THEN fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem, with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel, which I preach among the gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain. 3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 1 THEN PARAPHRASE. fourteen years after, I went up again to Jeru2 salem, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me. And I went up by revelation, and there laid before them the gospel which I preached to the gentiles, but privately, to those who were of note and reputation amongst them; lest the pains that I have already taken, or should take 3 in the gospel, should be in vain. But though I com NOTES. 2 a "I communicated." The conference he had in private with the chief of the church of Jerusalein, concerning the gospel which he preached among the Gentiles, seems not to have been barely concerning the doctrine of their being *free from the law of Moses, that had been openly and hotly disputed at Antioch, and was known to be the business they came about to Jerusalem; but it is probable, it was to explain to them the whole doctrine he had received by revelation, by the fulness and perfection whereof, (for it is said, ver 6, that, in that conference, they added nothing to it) and by the miracles he had done in confirmation of it, (see ver. 8.) they might see and own what he preached, to be the truth, and him to be one of themselves, both by commission and doctrine, as indeed they did; avrois, “them,” signifies those at Jerusalem; nar' ¡ðíar dè Tois doneσi, are exegetical, and show the particular manner and persons, import nempe privatim, eminentioribus." It was enough to his purpose to be owned by those of greatest authority, and so we see he was, by James, Peter, and John, ver. 9. and therefore it was safest and best to give an account of the gospel he preached, in private to them, and not publicly to the whole church. b"Running," St. Paul uses for taking pains in the gospel. See Phil. ii. 16. A metaphor, I suppose, taken from the Olympic games, to express his utmost endeavours to prevail in the propagating the gospel. c❝In vain:" He seems here to give two reasons why, at last, after 14 years, he communicated to the chief of the apostles at Jerusalem, the gospel that he preached to the gentiles, when, as he shows to the galatians, he had formerly declined all communication with the convert jews. 1. He seems to intimate, that he did it by revelation. 2. He gives another reason, viz. That, if he had not communicated, as he did, with the leading men there, and satisfied them of his doctrine and mission, his opposers might unsettle the churches he had, or should TEXT. 4 And that, because of false brethren, unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. PARAPHRASE. municated the gospel, which I preached to the gentiles, to the eminent men of the church at Jerusalem, yet neither Titus who was with me, being a greek, was forced 4 to be circumcised: Nor did I yield any thing, one moment, by way of subjection to the law, to those false brethren, who, by an unwary admittance, were slily crept in, NOTES. plant, by urging, that the apostles knew not what it was that he preached, nor had ever owned it for the gospel, or him for an apostle. Of the readiness of the judaizing seducers, to take any such advantage against him, he had lately an example in the church of Corinth. 34 in vaynάoon is rightly translated, "was not compelled," a plain evidence to the galatians, that the circumcising of the convert gentiles, was no part of the gospel which he laid before these men of note, as what he preached to the gentiles. For if it had, Titus must have been circumcised; for no part of his gospel was blamed, or altered by them, ver. 6. Of what other use his mentioning this, of Titus here can be, but to show to the galatians, that what he preached, contained nothing of circumcising the convert gentiles, it is hard to find. If it were to show that the other apostles, and church at Jerusalem, dispensed with circumcision, and other ritual observances of the Mosaical law, that was needless; for that was sufficiently declared by their decree, Acts xv. which was made and communicated to the churches, before this epistle was writ, as may be seen, Acts xvi. 4. much less was this of Titus of any force, to prove that St. Paul was a true apostle, if that were what he was here labouring to justify. But considering his aim here, to be the clearing himself from a report, that he preached up circumcision, there could be nothing more to his purpose, than this instance of Titus, whom, uncircumcised as he was, he took with him to Jerusalem; uncircumcised he kept with him there, and uncircumcised he took back with him, when he returned. This was a strong and pertinent instance to persuade the galatians that the report of his preaching circumcision was a mere aspersion 4 Oui, "Neither," in the third verse, according to propriety of speech, ought to have a "nor," to answer it, which is the edi, "nor," here; which, so taken, answers the propriety of the Greek, and very much clears the sense; Τίτο ηναγκάσθη, ἐδὲ πρὸς ὥραν εἴξαμεν, “ Neither was Titus compelled, nor "did we yield to them a moment." f Tn indlay, " by subjection." The point those false brethren contended for, was, That the law of Moses was to be kept, see Acts xv. 5. St. Paul, who, on other occasions, was so complaisant, that to the jews he became as a jew, to those under the law, as under the law (see 1 Cor. ix. 19—22.) yet when subjection to the law was claimed, as due in any case, he would not yield the least matter; this I take to be his meaning of dauer Tñ vædayn; for, where compliance was desired of him, upon the account of expedience, and not of subjection to the law, we do not find it stiff and inflexible, as may be seen, Acts xxi. 18-26. which was after the writing of this epistle. TEXT. 5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6 But of these, who seemed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man's per PARAPHRASE. to spy out our liberty from the law, which we have under the gospel that they might bring us into bondage to 5 the law. But I stood my ground against it, that the truth" 6 of the gospel might remain' among you. But as for those*, who were really men' of eminency and value, NOTES. "Bondage," What this bondage was, see Acts xv. 1, 5, 10, 5 "The truth of the gospel." By it he means here, the doctrine of free, dom from the law; and so he calls it again, ver. 14. and chap. iii. 1. and iv. 16. "Might remain among you." Here he tells the reason himself, why he yielded not to those judaizing false brethren: it was, that the true doctrine, which he had preached to the gentiles, of their freedom from the law, might stand firm. A convincing argument to the galatians, that he preached not circumcision. 4,5" And that, to whom." There appears a manifest difficulty in these two verses, which has been observed by most interpreters, and is by several ascribed to a redundancy, which some place in dè, in the beginning of ver. 4. and others to of in the beginning of ver. 5. The relation between ed, ver. 3. and udi, ver. 5. methinks puts an easy end to the doubt, by the showing St. Paul's sense to be, that he neither circumcised Titus, nor yielded in the least to the false brethren; he having told the galatians, That, upon his laying, before the men of most authority in the church at Jerusalem, the doctrine which he preached, Titus was not circumcised; he, as a further proof of his not preaching circumcision, tells them how he carried it toward the false brethren, whose design it was, to bring the convert gentiles into subjection to the law. "And," or "more"over," (for so de often signifies) says he, " in regard to the false brethren," &c, Which way of entrance on the matter, would not admit of d after it, to answer di, ver. 3. which was already writ, but without of the negation must have been expressed by, as any one will perceive, who attentively reads the Greek original. And thus of may be allowed for an Hebrew pleonasm, and the reason of it to be the preventing the former to stand alone, to the disturbance of the sense. 6 He that considers the beginning of this verse, anò dè rãv doxéilwr, with regard to the Διὰ δὲ τὰς ψευδαδέλφες, in the beginning of the fourth verse, will easily be induced, by the Greek idiom, to conclude, that the author, by these beginnings, intimates a plain distinction of the matter separately treated of, in what follows each of them, viz. what passed between the false brethren, and him, contained in ver. 4. and 5. and what passed between the chief of the brethren and him, contained ver. 6-10. And therefore, some (and I think with reason) introduce this verse with these words: "Thus we have behaved ourselves towards the false brethren; but," &c. 1 Tât donäisav sivai ri, our translation renders, "who seemed to be some, "what" which however it may answer the words, yet to an English ear it cár, TEXT. son;) for they, who seemed to be somewhat, in conference added nothing to me. 7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircum PARAPHRASE. what they were heretofore, it matters not at all to me: God accepts not the person of any man, but communicates the gospel to whom he pleases", as he has done to me by revelation, without their help; for, in their conference with me, they added nothing to me, they taught me nothing new, nor that Christ had not taught me before, nor had they any thing to object against what 7 I preached to the gentiles. But on the contrary, "James, NOTES. ries a diminishing and ironical sense, contrary to the meaning of the apostle, who speaks here of those, for whom he had a real esteem, and were truly of the first rank; for it is plain, by what follows, that he means Peter, James, and John. Besides, oi dozeles, being taken in a good sense, ver. 2. and translated, "those of reputation," the same expression should have been kept in rendering ver. 6. and 9. where the same term occurs again three times, and may be presumed in the same sense that it was at first used in ver. 2. Every body sees that there is something to be supplied to make up the sense; most commentators, that I have seen, add these words, "I learned nothing:" but then, that enervates the reason that follows, "for in conference they added "nothing to me," giving the same thing as a reason for itself, and making St. Paul talk thus; "I learnt nothing of them, for they taught me nothing." But it is very good reasoning, and suited to his purpose, that it was nothing at all to him how much those great men were formerly in Christ's favour: this hindered not but that God, who was no respecter of persons, might reveal the gospel to him also, as it was evident he had done, and that in its full perfection; for those great men, the most eminent of the apostles, had nothing to add to it, or except against it. This was proper to persuade the galatians, that he had no-where, in his preaching, receded from that doctrine of freedom from the law, which he had preached to them, and was satisfied it was the truth, even before he had conferred with these apostles. The bare supplying of oi, in the beginning of the verse, takes away the necessity of any such addition. Examples of the like ellipses we have, Matt. xxvii. 9. where we read amò viŵr, for oi àò vi; and John xvi. 17. ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν, for οἱ ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν ; and so here, taking ἀπὸ τῶν δοκώνων, το be for ei and Twy donlwv, all the difficuly is removed: and St. Paul having in the foregoing verse ended the narrative of his deportment towards the false brethren, he here begins an account of what passed between him and the chief of the apostles. Peter, James, and John, who, it is manifest, by ver. 9. are the persons here spoken of, seem, of all the apostles, to have been most in esteem and favour with their master, during his conversation with them on earth. See Mark v. 37. and ix. 2. and xiv. 33. "But yet that," says St. Paul," is of no "moment now to me. The gospel, which I preach, and which God, who is no "respecter of persons, has been pleased to commit to me by immediate reve |