Galatians 1:15-24 | |
15. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, | 15. At postquam placuit Deo, qui me segregaverat ab utero matris meae, et vocavit per gratiam suam, |
16. To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: | 16. Revelare Filium suum mihi, ut praedicarem ipsnm inter Gentes, continuo non contuli cum carne et sanguine; |
17. Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. | 17. Neque redii Hierosolymam, ad eos qui ante me fuerunt Apestoli; sed abii in Arabiam, ac denuo reversus sum Damascum. |
18. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. | 18. Deinde post annos tres redii Hierosolymam, ut viderein Petrum; et mansi apud illum dies quindecim. |
19. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. | 19. Alium antem ex Apostolis non vidi quenquam, nisi Iacobum fratrem Domini. |
20. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. | 20. Porro quae scribo vobis, ecce coram Deo, non mentier. |
21. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; | 21. Deinde vent in regiones Syriae ac Ciliciae. |
22. And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ: | 22. Eram autem facie ignotus Ecclesiis Iudaeae, qute erant in Christo. |
23. But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. | 23. Sed tantum hic rumor apud illos erat; Qui persequebatur nos aliquando, nunc praedicat fidem quam quondam expugnabat. |
24. And they glorified God in me. | 24. Et glorificabant in me Deum. |
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Paul's reasoning does not, at first sight, appear so strong; for although, when he had been converted to Christianity, he instantly, and without consulting the apostles, entered into the office of preaching the gospel, it does not thence follow that he had been appointed to that office by the revelation of Christ. But the arguments which he employs are various, and, when they are all collected, will be found sufficiently strong to establish his conclusion. He argues, first, that he had been called by the grace of God; next, that his apostleship had been acknowledged by the other apostles; and the other arguments follow. Let the reader, therefore, remember to read the whole narrative together, and to draw the inference, not from single parts, but from the whole.
The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah, though expressed a little differently from this passage, has entirely the same meaning.
"Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the womb I sanctified thee; a prophet to the nations have I made thee." (Jeremiah 1:5.)
Before they even existed, Jeremiah had been set apart to the office of a prophet, and Paul to that of an apostle; but he is said to separate us from the womb, because the design of our being sent into the world is, that he may accomplish, in us, what he has decreed. The calling is delayed till its proper time, when God has prepared us for the office which he commands us to undertake.
Paul's words may therefore be read thus: "When it pleased God to reveal his Son, by me, who called me, as he had formerly separated me." He intended to assert, that his calling depends on the secret election of God; and that he was ordained an apostle, not because by his own industry he had fitted himself for undertaking so high an office, or because God had accounted him worthy of having it bestowed upon him, but because, before he was born, he had been set apart by the secret purpose of God.
Thus, in his usual manner, he traces his calling to the good pleasure of God. This deserves our careful attention; for it shows us that we owe it to the goodness of God, not only that we have been elected and adopted to everlasting life, but that he deigns to make use of our services, who would otherwise have been altogether useless, and that he assigns to us a lawful calling, in which we may be employed. What had Paul, before he was born, to entitle him to so high an honor? In like manner we ought to believe, that it is entirely the gift of God, and not obtained by our own industry, that we have been called to govern the Church.
The subtle distinctions into which some commentators have entered in explaining the word
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The rest of the apostles, there is reason to believe, were scattered through various countries; for they did not idly remain in one place. Luke relates that Paul was brought by Barnabas to the apostles. (Acts 9:27.) This must be understood to relate, not to the twelve, but to these two apostles, who alone were at that time residing in Jerusalem.
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This reminds us of the light in which the saints of the Lord ought to be regarded by us. When we behold men adorned with the gifts of God, such is our depravity, or ingratitude, or proneness to superstition, that we worship them as gods, unmindful of Him by whom those gifts were bestowed. These words remind us, on the contrary, to lift up our eyes to the Great Author, and to ascribe to Him what is his own, while they at the same time inform us that an occasion of offering praise to God was furnished by the change produced on Paul, from being an enemy to becoming a minister of Christ.
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2 " jEn ejmoi<, that is, 'to me;' but yet it appears to denote something more." -- Beza. "The ancient commentators, and, of the moderns, Winer, Schott, and Scott, seem right in regarding this as a strong expression for 'in my mind and heart.'" -- Bloomfield.
3 "The expression, 'flesh and blood,' is used to denote men. Thus when Peter confessed to our Lord, 'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God,' Jesus answered, 'Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.' (Matthew 16:17.) That is, no man hath made this discovery; and thus it hath the same meaning in the place before us. But as the apostle speaks of his countrymen and equals in age, in the verses before, I apprehend he particularly means them, and that he intends to assure the Galatians, that, notwithstanding his former zeal for the law and the traditions of the Jews, yet that, after his extraordinary conversion, he had no longer any dependence on them, nor sought the least direction from the wisest among them." -- Chandler.
4 " Jistorei~n signifies either 'to ascertain any thing by inquiry, or any person by personal examination;' but sometimes, as here, to visit for the purpose of becoming acquainted with any one by personal communication.' So Josephus, Bell. 6:1-8, o{n (scil. Julianum), iJsto>rhsa, 'whom when I came to know and be with.' See Ac 9:26,27." -- Bloomfield.
5 "The distinguished guest of a distinguished host." -- Grotius.
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8 This is fully consistent with the opinion commonly held, that Alpheus or Cleopas was the husband of the sister of Mary, the mother of our Lord, and consequently that James, the son of Alpheus, was our Lord's cousin-german. -- Ed.
9 "The word pi>stiv denotes not only the act of believing, but that which is believed." -- Beza.
10 "He does not say, They praised or glorified me, but, They glorified God. He says, They glorified God in me; for all that belongs to me was from the grace of God." -- OEcumenius.