Galatians 1:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

NIV: I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

NASB: nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

CSB: I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.

NLT: Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.

KJV: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

NKJV: nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Paul is making the case that the Judaizers are wrong about him. In the following chapters, he will show they are wrong about the truth of the gospel, as well. They are wrong about him, he insists, for suggesting that a) he did not have the authority to teach the Galatians about Jesus and b) he was simply retelling someone else's version of Jesus' message.

Paul has already referred to his dramatic conversion: from Jesus-persecutor to Jesus-follower (Acts 9:1–22). He now relates that after that moment on the Damascus road, he did not go to Jerusalem to receive training about the things of Christ from the 12 disciples, "those who were apostles before me."

Instead of consulting with a human authority, Paul went off by himself to Arabia and then to Damascus for three years (Galatians 1:18). He seems to be saying that it was during this time, after seeing and being commissioned by Christ, that he came to understand the truth of the gospel as he presented it to the Galatians. Since he had not been trained by anyone but Christ Himself, Paul was qualified to fill the role of apostle and his message was trustworthy.

Galatians 1:11–24 begins with Paul's statement that he did not receive the gospel which he taught to the Galatians from any man-made religion, nor training from other people. He received it from Christ Himself. God revealed His Son Jesus to Paul, by His grace, even after Paul spent years as a Pharisee trying to destroy the Christian church. After Christ commissioned Paul to preach the good news to the Gentiles, he went off by himself for a few years and came to know the gospel through Christ directly.

Paul begins his letter to the Galatian churches abruptly, compared to his other writings. He has heard they are deserting the gospel which he preached and they believed: the good news that Jesus died to fully pay for all our sins on the cross. The Judaizers taught that these Gentiles must also follow the law of Moses to be saved and openly questioned Paul's authority. Paul makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ, who appeared to him and revealed the truth to him apart from the other apostles.

Galatians 1 begins one of the most-loved books about God's grace in all of Scripture. This and the following chapter detail Paul's biography, as he makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ and therefore his message is trustworthy. Chapters 3 and 4 go into depth about exactly what the gospel of God's grace is and why it is true. In chapters 5 and 6, Paul teaches about how Christians should live in the world as people who have received the grace of God through faith in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.