Galatians 2:6

But of these, who seemed to be somewhat,.... Not the false brethren, but the Apostles James, Cephas, and John, who were חשובים, "men of great esteem": high in the opinion of all good men; not that

But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: Greek, 'From those who,' etc.

But of those who seemed to be somewhat: the word translated seemed, is the same with that in , which we there translate of reputation. The apostle means the same persons that were of the greatest reputation, and so the following words, to be somewhat, do import, 8:9. We must not understand the apostle, by this expression, to detract from the just reputation that the apostles, and these eminent Christians at Jerusalem, had; he only taketh notice here of them, as magnified by the false teachers of this church, to the lessening of himself; and as those who seemed to be somewhat, must be interpreted as relating to these men’ s estimation of them; that seemed to you to be somewhat, though I seem nothing to you. Whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; whatsoever they were formerly, suppose (as probably some of these Galatians had said) that they saw Christ in the flesh, were immediately called by him, when I was a Pharisee, &c. God accepteth to man’ s person; hath no regard to what a man hath been, but to what he is. For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me; when I came to confer and discourse with them, about the doctrine which I and they had taught, I learned no new doctrine from them, different from what I had before taught, neither did they reprove or correct me, for any thing which I had taught amiss; we were all of the same mind.

6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’ s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: Ver. 6. Seemed to be somewhat] Opinion sets the price; when gold is raised from 20s. to 22s., the gold is the same, estimation only raiseth it. In conference added nothing to me] They could tell him nothing which he knew not before; when they came to talk together, he found that they did not only hold and teach the same things, but in iisdem verbis, in iisdem syllabis, in the selfsame words and syllables as he did, as Melancthon wisheth all men would. Whatsoever they were] Augustine being oppressed with the authority of the Fathers, saith he regardeth not quis, sed quid, the worth of the man, but the weight of his reasons.

(6) The Apostle returns from his digression on the case of Titus to give the result of his experience with the elder Apostles, in continuation of Gal 2:3. “I did indeed hold conference with them privately; but with all their advantages, real or assumed, I learnt nothing from them that I did not already know, and they ended by recognising the independence and validity of my mission.” But of these who seemed to be somewhat.—Translate rather, But from those who are reputed to be somewhat. The phrase corresponds to “them which are of reputation” in Galatians 2:2; and here, as there, it is important to keep the present tense. It is not only “those who were of authority at the Council,” but “those who are the great authorities with you Galatians now.” The Apostle speaks with a certain amount of irony. “From these very great authorities, these persons of such especial reputation [I got nothing].” Whatsoever they were.—We shall, perhaps, not be wrong in keeping to the Authorised version, though some of the best commentators translate rather, What they (once) were, with a stress on “were,” and referring to the advantage which they possessed over St. Paul in having “known Christ after the flesh” through their early call to the Apostleship. God accepteth no man’s person.—This phrase is a curious instance of a Greek expression framed after the analogy of the Hebrew, and yet in the process contracting a different signification, through the influence of the idiomatic use of one of the Greek expressions involved. “To accept the face” in the Old Testament is used in a good sense of “showing favour” to any one, but without any imputation of partiality. “To accept the face” (or person) in the New Testament always carries with it the idea of partiality; the word for “face” being idiomatically used for “a mask,” and hence coming to mean “the outward, assumed, accidental characteristics of a man” as opposed to his real and inward character. (Comp. Matthew 22:16; Luke 20:21; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25; James 2:1; James 2:9; Jude 1:16.) The meaning here is that even if the elder Apostles had “seen with their eyes,” and “looked upon and handled the Word of Life” (1 John 1:1), God would not regard the advantages implied in this more than any other external advantage of birth, position, natural gifts, &c. For they who seemed to be somewhat.—The same phrase as in Galatians 2:2 : they who were of reputation. There is here another break in the regular construction of the sentence. The Apostle begins as if he were going to finish differently: “From those who are reputed to be somewhat . . . I received nothing in the conference which I had with them;” but he suddenly changes his point of view: “From those who are reputed to be somewhat” (sentence left unfinished) “to me, I say, these reputable persons added nothing.” In conference added nothing.—“Added in conference” is all one word in the Greek, and corresponds to “communicated” in Galatians 2:2.

Verse 6. Those who seemed to be somewhat] τωνδοκουντωνειναιτι. Those who were of acknowledged reputation; so the words should be understood, see Galatians 2:2. The verb δοκειν, to seem, is repeatedly used by the best Greek writers, not to call the sense in question, or to lessen it, but to deepen and extend it. See Clarke on Lu 8:18. Perhaps this verse had best be translated thus, connecting διαφερει with αποτωνδοκουντων: But there is no difference between those who were of acknowledged reputation and myself; God accepts no man's person; but, in the conferences which I held with then, they added nothing to me-gave me no new light; did not attempt to impose on me any obligation, because they saw that God had appointed me my work, and that his counsel was with me.

6–9. The construction is again broken and irregular. The punctuation of the Rev. Vers. makes the sense clear. “But from those who were reputed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth not man’s person)—they, I say, who were of repute imparted nothing to me: but contrariwise, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, even as Peter with the gospel of the circumcision (for He that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto the Gentiles); and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision”.

But of those who seemed to be somewhat - See Galatians 2:2. This undoubtedly refers to those who were the most eminent among the apostles at Jerusalem.

6. Seemed to be somewhat—In special contrast to those who seemed to be no-what at all—the factionists. From this point the narrative flows in a clear yet troubled current, like a pure stream rippling among pebbles.