Galatians 2:6 - Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)

Galatians 2:6

4 And this occurred because of ^afalse brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our ^bliberty which we have in Christ Jesus, ^cthat they might bring us into bondage),

5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that ^athe truth of the gospel might continue with you.

6 But from those ^awho seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; ^bGod shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something ^cadded nothing to me.

7 But on the contrary, ^awhen they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised ^bhad been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter

8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the ^acircumcised ^balso ^cworked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),

9 and when James,¹ Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^apillars, perceived ^bthe grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, ^cthat we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, ^athe very thing which I also was eager to do.

No Return to the Law

11 ^aNow when¹ Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;

Commentaries:

Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)

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Galatians 2:6

Somewhat (ti). Something, not somebody. Paul refers to the Big Three (Cephas, James, and John). He seems a bit embarrassed in the reference. He means no disrespect, but he asserts his independence sharply in a tangled sentence with two parentheses (dashes in Westcott and Hort).

Whatsoever they were (opoioi pote hsan). Literally, "What sort they once were."

Hopoioi is a qualitative word (I Thessalonians 1:9; I Corinthians 3:13; James 1:24). Lightfoot thinks that these three leaders were the ones who suggested the compromise about Titus. That is a possible, but not the natural, interpretation of this involved sentence. The use of de (but) in verse Galatians 2:6 seems to make a contrast between the three leaders and the pleaders for compromise in verses Galatians 2:4 f.

They, I say, imparted nothing to me (emoi gar ouden prosaneqento). He starts over again after the two parentheses and drops the construction apo twn dokountwn and changes the construction (anacoluthon) to oi dokountev (nominative case), the men of reputation and influences whom he names in verses Galatians 2:8 f. See the same verb in Galatians 1:16. They added nothing in the conference to me. The compromisers tried to win them, but they finally came over to my view. Paul won his point, when he persuaded Peter, James, and John to agree with him and Barnabas in their contention for freedom for the Gentile Christians from the bondage of the Mosaic ceremonial law.

Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Galatians 2:6:

Acts 10:34
Acts 15:1
Acts 15:5
1 Corinthians 8:1
Galatians 1:16
Galatians 2:6
1 Timothy 1:15
James 2:1

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No Return to the Law

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