Neither went I to Jerusalem, to the apostles who were before me: but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus.

“"Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were Apostles before me." These words weighed by themselves seem to breath an arrogant spirit, and to be foreign to the Apostolic temper. For to give one's suffrage for one's self, and to admit no man to share one's counsel, is a sign of folly. It is said, "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him;" and, "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" and Paul himself in another place, "Be not wise in your own conceits." Surely one who had been thus taught, and had thus admonished others, would not fall into such an error, even were he an ordinary man; much less then Paul himself. Nevertheless, as I said, this expression nakedly considered may easily prove a snare and offence to many hearers. But if the cause of it is subjoined, all will applaud and admire the speaker. Let us then inquire into the intention of Paul in thus writing, let us consider his scope, and general deportment towards the Apostles, that we may arrive at his present meaning. Neither formerly, nor in this case, did he speak with a view of disparaging the Apostles or of extolling himself, (how so? when he included himself under his anathema?) but always in order to guard the integrity of the Gospel. Since the troublers of the Church said that they ought to obey the Apostles who suffered these observances, and not Paul who forbade them, and hence the Judaizing heresy had gradually crept in, it was necessary for him manfully to resist them, from a desire of repressing the arrogance of those who improperly exalted themselves, and not of speaking ill of the Apostles. And therefore he says, "I conferred not with flesh and blood;" for it would have been extremely absurd for one who had been taught by God, afterwards to refer himself to men. For it is right that he who learns from men should in turn take men as his counsellors. But he to whom that divine and blessed voice had been vouchsafed, and who had been fully instructed by Him that possesses all the treasures of wisdom, wherefore should he afterwards confer with men? It were meet that he should teach, not be taught by them. Therefore he thus spoke, not arrogantly, but to exhibit the dignity of his own commission. "Neither went I up," says he, "to them." Because they were continually repeating that the Apostles were before him, and were called before him, he says, "I went not up to them." Had it been needful for him to communicate with them, He, who revealed to him his commission, would have given him this injunction. Is it true, however, that he did not go up thither? nay, he went up, and not merely so, but in order to learn somewhat of them. When a question arose on our present subject in the city of Antioch, in the Church which had from the beginning shown so much zeal, and it was discussed whether the Gentile believers ought to be circumcised, or were under no necessity to undergo the rite, this very Paul himself and Silas went up. How is it then that he says, I went not up, nor conferred? First, because he went not up of his own accord, but was sent by others; next, because he came not to learn, but to bring others over. For he was from the first of that opinion, which the Apostles subsequently ratified, that circumcision was unnecessary. But when these persons deemed him unworthy of credit and applied to those at Jerusalem he went up not to be farther instructed, but to convince the gainsayers that those at Jerusalem agreed with him. "But I went away into Arabia." Behold a fervent soul! he longed to occupy regions not yet tilled, but lying in a wild state. Had he remained with the Apostles, as he had nothing to learn, his preaching would have been straitened, for it behooved them to spread the word every where. Thus this blessed man, fervent in spirit, straightway undertook to teach wild barbarians, choosing a life full of battle and labor. Having said, "I went into Arabia," he adds, "and again I returned unto Damascus." Here observe his humility; he speaks not of his successes, nor of whom or of how many he instructed. Yet such was his zeal immediately on his baptism, that he confounded the Jews, and so exasperated them, that they and the Greeks lay in wait for him with a view to kill him. This would not have been the case, had he not greatly added to the numbers of the faithful; since they were vanquished in doctrine, they had recourse to murder, which was a manifest sign of Paul's superiority. But Christ suffered him not to be put to death, preserving him for his mission. Of these successes, however, he says nothing, and so in all his discourses, his motive is not ambition, nor to be honored more highly than the Apostles, nor because he is mortified at being lightly esteemed, but it is a fear lest any detriment should accrue to his mission. For he calls himself, "one born out of due time," and "the first of sinners," and "the last of the Apostles," and, "not meet to be called an Apostle." And this he said, who had labored more than all of them; which is real humility; for he who, conscious of no excellence, speaks humbly of himself, is candid but not humble; but to say so after such trophies, is to be practised in self-control. "And again I returned unto Damascus." But what great things did he not probably achieve in this city? for he tells us that the governor under Aretas the king set guards about the whole of it, hoping to entrap this blessed man. Which is a proof of the strongest kind that he was violently persecuted by the Jews. Here, however, he says nothing of this, but mentioning his arrival and departure is silent concerning the events which there occurred, nor would he have mentioned them in the place I have referred to, had not circumstances required their narration.”

“After the Apostle has shown that he himself did not receive the Gospel from man before his conversion, he now proves here that he did not receive it from man after his conversion either. And concerning this he does two things. First he shows that he did not receive the Gospel from man at the time of his conversion; second, that he did not receive it after his conversion either, at the place, then after three years, and so on. Concerning the first he does two things. For first he shows that he did not receive the Gospel from the apostles, nor was he taught by them; second, that he did not receive it from other believers either, at the place, but I went away into Arabia, and so on. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows the efficient cause of his conversion; second, the end, at the place, that he might reveal, etc.; third, the manner, at the place, immediately I did not yield, and so on. Concerning the first, he notes the cause of his conversion, which is twofold, namely the good pleasure of God, which is the divine election, and the calling of the one who converts him. As to the first he says when it pleased, namely God — not when I willed, but when it was pleasing to him, because it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, etc., as is said in Romans 9:16. Psalm 146:11: the good pleasure is with the Lord, and so on. Philippians 2:13: it is God who works in us, and so on. Who, namely God, me — namely a rebel, 1 Corinthians 15:9: I am the least of the apostles, etc., because I persecuted, and so on; Acts 9:1: Saul still breathing threats, and so on — a persecutor: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me, etc. — a blasphemer, 1 Timothy 1:13: who was a blasphemer, and so on. Me, such as I was, I say, he set apart from my mother's womb. Or according to the letter: who caused me to be born from my mother's belly. And it is truly said that God sets apart from the womb, although this is the work of nature, which is as it were the instrument of God, because our works too are attributed to God as to the principal author, Isaiah 26:12: for all our works you have wrought in us, etc., just as effects are also attributed to the principal agent. Hence it is said in Job 10:11: you have clothed me with skin and flesh, and so on. And from this womb he was set apart unto justification, because it belongs to the same one to justify to whom it belongs to create. Psalm 21:11: from my mother's womb, and so on. Or: from my mother's womb, namely of the synagogue, whose womb is the college of the Pharisees, who nourished others in Judaism. Matthew 23:15: you go about sea and land to make, and so on. Thus, then, his mother was the synagogue. Song of Songs 1:5: the sons of my mother fought against me, and so on. Her womb is the Pharisees. From this womb, then, he was set apart through the Holy Spirit unto the faith of the Gospel. Romans 1:1: set apart unto the Gospel of God. Or his mother is the Church of Christ; her womb, the college of the apostles. God, then, set him apart from the womb of the Church, that is, from the college of the apostles, into the office of apostleship and preaching to the gentiles, when he said to the apostles, Acts 13:2: set apart for me Barnabas and Paul, and so on. Now he calls the synagogue his mother because he was a Pharisee, being as it were great in it, since it is said, a Pharisee, and of the Pharisees, because he was a zealot of the law. Above: but being more abundantly a zealot, and so on. As to the other cause he says, and called, and so on. Now there is a twofold calling. One is exterior, and thus he says: he called me with a heavenly voice. Acts 9:4: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? and so on. Go into the city, and so on. Thus he also called the other apostles. The other is interior, and thus he called through a certain interior instinct, by which God through grace touches the heart, that it may be converted to him, and thus he called him from the evil way into the good, and this through his grace, not by our merits. Romans 8:30: whom he predestined, these he also called, and so on. Isaiah 45:13: I have raised him up unto justice, and so on. Amos 5:8: who calls the waters of the sea, and so on. Now the end of his conversion is set down when he says, that he might reveal his Son, etc., which end indeed is Christ. Now his conversion is ordered to Christ in two ways: namely by deed, and thus he says that he might reveal his Son, that is, in that which he did concerning me, converting me and forgiving me my sins, he might reveal how great a mercy had been done to me. 1 Timothy 1:15ff: Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, and so on. But I obtained the mercy of God because ignorant, and so on. Thus, then, he revealed his Son in his conversion, and this insofar as the Son is called the grace of God. Likewise he revealed him in his working; whence he himself said, Romans 15:18: for I do not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought through me unto the obedience of the gentiles, in word, in deeds, and in power, and so on. And this insofar as the Son is the power of God. Likewise he revealed him in his preaching; whence he himself said, 1 Corinthians 1:23: we preach, etc., down to and the wisdom of God. And this insofar as his Son is called the wisdom of God. Likewise his conversion is ordered to Christ by word, and thus he says that I might preach him among the gentiles, because, while the other apostles were preaching Christ to the Jews, Paul, by the command of the Lord, went to the gentiles to convert them. Isaiah 49:6: for it is a small thing that you should be my servant, etc., I have given you as a light, and so on. Acts 13:47: for thus he has commanded, and so on. Below: behold I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and teacher to the gentiles. Now the manner of his conversion is perfect, both as to its effect; whence he says immediately I did not yield to flesh and blood, that is, at once I was so perfectly converted that every carnal affection withdrew from me. Ecclesiasticus 11:23: for it is easy in the eyes of the Lord suddenly to enrich the poor man. And here flesh and blood is taken for carnal vices. 1 Corinthians 15:50: flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God, and so on. Below, 5:17: the flesh lusts, and so on. Or for the affection and love toward those carnally joined to oneself. Matthew 16:17: flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, and so on. Thus the Apostle both overcame his own vices and despised his own Jews. Likewise as to the intellect; because he was so instructed by Christ that it was not necessary for him to be instructed by the apostles. And therefore he says, nor did I go to Jerusalem, namely so as to be instructed by them. Likewise it was not necessary for him to be instructed by other believers. And therefore he says, but I went away into Arabia, etc., as if to say: I did not go to places where other believers were, so that they might instruct me, but I went into Arabia, where there were none instructed in the faith, but unbelievers. And again I returned to Damascus, namely to my kinsfolk. Job 38:25: who has given a course to the most violent rain shower, and so on. But against this it is said in Acts 9:25 that they let him down from the wall in a basket, and so on. And when he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples. He came, then, to Jerusalem. It must be said that he came, but not so as to be instructed. Or, better, it must be said that he did not come at once, but after some time, and therefore there follows, then after years, and so on.”

“Neither went I up to Jerusalem. But Acts ix. 26 represents Paul as flying directly after his conversion from Damascus to Jerusalem. Jerome and Lorinus, when commenting on that passage, say that he went to Jerusalem directly after his conversion, because compelled to seek safety in flight, not that he might see Peter and confer with him about the Gospel, for this latter is all 232 THE EPISTLE TO THE that is denied here. Baronius replies differently, that Paul is not said directly after his conversion to have gone to Jerusalem, but after many days, *>., after three years, spent partly in Arabia, partly in Damascus. After that he came to see Peter, as is said here (ver. 18), and afterwards went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia (ver. 21). With this agrees Acts ix. 30, where it is said that the brethren brought him down to Ccesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus , which is the metropolis of Cilicia. If this be the true explanation, then S. Luke, in Acts ix., passes over the journey of Paul into Arabia, because in it nothing calling for mention had happened. Both explanations are tenable. But the fear of the Apostles and the sponsorship of Barnabas (Acts ix. 26, 27) favour the former* It is not likely that the miraculous conversion of Paul could for three years have remained unknown to the Apostles and the rest of the faithful at Jerusalem. If this be correct, then we must, with S. Chrysostom, marvel at the grace of God which so suddenly changed so bitter a persecutor as S. Paul was into a public teacher and a disputer with the Jews”

“Neither went I up to Jerusalem,.... That is, immediately, as soon as he was converted, not till three years after, as follows; though by the account which Luke gives of him, Act 9:23 and by that which the apostle gives of himself, Act 22:17 it looks as if he went to Jerusalem some little time after his conversion, and before the date here given: and therefore some have thought that he did go up to Jerusalem pretty quickly, when, praying in the temple, he fell into a trance, and was ordered to make haste from thence, and go far hence unto the Gentiles and accordingly he made no stay, did not go to any of the apostles, and neither saw nor conversed with any of them, which is what he here says, to them which were apostles before me. The twelve, who were called, ordained, and sent forth as apostles before he was; for last of all Christ appeared to him, and was seen by him as one born out of due time: his meaning is, not that he was a successor of the apostle's, but that they were instated in the office of apostleship before him; and this he mentions to show that he did not receive the Gospel from men, no not from the apostles themselves; since, upon his conversion, he did not go up to Jerusalem to see any of them, and talk with them; nor did he stand in need of any instructions from them, being immediately furnished sufficiently by Christ himself; nor did his work lie at Jerusalem, nor so much among the Jews as among the Gentiles, and therefore to them he went: but I went into Arabia. This journey of the apostle is wholly omitted by Luke, nor should we have known anything of it, had it not been for this account: how long he stayed there, what he did, and what success he met with among the Arabs are no where related; no doubt but he preached the Gospel to them, and as his ministry everywhere was owned and blessed by God, it may be very reasonably thought it was here at his first setting out in it. The Arabic version reads it, "I went to Balcam", which was a city in Syria; but without any foundation for it; for it was not Syria, but Arabia to which he went. There are three countries which bear the name of Arabia, and which are called to distinguish them from one another, Arabia Petraea, Arabia Deserta, and Arabia Felix; of which See Gill on Act 2:11. It is very likely it was the former of these which the apostle went to, as being nearest to Syria, since from Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, he went thither; and Damascus itself was at this time under the government of an Arabian king, see Co2 11:32. So Pliny frequently speaks of Arabia as near to Syria, Palestine, and Judea: in one place he says (l), Arabia divides Judea from Egypt; and elsewhere (m) observes, that Syria is distinguished by many names; for it is called Palestina, where it touches the Arabians, and Judea, and Coele, and Phenice; and Peraea, or the country beyond Jordan, he says, is next to Arabia and Egypt; and on the east of the lake of Asphaltites he places Arabia, that belongs to the Nomades; so likewise Josephus (n) places Arabia at the east of Peraea, or the country beyond Jordan; and says (o) in another place, that Arabia borders on Judea, the metropolis of which was Petra, where Aretas the king had his royal palace: Jerom (p) likewise observes, that the river Jordan divides Judea and Arabia; so that this country into which the apostle went was not a great way off of Syria and Judea, whither he returned again after some time; which seems to be about the space of three years, by what follows in the next verse, and when he had done the work and will of God in those parts; where doubtless he was the instrument of converting souls, and planting churches, and here it is certain were churches in ages following: in the "third" century were churches in Arabia, mentioned along with the churches in Syria, by Eusebius (q); in which age lived two famous Arabian bishops, Beryllus and Maximus; and the same historian (r) reports, that in the times of Dioclesian there were some wonderful martyrs in Arabia, who suffered the most cruel tortures and death, for the sake of Christ: and in the "fourth" century there were Arabian bishops in the Nicene council, and in other synods, as at Jerusalem and Sardica; and in the same century there were bishops of Arabia Petraea, at the synod in Antioch, whose names were Nicomachus and Cyrion: and also in the "fifth" century there were churches and bishops in the same country (s), not to trace them any further: and returned again unto Damascus; and then it was, that being increased in spiritual strength and knowledge, he proved that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah, to the confusion of the Jews there; which drew upon him their resentment and indignation, so that they took counsel and lay in wait to kill him; but the disciples let him down through a window, by the wall of the city in a basket, and so he escaped them. (l) Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 21. (m) lb. l. 5. c. 12, 14, 16. (n) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 3. sect. 3. (o) Antiqu. l. 14. c. 1. sect. 4. & l. 4. c. 4. sect. 7. (p) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 92. G. (q) Eccl. Hist. l. 7. c. 5. (r) lb. l. 8. c. 12. (s) Hist. Eccl. Magdeburgh. cent. 4. c. 9. p. 350, 390, 405, 425. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 2. c. 10. p. 552.”

“Neither went I up to Jerusalem - The aim of the apostle is to show that he had his call so immediately and pointedly from God himself, that he had no need of the concurrence even of the apostles, being appointed by the same authority, and fitted to the work by the same grace and Spirit, as they were. But I went into Arabia - That part of Arabia which was contiguous to Damascus, over which Aretas was then king. Of this journey into Arabia we have no other account. As St. Luke was not then with him, it is not inserted in the Acts of the Apostles. See introduction to this epistle. Jerusalem was the stated residence of the apostles; and, when all the other believers were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, we find the apostles still remaining, unmolested, at Jerusalem! Act 8:1.”

“So far from receiving his apostleship from the other apostles, he saw none of them, till he had spent three years in announcing the word of God. (Calmet) — In this epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul treats the same matter as in his epistle to the Romans; to the former he writes less exactly and more briefly, as very rude and uncivilized; to the latter, with more precision, and with greater copiousness, as replenished with all knowledge: repleti omni scientia. (Romans xv. 14.)”

“went I up--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "went away." to Jerusalem--the seat of the apostles. into Arabia--This journey (not recorded in Acts) was during the whole period of his stay at Damascus, called by Luke (Act 9:23), "many [Greek, a considerable number of] days." It is curiously confirmatory of the legitimacy of taking "many days" to stand for "three years," that the same phrase exactly occurs in the same sense in Kg1 2:38-39. This was a country of the Gentiles; here doubtless he preached as he did before and after (Act 9:20, Act 9:22) at Damascus: thus he shows the independence of his apostolic commission. He also here had that comparative retirement needed, after the first fervor of his conversion, to prepare him for the great work before him. Compare Moses (Act 7:29-30). His familiarity with the scene of the giving of the law, and the meditations and revelations which he had there, appear in Gal 4:24-25; Heb 12:18. See on Gal 1:12. The Lord from heaven communed with him, as He on earth in the days of His flesh communed with the other apostles. returned--Greek "returned back again."”