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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Galatians 2:6 - 2:6
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Render the passage as follows: “But to be something from (at the hands of) those who were of repute, whatever they were, matters nothing to me (God accepteth not man's person), for those who were of repute imparted nothing to me.”
To be something (εἶναί τι)
Comp. Gal 6:3; Act 5:36; 2Co 12:11. To be in good standing as an evangelist or apostle, approved and commissioned by high authorities.
From those who were of repute (ἀπὸ τῶν δοκούντων)
From, at the hands of; as receiving my indorsement or commission from them. Comp. Gal 1:1. Of repute, see on Gal 2:2.
Whatsoever they were (ὁποῖοι ποτὲ ἦσαν)
Ποτέ in N.T. is invariably temporal, and points here to the preeminence which these apostles had formerly, up to the time of Paul's visit, enjoyed, because of their personal connection with Jesus.
Maketh no matter to me (οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει)
Paul does not say, as A.V. and Rev., that the standing and repute of the apostles were matters of indifference to him, but that he was indifferent about receiving his commission from them as recognized dignitaries of the church. The construction is: “To be something (εἶναί τι) at the hands of (ἀπὸ) those who were of repute matters nothing to me.”
God accepteth no man's person
Or more strictly, accepteth not the person of man. Parenthetical. Λαμβάνειν πρόσωπον to receive or accept the face is a Hebraism. See on Jam 2:1. In O.T. both in a good and a bad sense; to be gracious, and to show favor from personal or partisan motives. In N.T. only here and Luk 20:21, both in a bad sense. Similar Hebraistic expressions are βλέπειν εἰς πρόσωπον to look at the face, Mat 22:16 : θαυμάζειν πρόσωπα to admire the countenances, Jud 1:16 : καυχᾶσθαι ἐν προσώπῳ to glory in the face, 2Co 5:12.
For - to me
Explaining the previous statement. To be of consequence because commissioned by those in repute matters nothing to me (God accepteth not man's person), for although they might have asserted their high repute and authority to others, to me they did not, as shown by their imposing on me no new requirements.
In conference added nothing (οὐδὲν προσανέθεντο)
In conference is an attempt to conform the sense to Gal 1:16. The verb without the accusative, as there, means to confer with. Here, with the accusative, the meaning is laid upon or imposed on. Rend. therefore, imposed nothing on me. They imposed on me no new (πρὸς additional) requirements; no conditions or limitations of my missionary work.