SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:17
ni fui a Jerusaln a los que eran apstoles antes que yo; sino que me fui a Arabia, y volví de nuevo a Damasco.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Galatians 1:17
Verse 17. 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! Acts viii. 1.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 17. Neither went I up to Jerusalem , etc..] 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, ( Acts 9:23,26) and by that which the apostle gives of himself, ( Acts 22:17,18) 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 Acts 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 2 Corinthians 11:32). So Pliny frequently speaks of Arabia as near to Syria, Palestine, and Judea: in one place he says f4 , Arabia divides Judea from Egypt; and elsewhere 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 places Arabia at the east of Peraea, or the country beyond Jordan; and says in another place, that Arabia borders on Judea, the metropolis of which was Petra, where Aretas the king had his royal palace: Jerom 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 f9 ; in which age lived two famous Arabian bishops, Beryllus and Maximus; and the same historian 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 f11 , 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 15-24 - St. Paul was wonderfully brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ All who are savingly converted, are called by the grace of God; their conversion is wrought by his power and grace working in them. It wil but little avail us to have Christ revealed to us, if he is not als revealed in us. He instantly prepared to obey, without hesitating as to his worldly interest, credit, ease, or life itself. And what matter of thanksgiving and joy is it to the churches of Christ, when they hear of such instances to the praise of the glory of his grace, whether the have ever seen them or not! They glorify God for his power and mercy i saving such persons, and for all the service to his people and caus that is done, and may be further expected from them __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
ουδε 3761 ανηλθον 424 5627 εις 1519 ιεροσολυμα 2414 προς 4314 τους 3588 προ 4253 εμου 1700 αποστολους 652 αλλ 235 απηλθον 565 5627 εις 1519 αραβιαν 688 και 2532 παλιν 3825 υπεστρεψα 5290 5656 εις 1519 δαμασκον 1154
Vincent's NT Word Studies
17. Went I up (anhlqon). Comp. verse 18. Only in this chapter, and John vi. 3. More commonly ajnabainein, often of the journey to Jerusalem, probably in the conventional sense in which Englishmen speak of going up to London, no matter from what point. See Matt. xx. 17; Mark x. 32; John ii. 13; Acts xi. 2. In Acts xviii. 22 the verb is used absolutely of going to Jerusalem. The reading ajphlqon I went away had strong support, and is adopted by Weiss. In that case the meaning would be went away to Jerusalem from where I then was.
Apostles before me. In point of seniority. Comp. Rom. xvi. 7.
Arabia. It is entirely impossible to decide what Paul means by this term, since the word was so loosely used and so variously applied. Many think the Sinaitic peninsula is meant (Stanley, Farrar, Matheson, Lightfoot). Others, the district of Auranitis near Damascus (Lipsius, Conybeare and Howson, Lewin, McGiffert). Others again the district of Arabia Petraea.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:17 {Before me} (pro emou). The Jerusalem apostles were genuine apostles, but so is Paul. His call did not come from them nor did he receive confirmation by them. {Into Arabia} (eis arabian). this visit to Arabia has to come between the two visits to Damascus which are not distinguished in #Ac 9:22f. In verse #23 Luke does speak of "considerable days" and so we must place the visit to Arabia between verses #22,23.
