Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 2:9

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we [should go] unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

9. In the Greek the order is, ‘And when they perceived the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John &c.” James (see note Gal 1:19) is named first, because the reference is to a special act of the Church in Jerusalem, of which he was president or Bishop. “When St Paul is speaking of the missionary office of the Church at large, St Peter holds the foremost place”. Lightfoot. Compare Gal 2:7-8 with Act 12:17; Act 15:13; Act 21:18.

seemed to be pillars ] Better, ‘were in repute as pillars’. The metaphor by which the Church is compared to a house or temple is frequent both in the O. T. and N. T. See 2Co 6:16, and Rev 3:12, ‘I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God’.

the right hands of fellowship ] as a pledge of fidelity to the same truth, with a view to the adoption of distinct spheres of missionary labour.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars – That is, pillars or supports in the church. The word rendered pillars ( stuloi) means properly firm support; then persons of influence and authority, as in a church, or that support a church as a pillar or column does an edifice. In regard to James, see the note at Gal 1:19; compare Act 15:13. Cephas or Peter was the most aged of the apostles, and regarded as at the head of the apostolical college. John was the beloved disciple, and his influence in the church must of necessity have been great. Paul felt that if he had the countenance of these men, it would be an important proof to the churches of Galatia that he had a right to regard himself as an apostle. Their countenance was expressed in the most full and decisive manner.

Perceived the grace that was given unto me – That is, the favor that had been shown to me by the great Head of the church, in so abundantly blessing my labors among the Gentiles.

They gave unto me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship – The right-hand in token of fellowship or favor. They thus publicly acknowledged us as fellow-laborers, and expressed the utmost confidence in us. To give the right-hand with us is a token of friendly salutation, and it seems that it was a mode of salutation not unknown in the times of the apostles. They were thus recognised as associated with the apostles in the great work of spreading the gospel around the world. Whether this was done in a public manner is not certainly known; but it was probably in the presence of the church, or possibly at the close of the council referred to in Acts 15.

That we should go unto the heathen – To preach the gospel, and to establish churches. In this way the whole matter was settled, and settled as Paul desired it to be. A delightful harmony was produced between Paul and the apostles at Jerusalem; and the result showed the wisdom of the course which he had adopted. There had been no harsh contention or strife. No jealousies had been suffered to arise. Paul had sought an opportunity of a full statement of his views to them in private Gal 2:2, and they had been entirely satisfied that God had called him and Barnabas to the work of making known the gospel among the pagan. Instead of being jealous at their success, they had rejoiced in it; and instead of throwing any obstacle in their way, they cordially gave them the right hand. How easy would it be always to prevent jealousies and strifes in the same way! If there was, on the one hand, the same readiness for a full and frank explanation; and if, on the other, the same freedom from envy at remarkable success, how many strifes that have disgraced the church might have been avoided! The true way to avoid strife is just that which is here proposed. Let there be on both sides perfect frankness; let there be a willingness to explain and state things just as they are; and let there be a disposition to rejoice in the talents, and zeal, and success of others, even though it should far outstrip our own, and contention in the church would cease, and every devoted and successful minister of the gospel would receive the right-hand of fellowship from all – however venerable by age or authority – who love the cause of true religion.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Gal 2:9

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars.

Ministers, pillars

I. As founded on Christ.

II. As supporting believers by–

1. Sympathy.

2. Prayer.

3. Preaching.

III. As presenting an example of stability.

IV. As Adorning The Edifice Of The Church.

John and Paul

This is the only meeting between the two recorded in Scripture. It is, moreover, the last notice that we find there of St. John, until the time of the Apocalypse. For both these reasons the mind seizes on this incident. Like other casual Scriptural notices it is Very suggestive. St. John had been silent during the discussion, but at the close he expressed his cordial union with St. Paul. That union has been made visible to all the ages by the juxtaposition of their Epistles in the same sacred volume. They stand among the pillars of the Holy Temple; and the Church of God is thankful to learn how contemplation may be united with action, and faith with love in the spiritual life. (Conybeare and Howson.)

The unity of apostolic doctrine

It might seem to these Galatians, as it seems to some acute critics now, that several gospels were being preached. But Paul shows that this could not be. Of course Christian truth is presented in different phases by Paul, James, Cephas, and John respectively, but only as each facet of a diamond differs from the rest, each displaying its own brilliance, reflecting the light in its own way, but all belonging to one jewel. (S. Pearson, M. A.)

The significance of the apostolic decision

Henceforward the Church and the world become coextensive; other evils may hinder the diffusion of Christianity, but not the limits of a local and national worship; other restrictions may be imposed on the freedom of the human race, but the yoke of Judaism never; other forms may be assumed by the spirit of bigotry and superstition, but from its earlier province it is utterly expelled; the most exclusive zealot will never again venture to confine the privileges of the true religion to a single nation; the most ardent admirer of ancient usages and external forms will never again dare to insist on the necessity of circumcision. (Dean Stanley.)

The division of apostolic labour

The apostles were to continue to devote themselves to evangelization with the understanding that Paul and Barnabas should go to the Gentiles, and Peter and John to the Jews. This arrangement, however, was not made on geographical considerations (see Jam 1:1; 1Pe 1:1; Rev 1:9). The one party were to evangelize the Gentiles, the other the Jews, without distinction of place (see verse 11, etc.). (E. Reuss, D. D.)

Not indeed that Paul would object to any association with the special ministry of Peter–on the contrary, he frequently addressed the Jews–but, the rule was a general one, and in effect most important, because it was a formal acknowledgment of Pauls mission, and of its total independence. Henceforth the two Churches were to be one in faith and mutual goodwill, but different in their ritual, ceremonies, and government. The Church which Peter was to construct was national, that which was put under Pauls guidance was oecumenical. The story that Peter ruled the Church of Rome for a quarter of a century is of course contradicted by the facts stated in this Epistle, and is plainly a baseless, though ancient, fable, which has been maintained and amplified in order to serve particular ends, and to justify ecclesiastical caesarism. (Paul of Tarsus.)

Pauls common-sense

He knew that the best way to obviate quarrels was to recognize differences. He was well aware that men may work for a common purpose, even though their several methods of procedure may be so various as to seem incongruous, and that, provided the means be just and honourable, identity of end is a sufficient bond of unity. The wisdom of the statesman consists in effecting a harmony of interests, that of a religious reformer in enlisting all action on behalf of one grand purpose. Both wreck their reputation when they ally themselves to party cries and narrow rules. (Paul of Tarsus.)

Christian unity consistent with diversity

Ours is not a unity like that of the waters of a stagnant pool, over which the purifying breath of heaven sweeps in vain. Ours is not the unity of darkness, like the cloud-covered midnight sky, where neither moon nor star appears. Ours is not the unity of a forced conformity, such as is found in polar seas, where eternal winter has locked up the waves; but rather like the fountain flowing ever fresh and free; like the rainbow that combines the seven prismatic colours into one glorious arch of promise; like old oceans unfettered flow as its waves rush in all their majesty and might, distinct as the billows, but one as a sea. (S. Weir.)

Four pillars of the Church

These four pillars of the Church stand before us for our contemplation.

1. For example, we see that the widest diversity of gifts can be employed to advantage in winning souls to Christ. It would hardly be possible to sketch four characters differing more in essential particulars than these apostles. Paul was the theologian of the early Church. Peter had an undeniable headship in organization. But James brought his cool temperament into service in decisions involving difficult points of casuistry, while John was of all the best calculated to labour for spiritual eminence in the converts. Now when results are before us, no one could venture to pronounce which was the most useful in the grand work Christ gave them all to do. Each was the best for his own work.

2. So this would suggest a second lesson: failure in one particular field or sphere of action does not preclude great after-success in another for the same man. As a home missionary he was a failure. The Lord had other work for him to do.

3. Then once more: we might learn that the individualities of personal character are in no wise destroyed by the new life under the gospel. Paul, after his conversion, was just as earnest and driving as before. James carried his carefulness as a Pharisee into his demeanour as a Christian. Peter left his boats and tackle to become a skilful fisher of men, with the same adroitness and patient business absorption put into his fresh profession. So John was affectionate to Jesus mother, because he had grown up affectionate to his own. Naturalness is one of the best evidences of grace, for it excludes assumption and hypocrisy. No one will ever succeed in making himself better by making himself over into another mans likeness.

4. In the fourth place, we see that true religion in the heart is a powerful helper in intellectual advancement. The history of all these four men affords an illustration of the Scripture text: The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. We all know how Simon Peter was reared. How is it possible that he could reach literary attainments sufficient to enable him to write two such Epistles as those which bear his name?

5. Again, we can learn from these mens biographies and writings that the very best Christian excellences may be, unfortunately, marred by personal weaknesses. For every one of them was faulty enough to make some notable mistake, which has been handed down to us in the imperishable record. Paul quarrelled sadly with Barnabas about Mark. James refused to welcome Paul at Jerusalem.

6. Just a suggestion now, which may or may not be called a lesson. Perhaps the ideal Christian might be made up of the best excellences in all. Put Pauls orthodoxy in doctrine alongside of Jamess morality in behaviour; put Peters activity in impulse with Johns extensive experience; join all these into one man.

7. Finally, we cannot fail to learn, as the sweetest and best lesson of all, that the truest Christians are those who are most like their Leader, and most loyal to Him as supreme. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Pillars in the Church

Christians are frequently called Gods building, and the temple of the Holy Ghost; and said to be built up.a spiritual house: and as some occupy more important places in this spiritual house than others, so they may properly be called pillars, or the main supports of the building in comparison with others. But it is one thing to seem to be pillars, and another to be really such, as were James, Cephas, and John.

1. Pillars should be formed of solid materials. In modern architecture, it is too common to decorate the front of buildings, with what seem to be pillars, and are not. The form of a large pillar is often built up with broken tiles, cement, and stucco: it seems to bear a great pressure of responsibility, which is deceptive like the whited sepulchres of old, for, in fact, the burden is borne by some modern supports, that are concealed from view. Now, Gods building does not need the help of such pillars. Those who would seem to be pillars, merely for show, who have no solidity, and can bear no burden, had better take a mote humble position. These imitation pillars are good for nothing but show. They are always porous, and absorb the rain; often retain the damp, generate dry rot, and disgrace what they were intended to adorn.

2. Pillars should be upright. Pillars that incline to one side are painful to 1ook at, and dangerous to the building. When the pillars in the church lose their erect position, the whole building is on the point of falling.

3. Pillars that are designed for use arid ornament should be straight, and not crooked. A bending pillar can bear but little pressure, and is very offensive to the eye. Crooked materials can be used to greater advantage in almost any other position in the building.

4. Pillars should be placed under, and not on the top of the building. They should bear the building, and not compel the building to bear them.

5. Pillars are fixtures, and must always be found in the same position. A weathercock at the top of the edifice may turn with the wind, but a pillar that supports it should remain unmoved by wind and storm. A window or a blind may be adjusted here or there, to the season or the weather, but the pillar can never shift its position without danger to the edifice of which it forms a part.

6. The pillars need a sure foundation, or they will yield to the pressure that is upon them. The Rock of Ages is recommended as their best support.

Inferences:

1. We infer, that it requires at least ordinary qualities of Christian character, to fit a man to be a pillar. He must have solidity, uprightness, humility, steadfastness, and true faith. These are indispensable.

2. Many, who seem to be pillars in these days, are far from what they seem; they show a painted surface and a florid capital, but they are of little use, and easily marred and broken.

3. Many whose unassuming dispositions will not allow them to be pillars, have, notwithstanding, the best qualifications for it.

4. Let all who aspire to be pillars, seek to combine those qualities which will fit them for the station they would occupy, and the burden they will have to bear. (Essex Remembrancer.)

The apostles recognition by the Church in Jerusalem

I. The recognition which Paul received from the Church was discerning.

1. They saw that to him was entrusted the gospel which was to be preached to the Gentiles. The gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to Paul. The gospel is a Divine deposit or treasure.

2. The Church saw that the power which contributed to the success of the one apostle was effectual also in the other. In Paul as well as Peter God had wrought effectually. They discerned the triumphs of the gospel in both instances.

3. The Church recognized the religion of Paul to be a religion of love. They perceived the grace given unto him.

II. The recognition Paul received was given in spite of certain differences that had separated him from the Church in Jeruselem in the past.

1. Many of them had been familiar with the Lord Jesus Christ when He was on earth. Paul had not. Yet they now saw that God was no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him.

2. There was a difference between them in respect to gifts.

3. There was also a difference as to position. Many of them were of acknowledged reputation. Paul was not regarded as an authority in the Churches of Judaea. Yet in spite of these differences there was a full recognition of his apostolic character and office.

III. The recognition was complete and hearty.

1. There was no reservation as to its extent. They admitted the whole truth Paul declared. They addressed no communication to him, but fully embraced the doctrines he enunciated.

2. It was cordial. They gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship. What a moment must that have been! What a blessed working of the Holy Ghost!

IV. In receiving this recognition, Paul was anxious to manifest his high estimate of their brotherly kindness. They had nothing new to communicate concerning doctrine, but they desired him to remember the poor, and this request he gladly complied with. He here shows his fraternal co-operation with the other apostles, and his love for Jewish Christians. He could not comply with the demands of the false brethren, but it was from no lack of charity. Immediately after writing this Epistle, he made a tour, gathering the alms of the Greek Churches for the saints at Jerusalem. Lessons:

1. Unity in the Christian Church has its foundation in Christ.

2. Christian unity is the product of the Holy Spirit.

3. Its genuineness is manifest by acts of beneficence. (R. Nicholls.)

The right hands of fellowship.

St. Paul and the elder apostles

The three apostles here referred to, whatever their prepossessions, yield to the force of Pauls statements. Peter also at the council called the imposition of the law on Gentile converts an intolerable yoke, for the Gentile was saved by the same grace as the Jew. Peter appealed only to the great facts which had met him unexpectedly in his own experience; but James, in the old theocratic spirit, connected the outburst of Christianity with ancient prophecy as its fulfilment. In his thought, God takes out of the Gentiles a people for His name, and by an election as real as when He separated Israel of old from all the nations. The prophecy quoted by him describes the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David, not by restoring his throne in Jerusalem over Jews, and over heathen who, as a test of their loyalty, became proselytes, but by the reconstitution of the theocracy in a more spiritual form, and over myriads of new subjects–all the Gentiles–without a hint of their conformity to any element of the Mosaic ritual. This expansion of the old economy had been foreseen; it was no outgrowth unexpected or unprovided for. Believers were not to be surprised at it, or to grudge that their national supremacy should disappear amidst the Gentile crowds, who in doing homage to Davids son, their Messiah, should raise the tabernacle of David to a grandeur which it had never attained, and could never attain so long as it was confined to the territory of Judaea. The Jewish mind must have been impressed by this reasoning- this application of their own oracles to the present crisis. So far from being perplexed by it, they ought to have been prepared for it; so far from being repelled by it, they ought to have anticipated it, prayed for it, and welcomed its faintest foregleams, as in the preaching of Philip in Samaria, and of Peter to Cornelius. Paul and Barnabas, in addressing the multitude–the Church, the apostles, and elders–did not launch into a discussion of the general question, or attempt to demonstrate abstract principles. First, in passing through Phoenice and Samaria, they declared the conversion of the Gentiles; and secondly, at the convention, theirs was a simple tale which they allowed to work its own impression–they declared what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. The logic of their facts was irresistible, for they could not be gainsaid. Let their audience account for it as they chose, and endeavour to square it with their own opinions and beliefs as best they might, God was working numerous and undeniable conversions among the Gentiles as visibly and gloriously as among themselves. The haughty exclusiveness of the later Judaism made it impossible for the Church to extend without some rupture and misunderstanding of this nature. That exclusiveness was nursed by many associations. For them, and them alone, was the temple built, the hierarchy consecrated, and the victim slain. Their history had enshrined the legislation of Moses, the priesthood of Aaron, the throne of David, and the glory of Solomon. The manna had been rained upon their fathers, and the bright Presence had led them. Waters had been divided and enemies subdued. Sinai had been lighted up, and had trembled under the majesty and voice of Jehovah. Their land was hallowed by the only Church of God on earth, and each of them was a member of it by birth. His one temple was on Mount Moriah, and they gloried in the pride of being its sole possessors. The archives of their nation were at the same time the records of their faith. Nothing was so opposed to their daily prepossessions as the idea of a universal religion. Or if the boundaries of the covenanted territory were to be widened, Zion was still to be the centre. Foreign peoples were to have no separate and independent worship; all nations were to flow to the mountain of the Lords house, established in the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills. It is impossible for us to realize the intensity of Jewish feeling on these points, as it was ever influencing Hebrew believers to relapse into their former creed, and leading others into the self-deceptive and pernicious middle course of Judaizers. In such circumstances, the work of St. Paul naturally excited uneasiness and suspicion in the best of them, for it was so unlike their own sphere of service. But the elder apostles were at this period brought to acquiesce in it, and they virtually sanctioned it, though there might not be entire appreciation of it in all its extent and certain consequences There is no ground, therefore, for supposing that there was any hostility between Paul and these eider apostles, or any decided theological difference, as many strenuously contend for. They all held the same cardinal truths, as is manifest from the Gospel and Epistles of John, and from the Epistles of Peter. There are varying types of thought arising from mental peculiarity and spiritual temperament–accidental differences showing more strongly the close inner unity. Nor is the Epistle of James in conflict with the Pauline theology. It was in all probability written before these Judaistic disputes arose; for, though addressed to Jews, it makes no mention of them. Its object among other things was to prove that a justifying faith must be in its nature a sanctifying faith; that a dead faith is no faith, and is without all power to save; and that from this point of view a man is justified by works–the products of faith being identified with itself, their one living source. Nor can we say that there were, even after the convention, no misunderstandings between Paul and the other apostles. While they were at one with him in thought, they seem not to have had the same freedom to act out their convictions. There was no opposition on any points of vital doctrine; but though they held that his success justified him, they did not feel at liberty, or had not sufficient intrepidity, to follow his example. Though their earlier exclusiveness was broken, their nationality still remained–their conservatism had become an instinct–they to the circumcision. The mere separation of sphere might not give rise to division, but these pharisaic Judaists, who were nat so enlightened and considerate as their leaders, were the forefathers of that Ebionitism which grew and fought so soon after that period, having its extreme antagonism in Marcion and his adherents. How the other, apostles who had left Jerusalem at the Herodian persecution, and may have been in different parts of the world, acted as to these debated matters, we know not. It is storied, indeed, that John, living amidst the Hellenic population of Ephesus, kept the paschal feast on the fourteenth day of the month, in accordance with the Jewish reckoning; and that he wore in his older years one special badge of a priest The power of early association, which grows with ones growth, is very difficult to subdue; for it may suddenly reassert its supremacy at some unguarded moment, and expose inherent weakness and indecision. (John Eadie, D. D.)

Grace seen in Gods choice of workmen

God would build for Himself a palace in heaven of living stones. Where did He get them? Did He go to the quarries of Paros? Hath He brought forth the richest and the purest marble from the quarries of perfection? No, ye saints: look to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged, and to the rock whence ye were hewn! Ye were full of sin: so far from being stones that were white with purity, ye were black with defilement, seemingly utterly unfit to be stones in the spiritual temple, which should be the dwelling-place of the Most High. Goldsmiths make exquisite forms from precious material; they fashion the bracelet and the ring from gold: God maketh His precious things out of base material; and from the black pebbles of the defiling brooks he hath taken up stones, which He hath set in the golden ring of His immutable love, to make them gems to sparkle on His finger for ever. He hath not selected the best, but apparently the worst of men to be the monuments of His grace; and, when He would have a choir in heaven, He sent Mercy to earth to find out the dumb, and teach them to sing. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The right hand of fellowship

I. To whom should we give it–to all who hold the truth–to all by whom God is pleased to work–to all in whom God exhibits His grace.

II. How must we give it–not by forsaking our own position or encouraging them to leave theirs–but by the maintenance of brotherly esteem and love, by provoking them to love and good works. (J. Lyth.)

The right hand of fellowship should be given

I. To all to whom God has given grace.

II. By the pillars of the Church, as an example to others.

III. Heartily, without reserve. (J. Lyth.)

Division of labour in the Church is

I. Expedient–it prevents collision–economises labour.

II. Advantageous–it provokes emulation–develops effort–accomplishes more.

III. Necessary–there is room–and need for all. (J. Lyth.)

Pillars

I. Some seem to be pillars and are not.

II. Some are pillars and do not seem to be.

III. Some both seem to be and are really such. (J. Lyth.)

Unity in the gospel

I. One gospel yet different views.

II. One Master yet different spheres of labour.

III. One source of power yet different instrumentalities.

IV. One heart yet different modes of procedure. (J. Lyth.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 9. James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars] Who were known to be very eminent, and acknowledged as chief men among the apostles. See Clarke on Lu 8:18, for the meaning of the verb , and See Clarke on Ga 2:6.

Among the Jews, persons of great eminence and importance are represented as pillars and foundations of the world. So Abraham is said to be ammud heolam, “the pillar of the universe; for by him to this day are the earth and heavens supported.” Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 29. “Rabbi Simeon said, Behold, we are the pillars of the world.” Idra Rabba, s. 23.

“When Rabbi Jochanan ben Zachai was near death, he wept with a loud voice. His disciples said unto him, O Rabbi, thou high pillar, thou light of the world, thou strong hammer, why dost thou weep?” Aboth. R. Nathan, chap. 24.

So, in Sohar Genes, fol. 5, it is said: “And he saw that Rab. Eleazar went up, and stood there, and with him shear ammudin, the rest of the pillars (eminent men) who sat there.”

Ibid., fol. 13: “These are the seven righteous men who cleave to the holy blessed God with a pure heart, and they are the seven pillars of the world.”

Ibid., fol. 21, on the words bearing fruit, Ge 1:11, it is said: “By this we are to understand the just one, who is the pillar of the world.” See Schoettgen, who adds: “These pillars must be distinguished from the foundation. The foundation of the Church is Jesus Christ alone; the pillars are the more eminent teachers, which, without the foundation, are of no value.”

The right hands of fellowship] Giving the right hand to another was the mark of confidence, friendship, and fellowship. See Le 6:2: If a soul-lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, bithsumeth yad, “in giving the hand.”

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

James, (called, the less), the son of Alpheus, before called

the Lords brother, as is thought, because he was the son of the virgin Marys sister; whose naming here in the first place spoileth the papists argument for Peters primacy, because in some other places he is first named.

Cephas; that is, Peter, called here Cephas in the Syriac, possibly because he is named with others who had Syriac names; in most places he is by this apostle called Peter.

John, the apostle and evangelist, who is also known by the name of the beloved disciple.

Who seemed to be pillars; Paul, in saying they

seemed to be pillars, doth not deny them to be so; being such as God made use of in the first founding and building of the gospel church; as also to bear it up, (in the same sense that the church is called the pillar

and ground of truth), and as by them the gospel was carried out into the world; but he useth the word seemed, because the false teachers had magnified their ministry, but disparaged his. When these, he saith, perceived the grace that was given to me; by which, he either understands his office of apostleship or the crown and seal of his office in the blessing which God had given to his labours amongst the Gentiles.

They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; they looked upon him and Barnabas as much pillars as themselves; and in token of it gave them their right hands, (a token of admitting into fellowship, 2Ki 10:15; Jer 1:15), and agreed that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision; that it should be their special work to go and preach to the Gentiles, as they (viz. James, and John, and Peter) would make it their special work to preach the gospel to the Jews.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9. Jamesplaced first in theoldest manuscripts, even before Peter, as being bishop of Jerusalem,and so presiding at the council (Ac15:1-29). He was called “the Just,” from his strictadherence to the law, and so was especially popular among the Jewishparty though he did not fall into their extremes; whereas Peter wassomewhat estranged from them through his intercourse with the GentileChristians. To each apostle was assigned the sphere best suited tohis temperament: to James, who was tenacious of the law, theJerusalem Jews; to Peter, who had opened the door to the Gentiles butwho was Judaically disposed, the Jews of the dispersion; to Paul,who, by the miraculous and overwhelming suddenness of his conversion,had the whole current of his early Jewish prejudices turned into anutterly opposite direction, the Gentiles. Not separately andindividually, but collectively the apostles together representedChrist, the One Head, in the apostleship. The twelvefoundation-stones of various colors are joined together to the onegreat foundation-stone on which they rest (1Co 3:11;Rev 21:14; Rev 21:19;Rev 21:20). John had got anintimation in Jesus’ lifetime of the admission of the Gentiles (Joh12:20-24).

seemedthat is, werereputed to be (see on Ga 2:2and Ga 2:6) pillars, that is,weighty supporters of the Church (compare Pro 9:1;Rev 3:12).

perceived the grace . . .given unto me (2Pe 3:15).

gave to me and Barnabas theright hands of fellowshiprecognizing me as a colleaguein the apostleship, and that the Gospel I preached by specialrevelation to the Gentiles was the same as theirs. Compare thephrase, Lam 5:6; Eze 17:18.

heathenthe Gentiles.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And when James, Cephas, and John,…. These are the persons all along designed, though not till now named. James was the brother of our Lord, the son of Alphaeus, who wrote the epistle that goes by his name, made that famous speech in the synod at Jerusalem,

Ac 15:13, presided in that church, was a man of great holiness, and much esteemed of by the saints, and had a good report of them that were without. Cephas is Simon Peter. This name was given him by Christ, Joh 1:42 and in the Syriac language signifies a “stone”, as Peter does in the Greek, to which our Lord alludes, Mt 16:18. John was the evangelist, and the same that wrote the epistles, was the beloved disciple, and who outlived all the rest:

who seemed to be pillars; not as the Arabic version, “who thought themselves such”, but were esteemed so by others, and very rightly. They were pillars among the apostles of the highest note and greatest eminence among them; they were the very chief of the apostles; for though they were all in the same office, and had the same commission, and were employed in the same work, yet there were some who made a greater figure than others, as these did, and are therefore called pillars; they were more conspicuous, and to be observed, and taken notice of, than the rest; they were pillars in the church, set in the highest place there, and the ornaments of it; see Pr 9:1. They are called so for their constancy and stability in preaching the Gospel, and suffering for the sake of Christ; they were steadfast and immoveable in his work, nor could they be shaken or deterred from it by the menaces, reproaches, and persecutions of men; and they were the means of supporting others that were feeble minded, and of defending and maintaining the truths of the Gospel; and were set, as Jeremiah was, as a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls against all the enemies of Christ, and his Gospel; and were, as the church is said to be, “the pillar and ground of truth”. The apostle may have respect to the titles of this kind which were bestowed on the Jewish doctors. It is said d,

“when R. Jochanan ben Zaccai was sick, his disciples went in to visit him; and when he saw them, he began to weep; his disciples said to him, lamp of Israel, , “the right hand pillar”, c. why dost thou weep?”

So another of their Rabbins is said e to be

“one of the walls, , “and pillars” of the school.”

The character better agrees with these eminent apostles, who when they

perceived the grace that was given unto me meaning not so much the grace of the Spirit of God that was wrought in him, or the good work of grace upon his soul, with which the church at Jerusalem, and the apostles there, had been made acquainted some years before; but the grace and high favour of apostleship, which was conferred upon him, and all those extraordinary gifts of grace, whereby he was qualified for the discharge of it; and particularly the efficacy and success of his ministry through the grace of God which went along with it, and was so visible in it:

they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; as a token of a covenant or agreement between them; they took them, as it were, into partnership with them, admitted them as apostles into their society, and gave their full consent, particularly to this article,

that we, Paul and Barnabas,

should go unto the Heathen, preach among the Gentiles;

and they, Peter, and those that were with him,

unto the circumcision, and discharge their office among the Jews; and, to show their joint agreement, used the above rite; and which ceremony was used as among other nations f, so with the Jews, when covenants were made, or partnership was entered into; see Le 6:2 where the phrase, , “in putting of the hand”, and which we render in fellowship, is, both by Onkelos, and Jonathan ben Uzziel, rendered , “in fellowship of the hand”, or “by the right hand of fellowship”; that being given in token of their agreement and consent to be partners together, to which the allusion seems to be here; or to the making of proselytes, to whom they “stretch out the hand” to bring them under the wings of the Shekinah g, or in token of their being proselytes.

d T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 28. 2. e Ganz Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 46. 1. f Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 19. Cormel. Nepos, l. 2. c. 8. Gale’s Court of the Gentiles, part 2. book 2, c. 6. sect. 9. & c. 9. sect. 3. g Vajikra Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 147. 4.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

They who were reputed to be pillars ( ). They had that reputation () and Paul accepts them as such. , old word for pillars, columns, as of fire (Re 10:1). So of the church (1Ti 3:15). These were the Pillar Apostles.

Gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship ( ). Dramatic and concluding act of the pact for cooperation and coordinate, independent spheres of activity. The compromisers and the Judaizers were brushed to one side when these five men shook hands as equals in the work of Christ’s Kingdom.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Who seemed to be pillars [ ] . Better, who are in repute as pillars. The metaphor of pillars, applied to the great representatives and supporters of an institution, is old, and common in all languages. 49 The grace [ ] . Including all the manifestations of divine grace in Paul – his mission, special endowment, success in preaching the gospel – all showing that he was worthy of their fellowship. He is careful to speak of it as a gift of God, doqeisan.

They gave the right hands of fellowship [ ] . The phrase only here in N. T. A token of alliance in the apostolic office of preaching and teaching. The giving of the right hand in pledge was not a distinctively Jewish custom. It appears as early as Homer. Deissmann cites an inscription from Pergamum, 98 B. 100, in which the Pergamenes offer to adjust the strife between Sardes and Ephesus, and send a mediator dounai tav ceirav eijv sullusin to give hands for a treaty. See dexian or dexiav didonai 1 Macc. 6 58; 11 50, 62; 2 Macc. 11 26; 12 11; 13 22; and dex. lambanein to receive right hand or hands, 1 Macc. 11 66; 13 50; 2 Macc. 12 12; 14 19. 50 The custom prevailed among the Persians, from whom it may have passed to the Jews. See Joseph. Antiq. 18 9, 3. Images of right hands clasped were sometimes exchanged in token of friendship (see Xen. Anab. 2 4, 1). Tacitus (Hist. 1 54) says : “The state of the Lingones had sent, according to an ancient institution, right hands, as gifts to the legions, a signal token of good will.” On Roman coins often appear two hands joined, with various inscriptions, as Exercituum Fides; Concordia; Consensus. To give the hand in confirmation of a promise occurs Eze 10:19. In Isa 61:8, God swears by his right hand.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars,” (kai lakobos kai kephas kai doannas, hoi dokountes stuloi einai) “and James, Peter, and John, the ones seeming to be pillars;” These it appears were perhaps the authors of the Council resolution that was adopted by the Jerusalem church and council messengers and sent back to Antioch and other areas, Act 15:23-27.

2) “Perceived the grace that was given to me,” (gnotes ten charin ten, dotheisan moi) “Realized the grace that had been given continually to me;” Perhaps James’ name is listed above first because he was pastor of the Jerusalem church, as he presided at the Jerusalem council, Act 15:13; Act 21:18. It took growing and going grace to go to the Gentiles, 2Pe 3:18.

3) “They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship,” (deksias edokan emoi kai Barna koinonias) “Right hands of fellowship they gave to me and Barnabas,” Act 13:3.

4) “That we should go to the heathen,” (hina hemeis eis ta ethne) “in order that we might go to the heathen, races or nations,” with their blessings. To be given the right hand of fellowship conveyed the pledge of prayers and financial support to those they had endorsed sending to the heathen or Gentiles.

5) “And they unto the circumcision,” (autoi de eisten peritonen) “But they to the circumcision should go,” or return, to the Judean area, going out from Jerusalem, Luk 24:46-48; Act 1:8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

9. And when they perceived the grace. They who treated with contempt the grace of God, by which the most eminent apostles had been led to admire and reverence Paul, are charged with hateful and proud disdain. If they should allege that they were ignorant of that which the apostles knew from the beginning, the hypocritical pretense was not to be endured. This admonishes us to yield to the grace of God, wherever it is perceived, unless we choose to contend with the Holy Spirit, whose will it is that his gifts shall not remain unemployed. The grace which the apostles perceived to have been given to Paul and Barnabas, induced them to sanction their ministry by receiving them as their associates.

James and Cephas. I have already stated, that James was the son of Alpheus. He could not be “the brother of John” who had been lately put to death by Herod, (Act 12:2,) and to suppose that one of the disciples had been placed above the apostles would be absurd. That he held the highest rank among the apostles, is made evident by Luke, who ascribes to him the summing up and decision of the cause in the council, (Act 15:13,) and afterwards mentions his having assembled “all the elders” of the church of Jerusalem. (Act 21:18.) When he says, that they seemed to be pillars, he does not speak contemptuously, but quotes the general opinion, arguing from it, that what was done by such men ought not to be lightly set aside. In a question relating to diversity of rank, it is surprising that James should be mentioned before Peter; but the reason perhaps is, that he presided over the church at Jerusalem. As to the word pillar, we know that, from the nature of things, those who excel in ability, prudence, or other gifts, possess greater authority. And even in the Church of God, he who enjoys a larger measure of grace ought, on that account, to receive the higher honor. It argues ingratitude, nay impiety, not to worship the Spirit of God wherever he appears in his gifts; and as a people cannot want a pastor, so the assemblies of pastors require a moderator. But in all cases let the rule be followed,

“

He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mat 23:11.)

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(9) James, Cephas, and John.In some few MSS. and patristic quotations the reading is Peter and James and John. This doubtless arose from the tendency to exalt St. Peter, though the reading (which is found in Tertullian and Origen, and therefore must run up into the second century) is too early to be directly connected with the pretensions of the Papacy. The way in which St. Paul speaks respectively of St. Peter and St. James is in strict accordance with the historical situation. When he is speaking of the general work of the Church (as in the last two verses) St. Peter is mentioned prominently; when the reference is to a public act of the Church of Jerusalem the precedence is given to St. James.

Who seemed to be pillars.Rather, who are held (same word as reputed above) to be pillars. The metaphor is a natural one, and is found not unfrequently in classical writers. It was in common use among the Jews as a designation for the great Rabbinical teachers.

Right hands of fellowship.The giving of the right hand is a symbol of friendship. Instances occur, both in the East and West (comp. Xen. Anab. ii. 4, 1; Tac. Hist. i. 54, ii. 8), in which images of clasped right hands were sent in suing for alliance.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

9. And This verse gathers up the loose threads of thought, and brings them to a conclusion.

James Some copies name Peter first; doubtless an emendation to save the supremacy of Peter. Lightfoot notes here, First, that James is styled the Lord’s brother, because the transaction there narrated occurred before the martyrdom by Herod of James, son of Zebedee, and so the distinctive epithet was necessary. James, son of Alpheus, though an apostle, was too little prominent to create ambiguity. Second. James is here named first as being chief in Jerusalem; Peter is elsewhere first, as being every-where else superior to James.

Seemed to be To my eye as I surveyed things in Jerusalem.

Pillars An ordinary but graceful metaphor, to designate a statesman as a pillar of State, or an eminent minister as a pillar in the Church. As the last it may be supposed derived from the columns of temples. See note on Act 19:27. St. Ignatius says, “The pillars of the world the apostles.”

Grace Both the apostolic office and his noble endowments therefor.

Right hands As recognition of his co-equal apostleship. And this fact was a complete refutation of the troublers among the Galatians as of the pseudo-criticisms of Renan and his German masters.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Gal 2:9. And when James, Cephas, and John, &c. And, being sensible of the grace wherewith I am endowed, James, Cephas, and John, who were esteemed main supports of the church in Judea, embraced me and Barnabas as their associates; and agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. Heylin.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Gal 2:9 . ] is connected, after the parenthesis, with . . . in Gal 2:7 . [79]

] is not arbitrarily to be limited either to the apostolic office (Piscator, Estius, and others; also Hofmann), or to the prosperos successus of the same (Morus, Koppe, Winer, Fritzsche; de Wette, both ); but is to be left quite general: the grace which had been given me . They recognised that Paul was highly gifted with grace , and was by the fact that God had so distinguished him by means of His grace and thereby legitimized him as His apostle fully fitted and worthy to enter into the bond of collegiate fellowship with them. His apostolic mission, his apostolic endowments, the blessed results of his labour, are all included in the which they recognised, a general term which embraces everything that presented itself in him as divinely-bestowed grace and working on behalf of his office.

] the same as in Gal 1:19 ; not the brother of John (Augustine), who at that time had been long dead (Act 12:2 ); also not the son of Alphaeus (Wieseler on Gal 1:19 , and in the Stud. u. Krit . 1842, p. 95 f.); but the brother of the Lord , as is obvious of itself after what has been remarked on Gal 1:19 . Comp. on Act 12:17 . See also Hilgenfeld, p. 158 ff.; and Ewald, Gesch. d. apost. Zeit . p. 221 ff. The mention of his name here before the other two is not in compliance with the view of the false teachers (Windischmann), but is quite in due form, as the apostle is relating an official act done in Jerusalem, where James stood at the head of the church (comp. Credner, Einl . I. 2, p. 571 ff). There is a certain decorum in this the tact of a respectful consideration towards the mother-church and its highly-esteemed representative, who, as the Lord’s actual brother, sustained a more peculiar and unique relation to Him than any of the twelve. The higher rank possessed by Peter and the apostles proper generally as such , is surely enough established by Gal 1:18 f. But James, just as the brother of the Lord, had already attained a certain archiepiscopal position in the Jewish-Christian mother-church , and consequently for Jewish Christianity generally, agreeably to the monarchic principle which was involved in the latter. If James had been precisely one of the twelve, Paul would not (comp. Gal 1:18 ) have given him precedence over Peter; for, as mouthpiece of the twelve, Peter was the first for Jerusalem also and for the whole of the Jewish Christians (Gal 2:7 ). The precedence, however, finds its explanation and its justification solely in the unique personal relation to Christ, which belonged to none of the apostles. James, as the eldest of the brethren of the Lord (Mat 13:55 ; Mar 6:3 ), was, as it were, his legitimate hereditary successor in Israel.

] who pass (not passed , see Gal 2:2 ; Gal 2:6 ) as pillars , namely, of the Christian body, the continued existence of which, so far as it was conditioned by human agency (for Christ is the foundation), depended chiefly on them. The metaphor (comp. 1Ti 3:15 ; Rev 3:12 ; Clem. Cor . I. 5) is current in all languages. Pind. Ol . ii. 146, ; Eur. Iph. T . 50. 67 (Jacobs, ad Anthol . VII. p. 120); Hor. Od . i. 35. 13, and Mitscherlich in loc . Comp. Maimonides, in More Nevoch . ii. 23, “ accipe a prophetis, qui sunt columna generis humani ;” also the passages in Schoettgen, Hor . p. 728 f.; and the Fathers in Suicer, Thes . II. p. 1045 f. Looking at the frequent use of the figure, it cannot be maintained that Paul here thought of the body of Christians exactly as a temple (1Co 3:16 ; Eph 2:21 ), although he certainly regarded it as , 1Co 3:9 . These [80] , according to their high repute now, when the decisive final result is brought forward, designated with solemn precision and mentioned by name , are the very same who were characterized in Gal 2:2 as , and in Gal 2:6 as , as is evident from the uniform term being used three times. Hofmann nevertheless understands the expression in Gal 2:2 ; Gal 2:6 more generally , so that what the three did is supposed to be designated as that which was done for the sake of the false brethren on the part of those standing in special repute; but this view is based on the misinterpretation, by which an awkward grammatical connection with Gal 2:9 is forced upon the anacoluthic in Gal 2:6 , and at the same time in the interest of harmonizing (with Act 15 .) a position in relation to the older apostles, unwarranted by the text, is invented to explain the notice . . in Gal 2:4 .

] On the separation of the genitive from its governing noun (in this case, because the following clause of purpose, . . ., gives the explanation of ), see Winer, p. 179 f. [E. T. 238]; Khner, 865. 1; Fritzsche, ad Rom . II. p. 330 f. Both words are without the article , because did not require it ( 1Ma 6:58 ; 1Ma 11:62 , et al.; Krger, 50. 2. 13); and in the qualitative element is to be made prominent: right hands of fellowship . For the giving of the right hand is the symbol of alliance (Dougt. Anal . p. 123), 1Ma 6:58 , and Grimm in loc . In opposition to the idea of an alliance being concluded, the objection must not be made (with Hofmann, who finds merely a promise of fellowship) that the act took place on the part of the apostles only; for, as a matter of course, Paul and Barnabas clasped the proffered hands.

. . .] The verb to be supplied must be furnished by the context, and must correspond with ; see Buttmann, neut. Gr . p. 338. Therefore either and (Bengel, Fritzsche, Wieseler), or apostolatu fungeremur , Gal 2:8 (Erasmus, Schott, and many others), or (Winer, Usteri, de Wette). The latter, in no way unsuitable to (see on 2Co 10:16 ), is to be preferred, because it is suggested immediately by the protasis in Gal 2:7 , from which, at the same time, it is evident that the recognition was not merely that of a , but really amounted to an acknowledgment of apostolic equality (in opposition to Holsten). Moreover, as regards the partition here settled, the ethnographical bearing of which coincided on the whole with the local division of territory, we must not supply any such qualification as praecipue (Bengel, Schott, and others). On the contrary, the agreement was, “ Ye shall be apostles to the Gentiles, and we to the Jews; ” and nothing beyond this, except the appended clause in behalf of the poor, was thereby settled: so that the state of things hitherto existing in respect to the field of labour on both sides remained undisturbed. The modifications of this arrangement obviously and necessarily connected with its practical working, primarily occasioned by the existence of the Jewish in accordance with which the principle of the division of the spheres of labour could in fact be carried out merely relatively, and without exclusive geographical. or ethnographical limitation (comp. Lechler, p. 415) were left an open question, and not discussed. The idea that the recognition of Paul on the part of the apostles was merely external simply an outward concordat and that they themselves would have wished to know nothing of the ministry among the Gentiles (Baur, Zeller), is not conveyed in the text, but is, on the contrary, inconsistent with the representation given Gal 2:7-9 . According to this, the apostles recognised the twofold divine call to apostleship , by which two nationally different spheres of labour were to be provided with the one gospel; but a merely external and forced agreement, without any acknowledgment or ratification of the principles and modes of procedure which had long regulated the action of Paul and Barnabas, would have been as little compatible with such a recognition as with the apostolic character generally. If, however, we take the in our passage to be true and heartfelt, [81] then the doubts thrown by Baur and his followers upon the truth of the account of the apostolic council in Acts fall in substance to the ground. How little Paul especially considered his apostolic call to the Gentiles as excluding the conversion of the Jews from his operations, may be gathered, even laying Acts out of view, from passages such as 1Co 9:20 , Rom 1:16 ; Rom 9:1 ff; Rom 11:14 .

[79] While denotes the immediate impression of the phenomenon , represents the knowledge of reflection . A further step in the description. Hofmann wrongly remarks, “It signifies nothing further than that they had heard of the occurrence of his calling .” But this they must have already known years before (Gal 1:18 f.).

[80] The accentuation usual before Lachmann, , is incorrect. See Lipsius, gramm. Unters . p. 43.

[81] Thiersch ( Kirche im apost. Zeit . p. 129) well remarks: “When they bade farewell, it was not a parting like that when Luther in the castle at Marburg rejected the hand of Zwingli, or when Jacob Andreae at Montbeliard refused that of Theodore Beza.”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

9 .] resumes the narrative after the parenthesis.

] placed first, as being at the head of the church at Jerusalem, and presiding (apparently) at the conference in Act 15 .

alludes to Gal 2:2 ; Gal 2:6 ; see there.

] pillars, i.e. principal supporters of the church, men of distinction and weight; see reff., and examples in Wetst.: and Suicer, sub voce. Clem.-rom. ad Cor. i. 5, p. 217, uses the word directly, without metaphor: .

. . . ] On the separation of the genitive from its governing noun, see Winer, 30. 3, remark 2. It is made here, because what follows respects rather than .

. . . ] There is an ellipsis of some verb; and – , or perhaps , – which might connect with (see 1Th 2:9 ; 1Pe 1:25 . But Meyer objects that it is not found with in St. Paul): or as Beza, . Similar ellipses occur Rom 4:16 ; ch. Gal 5:13 . This division of labour was not, and could not be, strictly observed. Every where in the Acts we find St. Paul preaching ‘to the Jews first,’ and every where the Judaizers followed on his track; see Jowett’s note.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Gal 2:9 . The name of James is placed before those of the Apostles Peter and John. This was probably because as permanent head of the local Church he presided at meetings ( cf. Act 21:18 ). The well-known strictness of his own legal observance gave special weight to his support of Greek freedom on this occasion. A comparison of his address with the subsequent resolution of the Council suggests that he took a leading part in drafting some part of it at least. . The habitual application to the Church of figures borrowed from a temple of God suggested the description of Apostles as pillars. It occurs also in Clement of Rome and Ignatius. The repetition of the phrase is apparently designed to contrast the high estimate formed of the Three with the unfounded and indefinite estimate of others who had proved to be mere names. The mutual understanding between the two groups of Apostles obviously did not imply an absolute restriction of each to one section of the Church. All converts alike were members of a single united Church: circumstances of themselves forbade any definite division: Paul opened his ministry everywhere in the synagogue, and numbered Jews as well as Greeks amidst his converts. So Peter again is next found at Antioch.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

James. See Gal 1:19.

Cephas. Compare Gal 1:18.

John. The only mention of him in Paul’s epistles,

seemed. Compare verses: Gal 2:2, Gal 2:6.

pillars. Greek. stulos. Elsewhere, 1Ti 3:15. Rev 3:12; Rev 10:1. Applied by the Jews to teachers of the Law.

perceived. Greek. ginosko. App-132.

grace. Greek. charis. App-184.

unto. Greek. eis, App-104.

heathen. Compare Gal 1:16.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

9.] resumes the narrative after the parenthesis.

] placed first, as being at the head of the church at Jerusalem, and presiding (apparently) at the conference in Acts 15.

alludes to Gal 2:2; Gal 2:6; see there.

] pillars, i.e. principal supporters of the church, men of distinction and weight; see reff., and examples in Wetst.: and Suicer, sub voce. Clem.-rom. ad Cor. i. 5, p. 217, uses the word directly, without metaphor: .

. . .] On the separation of the genitive from its governing noun, see Winer, 30. 3, remark 2. It is made here, because what follows respects rather than .

…] There is an ellipsis of some verb; and -, or perhaps , – which might connect with (see 1Th 2:9; 1Pe 1:25. But Meyer objects that it is not found with in St. Paul): or as Beza, . Similar ellipses occur Rom 4:16; ch. Gal 5:13. This division of labour was not, and could not be, strictly observed. Every where in the Acts we find St. Paul preaching to the Jews first, and every where the Judaizers followed on his track; see Jowetts note.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Gal 2:9. , when James, etc., perceived) After having heard and seen me.-, given) comp. respecting Paul, 2Pe 3:15.-[9]) James. He is put here first, because he mostly remained at Jerusalem, or even because he took the principal lead in this matter, and Paul might have seemed to differ more from James than from Peter, more from Peter than from John. For many circumstances would lead us to conclude, that James and Paul, as well as Peter and Paul, etc., had that in their nature and in the feelings of their soul, which would demand that the one should exercise love and forbearance, along with self-denial, towards the other, without, however, any compromise of the truth recognized by all. Hence it happens, that one and the same man, or one and the same assembly cannot with equal facility comprehend both James and Paul. This is proved in the failure of Luther, who called the epistle of James an epistle of straw; but let those who violently arraign him on this account, look at the monstrous feelings which they themselves cherish against Paul. Christ is the only Head, the only Sun; the greatest apostles were only members; nor did these, as individuals, all equally receive the rays of that Sun, but the whole together represented Christ in the apostleship; comp. on their variety, Rev 21:14; Rev 21:19-20. And the affairs of the Church were so directed by its Divine Head, that James, who was more tenacious of the law, preached to the Jews; Paul, who did not copy others, and was more eager for faith and liberty, preached to the Gentiles; and that thus every one might bring a character and endowments as much adapted as possible to the province assigned to him.-, Cephas) In some way or other, I know not how, this word has the sound of greater veneration than Peter. If Peter had held that supremacy, which men afterwards attributed to him, Paul would have had the strongest reason for mentioning that supremacy on the present occasion, or at least of naming him as in an exalted position.-) This word corresponds to the Hebrew term Pro 9:1, and wherever it occurs.- ) so, , let us make peace, 1Ma 6:58, etc.-) fellowship, which refers to colleagues.-, that) viz. we might go, viz. with the Gospel.- , to the Gentiles) especially. For Paul also taught the Jews, Peter and John the Gentiles, but the former followed out his career beyond Judea, the latter had continued in Judea, so long as it continued to exist as a nation. If Peter came to Rome, he certainly had no fixed abode there.

[9] , the marginal reading in this verse is equal in both Ed. to the reading adopted both in the Germ. Vers. and in the Gnom: Gal 2:11, the name , which had been left doubtful in the larger Ed., is openly preferred in 2d Ed. and Germ. Ver. to the other; finally, Gal 2:14, the reading added to the genuine readings on the margin of the larger Ed. on the margin of the 2d Ed. is placed among those that are less certain, and in the Germ. Ver. is exchanged for the reading .-E. B.

is read by BC Orig. and Cod. Amiat. of Vulg. , is read by D()Gfg Vulg. (Fuld. MS., etc.) Iren. A omits . In Gal 2:11 ABCH Vulg. read . But D()Gfg Vulg. and Rec. Text have . In Gal 2:14 ABC have . D()Gfg Vulg. and Rec. Text have .-ED.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Gal 2:9

Gal 2:9

and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me,-The grace that was given unto Paul sums up the facts of his having been put in trust of the gospel of the uncircumcision, and of Gods having wrought on his behalf in his discharge of that trust.

James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars,-Pillars or supports, leading men, chief champions in the church. The expression is used in all languages, especially among the Jews of the great teachers of the law. [Paul does not deny his colleagues to be the leading apostles among the Jews; they were so still in fact as he was the pillar in the church among the Gentiles; but the Judaizers used the expression in a partisan sense and with a view to deprecate Paul.]

gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship,-This was done to express their approval of the work in which they were engaged. The work of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles had been called in question, and they had been discouraged by many; these apostles, to encourage them and to show to all gainsayers that they regarded Paul and Barnabas on an equal footing with the very chiefest apostles.

that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision;-Thus Paul shows that the very apostles in praise of whom these people denied his apostleship had endorsed Paul and Barnabas as apostles. [The mutual recognition of the different spheres in which each was called to preach does not mean that Paul and Barnabas were precluded from preaching to the Jews, or the others to the Gentiles. The one message of salvation was to be offered to men, as they were, whether circumcised or uncircumcised. The whole evidence, therefore, clearly indicates that the meaning of the agreement was that Paul and Barnabas were to preach the gospel in Gentile lands, and the other apostles in Jewish lands.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

James: Act 15:7, Act 15:13, Act 15:22-29

pillars: Gal 2:2, Gal 2:6, Gal 2:12-14, Mat 16:18, Eph 2:20, Rev 3:12, Rev 21:14-20

the grace: Rom 1:5, Rom 12:3, Rom 12:5, Rom 12:6, Rom 15:15, 1Co 15:10, Eph 3:8, Col 1:29, 1Pe 4:10, 1Pe 4:11

fellowship: 2Co 8:4, 1Jo 1:3

we should: Act 15:23-30

Reciprocal: Exo 24:4 – twelve pillars 1Ki 7:21 – And he set 2Ki 10:15 – give me Ezr 10:19 – gave their hands Pro 9:1 – pillars Mat 10:3 – James Mar 3:18 – James Luk 6:15 – James Joh 1:42 – called Act 1:13 – James Act 3:1 – Peter Act 4:36 – Barnabas Act 8:14 – Peter Act 9:27 – Barnabas Act 12:17 – James Act 13:1 – Barnabas Act 13:2 – Separate Act 15:25 – Barnabas Act 21:18 – unto Act 26:17 – the Gentiles 1Co 1:12 – Cephas Gal 2:7 – when Eph 3:2 – the dispensation 1Ti 2:7 – a teacher 1Ti 3:15 – the pillar Jam 1:1 – James Jam 1:26 – seem

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Gal 2:9. -And coming to the knowledge of the grace which was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who are reputed pillars, gave to me and Barnabas right hands of fellowship; that we should go or preach to the Gentiles, but they to the circumcision. First, , perceiving,-that is, probably struck by Paul’s representation of his work as the apostle of the Gentiles,-a phrase parallel to , and learning, from the details communicated to them. The here is not barely the apostolic office (Piscator, Estius), nor yet the success of his labours-potissimum de successu (Winer, Fritzsche),-but all that divine gift embodied as well in the apostolate as in all the freely bestowed qualifications for the successful discharge of its duties. See under Eph 3:8. They came to a knowledge of the divine gift enjoyed by Paul, implying that they had not distinctly understood it before. If they added nothing to Paul, he certainly added something to them. Rom 1:5; Rom 12:3.

-James and Cephas and John. The order of the names differs. A omits ; D, F, G, and the Itala read , followed by few supporters; while the reading as we have given it is found in B, C, K, L, , and versions and fathers. The placing of first is a natural correction from the mention of Peter in the previous verse; but James is first, from his immediate official status, and he must have had great influence at the consultation. So much did he become the central figure, that Irenaeus characterizes the other apostles as hi autem qui circa Jacobum apostoli. Advers. Haeres. 3.12, vol. i. p. 494, ed. Stieren. See Essay at the end of previous chapter. There is no good reason for supposing that the James of this verse is other than the Lord’s brother, Gal 1:19, who according to all tradition was head of the church in Jerusalem. Stier, Wieseler, and Davidson, however, take the James of this verse for the Apostle James, son of Alphaeus. But is it not likely that some clause or epithet would have been given to the James of the second chapter, if he were different from the James of the first? or how were his readers to be guided to make the necessary distinction? See p. 98. The two participles have these proper names as substantives. Of them the apostle adds-

-who have the reputation of being pillars,-not, as in Authorized Version, who seemed to be, either in tense or signification. The Genevan has, which are taken to be pyllers. There is no pleonasm in . Mar 10:42; Luk 22:24; Josephus, Antiq. 19.6, 3; Winer, 65-7. The figure in the term is a common and natural one. It represents the Hebrew in Exo 13:21-22; Exo 14:24, referring to the pillar of fire, and it occurs often in a literal sense in the description of the tabernacle. Its tropical use may be seen in the New Testament, 1Ti 3:15, Rev 3:12. It is employed often by rabbinical writers as an epithet of great teachers and saints. See Schoettgen, 1.728, 9; compare Pro 9:1. It occurs in a personal sense in the Epistle of the Church at Lyons- , Euseb. Hist. Ecc 5:1; in the first Epistle of Clement, Gal 1:5, Peter and Paul are . See Hom. Clement. 18.14, . Many examples from the Greek and Latin fathers will be found in Suicer, Thes. sub voce. The figure is found also in the classics: , Euripides, Iph. Aul. 57; , AEschylus, Agam. 897; also, stantem columnam, Horace, Od. 1.35. The accent of is doubtful, though probably evidence preponderates for -perhaps the old AEolic form: Lipsius, p. 43, Leipzig 1863. Ellicott and Tischendorf print it , and the is invariably long in poetry, though it is short in the Latin stylus. Rost und Palm, sub voce. These three men were esteemed as pillars, and deservedly so, as they supported and graced the Christian edifice-which is not necessarily imaged here as a temple,-zealous, gifted, mighty, and successful labourers, able to look beyond the narrow and national boundary within which some would confine the gospel, and qualified to guide the church in any crisis with enlightened and generous advice; for they solemnly and formally recognised Paul on this occasion.

-gave to me and Barnabas right hands of fellowship. The first noun is far removed from the genitive which it governs. Such a separation when the genitive follows sometimes happens from the sudden intervention of some emphatic or explanatory phrase. Joh 12:11; Rom 9:21; 1Co 8:7; Php 2:10; 1Th 2:13; 1Ti 3:6; Winer, 30, 3, note 2. One may say in this case that stand first, referring to the visible hearty pledge of recognition; and that follow, from their close relation to and , which are put in immediate connection with the explanation. Both nouns are anarthrous. The first noun with this verb is often used without the article, the second wants it by correlation. Middleton, pp. 36, 49, ed. Rose; Apollonius, de Synt. p. 90; 1Ma 11:50; 1Ma 11:62; 1Ma 13:50. Compare, however, Gersdorf’s Beitrge, pp. 314-334. For , see under Php 1:5. The giving of the right hand was a common pledge of friendship or covenant then as now. While the Hebrew means to surrender, as in 2Ch 30:8, Lam 5:6, it denotes also to pledge, 2Ki 10:15, Ezr 10:19. Compare Eze 17:18, Pro 11:21, Lev 6:2; Diodor. Sic.16, 43; Xen. Anab. 2.3, 11; Aristoph. Nub. 81; Euripides, Medea, 91, and Porson’s note. This giving of right hands was the pledge of fellowship, the recognition of Paul and Barnabas as fellow-labourers. Chrysostom exclaims, ] . It was no such parting as when Luther in the castle of Marburg refused the hand of Zuingle, or when James Andreae refused that of Theodore Beza at Montbeliard (Thiersch). The purpose was-

-in order that we unto the heathen. The particle is found after in A, C, D, , many cursives, and several of the fathers; but the simple pronoun is read in B, F, H, K, L, 1, Vulgate and Clarom. and Gothic version, in Origen, Theophylact, OEcumenius, and in most of the Latin fathers. Griesbach marks it as probable, Tischendorf omits it, Lachmann and Meyer accept it; but Wieseler, Ellicott, Alford, and Lightfoot rightly reject it. It seems to have been inserted to produce a correspondence with the following . The clause wants a verb, and is all the more emphatic, as if no verb of sufficient fulness and distinction had presented itself readily or at the moment to his mind. The words we to the Gentiles say all that is needful. His readers could easily divine what the phrase implied. Compare Rom 4:16, 1Co 1:31, 2Co 8:13,- being similarly placed in all these quotations.

-and they unto the circumcision,-the abstract used as in Gal 2:7 for the concrete. Are not the Jews so named here on purpose, as if the reference were not only to the covenant rite, but also to what had been the theme of dissension at Antioch and the subject of present consultation in Jerusalem? while is used in its broad sense, of all the nations beyond Palestine, as nations in want of a free and unclogged offer of the gospel. Some would supply -, as Winer and others; but with a personal reference is not used by Paul after this verb. Yet we have a very similar connection in 2Co 10:16, and this preposition follows the corresponding noun, 1Th 2:9; see 1Pe 1:25. Meyer in his last edition drops his objection to . as the supplement, which he had stated in his third edition. Others propose -, as Bengel and Fritzsche; but the apostle’s idea implies both these verbs; Erasmus and Schott fill in by apostolatu fungeremur. Though this agreement referred generally to spheres of labours, it cannot strictly be called a geographical division; nor was it a minute mapping out of future travels. Thousands of Jews were in the dispersion, among whom the three apostles might labour; and Paul, as his custom was, went first to the Jews: Act 17:2; Act 17:10; Act 18:5; Act 19:8. He speaks in his imprisonment of some of his companions who are of the circumcision, Col 4:11; and Peter and John travelled into heathen countries. Peter is found in Paul’s way at Antioch; but Paul would not build on another man’s foundation-would not boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Gal 2:9. Pillars is from STULOS, and Thayer defines it by the same word that is used in the text. He then explains it to mean, “persons to whose eminence and strength the stability and authority of any institution or organization are due.” Robinson defines it, “a column, pillar,” and explains it to mean, “any firm support; for example, persons of authority and influence in the church.” Paul ascribes this character to James (the Lord’s brother), Cephas (Peter) and John (brother of James). There is nothing to indicate that any of the group were unfavorable toward the work of Paul and Barnabas, but the three men are named because of their high standing, and because they were the ones who acted in this outward expression of endorsement. Right hands. The two words are from the Greek word DEXIOS. Robinson defines it, “right, on the right side or hand, opposite the left,” hence it does not mean right as the opposite to wrong. Greenfield explains it at this place, “to give the right hand to any one, as a pledge of sincerity in one’s promises.” The reason the right hand is used is because most men are right-handed by nature, and hence any gesture that calls for the joining of hands would naturally use the right hand. Thayer explains this feature of the subject as follow: “Property of that hand which is wont [accustomed] to take hold of as well as to point out.” The fact that special attention is called to certain persons who were left-handed (Jdg 3:15 Jdg 20:16), shows it is the natural rule to use the right hand.

Fellowship is from KOINONIA and means partnership or joint interest in something. This act of the three “pillars” was to indicate to Paul and Barnabas that they were interested in the work about to be done, and would give it their full moral support. Heathen is from ETHNOS, and in the King James Version it is rendered by heathen 5 times, Gentiles 93, nation 64, people 2. As it is used in this verse, it means the Gentiles, and the term circumcision means the Jews. We know this does not mean that each one was restricted to the class designated, for Paul preached to all classes. But their assignment as a whole was to be as indicated.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Gal 2:9. Perceiving (or knowing) indicates the conviction arrived at in consequence of the successful labors of Paul, as the divine attestation of his apostleship.

The grace implies here the call, the spiritual outfit and the success, all of which Paul regards as a free gift of God in Christ, as he says, 1Co 15:10 : By the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

James stands here first according to the best manuscripts. It is the brother of the Lord, mentioned Gal 1:19. Although not one of the Twelve, he enjoyed Apostolic authority. (There is no good reason for understanding here, with Dr. Wieseler, the younger Apostle of that name, James the son of Alphus, who held no very prominent rank. The older James, the son of Zebedee, suffered martyrdom in 44, six years before the Council of Jerusalem.) In the Jewish Church at large Peter occupied the most prominent rank, and is therefore named in Gal 2:7-8; but in Jerusalem of which Paul speaks here, James stood at the head of the congregation (comp. Act 12:17; Act 15:11; Act 21:18), and he probably presided also over the Apostolical Council, or at all events exerted the controlling influence there and led to the final decision, Act 15:13 ff.

Pillars, i.e., leading men, chief champions of the church, which is often represented as a temple, 1Cor. 5:16; Eph 2:21; 1Ti 3:15; Rev 3:12. But the expression is used in the same sense in all languages without metaphor, and especially among the Jews of the great teachers of the law. Paul does not deny his colleagues to be the leading Apostles of the Jews; they were so still in fact, as he was the pillar of the Gentile Church; but the Judaizers used the expression no doubt in an envious party sense and with the view to depreciate Paul (comp. Gal 2:6 note).

The right hands of fellowship. A pledge of brotherhood and fidelity. This fact, based as it was, on sincere esteem and love, refutes the conclusion of some modern critics that there was a serious discord between Paul and the older Apostles. They differed widely, no doubt, in talent, temperament, and field of labor, but they agreed in spirit and principle; they were servants to the same Lord and organs of the same grace, and as they sought not their own glory, there was no room for envy and jealousy.

That we should (go, or, be Apostles, or, preach the gospel) to the Gentiles and they to the circumcision, i.e., the Jews. Division of the field of labor, with one reservation, mentioned in Gal 2:10, and faithfully kept.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Gal 2:9-10. And when James Probably named first because he. was bishop of the church in Jerusalem; and Cephas Speaking of him at Jerusalem, he calls him by his Hebrew name; and John Hence it appears that he also was at the council, though he be not particularly named in the Acts. Who seemed to be Or, as in Gal 2:6, who undoubtedly were; pillars The principal supporters and defenders of the gospel; perceived After they had heard the account I gave them; the grace of apostleship which was given to me, they in the name of all, gave me and Barnabas My fellow-labourer; the right hands of fellowship They gave us their hands, in token of receiving us as their fellow-labourers, mutually agreeing that I and those in union with me should go to the heathen chiefly Barnabas, equally with Paul, had preached salvation to the idolatrous Gentiles, without requiring them to obey the law of Moses: wherefore, by giving them the right hands of fellowship, the three apostles acknowledged them to be true ministers of the gospel, each according to the nature of his particular commission. Paul they acknowledged to be an apostle of equal authority with themselves; and Barnabas they acknowledged to be a minister sent forth by the Holy Ghost to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. This distinction it is necessary to make, because it doth not appear that Barnabas was an apostle, in the proper sense of the word. The candour which the apostles at Jerusalem showed on this occasion, in acknowledging Paul as a brother apostle, is remarkable, and deserves the imitation of all the ministers of the gospel in their behaviour toward one another. And they With those that were in union with them; chiefly to the circumcision The Jews. In pursuance of this agreement, the three apostles abode, for the most part, in Judea, till Jerusalem was destroyed. After which, Peter, as tradition informs us, went to Babylon, and other parts in the East, and John into the Lesser Asia, where he was confined some years in Patmos, for the testimony of Jesus, Rev 1:9. But James was put to death at Jerusalem, in a popular tumult, before that city was destroyed. Macknight. Only desiring that we would remember the poor Christians in Judea So as to make collections for them as we proceeded in our progress through the churches of the Gentiles; the same which I also was forward to do Greek, , which very thing I was eager, or in haste to do. It is probable, that in so readily acceding to the proposal made by the apostles at Jerusalem, to collect money for the destitute saints in Judea, St. Paul was influenced by a more generous principle than that of merely relieving the necessities of the poor. For as the Jewish believers were extremely unwilling to associate with the converted Gentiles, Paul might hope that the kindness, which he doubted not the Gentiles would show in relieving their Jewish brethren, would have a happy influence in uniting the two into one harmonious body or church.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who {g} seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right {h} hands of fellowship; that we [should go] unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

(g) Whom alone and only these men count for pillars of the Church, and whose name they abuse to deceive you.

(h) They gave us their hand to show that we agreed wholly in the doctrine of the Gospel.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes