Galatians 1:18

Ἔπειτα. The thrice-repeated Ἔπειτα in this verse, in Galatians 1:21, and in Galatians 2:1, singles out three events in the Apostle's life bearing on his intercourse with the Church of Jerusalem: his first introduction to them, his departure to a distant sphere of labour, and his return to Jerusalem with Barnabas. The object of this sketch was not to write a history of those years, but to fix attention on certain salient incidents which threw light on the real nature of his intercourse with Jerusalem. μετὰ τρία ἔτη. A different preposition is here employed from that used in Galatians 2:1, which describes a mission within fourteen years. In this case no precise date is implied; for the object is not to date the visit, but to show that three full years at least had elapsed before Paul had any intercourse with the Twelve. ἱστορῆσαι : to enquire of Cephas, i.e., to obtain information from him. This is the usual meaning of the verb; in Herodotus, and elsewhere, it denotes visits paid to places of interest with a view to getting information about them on the spot. The circumstances in which Paul found himself at that time make this sense very appropriate. He had been suddenly driven from his ministry at Damascus, and was compelled to seek a new sphere. He could not turn to any adviser more valuable than Peter for determining his future course. For that Apostle was not only prominent in the general government of the Church, but had taken the lead in its expansion by his visits to Samaria, to the maritime plain, and to Cæsarea, and by his baptism of Gentiles. In spite, therefore, of the danger of revisiting Jerusalem, Paul repaired thither to consult Peter as to how he could best serve Christ. Κηφᾶν. Several MSS. give the Greek form, Πέτρον, of this name; but the Hebrew form appears to be the original reading throughout the Epistle, except in Galatians 2:7-8. At Jerusalem he was probably known by the name Cephas, but in the Greek Church at large by the name Peter. ἐπέμεινα. Both in the Acts and in the Pauline Epistles this verb denotes the continuance or prolongation of a stay. πρὸς αὐτόν. This can hardly be = παρʼ αὐτῷ, I abode with him. The clause expresses rather the motive for Paul's lingering at Jerusalem, I tarried to see him fifteen days.

This narrative is so independent of the account given of Paul's first meeting with the Twelve in Acts 9:26-29, that some critics question the identity of the two visits. But it is clear that both passages alike refer to Paul's first return to Jerusalem, after a prolonged sojourn at Damascus; and the subtle harmony of the two narratives is as conspicuous as their independence in details. The history states the bare fact that Paul, finding his life in imminent danger from the Jews at Damascus, fled to Jerusalem; the Epistle explains why he encountered so obvious a danger; the Epistle states that he prolonged his stay to see Peter; the history explains that he was unable to gain access to the Apostles for a time. The history records the principal events of the visit from the historical point of view, e.g., the apprehensions felt by the Christian body, the intervention of Barnabas, the attempts on Paul's life; the autobiography passes these by as foreign to its purpose, but is far richer in personal details, relating incidentally the date, the motive, and the duration of the visit, and particularising the brethren whom Paul saw on the occasion; whereas in the Acts mention is merely made of the disciples generally.