Galatians 2:6

Render the passage as follows : "But to be something from (at the hands of) those who were of repute, whatever they were, matters nothing to me (God accepteth not man's person), for those who were of repute imparted nothing to me."

To be something [ε ι ν α ι τ ι]. Comp. chapter Galatians 11:3; Acts 5:36; 2 Corinthians 12:11. To be in good standing as an evangelist or apostle, approved and commissioned by high authorities.

From those who were of repute [α π ο τ ω ν δ ο κ ο υ ν τ ω ν]. From, at the hands of; as receiving my indorsement or commission from them. Comp. chapter Galatians 1:1. Of repute, see on verse 2.

Whatsoever they were [ο π ο ι ο ι π ο τ ε η σ α ν]. Pote in N. T. is invariably temporal, and points here to the preeminence which these apostles had formerly, up to the time of Paul's visit, enjoyed, because of their personal connection with Jesus. 46 Maketh no matter to me [ο υ δ ε ν μ ο ι δ ι α φ ε ρ ε ι]. Paul does not say, as A. V. and Rev., that the standing and repute of the apostles were matters of indifference to him, but that he was indifferent about receiving his commission from them as recognized dignitaries of the church. The construction is : "To be something [ε ι ν α ι τ ι] at the hands of [α π ο] those who were of repute matters nothing to me."

God accepteth no man's person. Or more strictly, accepteth not the person of man. Parenthitical. Lambanein proswpon to receive or accept the face is a Hebraism. See on James 2:1. In O. T. both in a good and a bad sense; to be gracious, and to show favor from personal or partisan motives. In N. T. only here and Luke 20:21, both in a bad sense. Similar Hebraistic expressions are blepein eijv proswpon to look at the face, Matthew 22:16 : qaumazein proswpa to admire the countenances, Jude 1:16 kaucasqai ejn proswpw to glory in the face, 2 Corinthians 5:12. For - to me. Explaining the previous statement. To be of consequence because commissioned by those in repute matters nothing to me (God accepteth not man's person), for although they might have asserted their high repute and authority to others, to me they did not, as shown by their imposing on me no new requirements.

In conference added nothing [ο υ δ ε ν π ρ ο σ α ν ε θ ε ν τ ο]. In conference is an attempt to conform the sense to chapter Galatians 1:16. The verb without the accusative, as there, means to confer with. Here, with the accusative, the meaning is laid upon or imposed on. Rend. therefore, imposed nothing on me. They imposed on me no new [π ρ ο ς α δ δ ι τ ι ο ν α λ] requirements; no conditions or limitations of my missionary work. 47