Galatians 1:12

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Translate, 'For not even did I (anymore than the other apostle) receive it from [ para (G3844), not synonymous with apo (G575): para implies the more immediate source; apo, the more remote, 1 Corinthians 11:23 ] man, nor was I taught it (by man).' "Received it" implies the absence of labour in acquiring it. "Was I taught it" implies the labour of learning. BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST - `by revelation of (i:e., from) Jesus Christ,' by His revealing it to me. Probably this took place during the three years in part of which he sojourned in Arabia ...

12._For I neither received it from man_. What then? shall the authority of the word be diminished, because one who has been instructed by the instrumentality of men shall afterwards become a teacher? We must take into account, all along, the weapons with which the false apostles attacked him, alleging that his gospel was defective and spurious; that he had obtained it from an inferior and incompetent teacher; and that his imperfect education led him to make unguarded statements. They boasted, on the other hand, that they had been instructed by the highest apostles, with whose views they were most intimately acquainted. It was therefore necessary that Paul should state his doctrine in opposition to the whole world, and should rest it on this ground, that he had acquired it not in the school of any man, but by revelation from God. In no other way could he have set aside the reproaches of t...

10-14 In preaching the gospel, the apostle sought to bring persons to the obedience, not of men, but of God. But Paul would not attempt to alter the doctrine of Christ, either to gain their favour, or to avoid their fury. In so important a matter we must not fear the frowns of men, nor seek their favour, by using words of men's wisdom. Concerning the manner wherein he received the gospel, he had it by revelation from Heaven. He was not led to Christianity, as many are, merely by education....

Verse 12. _I NEITHER RECEIVED IT OF MAN_] By means of any _apostle_, as was remarked Galatians 1:1. No man taught me what I have preached to you. _BUT BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST._] Being commissioned by himself alone; receiving the knowledge of it from Christ crucified....

FOR I NEITHER RECEIVED IT OF MAN - This is very probably said in reply to his opponents, who had maintained that Paul had derived his knowledge of the gospel from other people, since he had not been personally known to the Lord Jesus, or been of the number of those whom Jesus called to be his apostles. In reply to this, he says, that he did not receive his gospel in any way from man. NEITHER WAS I TAUGHT IT - That is, by man. He was not taught it by any written account of it, or by the instruction of man in any way. The only plausible objection to this statement which could be urged would be the fact that Paul had an interview with Ananias Acts 9:17 before his baptism, and that he would probably receive instructions from him. But to this it may be replied: * That there is no evidence that Ananias

EXPOSITION GALATIANS 1:1 _The_ _introductory greeting. _The style of this greeting, compared with those found in St. Paul's other Epistles, gives indications of his having addressed himself to the composition of the letter under strong perturbation of feeling. This transpires in the abruptness with which, at the very outset, he at once sweeps aside, as it were, out of his path, a slur east upon his apostolic commission, in protesting that he was "apostle, not from man nor through a man." It appears again in that impetuous negligence of exact precision of language, with which the mention of "God the Father" is conjoined with that of "Jesus Christ" under the one preposition "through," as the _medium _through which his apostleship had been conferred upon him. We cannot help receiving the impression that the apostle had only just bef

FOR I NEITHER RECEIVED IT OF MAN,.... Not from Gamaliel, at whose feet he was brought up; he received the law from him, and knowledge in the Jews' religion, and in the traditions of the elders, but not a whit of the Gospel; on the contrary, he received prejudices against it from him, or was strengthened in them by him; no, nor from the apostles of Christ neither, whom he saw not, had no conversation with for some years, after he was a preacher of the Gospel, and therefore did not receive it at their hands; no, nor from Ananias, nor any other man: NEITHER WAS I TAUGHT IT: that is, by man; he did not learn it of men, as men learn law, physics, logic, rhetoric, natural philosophy, and other things at school: BUT BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST; meaning, not through Christ being revealed to him by the Father, as in Galatians 1:16 though it is a sense

Galatians 1:1. _Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)_ Paul begins this Epistle by stating his commission as an apostle. In Galatia, he had been subjected to the great sorrow of having his apostle-ship called in question. Does he, therefore, give up his claim to the office, and retire from the work? No, not for a moment; but he begins his letter to the Galatians by declaring himself to be «an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ.» His enemies had said, «Paul was never one of the Saviour's twelve apostles; he is not like those who were trained and educated by Christ himself. No doubt he has borrowed his doctrine from them, and he is only a retailer of other men's goods». No, no,» says Paul, «I am an apostle as truly as any other of the twelve; ‘not of men, neither by man, but by Je

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE TESTIMONY OF PAUL CONCERNING HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY AND THE GOSPEL CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The Introduction. (Galatians 1:1)_ 2. The Rebuke. (Galatians 1:6) 3. Paul's Gospel Given by Revelation. (Galatians 1:11) 4. How Paul became an Apostle Independent of Jerusalem. (Galatians 1:13) The introductory words of this Epistle are brief and of deep significance. He speaks of himself as an apostle not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. His apostleship had been called in question and the gospel he preached branded as lacki

GALATIANS 1:11 begins a historical narrative proving Paul's independence of any human authority in his apostolic work. He learned by a revelation from heaven, not in any sense from flesh and blood: _cf._ Matthew 16:17. All natural human tendencies inclined him towards different beliefs. He was born and grew up in Judaism and was the best Jew of them all. But the God who predestinates had other thoughts for him. From his very birth onwards the words partially echo Jeremiah 1:5; Isaiah 49:1 a Divine plan was shaping his life to undreamed-of issues. At last God spoke to him in that powerful call which dead souls hear, and revealed Hi