What Does Galatians 2:6 Mean?

(6) The Apostle returns from his digression on the case of Titus to give the result of his experience with the elder Apostles, in continuation of Galatians 2:3. “I did indeed hold conference with them privately; but with all their advantages, real or assumed, I learnt nothing from them that I did not already know, and they ended by recognising the independence and validity of my mission.” **But of these who seemed to be somewhat.**—Translate rather, *But from those who are reputed to be somewhat.* The phrase corresponds to “them which are of reputation” in Galatians 2:2; and here, as there, it is important to keep the present tense. It is not only “those who *were* of authority at the Council,” but “those who *are* the great authorities with you Galatians now.” The Apostle speaks with a certain amount of irony. “From these very great authorities, these persons of such especial reputation [I got nothing].” **Whatsoever they were.**—We shall, perhaps, not be wrong in keeping to the Authorised version, though some of the best commentators translate rather, *What they* (once) *were,* with a stress on “were,” and referring to the advantage which they possessed over St. Paul in having “known Christ after the flesh” through their early call to the Apostleship. **God accepteth no man’s person.**—This phrase is a curious instance of a Greek expression framed after the analogy of the Hebrew, and yet in the process contracting a different signification, through the influence of the idiomatic use of one of the Greek expressions involved. “To accept the face” in the Old Testament is used in a good sense of “showing favour” to any one, but without any imputation of partiality. “To accept the face” (or *person*) in the New Testament always carries with it the idea of partiality; the word for “face” being idiomatically used for “a mask,” and hence coming to mean “the outward, assumed, accidental characteristics of a man” as opposed to his real and inward character. (Comp. Matthew 22:16; Luke 20:21; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25; James 2:1; James 2:9; Jude 1:16.) The meaning here is that even if the elder Apostles had “seen with their eyes,” and “looked upon and handled the Word of Life” (1John 1:1), God would not regard the advantages implied in this more than any other external advantage of birth, position, natural gifts, &c. **For they who seemed to be somewhat.**—The same phrase as in Galatians 2:2 : *they who were of reputation.* There is here another break in the regular construction of the sentence. The Apostle begins as if he were going to finish differently: “From those who are reputed to be somewhat . . . I received nothing in the conference which I had with them;” but he suddenly changes his point of view: “From those who are reputed to be somewhat” (sentence left unfinished) “to me, I say, these reputable persons added nothing.” **In conference added nothing.**—“Added in conference” is all one word in the Greek, and corresponds to “communicated” in Galatians 2:2. The idea of “adding” (*i.e.,* imparting fresh knowledge) seems, however, to be derived rather from the context than from the form of the Greek compound, as our translators apparently supposed.