Commentary on Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians Timothy Titus and Philemon John Calvin (continued)
John Calvin was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
7. Imo contra, quum vidissent mihi concreditum fuisse evangelium praeprputii, quemadmodum Petro Circumcisionis;
8. (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)
8. (Nam qui efficax fuit in Petro ad apostolatum Circumcisionis efficax fuit et in me erga Gentes);
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 right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
9. Quumque cognovissent gratiam mihi datam Iaeobus et Cephas et Ioannes, qui videbantur columnae esse, dextras dederunt mihi ac Barnabae societatis, ut nos inter Gentes, ipsi vore in Circumcisionem, apestolatu fungerenur.
10. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
10. Tanturn ut pauperurn memores essenms, in quo et diligens fui, ut hoc ipsum facerem.
6. Of those who seemed to be somewhat. 55 Paul is not yet satisfied, without making the Galatians understand that he had learned nothing from Peter and the apostles. Hence Porphyry and Julian 56 accuse the holy man of pride, because he claims so much for himself that he cannot endure to learn anything from others; because he boasts of having become a teacher without any instruction or assistance; and because he labors so hard not to appear in an inferior character. But any one who will consider how necessary that boasting was, will acknowledge that it was holy boasting, and worthy of the highest praise; for, if he had yielded this point to his opponents, that he had profited under the apostles, he would have furnished them with two charges against him. They would immediately have said, ``And so you made some progress; you corrected your past errors, and did not repeat your former rashness.'' Thus, in the first place, the whole doctrine which he had hitherto taught would have fallen under suspicion; and, secondly, he would ever afterwards have possessed less authority, because he would have been reckoned but an ordinary disciple. We find, therefore, that it was not on his own account, but by the necessity under which he lay to establish the doctrine, that he was led to this holy boasting. The controversy has no reference to individuals, and therefore cannot be a struggle of ambition; but Paul's determination was that no man, however eminent, should throw into the shade his apostleship, on which the authority of his doctrine depended. If 55"{Τῶν} {δοκούντων} {εἶναί} {τι}, the men `who appeared to be somewhat,' that is, persons of highest character and estimation. For though this word signifies to `appear,' or `seem,' yet it is not always used in a diminutive or disparaging sense, but to denote what they really are, and what others think them to be. Thus, {τῶν} {᾿Ελλήνων} {δοκοῦντες} {διαφέρειν} (AElian) are persons esteemed as the principal men of Greece; and Aristotle is said {σόφος} {ἄνηρ} {καὶ} {ὦν} {καὶ} {εἶναι} {δοκῶν}, both to be, and to be esteemed as a wise man.' ``Chandler.
56Porphyry, ({Πορφύριος}.) a Greek philosopher, (whose original name was Malchus,) and Julian, the Roman emperor, (commonly called ``the apostate,'') were able and virulent opponents of Christianity. Their writings drew forth powerful defences, by which all their arguments were triumphantly confuted. --- Ed.