1:17a
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me: This clause indicates that Paul did not go and get his message from the other apostles. These apostles were in Jerusalem. They had authority as the spiritual leaders of the church. It might be expected that Paul would go to them to learn the gospel. But he did not go to them.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
I did not go to Jerusalem and learn from those who were apostles before I was
go up to Jerusalem: The city of Jerusalem was built on a hill. So anyone going to the city had to walk up the hill.
In some languages, it is important to say whether people walk up or “down” when they travel. In other languages, this will be unusual or may be confusing. If it is confusing in your language, you should simply say:
go to Jerusalem (Good News Translation)
The same Greek verb occurs in 1:18b and 2:1a.
apostles who came before me: This phrase refers to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. These men had become apostles before Paul became an apostle. Three of them are mentioned by name in 2:9b (Cephas, John, and James, who was the brother of Jesus).
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
?chosen to be? apostles before I was ?chosen to be an apostle?
-or-
?became? apostles before I ?became an apostle?
The word “apostle” first occurs in 1:1a. See also apostle in the Glossary for more information.
1:17b
but: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between what Paul did not do (in 1:16c–17a) and what he did. Languages have different ways to indicate this negative-positive type of contrast. Some of the ways are:
• With the conjunction “but.”
• With a conjunction other than “but.” This is a common way in English to show this type of contrast. For example:
rather
-or-
on the contrary
-or-
Instead (Good News Translation)
• With no conjunction.
I went into Arabia: This clause states what Paul did after God revealed Jesus to him. He went to Arabia.
Arabia is the name of a region. It was far away from Jerusalem. None of the apostles were in Arabia. This showed that God worked directly in Paul’s life apart from any connection to the apostles in Jerusalem. Paul’s point is that the gospel he preached came from God.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
I went immediately into Arabia (New International Version)
-or-
I went away to ?the region of? Arabia
Notice the word “immediately” in the New International Version example above. This word actually occurs in 1:16 in Greek (the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “rush” there). In English it is more natural to put the word “immediately” with the action that a person does rather than the action that the person did not do.
1:17c
and later returned to Damascus: Damascus is the name of a city. It was also far from Jerusalem. It was on the road to Damascus that God first revealed Christ to Paul (Acts 9:1–19). When Paul left the region of Arabia, he went back to the city of Damascus. Paul did not say how long he stayed in Arabia before he returned to Damascus.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
and later I returned to the city of Damascus (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and afterwards I went back to ?the city of? Damascus
-or-
and then came back to Damascus (God’s Word)
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