17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterward I returned to Damascus.
San Blas Kuna: “witnesses to God” (meaning “those who speak up and out for God” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Balanta-Kentohe: Rob Koops)
Mairasi: sasiri atatuemnev nesovnaa or “sent witnesses” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Khmer: Christtout (“messenger representing Christ”) or when Jesus addresses them: Tout robas Preah Ang (“his messengers-representatives”) (source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )
Pwo Karen: “eyeballs” (i.e., “right-hand men”) (source: David Clark)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “one who goes about preaching the good word” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Moorta Ngany Waangki-Koorl or “People I (Jesus) Send” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Ayutla Mixtec: “those who bore the word of God’s mouth”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “elders messengers” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Yakan: “commissioned ones” (source: Yakan Back Translation) — note that Scot McKnight in the EnglishThe Second Testament (publ. 2023) translates it as commissioners
Tenango Otomi: “(Jesus’) representatives” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Tsamakko: “ones-who-work-for-Christ” (source: Chris Pluger)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as commissioner.
In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “authority” to differentiate it from disciple. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“apostles” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Greek in Galatians 1:17 that is translated as “into Arabia” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with “into an area called Arabia, south of Damascus.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 1:17:
Uma: “Nor did I go first to the town of Yerusalem to request-teaching of those who had become apostles of the Lord Yesus before me. [Rather,] off I went to the land of Arab and from there I returned again to the town of Damsyik.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I did not even go to Awrusalam to the people commissioned before me. But I immediately went to the land Arab and then I went back again to Damaskus.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And I did not go to the town of Jerusalem so that I might ask for advice from the first apostles of Jesus Christ, but rather I went to the province of Arabia and then I returned to the town of Damascus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Neither did I go to Jerusalem to converse-with those who preceded me as apostles, but rather I went immediately to Arabia. I then returned to Damascus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I didn’t as-might-be-expected go to Jerusalem to learn from those who were apostles before me, but rather I went immediately to Arabia, then I returned to Damasco.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And I did not first go to Jerusalem in order to study what was taught by Christ’s representatives who were appointed before I was appointed. Rather I went to the land of Arabia. Returning from there, again I went to the town of Damascus.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Apostles refers to the Twelve, but the term as used here could include others such as James the Lord’s brother (verse 19). Paul mentions them here as a special group who would naturally be the first to be consulted by anyone aspiring to become an apostle. In not going to see the apostles, Paul was doing something contrary to natural expectation (compare Phillips “I did not even go to Jerusalem”). When Paul describes the apostles in Jerusalem as apostles before me, he was asserting not only that he recognized the apostleship of the Twelve but that he regarded his own apostleship as being of the same character as that of the Jerusalem apostles. The phrase before me may refer either to time or to status (or precedence), but the temporal interpretation is preferable.
In this context the verb see implies more than merely looking at someone. The equivalent in some languages would be “I did not go to Jerusalem to pay a visit to those who were apostles before me,” “… to talk with those who were apostles before me,” or “… who had been apostles before I became one.”
Having mentioned what he did not do, Paul now asserts two things that he did: (1) He went at once to Arabia, and (2) he returned to Damascus. The purpose of the visit to Arabia is not stated, but apparently it was to seek through meditation a fuller understanding of the meaning of his call. The phrase at once in the Greek comes right before I did not go to anyone for advice. It seems better to take it as modifying, not simply what immediately follows, but the whole sentence; and since the expression itself calls for a positive affirmation, it should be connected with Paul’s going to Arabia, rather than with the two prior negative statements (for example, Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible; compare New English Bible, New American Bible, where the negative statements are made into dependent clauses: “Immediately, without seeking human advisers, or even going to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went off to Arabia”). It may be useful to stipulate Arabia as being a country, for example, “I went off to the country of Arabia,” or “… to the region called Arabia.”
The mention of “returning to Damascus” is an indirect assertion that the experience of Paul’s conversion occurred in Damascus (see Acts 9.1-19 and parallels Acts 22.4-16 and 26.9-18). One may wish to employ a classifier with the word Damascus and translate, for example, “I went back to the city of Damascus.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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