Galatia 1:17

1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem ¹  to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, ²  and then returned to Damascus.

Galatia 2:5

2:5 But ³  we did not surrender to them ⁴  even for a moment, ⁵  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶ 

[1:17]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:17]  ² sn As a geographical region Arabia included the territory west of Mesopotamia, east and south of Syria and Palestine, extending to the isthmus of Suez. During the Roman occupation, some independent kingdoms arose like that of the Nabateans south of Damascus, and these could be called simply Arabia. In light of the proximity to Damascus, this may well be the territory Paul says he visited here. See also C. W. Briggs, “The Apostle Paul in Arabia,” Biblical World 41 (1913): 255-59.

[2:5]  ³ tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).

[2:5]  ⁶ sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).