Galatians 1:21
in Galatians 1Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
KJV
Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
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This verse in Galatians 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Afterward I came ... - In this account be has omitted a circumstance recorded by Luke Act 9:29, of the controversy which he had with the Grecians (Hellenists). It was not material to the purpose which he has here in view, which is to state that he was not indebted to the apostles for his knowledge of the doctrines of Christianity. He therefore merely states that he left Jerusalem soon after he went there, and traveled to other places. The regions of Syria - Syria was between Jerusalem and Cilicia.
This site's exposition
regions of Syria and Cilicia
on Galatians 1:21-24
Paul's next years in Syria and Cilicia kept him personally unknown to the Judean churches, who had only the report that their former persecutor now preached the faith he once destroyed. The chapter closes with those churches glorifying God in me, not in Paul, the same redirection of praise that ends verse 5's doxology. The whole chapter has argued one point from a dozen angles: the gospel Paul preaches came from God before it ever touched Jerusalem.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"into the regions of Syria." After seeing Peter, the way to the Gentiles was again kept. He says toward the regions of Syria and Cilicia; for he had been sent to those places.
(Verse. 21.) Then I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After the vision in Jerusalem, I went to Syria, which is called the exalted and lofty city. And from there I went to Cilicia, which I desired to embrace in the faith of Christ, preaching to it the call to repentance: for Cilicia in fact means assumption, or lamentable calling.
A commentator
Gaius Marius VictorinusEPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.21-22 · Written before 370.
proposed
What does he prove by all this? That his gospel had persuaded everyone, even in his absence.
"Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia." After his interview with Peter, he resumes his preaching and the task which lay before him, avoiding Judaea, both because of his mission being to the Gentiles, and of his unwillingness to "build upon another man's foundation." Wherefore there was not even a chance meeting, as appears from what follows.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Only for the sake of meeting with Peter having appeared in Judea, he again leaves it for the reason that he was sent to preach to the Gentiles and in order not to undertake building on another's foundation.
4 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says, "Afterwards, I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia," he shows how he was approved by the other churches of Judea. Here he does three things: first he shows where he lived, namely in Cilicia. Hence he says, "then I …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Syria and Cilicia--"preaching the faith" (Ga 1:23), and so, no doubt, founding the churches in Syria and Cilicia, which he subsequently confirmed in the faith (Ac 15:23, 41).
Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria, etc. - The course of the apostle’s travels, after his conversion, was this: He went from Damascus to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem into Syria and Cilicia. “At Damascus the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket; and when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples;” Act 9:25, Act 9:26. Afterwards, when the brethren knew the conspiracy formed against him at Jerusalem, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, Act 9:30. This account in the Acts agrees with that in this epistle.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἔπειτα | epeita | Then | G1899 → | 16 times |
| ἦλθον | elthon | I went | G2064 → | 628 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὰ | ta | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κλίματα | klimata | regions | G2824 → | |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Συρίας | surias | of Syria | G4947 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Κιλικίας· | kilikias | Cilicia; | G2791 → |
ἔπειταThen
epeitaG1899 →16 times
ἦλθονI went
elthonG2064 →628 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὰthe
taG3588 →19766 times
κλίματαregions
klimataG2824 →
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
Συρίαςof Syria
suriasG4947 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
Κιλικίας·Cilicia;
kilikiasG2791 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 15:41And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
it leads to
- Acts 15:23
and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 15:32
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
- Acts 15:23
Through
Acts 15:23and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
it leads to
- Acts 23:26
Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.
- James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
- Romans 16:3–16
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
- Acts 23:26
Through
Acts 6:9But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen,
it leads to
- Acts 15:41
And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
- Acts 22:3
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just…
- Acts 23:34
The governor read the letter and asked what province Paul was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,
- Acts 15:41
Where this verse is studied
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About Galatians
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gaius Marius Victorinus, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.21-22; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Galatians; John Chrysostom, Homily on Galatians 1; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Galatians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians.