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Galatians 1:19
But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
Truth to Learn
While Paul was meeting with Peter he also saw the Apostle James.
Meaning Explained
In the previous verse Paul told us that three years after his conversion he went up to Jerusalem. Some of us get confused when we read “up to Jerusalem” because we tend to think of North as “up” and South as “down.” From Damascus to Jerusalem is a southerly direction, so we normally think of this as “down.” However … Jerusalem is up in the mountains and from most of Israel and Syria it involves travel up in elevation. Hence, we will often see the expression “up to Jerusalem” in both the Old and New Testaments.
Paul tells us that he did not meet with all the apostles who were in Jerusalem but only with Peter and James. The verb translated “I saw” is a form of the Greek word eido which is variously translated as “see” or “know.” In its use of seeing something it does not mean merely viewing something, but rather “perceiving”, that is, seeing it and understanding it. Paul met only with Peter and happened to see James while he was there.
Now, who is this James? There are several James’ mentioned in the New Testament and two of them were apostles of Jesus. The first was James the son of Zebedee (John’s brother) and the other was James the son of Alphaeus, who is referred to as James the less (meaning James the younger). James, the brother of John, was killed by Herod (see Acts 12:2), so this James must be James the younger. But, in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel there is mention of James, Joses, Simon, and Judas as brothers of Jesus.
Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” (Matthew 13:55, 36)
There is strong evidence that the term “brothers” is used here to mean close relatives and that “sisters” is used in a similar manner to refer to close relatives who are female. According to the Apostle John in his gospel account, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, his mother Mary and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas were standing near Him.
Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. (John 19:25)
It is not likely that two daughters of the same parents were both named Mary. And yet, they are referred to as sisters.
Scripture indicates that this James is an apostle and, therefore, must be James the less, the son of Cleopas (also called Alphaeus) and Mary, who is a close relative to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Paul’s earlier point was that he did not receive the gospel message from mankind (including the apostles) and now he is pointing out that he only met with Peter and happened to see James while he was there.
(For a more thorough analysis of who this James is, see this author’s study on the book of James.)
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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