GAL 1:17 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the ones being apostles before me. Instead, I went to Arabia and again returned to Damascus.

UST I also did not immediately leave Damascus and go to Jerusalem for that purpose to those who were representatives of Jesus before I was. Rather, I went away into the region of Arabia, a desert area. Later I returned once more to the city of Damascus.

BSB nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles [who came] before me, but I went into Arabia and [later] returned to Damascus.

BLB nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

AICNT Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and again returned to Damascus.

OEB or even going up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went to Arabia, and came back again to Damascus.

WEBBE nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.

WMBB nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were emissaries before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.

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

LSV nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus;

FBV I didn't go to Jerusalem to talk to those who preceded me as apostles; instead I left for Arabia, and then later returned to Damascus.

TCNT nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

T4T I did not immediately leave Damascus and go to Jerusalem for that purpose to those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away to Arabia region, a desert area. Later I returned once more to Damascus city.

LEB nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and I returned again to Damascus.

BBE And I went not up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and again I came back to Damascus.

Moff instead of going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus.

Wymth nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were my seniors in the Apostleship, but I went away into Arabia, and afterwards came back to Damascus.

ASV neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus.

DRA Neither went I to Jerusalem, to the apostles who were before me: but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus.

YLT nor did I go up to Jerusalem unto those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus,

Drby nor went I up to Jerusalem to those [who were] apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus.

RV neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus.
(neither went I up to Yerusalem to them which were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus. )

SLT Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them sent before me; but I went away to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus.

Wbstr Neither did I go to Jerusalem to them who were apostles before me: but I went into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

KJB-1769 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
(Neither went I up to Yerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. )

KJB-1611 Neither went I vp to Ierusalem, to them which were Apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and returned againe vnto Damascus.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Neither returned to Hierusalem, to them which were Apostles before me: but went my wayes into Arabia, and came agayne vnto Damascus.
(Neither returned to Yerusalem, to them which were Apostles before me: but went my ways into Arabia, and came again unto Damascus.)

Gnva Neither came I againe to Hierusalem to them which were Apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and turned againe vnto Damascus.
(Neither came I again to Yerusalem to them which were Apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and turned again unto Damascus. )

Cvdl nether came I to Ierusalem vnto them which were Apostles before me: but wente my wayes in to Arabia, and came agayne to Damascon.
(neither came I to Yerusalem unto them which were Apostles before me: but went my ways in to Arabia, and came again to Damascon.)

TNT nether returned to Ierusalem to them which were Apostles before me: but wet my wayes into Arabia and came agayne vnto Damasco.
(neither returned to Yerusalem to them which were Apostles before me: but wet my ways into Arabia and came again unto Damasco. )

Wycl that weren tofor me, but Y wente in to Arabie, and eftsoones Y turnede ayen in to Damask.
(that were tofor me, but I went in to Arabie, and soon_afterwards I turned again in to Damask.)

Luth kam auch nicht gen Jerusalem zu denen, die vor mir Apostel waren, sondern zog hin nach Arabien und kam wiederum gen Damaskus.
(came also not to/toward Yerusalem to/for those, the before/in_front_of to_me apostles were, rather pulled there/therefore after Arabien and came again/in_turn to/toward Damaskus.)

ClVg neque veni Jerosolymam ad antecessores meos Apostolos: sed abii in Arabiam, et iterum reversus sum Damascum:
(nor I_came Yerosolymam to antecessores mine Apostolos: but abii in/into/on Arabiam, and again returned I_am Damascum: )

UGNT οὐδὲ ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα πρὸς τοὺς πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἀποστόλους, ἀλλὰ ἀπῆλθον εἰς Ἀραβίαν, καὶ πάλιν ὑπέστρεψα εἰς Δαμασκόν.
(oude anaʸlthon eis Hierosoluma pros tous pro emou apostolous, alla apaʸlthon eis Arabian, kai palin hupestrepsa eis Damaskon.)

SBL-GNT οὐδὲ ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα πρὸς τοὺς πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἀποστόλους, ἀλλὰ ἀπῆλθον εἰς Ἀραβίαν, καὶ πάλιν ὑπέστρεψα εἰς Δαμασκόν.
(oude anaʸlthon eis Hierosoluma pros tous pro emou apostolous, alla apaʸlthon eis Arabian, kai palin hupestrepsa eis Damaskon.)

RP-GNT οὐδὲ ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα πρὸς τοὺς πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἀποστόλους, ἀλλὰ ἀπῆλθον εἰς Ἀραβίαν, καὶ πάλιν ὑπέστρεψα εἰς Δαμασκόν.
(oude anaʸlthon eis Hierosoluma pros tous pro emou apostolous, alla apaʸlthon eis Arabian, kai palin hupestrepsa eis Damaskon.)

TC-GNT οὐδὲ ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα πρὸς τοὺς πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἀποστόλους, [fn]ἀλλὰ ἀπῆλθον εἰς Ἀραβίαν, καὶ πάλιν ὑπέστρεψα εἰς Δαμασκόν.
(oude anaʸlthon eis Hierosoluma pros tous pro emou apostolous, alla apaʸlthon eis Arabian, kai palin hupestrepsa eis Damaskon. )

1:17 αλλα ¦ αλλ NA²⁸ TR

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:11–24: Paul received his message from Jesus himself

In this section, Paul stressed that the gospel that he preached came from Jesus Christ himself. No human being taught it to him. Therefore, his message had God’s authority. Paul’s purpose in writing this section was to convince the Galatians that the true gospel is the one that he preached.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Paul’s Message Comes from Christ (NLT)

Jesus Alone Gave Paul the Good News He Spreads (GW)

Paul’s Authority is from God (NCV)

God is the source of Paul’s authority and message

Paragraph 1:15–17

In this paragraph, Paul again wrote that he received the gospel from God and not from men. When God revealed Jesus to him, he did not go to Jerusalem to learn the gospel from the apostles.

In Greek, 1:15–17 is a long, complex sentence. Before you translate this complex sentence, it is important to understand its structure.

This long sentence begins with a time clause:

^15aBut when God …^15cwas pleased ^16ato reveal his Son to me

In the middle of this time clause (after the phrase “But when God”) are two clauses that describe God. (These two clauses are relative clauses):

…who set me apart from my mother’s womb and who called me by his grace…

The main clauses are in 1:16c–17c:

^16cI did not rush to consult with flesh and blood ^17anor did I go up to Jerusalem …^17bbut I went into Arabia ^17cand later returned to Damascus.

In many languages it will be necessary to divide this long Greek sentence into several shorter sentences. It may also be necessary to change the order of some of the clauses in this long sentence. Examples are given in the notes below.

1:17a

nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me,

Neither did I go up to Jerusalem to talk to those who became apostles before me.
Also, I did not go to Jerusalem to learn from those who were apostles before I became an apostle.

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 (NLT)

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 (GNT)

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

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 I went into Arabia

Instead, I immediately went into Arabia.
Rather, I went directly to the region of Arabia.

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.One of the functions of the Greek conjunction ἀλλά is to signal 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
on the contrary
Instead (GNT)
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 (NIV)

I went away to the region of Arabia

Notice the word “immediately” in the NIV example above. This word actually occurs in 1:16 in Greek (the BSB 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.

Afterwards, I returned to Damascus.
Then after some time there, I went back to the city of Damascus.

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 (NLT)

and afterwards I went back to the city of Damascus

and then came back to Damascus (GW)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / go

ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα

˱I˲_went_up to Jerusalem

Jerusalem was higher than almost any other place in Israel, so it was normal for people to speak of going up to Jerusalem and going down from it. Your language may say “come” rather than go in contexts such as this. Use whichever is more natural. Alternate translation: [did I come up to Jerusalem]

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

ἀλλὰ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὐδέ ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα πρός τούς πρό ἐμοῦ ἀποστόλους ἀλλά ἀπῆλθον εἰς Ἀραβίαν καί πάλιν ὑπέστρεψα εἰς Δαμασκόν)

What follows the word Instead is in contrast to what was expected. Use a natural way in your language for introducing a contrast.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / go

ἀπῆλθον εἰς

˱I˲_went_away into

Your language may say “came” rather than went in contexts such as this. Use whichever is more natural. Alternate translation: [I came to]

Parallel GAL 1:17

Section 1:11–24: Paul received his message from Jesus himself

Paragraph 1:15–17

1:17a

1:17b

1:17c