and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, those who were reputed to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 9. James, and Cephas, and John. No proof of any greater authority can be drawn from the placing or numbering of James first, which perhaps Saint Paul might do, because of the great respect he knew the Jewish converts had for Saint James, bishop of Jerusalem, where the ceremonies of the law of Moses were still observed. Several Greek copies have Peter, James, and John. So we also read in S. Jerom’s Commentary, p. 240, and Saint John Chrysostom in his Exposition, p. 729, has Cephas, John, and James. Witham.