On his escape from this murderous plot, Saul, having now received from
God, who called him by his grace, the revelation of his Son, that he
might preach him among the heathen, immediately resolved not to confer
with any mortal, on the subject of his task, and therefore refrained
from going up to Jerusalem, to visit those who were apostles before
him. Turning his course southeastward, he found refuge from the rage of
the Damascan Jews, in the solitudes of the eastern deserts, where, free
alike from the persecutions and the corruptions of the city, he sought
in meditation and lonely study, that diligent preparation which was
necessary for the high ministry to which God had so remarkably called
him. A long time was spent by him in this wise and profitable seclusion;
but the exact period cannot be ascertained. It is only probable that
more than a year was thus occupied; during which he was not a mere
hermit, indeed, but at any rate, was a resident in a region destitute
of most objects which would be apt to draw off his attention from study.
That part of Arabia in which he took refuge, was not a mere desert, nor
a wilderness, yet had very few towns, and those only of a small size,
with hardly any inhabitants of such a character as to be attractive
companions to Saul. After some time, changes having taken place in
the government of Damascus, he was enabled to return thither with
safety, the Jews being now checked in their persecuting cruelty by the
re-establishment of the Roman dominion over that part of Syria. He did
not remain there long; but having again displayed himself as a bold
assertor of the faith of Jesus, he next set his face towards Jerusalem,
on his return, to make known in the halls of those who had sent him
forth to deeds of blood, that their commission had been reversed by
the Father of all spirits, who had now not only summoned, but fully
equipped, their destined minister of wrath, to be “a chosen instrument
of mercy” to nations who had never yet heard of Israel’s God.
The different accounts given of these events, in Acts ix. 19‒25,
and in Galatians i. 15‒24, as well as 2 Corinthians xi. 32‒33,
have been united in very opposite ways by different commentators,
and form the most perplexing passages in the life of Saul. The
journey into Arabia, of which he speaks in Galatians i. 17, is
supposed by most writers, to have been made during the time when
Luke mentions him as occupied in and about Damascus; and it is
said that he went thence into Arabia _immediately_ after his
conversion, before he had preached anywhere; and such writers
maintain that the word “_straightway_,” or “_immediately_,”
in Acts ix. 20, (ευθεως,) really means, that it was not until
a long time after his conversion that he preached in the
synagogues!! Into this remarkable opinion they have been led
by the fact, that Saul himself says, (Galatians i. 16,) that
when he was called by God to the apostleship, “immediately he
conferred not with flesh and blood, nor went up to Jerusalem,
but went into Arabia.” All this however, is evidently specified
by him only in reference to the point that he did not derive
his title to the apostleship from “those that were apostles
before him,” nor from any human authority; and full justice is
therefore done to his words, by applying them only to the fact,
that he went to Arabia before he went to Jerusalem, without
supposing them to mean that he left Damascus _immediately_ after
his baptism by Ananias. All the historical writers however, seem
to take this latter view. Witsius, Cappel, Pearson, Lardner,
Murdock, Hemsen, &c. place his journey to Arabia between his
baptism and the time of his escape, and suppose that when he
fled from Damascus, he went directly to Jerusalem. In the
different arrangement which I make of these events, however, I
find myself supported by most of the great exegetical writers,
as Wolf, Kuinoel, and Bloomfield; and I can not better support
this view than in the words of the latter.
Acts ix. 19. “ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ Σαῦλος. Paul (Galatians ♦i. 17,)
relates that he, after his conversion, did not proceed to
Jerusalem, but repaired to Arabia, and from thence returned to
Damascus. Hence, according to the opinion of Pearson, in his
Annales Paulini, p. 2. the words ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ Σαῦλος are to
be separated from the preceding passage, and constitute a new
story, in which is related what happened at Damascus after Saul’s
return from Arabia. But the words ἱκαναὶ ἡμέραι may and ought
to be referred to the whole time of Paul’s abode at Damascus,
before he went into Arabia; and thus with the ἱκαναὶ ἡμέραι be
numbered the ἡμέραι τινὲς mentioned at verse 19: for the sense
of the words is this: ‘Saul, when he spent some days with the
Damascene Christians, immediately taught in the synagogues. Now
Luke entirely passes by Paul’s journey into Arabia. (Kuinoel.)
Doddridge imagines that his going into Arabia, (to which, as
he observes, Damascus now belonged,) was only making excursions
from that city into the neighboring parts of the country, and
perhaps taking a large circuit about it, which might be his
employment between the time in which he began to preach in
Damascus, and his quitting it after having been conquered by the
Romans under Pompey.’ But in view of this subject I cannot agree
with him. The country in the _neighborhood of Damascus_ is not
properly _Arabia_.”
♦ “1, 17” replaced with “i. 17”
22‒24. “ὡς δὲ ἐπληροῦντο――ἀνελεῖν αὐτόν. In 2 Corinthians xi.
32, we read that the Ethnarch of Aretas, king of Arabia, had
placed a guard at the gates of Damascus, to seize Paul. Now it
appears that Syria Damascene was, at the end of the Mithridatic
war, reduced by Pompey to the Roman yoke. It has therefore been
inquired how it could happen that Aretas should then have the
government, and appoint an Ethnarch. That Aretas had, on account
of the repudiation of his daughter by Herod Antipas, commenced
hostilities against that monarch, and in the last year of
Tiberius (A. D. 37,) had completely defeated his army, we learn
from Josephus Antiquities, 18, 5, 1. seqq. Herod had, we find,
signified this by letter to Tiberius, who, indignant at this
audacity, (Josephus L. c.) gave orders to Vitellius, prefect
of Syria, to declare war against Aretas, and take him alive,
or send him his head. Vitellius made preparations for the war,
but on receiving a message acquainting him with the death of
Tiberius, he dismissed his troops into winter quarters. And
thus Aretas was delivered from the danger. At the time, however,
that Vitellius drew off his forces, Aretas invaded Syria, seized
Damascus, and continued to occupy it, in spite of Tiberius’s
stupid successor, Caligula. This is the opinion of most
commentators, and among others, Wolf, Michaelis, and Eichhorn.
But I have already shewn in the Prolegomena § de chronologia
lib. 2, 3, that Aretas did not finally subdue Damascus until
Vitellius had already departed from the province.” (Kuinoel.)
(Bloomfield’s Annotations, Vol. IV. pp. 322‒324.)