8. Elders, Apostles, kinsmen of Jesus,--be they who they may,--he, Paul, is not on this occasion a man to give place to any such persons: to give place by _subjection_: say rather in the way of _subordination_. 9. Unnamed are the persons, on whom the vituperation he discharges, is poured forth. Thus much only is said of them: namely, verse 12, that they "came from James," the brother of our Lord. Contemptuous throughout is the manner in which he speaks of all those persons whom he does not name. Quere, Who are they, to whom, in everything that goes before that same verse, he is alluding? It seems from thence, that it was with James, from whom they received support, that those scruples of theirs, out of which sprung these differences and negotiations, originated. 10. Leaving the Jews to Peter--he claims to himself as his own the whole population of the Gentiles. 11. To this effect, an explicit agreement was actually entered into; parties, he and Barnabas of the one part; James, Peter, by his Hebrew surname of Cephas, and John, of the other part. 12. Of this agreement, one condition was--that, of such pecuniary profit, as should be among the fruits of the labors of Paul among the Gentiles, a part should be remitted, to be at the disposal of Peter. 13. Paul, at the time of this visit, stood up against Peter. 14. The cause, of his doing so, was--an alleged weakness and inconsistency in the conduct of Peter, and his gaining to his side--not only Jews of inferior account, but Barnabas. 15. The weakness and inconsistency consisted in this: viz: that whereas he himself had been in use to act with the Gentiles, yet after the arrival at Antioch of those who came from James at Jerusalem,--he from fear of the Jewish converts, not only ceased to eat with the Gentiles, but to the extent of his influence forced the Gentile converts to live after the manner of the Jews. 16. On the occasion of this his dispute with Peter, he gave it explicitly as his opinion,--that, to a convert to the religion of Jesus, Jew or Gentile,--observance of the Mosaic law would, as to everything peculiar to it, be useless, not to say worse than useless, Gal. 2:16, "for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."