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Galatians 1 · a question people ask

"but I went away into Arabia" (1:17). Why Arabia, and what happened there?

In the text

The letter doesn't say. It says only, "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." (1:17), and then, "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem" (1:18). It doesn't say why the letter's I went into Arabia, how long the stay there was, what happened there, or what the three years are counted from. These notes add nothing from Acts or from anywhere else.

The verses

“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. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days.”
Galatians 1:17-18 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Galatians 1

Galatians 1: Not from men

Galatians 1 sends grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ, "who gave himself for our sins" (1:4), and in its first twelve verses comes back seven times to the one Greek word behind men and man: the letter's I is an apostle "not from men, nor through man" (1:1), and the Good News "is not according to man" (1:11).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions