11 But when Cephas came to Antioch , I opposed him to his face , because he stood condemned . 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James , he used to eat with the Gentiles ; but when they came , he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof , fearing the party of the circumcision . 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy , with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy . 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel , I said to Cephas in the presence of all , "If you, being a Jew , live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews , how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews ?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Galatians 2:11-14
Commentary on Galatians 2:11-14
(Read Galatians 2:11-14)
Notwithstanding Peter's character, yet, when Paul saw him acting so as to hurt the truth of the gospel and the peace of the church, he was not afraid to reprove him. When he saw that Peter and the others did not live up to that principle which the gospel taught, and which they professed, namely, That by the death of Christ the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was taken down, and the observance of the law of Moses was no longer in force; as Peter's offence was public, he publicly reproved him. There is a very great difference between the prudence of St. Paul, who bore with, and used for a time, the ceremonies of the law as not sinful, and the timid conduct of St. Peter, who, by withdrawing from the Gentiles, led others to think that these ceremonies were necessary.