“And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.”
When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, they did not believe that he really was a disciple.—the disciples' fear is not cowardice but prudence; Saul's reputation for persecution is too recent, his conversion too unverified. The testing of conversion through community scrutiny mirrors the testing of the Ephesian disciples in Acts 19. Trust must be earned through demonstrated faithfulness and community validation.
Church Fathers on Acts 9:26
One may well be much at a loss here to understand how it is that, whereas in the Epistle to the Galatians Paul says, I went not to Jerusalem, but into Arabia and to Damascus, and, After three years I went up to Jerusalem, and to see Peter , (ἱ στορἥσαι Cat.) here the writer says the contrary. (There, Paul says,) And none of the Apostles saw I; but here, it is said (Barnabas), brought him to the Apostles. — Well, then, either (Paul) means, I went not up with intent to refer or…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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