Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 11:32

"In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to take me:" — 2 Corinthians 11:32 (ASV)

In Damascus. This circumstance is mentioned as an additional trial. It is evidently mentioned as an instance of peril that had escaped his recollection in the rapid account of his dangers enumerated in the previous verses. It is designed to show what imminent danger he was in, and how narrowly he escaped with his life. (On the situation of Damascus, see Barnes on Acts 9:2).

The transaction referred to here is also related by Luke (Acts 9:24–25), though without mentioning the name of the king or referring to the fact that the governor kept the city with a garrison.

The governor. Greek, o eynarchv, the ethnarch; properly a ruler of the people, a prefect, a ruler, a chief. His identity is unknown, though he was evidently an officer under the king. It is not improbable that he was a Jew, or at any rate, he was one who could be influenced by the Jews, and who was doubtless incited by the Jews to guard the city and, if possible, to take Paul as a malefactor.

Luke informs us (Acts 9:23–24) that the Jews took counsel against Paul to kill him and that they watched the gates day and night to achieve their objective. They doubtless represented Paul as an apostate and as aiming to overthrow their religion. He had come with an important commission to Damascus and had failed to execute it. He had become the open friend of those whom he came to destroy. Consequently, they doubtless claimed from the civil authorities of Damascus that he should be handed over and taken to Jerusalem for trial. It was not difficult, therefore, to secure the cooperation of the governor of the city in the case, and there is no improbability in the statement.

Under Aretas the king. Three kings of this name are particularly mentioned by ancient writers. The first is mentioned in 2 Maccabees 5:8 as the "king of the Arabians." He lived about one hundred and seventy years before Christ and, of course, could not be the one referred to here.

The second is mentioned in Josephus, Antiquities, book 13, chapter 15, section 2. He is first mentioned as having reigned in Coele-Syria but as being called to the government of Damascus by those who lived there, on account of the hatred they had for Ptolemy Meneus. Whiston remarks in a note on Josephus that this was the first king of the Arabians who took Damascus and reigned there. Whiston adds that this name afterward became common to Arabian kings who reigned at Damascus and at Petra (see Josephus, Antiquities, book 16, chapter 9, section 4). Of course, this king reigned some time before the transaction referred to here by Paul.

A third king of this name, Rosenmuller says, is the one mentioned here. He was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. He made war with his son-in-law Herod because Herod had repudiated his daughter, Aretas's daughter, who was Herod's wife. This Herod had done in order to marry his brother Philip's wife (see Barnes on Matthew 14:3).

On this account, Aretas made war with Herod. To resist him, Herod applied to Tiberius, the Roman emperor, for aid. Vitellius was sent by Tiberius to subdue Aretas and to bring him dead or alive to Rome. But before Vitellius had begun the campaign, Tiberius died, and thus Aretas was saved from ruin. It is supposed that under these circumstances, while waging war with Herod, Aretas made an incursion into Syria and seized Damascus. He was reigning there when Paul went to Damascus; or, if not reigning there personally, he had appointed an ethnarch or governor who administered the affairs of the city in his place.

Kept the city. Luke (Acts 9:24) says that they watched the gates day and night to kill him. This was probably the Jews. Meanwhile, the ethnarch guarded the city to prevent his escape. The Jews would have killed him at once; the ethnarch wished to apprehend him and bring him to trial. In either case, Paul had much to fear, and he therefore embraced the only way of escape.

With a garrison. The word used here in the original (frourew) means simply to watch, to guard, or to keep. Our translation would seem to imply that there was a body of men stationed to guard the city. The true idea is that men were appointed to guard the gates of the city and to keep watch to prevent him from escaping them. Damascus was surrounded, as all ancient cities were, with high walls, and it did not occur to them that he could escape in any other way than by the gates.