Albert Barnes Commentary Galatians 1:19

"But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord`s brother." — Galatians 1:19 (ASV)

Save James the Lord's brother. That the James referred to here was an apostle is clear. The entire construction of the sentence demands this conclusion. In the list of the apostles in Matthew 10:2-3, two of this name are mentioned: James the son of Zebedee and brother of John, and James the son of Alphaeus.

From the Acts of the Apostles, it is clear that there were two individuals of this name in Jerusalem. Of these, James the brother of John was slain by Herod (Acts 12:2), and the other continued to reside in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13; Acts 21:13). This latter James was called James the Less (Mark 15:40) to distinguish him from the other James, probably because he was younger.

It is probable that this was the James referred to here, as it is evident from the Acts of the Apostles that he was a prominent man among the apostles in Jerusalem. Commentators have not agreed on what is meant by his being the brother of the Lord Jesus.

Doddridge understands it as meaning that he was "the near kinsman" or first cousin to Jesus; for he was, Doddridge says, the son of Alphaeus and Mary, the sister of the Virgin Mary. If there were only two individuals of this name, this opinion is undoubtedly correct. In the Apostolical Constitutions (see Rosenmuller), three men of this name are mentioned as apostles or eminent men in Jerusalem; therefore, many have supposed that one of them was the son of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus.

It is said in Matthew 13:55 that the brothers of Jesus were James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas; and it is remarkable that three of the apostles bear the same names—James the son of Alphaeus, Simon Zelotes, and Judas (John 14:22). It is indeed possible, as Bloomfield remarks, that three brothers of our Lord and three of his apostles might bear the same names and yet be different people; but such a coincidence would be very remarkable and not easily explained.

But if this were not so, then the James mentioned here was the son of Alphaeus, and consequently a cousin of the Lord Jesus. The word brother may, according to scriptural usage, be understood as denoting a near kinsman. See Schleusner (Lexicon, entry 2) on the word adelfov. After all, however, it is not entirely certain who is intended.

Some have supposed that neither of the apostles named James is intended, but another James who was the son of Mary, the mother of Jesus. See Koppe, in loc.

But it is clear, I think, that one of the apostles is intended.

Why James is particularly mentioned here is unknown. However, since he was a prominent man in Jerusalem, Paul would naturally have sought his acquaintance. It is possible that the other apostles were absent from Jerusalem during the fifteen days Paul was there.

The word "save" in this context means "except." Regarding the phrase "James the Lord's brother," see Mark 6:3.