Charles Ellicott Commentary Galatians 1:14

"and I advanced in the Jews` religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers." — Galatians 1:14 (ASV)

Profited.—Made progress. The kind of progress would correspond to the scope of the term "Judaism," with which it is connected, and would imply not merely proficiency in theological knowledge, but also an increase in zeal and strictness of ritualistic observance.

My equals.—Strictly, my equals in age. St. Paul is thinking of his contemporaries among the young men who came up, ardent like himself, to study the Law at the feet of Gamaliel or some other eminent Rabbi. He looks back on them much as some English political or religious leader might look back on his contemporaries at the university, and might point to his zealous advocacy of a cause that he has long since abandoned.

Traditions.—The traditions of the elders mentioned in Matthew 15:2, Mark 7:3, by which the commandment of God was made of none effect (Matthew 15:6); the oral or unwritten law, which had gradually grown up alongside the Pentateuch, and was afterwards embodied in the Mishnah.