Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Galatians 1:22

"And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:" — Galatians 1:22 (ASV)

Because Paul had worked so long in relative obscurity in the north and had paid no new visits to Jerusalem, he was “personally unknown” to Christians in Judea. Only after many years did Paul begin his famed missionary journeys in response to the call of the Holy Spirit through the Christians at Antioch.