this apostle. So long as things indifferent were regarded as such, he was ready to accommodate himself to the most un- reasonable prejudices ; but when they were insisted upon as matters of necessity, he would not give place, no not for an hour. Gal. 2, 5.
20. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law ;
To the Jews he became as a Jew, i. e. he acted as they acted, he conformed to their usages, observed the law, avow- ing at the same time that he did it as a matter of accommoda- tion. Wherever the fair inference from his comj^liance would have been that he regarded these Jewish observances as neces- sary, he strenuously refused compliance. His conduct in re- lation to Timothy and Titus, before referred to, shows the principle on which he acted. The former he circumcised, be- cause it was regarded as a concession. The latter he refused to circumcise, because it was demanded as a matter of neces- sity. There are two things, therefore, to be carefully observed in all cases of concession to the opinions and practices of others : first, that the point conceded be a matter of indiffer- ence ; for Paul never yielded in the smallest measure to any thing which was in itself wrong. In this his conduct was di- rectly the opposite to that of those who accommodate them- selves to the sins of men, or to the superstitious observances of false religions. And secondly, that the concession does not involve any admission that what is in fact indifferent is a mat- ter of moral obhgation. The extent to which Paul went to conciliate the Jews may be learnt from what is recorded in Acts 21, 18-27.
To those under the laio. These were not converted Jews, because they were already gained to the gospel, and did not need to be won, which is the sense in which the expression to gain is used in this verse, as he had just spoken of gaining the Jews. Perhaps those wider the law, as distinguished from Jews, were proselytes, i. e. Gentiles who had enibraced Juda- ism. But most of these proselytes were not strictly under the law. They acknowledged Jehovah to be the only true God, but did not subject themselves to the Mosaic institutions. The common opinion is, that this clause is only explanatory of the