Galatians 1:17

New English Translation

¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia,^[a] and then returned to Damascus.

Galatians 1:17 sn As a geographical region Arabia included the territory west of Mesopotamia, east and south of Syria and Palestine, extending to the isthmus of Suez. During the Roman occupation, some independent kingdoms arose like that of the Nabateans south of Damascus, and these could be called simply Arabia. In light of the proximity to Damascus, this may well be the territory Paul says he visited here. See also C. W. Briggs, “The Apostle Paul in Arabia,” Biblical World 41 (1913): 255-59.

New English Translation (NET)