Galatians 2:6

Paul’s reference to James, Peter, and John may sound a bit insolent, but his point was that they were not superior as apostles to him as an apostle. They contributed nothing to his authority or message.

"The repetition of the expression ’men of high reputation’ from Galatians 2:2 (where NEB has ’men of repute’ for the same Greek expression [hoi dokountes]) seems to indicate that it is a title given by the Jerusalem church to its leaders, which Paul uses, possibly with a tinge of irony, in depreciation of the arrogant and extravagant claims which the Judaizers were making for the Jerusalem leaders." [Note: Ibid., p. 95.]

The expression "allows Paul both to acknowledge the fact that these men possess authority and power and to remain at a distance with regard to his own subservience to such authority." [Note: Betz, p. 92.]