King James Bible
"For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision."
Peter (the 'he' referenced) initially practiced table fellowship with Gentile believers, demonstrating the gospel's breaking down of ethnic barriers. James led the Jerusalem church, and these visitors likely held to stricter Jewish dietary laws despite the Jerusalem Council's decisions. Peter's actions reversed his previous behavior, creating a visible division between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This withdrawal contradicted the gospel truth that all believers are one in Christ, undermining the very message Peter had previously affirmed through his actions. Paul identifies fear of the circumcision party—Jewish Christians who insisted Gentiles must follow Jewish law—as Peter's motivation. This fear-driven hypocrisy prompted Paul's public rebuke, as it threatened to reimpose the law's divisions that Christ had abolished.