{Somewhat} (	i). Something, not somebody. Paul refers to
the Big Three (Cephas, James, and John). He seems a bit
embarrassed in the reference. He means no disrespect, but he
asserts his independence sharply in a tangled sentence with two
parentheses (dashes in Westcott and Hort). {Whatsoever they were}
(hopoioi pote (8873)an). Literally, "What sort they once were."
{Hopoioi} is a qualitative word ( 1Th 1:9  1Co 3:13  Jas 1:24 ).
Lightfoot thinks that these three leaders were the ones who
suggested the compromise about Titus. That is a possible, but not
the natural, interpretation of this involved sentence. The use of
de (but) in verse  6  seems to make a contrast between the
three leaders and the pleaders for compromise in verses  4f .
{They, I say, imparted nothing to me} (emoi gar ouden
prosanethento). He starts over again after the two parentheses
and drops the construction apo t(936e) dokount(936e) and changes the
construction (anacoluthon) to hoi dokountes (nominative case),
the men of reputation and influences whom he names in verses
 8f . See the same verb in  1:16 . They added nothing in the
conference to me. The compromisers tried to win them, but they
finally came over to my view. Paul won his point, when he
persuaded Peter, James, and John to agree with him and Barnabas
in their contention for freedom for the Gentile Christians from
the bondage of the Mosaic ceremonial law.