"The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray." (NIV)
I see a chain of consequences here. When the men from James came, Peter became afraid of creating conflict, so he fell back on his old ways as a Jew without Christ. His fear led to hypocrisy, and the masses saw and imitated his example as a leader. Then Barnabas, a strong Christian, was "led astray" because of the masses, who were following their leader. Paul saw the consequences of this path of digression away from the gospel, and he knew he had to put an end to the hypocrisy immediately, particularly Peter's hypocrisy. Once the leader's faith is reestablished, the masses (including Barnabas) would follow his example.
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