properly · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
heir
κληρονόμοςklēronomos
G2818
a sharer by lot · noun — nominative singular masculine
as
ὅσονhoson
G3745
as (much · correlative pronoun — accusative singular masculine
is
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
child
νήπιόςnēpios
G3516
not speaking · adjective — nominative singular masculine
differeth
διαφέρειdiapherei
G1308
to bear through · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
nothing
οὐδὲνouden
G3762
not even one (man · adjective — accusative singular neuter
from
διαφέρωdiaphérō
G1308
to bear through
servant
δούλουdoulou
G1401
a slave (literal or figurative · noun — genitive singular masculine
though
δοῦλοςdoûlos
G1401
a slave (literal or figurative
be
ὤνṓn
G5607
being
lord
κύριοςkurios
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine
all
πάντωνpantōn
G3956
all · adjective — genitive plural neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Galatians 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Galatians 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Genesis 24:2-3 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
2 Kings 11:12 And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and t…
2 Kings 10:1-2 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them th…
2 Kings 12:2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Galatians 4:1-7
In this chapter the apostle deals plainly with those who hearkened to the judaizing teachers, who cried up the law of Moses in competition with the gospel of Christ, and endeavored to bring them under the bondage of it. To convince them of their folly, and to rectify their mistake herein, in these verses he prosecutes the comparison of a child under age, which he had touched upon in the foregoing chapter, and thence shows what great advantages we have now, under the gospel, above what they had under the law. And here.
I. He acquaints us with the state of the Old Testament church: it was like a child under age, and it was used accordingly, being kept in a state of darkness and bondage, in com…
The heir, as long as He is a child - Though he be appointed by his father's will heir of all his possessions yet till he arrive at the legal age he is master of nothing, and does not differ from one of the common domestics.
John Gill on Galatians 4:1
Now I say,.... To illustrate what he had said of the law's being a schoolmaster to the Jews until the coming of Christ, and then ceasing as such, he proposes the case of an heir during his minority, till he come to the proper time of enjoying his estate.
that the heir, as long as he is a child; anyone that is an heir to his father's estate, or another's, whilst under age, being reckoned as a child, as he is from his infancy to his manhood,
differeth nothing from a servant: he is not his own man, nor at his own dispose; he cannot do as he pleases; he is under restraint; he is kept to school or to business, and is liable to correction and chastisement according as he behaves; nor can he have…
Galatians 4:1-5
1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
1. Dico antem: quamdiu haeres puer est, nihil differt a servo, quum tamen sit dominus onmium;
2. But is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed of the father.
2. Sed sub tutoribus et curatorbus est, usque ad tempus a patre definitum.
3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
3. Sic et nos quum essemus pueri, sub elementis mundi in servitute eramus.
4. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
4. Quando autem venit plenitudo temporis, mi…
The Church Fathers
"Since, when we were children," says the same apostle, "we were kept in bondage under the rudiments of the world. And the child, though heir, differeth nothing from a servant, till the time appointed of the father." Philosophers, then, are children, unless they have been made men by Christ. "For if the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free," at least he is the seed of Abraham, though not of promise, receiving what belongs to him by free gift.
The infant heir … signifies the whole human race up to the advent of Christ, and, to speak more largely, right up to the end of the world. For, just as all die in Adam the first man, though they are not yet born, so all those who were born before Christ's advent are now made alive in the second Adam. And so it is that we served the law in the fathers and are saved by grace in the sons. This understanding fits the catholic church, which asserts a single providence in the Old and New Testaments and does not distinguish in time those whom it makes equal in condition.
The word "child" in this place denotes not age but understanding; meaning that God had from the beginning designed for us these gifts, but, as we yet continued childish, He let us be under the elements of the world, that is, new moons and sabbaths, for these days are regulated by the course of sun and moon. If then also now they bring you under law they do nothing else but lead you backward now in the time of your perfect age and maturity. And see what is the consequence of observing days; the Lord, the Master of the house, the Sovereign Ruler, is thereby reduced to the rank of a servant.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Heaven — (1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament,…
Children · Tutors and governors for — Tutors and governors for
Heir · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Minors · Legal status of — Legal status of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Paul supports his argument that the law’s purpose for God’s children was fulfilled when Christ came, so that we are no longer bound by it.
4:1-3 A child inheriting an estate might receive a large fortune, but before coming of age, the child must obey guardians and trustees until the time set by the father. Similarly, before Christ came, God’s people were under the guardianship of the law (see 3:23-24).
