to frighten · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 1st person singular
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
lest
μήπωςmḗpōs
G3381
lest somehow
bestowed
κεκοπίακαkekopiaka
G2872
to feel fatigue · verb — perfect active indicative, 1st person singular
upon
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
labour
κοπιάωkopiáō
G2872
to feel fatigue
vain
εἰκῇeikēa
G1500
idly · adverb
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
1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour b…
Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of r…
Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
Isaiah 49:4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work…
Acts 16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour…
2 Corinthians 11:2-3 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Galatians 4:8-11
In these verses the apostle puts them in mind of what they were before their conversion to the faith of Christ, and what a blessed change their conversion had made upon them; and thence endeavours to convince them of their great weakness in hearkening to those who would bring them under the bondage of the law of Moses.
I. He reminds them of their past state and behaviour, and what they were before the gospel was preached to them. Then they knew not God; they were grossly ignorant of the true God, and the way wherein he is to be worshipped: and at that time they were under the worst of slaveries, for they did service to those which by nature were no gods, they were employed in a great number…
lest--Greek, "lest haply." My fear is not for my own sake, but for yours.
Adam Clarke on Galatians 4:11
I am afraid of you - I begin now to be seriously alarmed for you, and think you are so thoroughly perverted from the Gospel of Christ, that all my pains and labor in your conversion have been thrown away.
John Gill on Galatians 4:11
I am afraid of you,.... Which shows the danger he apprehended they were in, by taking such large steps from Christianity to Judaism, and expresses the godly jealousy of the apostle over them; intimates he had some hope of them, and in the whole declares his great love and affection for them; for love is a thing full of care and fear:
lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain; in preaching the Gospel among them with so much diligence and constancy, though so many afflictions and pressures lay upon him. Faithful ministers of the word are laborious ones; and such an one was the apostle; and who indeed laboured more abundantly than the rest in all places wherever he came; and such will be co…
"I am afraid." See, their insides are in turmoil, and Paul is afraid. The phrase "for fear that" still indicates those standing and not yet fully shipwrecked. And it gives them hope that if they are willing to recover, their labor will not be in vain for them; as he said, Remember my toil and sweat for you, and do not frustrate my anguish.
Observe the tender compassion of the Apostle; they were shaken and he trembles and fears. And hence he has put it so as thoroughly to shame them, "I have bestowed labor upon you," saying, as it were, make not vain the labors which have cost me sweat and pain. By saying "I fear," and subjoining the word "lest," he both inspires alarm, and encourages good hope. He says not "I have labored in vain," but "lest," which is as much as to say, the wreck has not happened, but I see the storm big with it; so I am in fear, yet not in despair; ye have the power to set all right, and to return into your former calm...
So, let the reader choose whichever interpretation he wishes, so long as he understands that such superstitious observances of times bring great peril to the soul, so much so that the apostle adds, "I am afraid, lest perhaps I should have labored in you in vain." … And yet if someone, even a catechumen, is caught observing the sabbath by the Jewish rite, the church is confused. As it is, innumerable members of the church say with great complacency in open view of us, "I do not travel on the day after the first." … Alas for human sinfulness, that we only denounce what is unfamiliar, but with familiar things we tolerate them, although they may be great and cause the kingdom of heaven to be shut against them absolutely. It is for them that the Son of God shed his blood. We come to tolerate them through frequent acquaintance with them, and through increased toleration we share in them.
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,…
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Instability · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
John Calvin on Galatians 4:6-11
Galatians 4:6-11
6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
6. Quoniam autem estis filii, misit Deus Spiritum Filii sui in corda vestra, clamantem, Abba, Pater.
7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
7. Itaque non amplius es servus, sed filius; si antem filius, etiam haeres Dei per Christum.
8. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
8. At tunc quum nondum cognoveratis Deum, serviebatis eis qui natura non sunt dii.
9. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the…
I fear for you: The Galatians were in danger of turning away from Christ by relying upon the law. If they did, Paul’s hard work would have been for nothing. The Good News would have done them no good (cp. Heb 6:4-6; 2 Pet 2:20-22). See Acts 13:44–14:24 for a description of Paul’s work for the sake of the Christians in that region.
