Galatians 4:5

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
redeem	ἐξαγοράσῃ, exagorasē	G1805	to buy up · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
them	τοὺς tous	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative plural masculine
were	ἵνα ina	G2443	compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
under	ὑπὸ hupo	G5259	under · preposition
law	νόμον nomon	G3551	law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
that	ἵνα ina	G2443	compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
receive	ἀπολάβωμεν. apolabōmen	G618	to receive (specially · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
sons	υἱοθεσίαν huiothesian	G5206	the placing as a son · noun — accusative singular feminine

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

Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under…
Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
1 Peter 1:18-20 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditio…
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption fo…
Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us…
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the a…

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 4:5

To--Greek, "That He might redeem." them . . . under the law--primarily the Jews: but as these were the representative people of the world, the Gentiles, too, are included in the redemption (Gal 3:13). receive--The Greek implies the suitableness of the thing as long ago predestined by God. "Receive as something destined or due" (Luk 23:41; Jo2 1:8). Herein God makes of sons of men sons of God, inasmuch as God made of the Son of God the Son of man [AUGUSTINE on Psalm 52].

Adam Clarke on Galatians 4:5

To redeem them - Εξαγορασῃ· To pay down a price for them, and thus buy them off from the necessity of observing circumcision, offering brute sacrifices, performing different ablutions, etc., etc. That we might receive the adoption of sons - Which adoption we could not obtain by the law; for it is the Gospel only that puts us among the children, and gives us a place in the heavenly family. On the nature of adoption see the notes on Rom 8:15.

John Gill on Galatians 4:5

To redeem them that were under the law,.... By whom are meant chiefly the Jews, who are elsewhere represented as in and under the law, in distinction from the Gentiles who were without it; see Romans 2:12 the Gentiles indeed, though they were not under the law of Moses, yet were not without law to God, they were under the law of nature. The law was given to Adam as a covenant of works, and not to him as a single person, but as a federal head to all his posterity; hence he sinning, and they in him, they all came under its sentence of condemnation and death, God's elect not excepted, and who are the persons said to be redeemed; for Christ was not sent to redeem all that were under the law; for…

The Church Fathers

He says "adoption" so that we may clearly understand that the Son of God is unique. For we are sons of God through his generosity and the condescension of his mercy, whereas he is Son by nature, sharing the same divinity with the Father.
— Augustine of Hippo, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 30 [1B.4.4-5]

"so that we might receive adoption as sons." For he not only freed us from evil, having removed the curse of the law, but also bestowed adoption. And by saying "we might receive" he showed it to be appointed from above, and that we are not able to receive it because of the childishness of our understanding.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians

Someone might raise the problem: "If then he was made subject to the law to redeem those who were subject to the law … if he himself was not made also outside the law, he did not redeem those who had not been subject to the law." Another, however, will scrutinize the word redeemed more closely and will say that by the "redeemed" are meant those who were once of God's party and later ceased to be so, whereas those who were not subject to the law were not so much redeemed as purchased.
— Jerome, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.4

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

Adoption — The giving to any one the name and place and privileges of a son who is not a son by birth. (1.) Natural. Thus Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses (Ex. 2:10), and Mordecai Esther (Esther 2:7). (2.)…
Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Election of Grace — The Scripture speaks (1) of the election of individuals to office or to honour and privilege, e.g., Abraham, Jacob, Saul, David, Solomon, were all chosen by God for the positions they held; so also…
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,…
Passover — The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first…
Ransom — The price or payment made for our redemption, as when it is said that the Son of man “gave his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28; comp. Acts 20:28; Rom. 3:23, 24; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Gal. 3:13; 4:4,…
Redemption — The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a…
Son of God — The plural, “sons of God,” is used (Gen. 6:2, 4) to denote the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (1:10) to designate the gracious…
Adoption · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Atonement · .Divinely ordained — .Divinely ordained

Galatians 4:5

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 4:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 4:5

Adam Clarke on Galatians 4:5

John Gill on Galatians 4:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Galatians 4:5

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 4:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 4:5

Adam Clarke on Galatians 4:5

John Gill on Galatians 4:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Galatians 4:1-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Galatians 4:4-5