ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Galatians 4

Gal. 4:1–3 When a son is too young to receive his inheritance, he has no more status than a slave. (On Roman slaves, or bondservants, see note on 1 Cor. 7:21.) This was the situation of Paul and his fellow Israelites under the old covenant.

Gal. 4:3 elementary principles. Both here and in v. 9, these principles for Jews would be the Mosaic law. For Gentiles it would be the basic concepts of their pagan religions. They were, in terms of their mind-set and life situation, enslaved.

Gal. 4:4 when the fullness of time had come. God sent his Son at the right moment in human history. God directed world events and prepared peoples and nations for Christ, and for the proclamation of the gospel.

Gal. 4:5 Paul’s adoption imagery probably picks up the OT concept of God calling Israel his “son.” He combines this with the Roman notion of adopting a son (who was usually already a grown man) in order to make him the heir to the family wealth (see also note on 3:26).

Gal. 4:6–7 because you are sons. Because Christians are now sons, they may receive the inheritance. This begins with the promised Spirit of his Son. Abba is the Aramaic word for “father” (compare Rom. 8:14–17).

Gal. 4:8–11 The Galatians are in danger of forfeiting sonship and abandoning the true God. They risk returning to false gods (v. 8) and to worldly ways of life (vv. 9–10).

Gal. 4:8 those that by nature are not gods. Demonic spirits that controlled the Galatians’ former religion (compare 1 Cor. 10:20).

Gal. 4:9 To know God . . . to be known by God implies a personal relationship with God. elementary principles. See note on v. 3.

Gal. 4:10 Days and months and seasons and years were all part of the ceremonial laws of the Mosaic covenant (see Lev. 23:5; 16; 28; 25:4). To require Christians to follow such OT laws is to forfeit the gospel of justification by faith alone, in Christ alone.

Gal. 4:12–20 As in 3:1–5, Paul reminds the Galatians of what happened when they heard the gospel. He also contrasts his own ministry with that of the false teachers.

Gal. 4:12 as I am. Paul is free from following Mosaic ceremonial regulations. He lives by faith in Christ. as you are. Paul had become like the Gentiles by not living under Jewish law when ministering to them.

Gal. 4:13 because of a bodily ailment . . . I preached the gospel to you. The exact nature of this illness is not known. “Because” apparently means that Paul had to stay in Galatia because of this illness. He took that opportunity to preach to them.

Gal. 4:17 The false teachers flatter the Galatians, but only to receive flattery from them in return. to shut you out. They want to form an exclusive club of people who observe Jewish ceremonial laws.

Gal. 4:19–20 The Galatians, like little children, have not been growing. Paul’s deep concern for them is like the pain of childbirth.

Gal. 4:21–31 Paul again emphasizes the difference between being a free child of God and being a slave to the law, sin, and false gods. Abraham’s son Ishmael—technically the firstborn—represents the slave sons of Abraham and thus the enslaving Sinai covenant. Isaac represents the free sons of Abraham (see Genesis 16–17; 21; Gal. 3:7, 29).

Gal. 4:21 law . . . law. Paul plays on the different meanings of “law”: it can mean the commandments given by Moses (all of which the Galatians mistakenly want to obey), but it can also mean the first five books of the Bible as a whole.

Gal. 4:23 Ishmael was the son born when Abraham and Sarah tried to have a child through Hagar. The promise is the absolute opposite of the flesh. A promise is a word from God that will be fulfilled by God (see Rom. 4:18–21), just as Isaac was born by God’s miraculous work.

Gal. 4:25 Arabia. See note on 1:17. in slavery. The majority of the people in Jerusalem are Jews who have not turned to Jesus. As a result, the city is enslaved.

Gal. 4:26–27 All those who believe in Christ belong to the heavenly Jerusalem. They are the true Israel. As Isaiah prophesied (Isa. 54:1), God will bring about the birth of children where there are none, even among the Gentiles.

Gal. 4:29 so also it is now. Ishmael persecuted Isaac (suggested by Gen. 21:9). Now the Jews who seek justification by human effort persecute Christians, who trust God’s promise of justification by faith.

Gal. 4:30 Cast out the slave woman and her son implies also the casting out of all who seek justification through their own efforts instead of through faith.