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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gal_4:1-7
1Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" 7Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
Gal_4:1
NASB, NKJV "Now I say"
NRSV "My point is this"
TEV "But to continue"
NJB "Let me put this another way"
Paul used this standard literary technique to introduce an expansion of a previous subject (cf. Gal_3:17; Gal_5:16).
▣ "the heir" The great truth that believers are heirs of God in Christ is the focus of Gal_3:7; Gal_3:16; Gal_3:24-26; Gal_3:29 (cf. Rom_8:17). This same emphasis is continued in Gal_4:1; Gal_4:5-7; Gal_4:28-31. The real descendants of Abraham are not ethnic, but believers (cf. Rom_2:28-29; Php_3:3; Col_2:11).
▣ "is a child" This was the Greek term for infant, used in the sense of
1. spiritual babies
2. legal minors
In ancient Mediterranean cultures, the rite of passage from boyhood to manhood occurred at different ages and was a major cultural/religious event
1. in Jewish culture, it was age 13
2. in Greek culture, it was age 18
3. in Roman culture, it was usually at age 14
Gal_4:2 "but he is under guardians and managers" Gal_3:22-25 says we were "under the Law," described as: (1) a jailor which kept us in protective custody (cf. Gal_3:22-23) or (2) an adolescent custodian (cf. Gal_3:24-25). However, in chapter 4, the metaphor changes to "guardian" and "trustee." In Roman law, boys from birth to 14 years of age were in the charge of a legal guardian (cf. Gal_3:23-25). From age 14 to 25, their property was administered by trustees (cf. Gal_4:2). Paul was alluding to this Roman custom by using these precise terms.
▣ "until the date set by the father" This phrase gives further evidence that Roman fathers had some discretion in setting the time of his son's transition from boyhood to manhood. This is a unique feature of Roman law. It implies that God the Father chose the time that His Son would bring in our maturity (cf. Gal_4:4).
Gal_4:3 "while we were children" The pronoun "we" could refer to
1. the Jews who were under the guardianship of the Mosaic Law
2. Jews and Gentiles who were part of the old age before the gospel
3. the Gentiles' paganism with all its rules and rites
In the context it might relate to "heirs" (Gal_4:1), therefore, option #2.
NASB "were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world"
NKJV "were in bondage under the elemental things of the world"
NRSV "we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world"
TEV "were slaves of the ruling spirits of the universe"
NJB "we were as good as slaves to the elemental principles of this world"
This phrase is periphrastic pluperfect passive participle. This construction emphasizes our fixed status as children. "Elemental things" [stoicheia] originally meant "to stand side by side in a row." It had a wide range of meanings in the Greco-Roman world of Paul's day:
1. the ABC's of a child's training or the elemental teachings of any subject (cf. Heb_5:12; Heb_6:1)
2. the basic components of the physical universe—air, water, fire, earth (cf. 2Pe_3:10; 2Pe_3:12), which were often deified by the Greeks
3. the heavenly bodies (cf. I Enoch 52:8-9); and this is how the early church fathers interpreted its use in Col_2:8; Col_2:20
Closely identified with #3 was the indirect meaning that behind heavenly bodies were spiritual powers, a common usage which could influence the interpretation of Gal_4:3; Gal_4:8-10 (cf. the angels of Col_2:18-20 and Gal_3:19). However, in his book Christ and the Powers, Hendrik Berkhof states that these powers are impersonal structures (such as politics, democracy, social class, public mores, sports, education, medicine, etc.) in our natural, fallen world which tend to unify mankind apart from God (cf. p. 32). This interpretation fits the biblical examples. Paul was making a parallel between the Law as adolescent custodian (cf. Gal_3:22 to Gal_4:7) and stoicheia as slave master (cf. Gal_4:3, see note at Gal_4:8).
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Gal_4:4 "But when the fullness of the time came" This implies that God is in control of history and that Christ came in God's timing (cf. Mar_1:15; Eph_1:10; 1Ti_2:6; Tit_1:3). Many commentators have seen the phrases related to
1. Roman peace
2. Roman highways, shipping
3. a common language in the entire area
4. the religious and moral searching of the Mediterranean world for the true God and for fellowship with Him
This statement relates to Gal_4:2, "until the time fixed by the father." The New Age was inaugurated in God's time by the Christ event, the New Covenant had come, the Old Covenant (as a means of salvation) had passed away in Christ.
▣ "God sent forth His Son" "Sent" is the Greek term apostellô from which we derive "apostle." This same phrase occurs in Gal_4:6, where God the Father sends the Holy Spirit. Notice that the three persons of the Trinity are mentioned in Gal_4:4-6. Although the term "Trinity" does not appear in the Bible, the concept does over and over again. See Special Topic below.
The fact that God sent His Son implies the pre-existence of the Son in heaven and, thereby, the Deity of the Son (cf. Joh_1:1-3; Joh_1:14; Joh_1:18; 1Co_8:6; Php_2:6; Col_1:15-17; Heb_1:2). Herein is the conflict with the "monotheism" of Israel (cf. Deu_4:35; Deu_4:39; Deu_6:4; Deu_33:26; Isa_43:10-11; Isa_45:21-22; Isa_46:9; Jer_10:6-7).
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▣ "born of a woman" Paul emphasized the full humanity of Jesus Christ possibly due to the tendency of the docetic Gnostics (Ephesians, Colossians, the Pastoral Epistles and 1 John) to affirm the Deity of Jesus but to deny His humanity. However, there is scant evidence that this heresy influenced the writing of Galatians (cf. Gal_4:3).
The phrase "born of a woman" would certainly remind the Judaizers of Gen_3:15 and Isa_7:14. The author of the book of Hebrews makes this a cardinal point in his theology (cf. Heb_2:14; Heb_2:17). A very similar phrase which emphasizes the true humanity of Jesus but without a sin nature, is found in Rom_8:3; Php_2:7. That Jesus was fully God (Joh_1:1-14) and fully man is a major truth of the gospel of the first century Church (cf. 1Jn_4:1-3).
Surprisingly, the virgin birth of Jesus is not emphasized or even mentioned outside of the passages on Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke. Possibly it was too easily misunderstood and connected by pagans to the mythical activities of the Mt. Olympus gods.
▣ "born under the Law" This shows that Jesus was born within the Jewish tradition under Jewish Law (cf. Rom_1:3). There is no article with the term "law," but the context shows it must refer to the Law of Moses, which was the stoicheia to which Jesus was subject. Jesus was also subject to Roman law. This phrase could also relate to "the curse of the Law" on mankind, which He voluntarily shared (cf. Gal_3:10-13).
Gal_4:5 "so that He might redeem those who were under the Law" "Redeem" (aorist active subjunctive) is used in Gal_3:13 (aorist active indicative) to speak of God's buying back either (1) all humanity from the slavery of sin or (2) the Jews from the Mosaic Law and the Gentiles from the stoicheia, through the life, death and resurrection of Christ. This shows mankind's helplessness (cf. Rom_1:18 to Rom_3:31; Eph_2:1-3) and God's gracious provision (cf. Mar_10:45; Eph_2:4-6). It is difficult in this context to know if Paul was speaking of Mosaic Law, Gal_3:19, or law in the general sense of human merit (cf. Gal_3:21). See hyperlink at Gal_3:13.
NASB, NKJV "that we might receive the adoption as sons"
NRSV "that we might receive adoption as children"
TEV "so that we might become God's sons"
NJB "to enable us to be adopted as sons"
Paul continued his discussion of the privileges that believers receive as full heirs of Abraham through faith in Christ. Paul used the familial metaphor "adoption" of our salvation while John and Peter used the familial metaphor "born again." The adoption metaphor was used primarily in two contexts in Roman culture. In Roman law, adoption was very difficult. A long, involved and expensive legal procedure, once enacted adoption afforded several special rights and privileges.
1. all debts were cancelled
2. all criminal charges were dropped
3. they could not be legally put to death by their new father
4. they could not be disinherited by their new father
In legal terms, they were a completely new person. Paul was alluding to the believers' security in Christ by using this Roman legal procedure (cf. Rom_8:15; Rom_8:23). When a father publicly adopted a son, he officially and permanently became his heir. Also, the metaphor was used in the official ceremony of a boy becoming a man, held on the 17th of March each year.
Gal_4:6 "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts" Similar to Rom_8:14-17, Paul reiterated God's gracious act in sending His Son and His Spirit (the new guardians). The exact meaning of the Greek phrase is unclear. Is the Spirit the evidence or the result of sonship? "Through His Son we become sons" is the motto of Gal_2:15 to Gal_4:31. It is interesting to note that the Spirit was mentioned so frequently in chapter 3 in reference to our becoming Christians (cf. Gal_4:2; Gal_4:5; Gal_4:14). He is now called "the Spirit of His Son." This shows two works of the Spirit: (1) wooing to Christ; and (2) forming Christ in us (cf. Joh_16:7-15) of the three works of the Spirit (John 14-16). The third being, "baptizes believers into Christ" (cf. 1Co_12:13). The ministry of the Son and the Spirit has always been closely identified (cf. Introduction to this Chapter, C).
▣ "hearts" See Special Topic following.
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▣ "crying, ‘Abba' Father'" This phrase contains both the Greek and Aramaic terms for father. The term Abba was the Aramaic word for the intimate family relationship between a child and his father (cf. Mar_14:36; Rom_8:15), very similar to our use of "Daddy." Familial expressions such as this highlight the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father. Because of our response to God's offer in Christ, we have this same intimate access to the Father (cf. Rom_8:26-27). Truly, we are adopted sons!
Gal_4:7 "Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God" This is a First class conditional sentence, "since you are sons" (TEV, NIV). The Spirit removes our slavery and bondage and establishes our sonship (cf. Rom_8:12-17). This assures our inheritance (cf. 1Pe_1:4-5).
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▣ "through God" The KJV reads "through Christ." Older Greek manuscripts have "through God." This emphasizes God as the originator and initiator of grace (cf. Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65 and Gal_4:9). Several manuscripts have variations but manuscripts P46, à , A, B, and C* have "through God." Of all the many variants, this one seems to be the most unusual and probably the source of all the others. The UBS4 gives it an "A" rating (certain).