Galatians 4:2-6 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 Romans 8:15 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:6

And because ye are sons - By faith in Christ Jesus, being redeemed both from the bondage and curse of the law; God - the Father, called generally the first person of the glorious Trinity, hath sent forth the Spirit - the Holy Ghost, the second person of that Trinity, of his Son - Jesus Christ, the third person of the Trinity - crying, Abba, Father! from the fullest and most satisfactory evidence that God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, had become their portion. For the explanation of the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:3

Verse 3 3.Under the elements of the world. Elements may either mean, literally, outward and bodily things, or, metaphorically, rudiments. I prefer the latter interpretation. But why does he say that those things which had a spiritual signification were of the world ? We did not, he says, enjoy the truth in a simple form, but involved in earthly figures; and consequently, what was outward must have been “of the world,” though there was concealed under it a heavenly mystery. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:4

Verse 4 4.When the fullness of the time was come. He proceeds with the comparison which he had adduced, and applies to his purpose the expression which has already occurred, “the time appointed by the Father,” — but still shewing that the time which had been ordained by the providence of God was proper and seasonable. That season is the most fit, and that mode of acting is the most proper, which the providence of God directs. At what time it was expedient that the Son of God should be revealed... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:5

Verse 5 5.That we might receive the adoption. The fathers, under the Old Testament, were certain of their adoption, but did not so fully as yet enjoy their privilege. Adoption, like the phrase, “the redemption of our body,” (Romans 8:23,) is here put for actual possession. As, at the last day, we receive the fruit of our redemption, so now we receive the fruit of adoption, of which the holy fathers did not partake before the coming of Christ; and therefore those who now burden the church with... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:6

Verse 6 6.And because ye are sons. The adoption which he had mentioned, is proved to belong to the Galatians by the following argument. This adoption must have preceded the testimony of adoption given by the Holy Spirit; but the effect is the sign of the cause. In venturing, he says, to call God your Father, you have the advice and direction of the Spirit of Christ; therefore it is certain that you are the sons of God. This agrees with what is elsewhere taught by him, that the Spirit is the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-3

The Church of God in its minority. The apostle now passes to a new phase of argument. He has used the similitudes of a testament, a prison, a schoolmaster, to mark the condition of believers under the Law; he now uses the similitude of an heir in his nonage. The Galatians are here taught that the state of men under the Law, so far from being an advanced religious position, was rather low and infantile. Mark— I. THE HEIR 'S POTENTIAL POSITION . He is "lord of all." He is such by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-7

Majority through the gospel. Paul, having spoken of the Law-school in the preceding sections, and of the participation of believing Gentiles in the privileges of the Abrahamic family, proceeds in the present section to speak of the times before Christ's advent as infantile, of the advent as the fulness of times, and of the majority which is realized by believers through the gospel. Four leading thoughts are thus presented. I. THE IMPERFECT TIMES . ( Galatians 4:1-3 .) The Old... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-11

Majority and minority. I. THE CHILD COMING TO HIS MAJORITY . Analogy. "But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bond-servant, though he is lord of all; but is under guardians and stewards until the term appointed of the father." At the close of the preceding chapter Christians were described as Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. It is with regard to this that the apostle now makes use of an analogy. It is a very simple and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:2

But is under tutors and governors ( ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους ἐστὶ καὶ οἰκονόμους ) but is under guardians and stewards. ἐπίτροπος is, in Greek, the proper designation of a minor's guardian; as, for example, is shown by Demosthenes's speeches against Aphobus, who had been his ἐπίτροπος . These speeches also show that the ἐπίτροπος was entrusted with the handling of the property of his ward. Yet, as οἰκονόμος more especially denotes one entrusted with the... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:6

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:6

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-7

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:2

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