galatians-4:17,-galatians-4:18

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Galatians 4:17-18

Galatians 4:17-18. They zealously affect you The Judaizing teachers who are come among you express an extraordinary regard for you; but not well Their zeal is not according to knowledge, neither have they a single eye to God’s glory, and your spiritual advantage. Yea, they would exclude you From me and from the blessings of the gospel; that ye might effect Might love and esteem them. Or, as some read this clause, they would exclude us, that is, me, your spiritual father, and my... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Galatians 4:8-20

Paul’s concern for the Galatians (4:8-20)Before they believed in Christ, most of the Galatians were pagans, in bondage to idols of wood and stone. Now that they have come to know the true God, they are foolish to get into bondage again by trying to keep the Jewish law. By doing so they are not going forward in their Christian lives; they are going backwards (8-11).The Galatians should live as those free from the law, just as Paul does. He feels sorry for them, not angry with them. He does not... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Galatians 4:17

zealously affect . Greek. zelov , to be zealous, either for good or for bad. would = wish to. App-102 ., exclude . Greek. ekkleiv , See Romans 3:27 . affect . Greek. zelov , as above. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Galatians 4:17

They zealously seek you in no good way: nay, they desire to shut you out, that ye may seek them.This was spoken with reference to the Judaizers, whose purpose was to control and exploit the Galatians by using them to support Jewish religious enterprises. "They seek you in no good way" is a figure of speech, called litotes, which is "the affirmation of a truth by denying its opposite,"[23] the meaning being that the Judaizers were hypocritical, and that their motives in cultivating the Galatians... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Galatians 4:17

Galatians 4:17. They would exclude you.— Some copies and several expositors read us, which certainly appears more natural and easy; and, is there is no doubt but that the Apostle refers here to the endeavours used by the false teachers to alienate their affections from him, it may induce us to prefer this reading:—which is put by the translators of our bible in the margin. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Galatians 4:17

17. They—your flatterers: in contrast to Paul himself, who tells them the truth. zealously—zeal in proselytism was characteristic especially of the Jews, and so of Judaizers (Galatians 1:14; Matthew 23:15; Romans 10:2). affect you—that is, court you (2 Corinthians 11:2). not well—not in a good way, or for a good end. Neither the cause of their zealous courting of you, nor the manner, is what it ought to be. they would exclude you—"They wish to shut you out" from the kingdom of God (that is,... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Galatians 4:12-20

2. The historical illustration 4:12-20Paul appealed next to his past contacts with the Galatians and called on them to remember his visits to Galatia to move them to abandon nomism."If the reader is inclined to think Paul has been impersonal in dealing with the problems at Galatia, that he has been arguing as a scholar and not as a pastor, the present passage should disabuse him of this idea." [Note: Boice, p. 477.] "What we have in this personal aside is a poignant witness to the indissoluble... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Galatians 4:15-18

The Galatians were losing their good attitude toward Paul and its accompanying sense of blessing. They had appreciated Paul so much that they would have given him their most precious possessions. "Plucked out your eyes" is probably a figurative expression similar to "given your eye teeth." Now the Galatians were regarding Paul suspiciously as an enemy. The Judaizers were seeking to shut the Galatians out of the sphere of Paul’s influence and gospel so his readers would be dependent on them.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:1-31

The Bondage of the Law. Freedom in Christ1-7. Under the Law we were in bondage; under the Gospel we have received the freedom of sons.Paraphrase. ’(1) The heir before he comes of age can no more enter upon his inheritance than a servant in the family can possess himself of it, (2) but must continue, until the set time, in a subordinate position, and under the authority and training of others. (3) So, when we were under the elementary Law system, we were in a position like that of the heir in... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Galatians 4:17

(17) They zealously affect you.—“Zealously affect” is a single word in the Greek, and means “to show zeal towards,” “to court,” “to curry favour with,” “to canvass eagerly, so as to win over to their side.” The subject of this verse is the Judaising teachers.They would exclude you.—They desire to separate you from the rest of the Gentile churches, and to make a sect by itself, in which they themselves may bear rule. All the other Gentile churches had accepted the freer teaching of St. Paul; the... read more