Galatians 4:1-7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:2

But is under tutors - Επιτροπους· Guardians and governors; οικονομους· those who have the charge of the family. These words are nearly similar; but we may consider the first as executor, the last as the person who superintends the concerns of the family and estate till the heir become of age; such as we call trustee. Until the time appointed of the father - The time mentioned in the father's will or testament. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:3

Even so we - The whole Jewish people were in a state of nonage while under the law. The elements of the world - A mere Jewish phrase, הזה עולם יסודי yesodey olam hazzeh , "the principles of this world;" that is, the rudiments or principles of the Jewish religion. The apostle intimates that the law was not the science of salvation, it was only the elements or alphabet of it; and in the Gospel this alphabet is composed into a most glorious system of Divine knowledge: but as the... read more

Adam Clarke

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

When the fullness of the time was come - The time which God in his infinite wisdom counted best; in which all his counsels were filled up; and the time which his Spirit, by the prophets, had specified; and the time to which he intended the Mosaic institutions should extend, and beyond which they should be of no avail. God sent forth his Son - Him who came immediately from God himself, made of a woman, according to the promise, Genesis 3:15 ; produced by the power of God in the womb of... read more

Adam Clarke

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:7

Thou art no more a servant - Thou who hast believed in Christ art no longer a slave, either under the dominion of sin or under obligation to the Mosaic ritual; but a son of God, adopted into the heavenly family. And if a son, then an heir - Having a right to the inheritance, because one of the family, for none can inherit but the children; but this heirship is the most extraordinary of all: it is not an heirship of any tangible possession, either in heaven or earth; it is not to possess... read more

John Calvin

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

Verse 1 1.Now I say. Whoever made the division into chapters has improperly separated this paragraph from the preceding, as it is nothing else than the concluding section, ( ἐπεξεργασία,) in which Paul explains and illustrates the difference that exists between us and the ancient people. He does so by introducing a third comparison, drawn from the relation which a person under age bears to his tutor. The young man, though he is free, though he is lord of all his father’s family, still resembles... 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

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