Galatians 4:8-11 NIV

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:8

Verse 8 8.But when ye as yet knew not God. This is not intended as an additional argument; and indeed he had already proved his point so fully, that no doubt remained, and the rebuke which was now to be administered could not be evaded. His object is to make their fall appear more criminal, by comparing it with past events. It is not wonderful, he says, that formerly ye did service to them which by nature are no gods; for, wherever ignorance of God exists, there must be dreadful blindness. You... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:9

Verse 9 9.But now, (67) after that ye have known God. No language can express the base ingratitude of departing from God, when he has once been known. What is it but to forsake, of our own accord, the light, the life, the fountain of all benefits, — “to forsake,” as Jeremiah complains, “the fountain of living waters, and hew out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water!” (Jeremiah 2:13.) Still farther to heighten the blame, he corrects his language, and says, or rather have been,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:10

Verse 10 10.Ye observe days. He adduces as an instance one description of “elements,” the observance of days. No condemnation is here given to the observance of dates in the arrangements of civil society. The order of nature out of which this arises, is fixed and constant. How are months and years computed, but by the revolution of the sun and moon? What distinguishes summer from winter, or spring from harvest, but the appointment of God, — an appointment which was promised to continue to the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:11

Verse 11 11.Lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. The expression is harsh, and must have filled the Galatians with alarm; for what hope was left to them, if Paul’s labor had been in vain? Some have expressed astonishment that Paul should be so powerfully affected by the observance of days, as almost to designate it a subversion of the whole gospel. But if we carefully weigh the whole, we shall see that there was just reason; and that the false apostles not only attempted to lay the yoke... 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 4:8

Howbeit ( ἀλλά ); a strongly adversative conjunction, belonging to the whole sentence comprised in this and the next verse, which are closely welded together by the particles μὲν and δέ . In contravention of God's work of grace just described, they were renouncing their sonship and making themselves slaves afresh. Then ( τότε μέν ). The μέν , with its balancing δέ , here, as often is the case, unites together sentences not in their main substance strictly adverse to each... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8

An appeal to the Gentile Galatians. "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods." The apostle here seems to turn to the Gentile portion of the Church, and impresses upon them the folly of placing themselves under the yoke of Mosaic Law. 1. CONSIDER THEIR FORMER IGNORANCE OF GOD . "When ye knew not God." The apostle gives no hint here of that self-satisfied agnosticism of our day, which says either we cannot or we do not know... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8-9

"Beggarly rudiments." I. THE OLD HEATHENDOM . St. Paul needs to remind the Galatians of the evils of the condition from which they have been liberated. We are all inclined to gild the past with false glories, looking back with fond regret to its lost delights, while we forget the things that troubled it. Note three characteristics of this evil past. 1 . Ignorance of God. The heathen were without the light, the joy, the guidance, and the help that come with the true knowledge of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8-11

The return of the legal spirit. Having spoken of the majority which it is intended we should realize through the gospel, Paul proceeds next to speak about the return to legalism which had characterized the Gauls. Before Paul's advent to Galatia and his gospel message, they had been idolaters, but his preaching had brought them face to face, so to speak, with God. Into this Divine knowledge they had dipped, but, alas] it had only been a swallow-flight, for, after tasting the liberty of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:9

But now ( νῦν δέ ); and now. (See note on " then " in Galatians 4:8 ). After that ye have known God, or rather are known of God ( γνόντες θεόν μᾶλλον δὲ γνωσθέντες ὐπὸ θεοῦ ); after that ye have gotten to know God , or rather to be known of God. Considering the interchangeable use of γνῶναι or ἐγνωκέναι and εἰδωέναι in John 8:55 and 2 Corinthians 5:16 , it seems precarious to make much distinction between them as applied to the... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:8

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:9

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:10

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:11

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8-9

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:8-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Galatians 4:9

Group of Brands