Galatians 4:1

Galatians 4:1-3 . The apostle, having established the consolatory doctrine that believers, in every age and country of the world, are heirs of the promises made to Abraham and to his seed, goes on in this chapter to answer an inquiry which he knew would naturally occur to his readers, but which, according to his manner, he does not formally state; namely, Since all believers, from the beginning, were heirs of the promises, as well as of the things promised, why were they not put in possession of the promises from the beginning, by sending Christ into the world, and introducing the gospel dispensation in the first age; that the promises, especially the promise of pardon and eternal life through faith, might have been published universally, and preserved for the benefit of the heirs in every age; and why were mankind left for so many ages to the direction of the laws of nature and of Moses, neither of which gave them any hope of pardon and eternal life? To this inquiry the apostle answers, that in not giving the heirs the knowledge of the promises, by introducing the gospel dispensation immediately after the fall, God treated them as a prudent father treats his son while under age. During his nonage, he does not allow him to possess the estate, of which he is the heir, because he has not discretion to use it aright; but keeps him in the condition of a bond-man.

In the same manner, though believers from the beginning were heirs of the promises, God did not, in the early ages, put them in possession of them, by immediately setting up the gospel dispensation; because, in the first ages, the state of the world did not admit of either the universal publication of the gospel, or of its preservation. And that, as the heir of a great estate must be prepared by a proper education for managing and enjoying it, and is therefore in his childhood placed under persons who instruct him, manage his estate, and supply him with necessaries, till the time appointed in his father’s will for taking possession of his inheritance; so, to prepare believers for the actual inheritance of the gospel dispensation, God judged it proper to continue them for a long time under the bondage of the laws of nature, and of the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, that by experiencing the hardships of that bondage, they might be the more sensible of the happiness which they were to derive from the liberty of the gospel. This is the sense of the three first verses, as appears by the following short paraphrase.

Now {1} I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; (1) He declares by another twofold similitude, that which he said before concerning the keeper and schoolmaster. For, he says, the Law (that is, the whole government of God's house according to the Law) was as it were a tutor or overseer appointed for a time. And when that protection and overseeing which was but for a time is ended, we would at length come to be at our own liberty, and would live as children, and not as servants. Moreover, he shows along the way, that the governance of the Law was as it were the basics, and as certain principles, in comparison with the doctrine of the Gospel.

Galatians 4:1 . Λέγω δὲ , Now I say ) He explains what he said, Galatians 3:24 , concerning the schoolmaster.— ὁ κληρονόμος , the heir ) This term is brought from ch. Galatians 3:29 .— νήπιος ) a child , under age.— οὐδὲν διαφέρει δούλου , differs nothing from a servant ) Because he is not at his own disposal, regarding deeds and contracts.— πάντων , of all ) Those things which relate to the inheritance.

Now I say (λέγω δὲ) Introducing a continued, explanatory discussion. Comp. Galatians 3:17; Galatians 5:16; 1 Corinthians 1:12. The heir (ὁ κληρονόμος) See on inheritance, 1 Peter 1:4. The article is generic as in the mediator, Galatians 3:20. A child (νήπιος) A minor. See on 1 Corinthians 3:1. Used by Paul in contrast with τέλειος full grown. See Ephesians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 14:20; Philippians 3:15. The Jews called proselytes or novices babes. See Romans 2:20. Lord of all Legally, by right of birth, though not actually.

Galatians 4:1-7 . THERE WERE IN THE GENTILE WORLD ALSO BEFORE CHRIST CHILDREN OF GOD IN BONDAGE TO HUMAN RULE, THAT KNEW NOT THE UNSEEN FATHER IN HEAVEN WHO WAS ORDERING THEIR LIVES. THEY WERE LIKE ORPHAN CHILDREN, WHOM A DEPARTED FATHER HAS WITH LOVING CARE CONSIGNED DURING CHILDHOOD TO THE CHARGE OF GUARDIANS AND STEWARDS. IN DUE TIME, HOWEVER, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON TO REDEEM THEM ALSO FROM BONDAGE, AND HAS MADE US SONS AND HEIRS, SENDING FORTH THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON INTO OUR HEARTS. In dealing with the relation of the Mosaic Law to the antecedent covenant and with its subsequent fulfilment in Christ, the Apostle necessarily limited his view of the seed of Abraham, who were covenanted heirs of salvation between Moses and the Advent, to Israel. He likened these accordingly to children growing up in their father’s house under domestic control. But as most of those to whom he wrote had been converts from heathenism, he now extends his view of the world before Christ so as to embrace Gentiles also within its scope. Amidst the heathen were other children of God, a faithful seed, potential heirs of salvation, who passed through a like stage of spiritual childhood under different conditions. They were like orphan children committed by the watchful care of an unseen and unknown father to the custody of others. For they were subject to human systems of religion, government and law, neither knowing their Heavenly Father nor comprehending His love for them.

The conception of a dead father providing by his will for the due education of his orphan children serves admirably to illustrate the mutual relations between God and the Gentile world, and to set forth the combination of steadfast love on one side with utter ignorance on the other. The illustration is obviously borrowed from testamentary systems prevailing among Greeks and Romans (not among Hebrews) which enabled a father to appoint guardians for his orphan children during their minority. These testamentary powers differed considerably in different parts of the Roman world according to the municipal laws of various cities. Whereas Roman citizens became wards of the state at fourteen, so that the powers of testamentary guardians were strictly limited, the discretion of the father was allowed a wider range in Greek cities. At Athens, for instance, the guardians of Demosthenes retained control over his property till he became a full citizen after eighteen; and in Asiatic Greece the custody of property was sometimes prolonged to twenty-five, though the personal authority ceased at fourteen. The dependent position of an orphan is described in popular language without legal precision; νήπιος is not a legal term, but an appropriate description for a child of tender years, naturally subject to the control of guardians ( ἐπιτρόπους ) and subordinate agents whom they might employ for household management or care of property ( οἰκονόμους ).

CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospel Liberty. 1-7. The fact of God's sending His Son to redeem us who were under the law (Ga 4:4), and sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Ga 4:6), confirms the conclusion (Ga 3:29) that we are "heirs according to the promise." the heir—(Ga 3:29). It is not, as in earthly inheritances, the death of the father, but our Father's sovereign will simply that makes us heirs. child—Greek, "one under age." differeth nothing, &c.—that is, has no more freedom than a slave (so the Greek for "servant" means).

He is not at his own disposal. lord of all—by title and virtual ownership (compare 1Co 3:21, 22).Galatians 4:1-3 The Jews were for a while held under the law, as anheir under his guardian till he be of age.Galatians 4:4-7 But Christ came to redeem those that were under thelaw, and to give both to Jew and Gentile the adoption,and consequently the freedom, of sons.Galatians 4:8-10 Paul therefore reproveth the Galatians, who fromserving idols had been received of God, for fallingback to the bondage of legal observances.Galatians 4:11-20 He expresseth his fears and tender regard for them,and calleth to mind their former respect and good willto him, from which he admonisheth them not to beseduced in his absence.Galatians 4:21-31 He allegorically describeth the Jewish and Christianchurches under the types of Agar and Sara, andinferreth that we, being children of the free-woman,are free. The apostle had before determined, that the whole body of such as believed in Jesus Christ, were that seed of Abraham to which the promise was made, and so heirs of the promises made to him; yet so, that, as it is among men, though a child be a great heir, and lord of a great estate, yet while he is under age he is used like a servant; so the time of the law being as it were the time of believers’ nonage, those who lived in that time were used like servants.