Galatians 4:8

Galatians 4:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
• New International Version (NIV)Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.

Context of Galatians 4:8

6And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods: 9but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again? 10Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years.

Galatians 4:8 word by word

Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς φύσει μὴ οὖσιν θεοῖς·Read the interlinear

• timeτότεtote · thenG5119
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• wereεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• natureφύσιςphusis · natureG5449

Cross-references for Galatians 4:8

• Exodus 5:2And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.
• Jeremiah 10:25Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name; for they have devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
• John 1:10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not.
• Acts 17:23For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you.
• Romans 1:28And even as they refused to have God intheirknowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.
• Ephesians 2:11Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;
• Ephesians 4:18being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
• 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God;
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus:
• 1 John 3:1Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
• Joshua 24:2And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
• Isaiah 44:9They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses see not, nor know: that they may be put to shame.
• Jeremiah 10:3For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

Commentaries on Galatians 4:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8When ye knew not God - Though it is evident, from the complexion of the whole of this epistle, that the great body of the Christians in the Churches of Galatia were converts from among the Jews or proselytes to Judaism; yet from this verse it appears that there were some who had been converted from heathenism; unless we suppose that the apostle here particularly addresses those who had been proselytes to Judaism and thence converted to Christianity; which…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Howbeit - But, ̓̀ allaThe address in this verse and the following is evidently to the portion of the Galatians who had been pagan. This is probably indicated by the particle ̓̀ allabut denoting a transition. In the previous verses Paul had evidently had the Jewish converts more particularly in his eye, and had described their former condition as one of servitude to the Mosaic rites and customs, and had shown the inconveniences of that condition, compared…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-11Verses 8-11 The happy change whereby the Galatians were turned from idols to the living God, and through Christ had received the adoption of sons, was the effect of his free and rich grace; they were laid under the greater obligation to keep to the liberty wherewith he had made them free. All our knowledge of God begins on his part; we know him because we are known of him. Though our religion forbids idolatry, yet many practise spiritual idolatry in their…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Before they became Christians, the non-Jewish Galatians worshiped false gods. They worshiped natural things like the sun, moon, and seasons (see Romans 1:25). They lived like slaves to these false gods, constantly afraid they would make them angry (1 Corinthians 8:5–6).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-118-11. Appeal to them not to turn back from their privileges as free sons, to legal bondage again. then--when ye were "servants" (Ga 4:7). ye knew not God--not opposed to Ro 1:21. The heathen originally knew God, as Ro 1:21 states, but did not choose to retain God in their knowledge, and so corrupted the original truth. They might still have known Him, in a measure, from His works, but as a matter of fact they knew Him not, so far as His eternity, His…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 4:8

• Blindness
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Doubt
• Flesh
• Observe
• Zealously
• Entangle
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Gods
• Natural; Nature

Commentaries on Galatians 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings