Darby Bible
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
6But because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7So thou art no longer bondman, but son; but if son, heir also through God. But then indeed, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods; 9but now, knowing God, but rather being known by God, how do ye turn again to the weak and beggarly principles to which ye desire to be again anew in bondage? 10Ye observe days and months and times and years.
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:8 word by word
Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς φύσει μὴ οὖσιν θεοῖς·Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Galatians 4:8
- Exodus 5:2And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, to whose voice I am to hearken to let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go.
- Jeremiah 10:25Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, yea, they have eaten him up and consumed him, and have laid waste his dwelling-place.
- John 1:10He was in the world, and the world had [its] being through him, and the world knew him not.
- Acts 17:23for, passing through and beholding your shrines, I found also an altar on which was inscribed, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye reverence, not knowing [him], him I announce to you.
- Romans 1:28And according as they did not think good to have God in [their] knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind to practise unseemly things;
- 1 Corinthians 1:21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom has not known God, God has been pleased by the foolishness of the preaching to save those that believe.
- Ephesians 2:11Wherefore remember that ye, once nations in [the] flesh, who [are] called uncircumcision by that called circumcision in [the] flesh done with the hand;
- Ephesians 4:18being darkened in understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their hearts,
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5(not in passionate desire, even as the nations who know not God,)
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and those who do not obey the glad tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ;
- 1 John 3:1See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called [the] children of God. For this reason the world knows 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 on the other side of the river, 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 form a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things are of no profit; and they are their own witnesses: they see not, nor know; — that they may be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 10:3For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for [it is] a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan;
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
In the dictionaries
Notes
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
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