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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist.

Context of Galatians 4:8

6And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10You 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Howbeitἀλλάalla · butG235
• thenτότεtote · thenG5119
• ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
• ·εἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• notοὐou · noG3756
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• ye did serviceδουλεύωdouleuō · be a slaveG1398
• unto them whichὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• by natureφύσιςphusis · natureG5449
• areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• noμήmē · notG3361

Cross-references for Galatians 4:8

• Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go."
• Jeremiah 10:25Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; 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, yet the world did not know him.
• Acts 17:23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
• Romans 1:28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
• Ephesians 2:11Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
• Ephesians 4:18They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
• 1 John 3:1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
• Joshua 24:2And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
• Isaiah 44:9All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
• Jeremiah 10:3for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

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