God’s Word Translation
Galatians 4:11
11I’m afraid for you. Maybe the hard work I spent on you has been wasted.
Galatians 4:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
- New International Version (NIV)I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
Context of Galatians 4:11
9But now you know God, or rather, God knows you. So how can you turn back again to the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again? 10You religiously observe days, months, seasons, and years! I’m afraid for you. Maybe the hard work I spent on you has been wasted. 12Brothers and sisters, I beg you to become like me. After all, I became like you were. You didn’t do anything wrong to me. 13You know that the first time I brought you the Good News I was ill.
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:11 word by word
φοβοῦμαι ὑμᾶς μή πως εἰκῇ κεκοπίακα εἰς ὑμᾶς.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 4:11
- Galatians 4:20I wish I were with you right now so that I could change the tone of my voice. I’m completely puzzled by what you’ve done!
- 2 Corinthians 11:2I’m as protective of you as God is. After all, you’re a virgin whom I promised in marriage to one man—Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 12:20I’m afraid that I may come and find you different from what I want you to be, and that you may find me different from what you want me to be. I’m afraid that there may be rivalry, jealousy, hot tempers, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly conduct.
- Galatians 2:2I went in response to a revelation ⌞from God⌟. I showed them the way I spread the Good News among people who are not Jewish. I did this in a private meeting with those recognized as important people to see whether all my efforts had been wasted.
- Galatians 5:2I, Paul, can guarantee that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
- Isaiah 49:4But I said, “I have worked hard for nothing. I have used my strength, but I didn’t accomplish anything. Yet, certainly my case is in the Lord’s hands, and my reward is with my God.”
- Acts 16:6Paul and Silas went through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit kept them from speaking the word in the province of Asia.
- 1 Corinthians 15:58So, then, brothers and sisters, don’t let anyone move you off the foundation ⌞of your faith⌟. Always excel in the work you do for the Lord. You know that the hard work you do for the Lord is not pointless.
- Philippians 2:16as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I can brag on the day of Christ that my effort was not wasted and that my work produced results.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:5But when I couldn’t wait any longer, I sent ⌞Timothy⌟ to find out about your faith. I wanted to see whether the tempter had in some way tempted you, making our work meaningless.
- 2 John 1:8Be careful that you don’t destroy what we’ve worked for, but that you receive your full reward.
Commentaries on Galatians 4:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11I am afraid of you - I begin now to be seriously alarmed for you, and think you are so thoroughly perverted from the Gospel of Christ, that all my pains and labor in your conversion have been thrown away.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11I am afraid of you - I have fears respecting you. His fears were that they had no genuine Christian principle. They had been so easily perverted and turned back to the servitude of ceremonies and rites, that he was apprehensive that there could be no real Christian principle in the case. What pastor has not often had such fears of his people, when he sees them turn to the weak and beggarly elements of the world, or when, after having “run well,” he sees…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. 11I fear for you: The Galatians were in danger of turning away from Christ by depending on the law. If they did, Paul's efforts would have been wasted. The good news would not benefit them (compare Hebrews 6:4–6; 2 Peter 2:20–22). See Acts 13:44–14:24 for a description of Paul's work for the Christians in that region.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 4:11
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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