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

6Because you are God’s children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into us to call out, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer slaves but God’s children. Since you are God’s children, God has also made you heirs. When you didn’t know God, you were slaves to things which are really not gods at all. 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!

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 5:2Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I won’t let Israel go.”
• Jeremiah 10:25Pour out your fury on the nations who don’t know you and on people who don’t worship you. They have devoured the descendants of Jacob. They have devoured them completely. They have destroyed their homes.
• John 1:10He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him.
• Acts 17:23As I was going through your city and looking closely at the objects you worship, I noticed an altar with this written on it: ‘To an unknown god.’ I’m telling you about the unknown god you worship.
• Romans 1:28And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, God allowed their own immoral minds to control them. So they do these indecent things.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe.
• Ephesians 2:11Remember that once you were not Jewish physically. Those who called themselves “the circumcised” because of what they had done to their bodies called you “the uncircumcised.”
• Ephesians 4:18They can’t understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in the passionate, lustful way of people who don’t know God.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8He will take revenge on those who refuse to acknowledge God and on those who refuse to respond to the Good News about our Lord Jesus.
• 1 John 3:1Consider this: The Father has given us his love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God’s dear children. And that’s what we are. For this reason the world doesn’t recognize us, and it didn’t recognize him either.
• Joshua 24:2Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Long ago your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and served other gods.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are made of silver and gold. They were made by human hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are made of silver and gold. They were made by human hands.
• Isaiah 44:9All who make idols are nothing. Their precious treasures are worthless. Their own witnesses do not see or know anything, so they will be put to shame.
• Jeremiah 10:3The religion of the people is worthless. Woodcutters cut down trees from the forest. The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes.

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