New International Version
Galatians 4:9
9But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Galatians 4:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
- English Standard Version (ESV)But 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?
- New King James Version (NKJV)But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
- New Living Translation (NLT)So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?
Context of Galatians 4:9
7So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. 8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:9 word by word
νῦν δὲ γνόντες θεόν, μᾶλλον δὲ γνωσθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ, πῶς ἐπιστρέφετε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ καὶ πτωχὰ στοιχεῖα οἷς πάλιν ἄνωθεν δουλεύειν θέλετε;Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Butδέde · thenG1161
- nowνῦνnun · nowG3568
- after that ye have knownγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- ratherμᾶλλονmallon · more: ratherG3123
- ofὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
- howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
- turn yeἐπιστρέφωepistrephō · to turnG1994
- againπάλινpalin · againG3825
- toἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
- the weakἀσθενήςasthenēs · weakG772
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- beggarlyπτωχόςptōchos · poorG4434
- elementsστοιχεῖονstoicheion · principleG4747
- whereuntoὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- ye desireθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
- ·ἄνωθενanōthen · from above/againG509
- to be in bondageδουλεύωdouleuō · be a slaveG1398
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
Cross-references for Galatians 4:9
- 1 Kings 8:43then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
- Psalms 9:10Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
- Proverbs 2:5then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
- Jeremiah 31:34No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
- Habakkuk 2:14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
- Matthew 11:27“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
- John 17:3Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
- 1 Corinthians 15:34Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
- Ephesians 1:17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
- 2 Peter 2:20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
- 1 John 2:3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
- 1 John 5:20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- Exodus 33:17And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
- Psalms 1:6For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Commentaries on Galatians 4:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Now, after that ye have known God - After having been brought to the knowledge of God as your Savior. Or rather are known of God - Are approved of him, having received the adoption of sons. To the weak and beggarly elements - After receiving all this, will ye turn again to the ineffectual rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law - rites too weak to counteract your sinful habits, and too poor to purchase pardon and eternal life for you? If the Galatians were…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9But now - The sense is, that since they had been made free from their ignoble servitude in the worship of false gods, and had been admitted to the freedom found in the worship of the true God, it was absurd that they should return again to that which was truly slavery or bondage, the observance of the rites of the Jewish law. That ye have known God - The true God, and the ease and freedom of his service in the gospel. Or rather are known of God - The…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. 9Now that you know God: Christians have a relationship with God like a child with a parent, not like a slave with a master (4:5–7). how is it that you are turning back? Paul was confused that Christians would want to return to their old life of spiritual slavery (4:19–20). are known by God: God is the one who saves and has taken the initiative in understanding their souls and forgiving them freely (Psalm 139:1–6, 23–24; Luke 2:34–35; Hebrews 4:12). By…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 4:9
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
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