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 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 forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9But 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? 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 5:2And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
• Jeremiah 10:25Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You, And on the families who do not call on Your name; For they have eaten up Jacob, Devoured him and consumed him, And made his dwelling place desolate.
• John 1:10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
• Acts 17:23for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
• Romans 1:28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
• Ephesians 2:11Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—
• Ephesians 4:18having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
• 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1 John 3:1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
• Joshua 24:2And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; 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 44:9Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
• Jeremiah 10:3For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

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
• Doubt
• Flesh
• Observe
• Zealously
• Entangle
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Gods
• Natural; Nature
• Service

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