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

6And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9So 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? 10You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or 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 5:2“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
• Jeremiah 10:25Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you— on the peoples that do not call upon your name. For they have devoured your people Israel; they have devoured and consumed them, making the land a desolate wilderness.
• John 1:10He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.
• Acts 17:23for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
• Romans 1:28Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.
• Ephesians 2:11Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
• Ephesians 4:18Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.
• 1 John 3:1See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.
• Joshua 24:2Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
• Isaiah 44:9How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame.
• Jeremiah 10:3Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

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