Galatians 4:9

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?
• New International Version (NIV)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?
• 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?

Context of Galatians 4:9

7Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. 8Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 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? 10You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.

Galatians 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 where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.
• 1 Chronicles 28:9“And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
• Psalms 9:10Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.
• Proverbs 2:5Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.
• Jeremiah 31:34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
• Habakkuk 2:14For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.
• Matthew 11:27“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
• John 17:3And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.
• 1 Corinthians 15:34Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
• 2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
• Ephesians 1:17asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
• 2 Peter 2:20And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.
• 1 John 2:3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.
• 1 John 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.
• Exodus 33:17The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”
• Psalms 1:6For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path 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

• Backsliders
• God Continued...
• Instability
• Wisdom
• Works

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Beg
• Doubt
• Elements
• Flesh
• Observe
• Zealously
• Beggarly
• Bondage

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