Revised Webster's Bible
Galatians 4:8
8However then, when ye knew not God, ye did service to them which by nature are no gods.
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 ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7Therefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. However then, when ye knew not God, ye did service to them which by nature are no gods. 9But now, after ye have known God, or rather are known by God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which ye desire again to be in bondage? 10Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:8 word by word
Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς φύσει μὴ οὖσιν θεοῖς·Read the interlinear
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 know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
- Jeremiah 10:25Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
- John 1:10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
- Acts 17:23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I 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 proper;
- 1 Corinthians 1:21For when in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
- Ephesians 2:11Therefore remember, that yebeing in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
- Ephesians 4:18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5Not in the lust of passion, even as the Gentiles who know not God:
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
- 1 John 3:1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
- Joshua 24:2And Joshua said to all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river of old, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: 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 heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- Isaiah 44:9They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 10:3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
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
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
Revised Webster's Bible — 1833 — Public Domain
Commentaries