Tree of Life Version
Galatians 4:9
9But now you have come to know God—or rather you have come to be known by God. So how can you turn back again to those weak and worthless principles? Do you want to be enslaved to 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?
- 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
7So you are no longer a slave but a son—and if a son, also an heir through God. 8But at that time, when you did not know God, you served those who by nature are not gods at all. But now you have come to know God—or rather you have come to be known by God. So how can you turn back again to those weak and worthless principles? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 10You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain!
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 may you hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of You. So all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You as Your people Israel do, and know that this House that I have built is called by Your Name.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9“Now you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for Adonai searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
- Psalms 9:10Adonai is a stronghold for the oppressed, a high tower in times of trouble.
- Proverbs 2:5then you will know the fear of Adonai and discover the knowledge of God.
- Jeremiah 31:34Thus says Adonai, who gives the sun as a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars as a light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:
- Habakkuk 2:14For the earth will be filled with knowing the glory of Adonai, as the waters cover the sea.
- Matthew 11:27“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
- John 17:3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah, the One You sent.
- 1 Corinthians 15:34Come to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Messiah.
- Ephesians 1:17that the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, our glorious Father, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in knowing Him.
- 2 Peter 2:20For if—after escaping the world’s pollutions through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah—they again become entangled in these things and are overcome, the end for them has become worse than the beginning.
- 1 John 2:3Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments.
- 1 John 5:20And we know that Ben-Elohim has come and given us insight, so that we may know Him who is true—and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Yeshua the Messiah. This One is the true God and eternal life.
- Exodus 33:17Adonai answered Moses, “I will also do what you have said, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”
- Psalms 1:6For Adonai knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
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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