4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. 3
1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your 4 minds 5 as expressed through 6 your evil deeds,
1:1 From Paul, 7 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
4:4 Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? 9 So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.
1 tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”
2 tn Or “covenants of the promise.”
3 tn Grk “those that by nature…” with the word “beings” implied. BDAG 1070 s.v. φύσις 2 sees this as referring to pagan worship: “Polytheists worship…beings that are by nature no gods at all Gal 4:8.”
4 tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
5 tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.
6 tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.
7 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
8 tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).
9 tn Grk “is hostility toward God.”