4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. 1 4:9 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 2 basic forces? 3 Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 4
1 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.”
2 tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.
3 tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.
4 tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.