Galatians 4:8

Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law

4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. ¹ 

Galatians 4:29

4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent ²  persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, ³  so it is now.

Galatians 6:4

6:4 Let each one examine ⁴  his own work. Then he can take pride ⁵  in himself and not compare himself with ⁶  someone else.

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 Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.

³ tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”

³ tn Or “determine the genuineness of.”

⁴ tn Grk “he will have a reason for boasting.”

⁵ tn Or “and not in regard to.” The idea of comparison is implied in the context.