Galatians 4:1-2

4:1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, ¹  is no different from a slave, though he is the owner ²  of everything. 4:2 But he is under guardians ³  and managers until the date set by his ⁴  father.

Galatians 4:5-6

4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. ⁵  4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls ⁶  “Abba! ⁷  Father!”

Galatians 4:31--5:1

4:31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, ⁸  we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ⁹  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ¹⁰  of slavery.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Grk “a small child.” The Greek term νήπιος (nhpios) refers to a young child, no longer a helpless infant but probably not more than three or four years old (L&N 9.43). The point in context, though, is that this child is too young to take any responsibility for the management of his assets.

[4:1]  ² tn Grk “master” or “lord” (κύριος, kurios).

[4:2]  ³ tn The Greek term translated “guardians” here is ἐπίτροπος (epitropo"), whose semantic domain overlaps with that of παιδαγωγός (paidagwgo") according to L&N 36.5.

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[4:5]  ⁵ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”

[4:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “calling.” The participle is neuter indicating that the Spirit is the one who calls.

[4:6]  ⁷ tn The term “Abba” is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic אַבָּא (’abba’), literally meaning “my father” but taken over simply as “father,” used in prayer and in the family circle, and later taken over by the early Greek-speaking Christians (BDAG 1 s.v. ἀββα).

[4:31]  ⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ¹⁰ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.