Galatians 4:2

4:2 But he is under guardians ¹  and managers until the date set by his ²  father.

Galatians 4:5

4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. ³ 

Galatians 4:21

An Appeal from Allegory

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? ⁴ 

Galatians 5:15

5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, ⁵  beware that you are not consumed ⁶  by one another.

[4:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[4:5]  ³ 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.”

[4:21]  ⁵ tn Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw) means “hear, listen to,” but by figurative extension it can also mean “obey.” It can also refer to the process of comprehension that follows hearing, and that sense fits the context well here.

[5:15]  ⁷ tn That is, “if you are harming and exploiting one another.” Paul’s metaphors are retained in most modern translations, but it is possible to see the meanings of δάκνω and κατεσθίω (daknw and katesqiw, L&N 20.26 and 88.145) as figurative extensions of the literal meanings of these terms and to translate them accordingly. The present tenses here are translated as customary presents (“continually…”).

[5:15]  ⁸ tn Or “destroyed.”