Galatians 4

Galatians · Chapter 4

Galatians 4:19

1Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;2But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.8Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.9But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?10Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.11I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.12Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.13Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.14And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.15Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?17They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.18But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.19My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,20I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.21Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?22For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.23But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.24Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.25For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.26But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.27For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.28Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.29But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.30Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.31So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
19My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you—

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Galatians 4:8-20Paul's plea to the Galatians

About Galatians 4An heir under age is no different from a servant, and so "we, when we were children, were in bondage," but "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Paul pleads with the Galatians not to turn back to "weak and beggarly elements," recalls how they once received him "as an angel of God," and travails for them "until Christ be formed in you." He then sets out an allegory of Abraham's two sons: Agar the bondwoman stands for mount Sinai and "Jerusalem which now is," but "Jerusalem which is above is free," and "we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." Galatians 4:1Galatians 4:3Galatians 4:4Galatians 4:5Galatians 4:9Galatians 4:14Galatians 4:19Galatians 4:22Galatians 4:24Galatians 4:25Galatians 4:26Galatians 4:31

Who, where and when in this chapter

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
ChildrenτέκναteknaG5043
child

τέκνον (teknon) τέκνον, -ου, τό (τίκτω), [in LXX chiefly for בֵּן, also for יֶלֶד, etc. ;] that which is begotten, born (cf. Scottish bairn), a child of either sex: Mrk.13:12, Luk.1:7, Act.7:5; pl., Mat.7:11, Mrk.7:27, Luk.1:17, Eph.6:1, al.; τέκνα ἐπαγγελίας, Rom.9:8; τ. τῆς σαρκός, ib.; in a wider sense (as Heb. בָּנִים), of posterity, Mat.2:18, Luk.3:8, al.; specif., of a male child, Mat.21:28, Act.21:21, a,l.; in voc. as a form of kindly address from an elder to a junior or from a teacher to a disciple, Mat.9:2 21:28, Mrk.2:5, Luk.2:48; τ. μου (= cl. τ. μοι; see Bl., §37, 5), Gal.4:19 (τεκνία, WH, txt.) …

of mine,μου,mouG3165
me

μέ (me) 1. apostrophe for με. 2. rarely for μοι, (Homer) (ML)

of whomοὓςhousG3739
which

ὅς (hos, hē) ὅς, ἥ, ὅ, the postpositive article (ἄρθρον ὑποτακτικόν). I. As demonstr. pron. = οὗτος, ὅδε, this, that, also for αὐτός, chiefly in nom.: ὅς δέ, but he (cf. ἦ δὲ ὅς, frequently in Plat.), Mrk.15:23, Jhn.5:11; ὃς μὲν . . . ὃς δέ, the one . . . the other, Mat.21:35, 22:5, 25:15, Luk.23:33, Act.27:14, Rom.14:5, 1Co.11:21, 2Co.2:18, Ju 22; neut., ὃ μὲν . . . ὃ δέ, the one . . . the other, some . . . some, Mat.13:8, 23, Rom.9:21; ὃς (ὃ) μὲν . . . (ἄλλος (ἄλλο)) . . . ἕτερος, Mrk.4:4, Luk.8:5, 1Co.12:8-10; οὓς μέν, absol., 1Co.12:28; ὃς μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, Rom.14:2. …

againπάλινpalinG3825
again

πάλιν (palin) πάλιν, adv., [in LXX for שׁוּב, etc. ;] 1. of place, back, backwards (LS, see word). 2. Of time, again, once more: Mat.4:8, Mrk.2:13, Luk.23:20, Jhn.1:35 (and freq.), Act.17:32, Rom.11:23, Gal.1:9, Heb.1:6, al; pleonastically, π. ἀνακάμπτειν, Act.18:21; ὑποστρέφειν, Gal.1:17; εἰς τὸ π., 2Co.13:2; π. ἐκ τρίτου (Bl., §81, 4), Mat.26:44; ἐκ δευτέρου, Mat.26:42, Act.10:15; π. δεῦτερον, Jhn.4:54 21:16; π. ἄνωθεν ( Wis.19:6), Gal.4:9. 3. Rhetorically, again; (a) further, moreover: Mat.5:33, Luk.13:20, Jhn.12:39, al.; …

I travailὠδίνωōdinōG5605
be in labor

ὠδίνω (ōdinō) ὠδίνω [in LXX chiefly for חוּל, also for חָבַל pi., etc. ;] to have birthpangs, to travail: Gal.4:27 (LXX), Rev.12:2; metaphorically, Gal.4:19 (cf. συν-ωδίνω).† (AS)

untilμέχριςmechrisG3360
until

μέχρι (mechri) μέχρι (bef. consonants, exc. Luk.16:16, μέχρι Ἰωάνου) and μέχρις (bef. vowels, Mk, Ga, ll. with, Heb.12:4; see Bl., § 5, 4) 1. as prep., with genitive, as far as, even to, until; (a) of place: Rom.15:19; (b) of time : Mat.11:23 13:30 28:15, Luk.16:16, Act.10:30 20:7, Rom.5:14, 1Ti.6:14, Heb.3:6, 14 9:10; (with) of measure or degree : Php.2:8, 30, 2Ti.2:9, Heb.12:4 (μ. αἵματος, cf. 2Ma.13:14). …

thatοὗhouG3739
which

ὅς (hos, hē) ὅς, ἥ, ὅ, the postpositive article (ἄρθρον ὑποτακτικόν). I. As demonstr. pron. = οὗτος, ὅδε, this, that, also for αὐτός, chiefly in nom.: ὅς δέ, but he (cf. ἦ δὲ ὅς, frequently in Plat.), Mrk.15:23, Jhn.5:11; ὃς μὲν . . . ὃς δέ, the one . . . the other, Mat.21:35, 22:5, 25:15, Luk.23:33, Act.27:14, Rom.14:5, 1Co.11:21, 2Co.2:18, Ju 22; neut., ὃ μὲν . . . ὃ δέ, the one . . . the other, some . . . some, Mat.13:8, 23, Rom.9:21; ὃς (ὃ) μὲν . . . (ἄλλος (ἄλλο)) . . . ἕτερος, Mrk.4:4, Luk.8:5, 1Co.12:8-10; οὓς μέν, absol., 1Co.12:28; ὃς μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, Rom.14:2. …

may have been formedμορφωθῇmorphōthēaG3445
to form

μορφόω (morphoō) μορφόω, -ῶ (μορφή), [in Aq.: Isa.44:13 * ;] to form: figuratively, Gal.4:19 (cf. μετα-, συμ-μορφόω) (AS)

ChristΧριστὸςChristosG5547
Christ

Χριστός (Christos) χριστός (Χρ-), -ή, -όν (χρίω), [in LXX for מָשִׁיחַ and cogn. forms ;] 1. 1. as adj., (a) of things, anointing, to be used as ointment (Æsch., Eur., al.; τ. ἔλαιον τὸ χ., Lev.21:10); (b) of persons, anointed (ὁ ἰερεὺς ὁ χ., Lev.4:5; οἱ χ. ἰευρεῖς, 2Ma.1:10): ὁ χ. τοῦ κυρίου or Θεοῦ (1Ki.2:10, Psa.2:2, al.), of the Messiah (Aram., מְשִׁיחָא; cf. Dalman, Words, 289 ff.), Luk.2:11, 26 Jhn.1:41, Act.2:36 4:26, al. …

inἐνenG1722
in/on/among

ἐν (en) ἐν, prep, (the most frequently of all in NT), with dative (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, with abl.). I. Of place, with dative of thing(s), of person(s), in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Luk.7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mat.7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mat.12:40; τ. ὄρει, 2Pe.1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Rev.3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Rom.8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν Abbott-Smith has ὑμῖν., Luk.1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Gal.3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mat.12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103), Luk.2:49; trop., of the region of thought or feeling, ἐν τ. καρδίᾳ (-αις), Mat.5:28, 2Co.4:6, al.; τ. συνειδήσεσιν, 2Co.5:11; af …

you.ὑμῖν.huminG4771
you

σέ (se) αὐτός, -ή, -ό, determinative pron., in late Gk. much more frequently than in cl. (WM, 178f.; Jannaris, HGG, §1399). 1. Emphatic (so always in nom. exc. when preceded by the art., see infr., iii); (1) self (ipse), expressing opposition, distinction, exclusion, etc., αὐ. ἐκχυθήσεται, Luk.5:37; αὐ. ἐγινώσκεν, Jhn.2:25; αὐ.ὑμεῖς, Jhn.3:28; καὶ αὐ. ἐγώ, Rom.15:14; αὐ. Ἰησοῦς, Jhn.2:24; αὐ. καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, Mrk.2:25; ὑμεῖς αὐ., Mrk.6:31; esp. (as freq in cl.) αὐ. ὁ, Mat.3:4, Mrk.6:17, Jhn.16:27, 1Th.3:11, al.; in late Gk., sometimes weakened, ἐν αὐτῇ τ. ὥρᾳ, in that hour, Luk.10:21 (M, Pr., 91; …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.