Galatians 4:9

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Νῦν δὲ, γνόντες Θεόν, μᾶλλον δὲ γνωσθέντες ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, πῶς ἐπιστρέφετε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ καὶ πτωχὰ στοιχεῖα, οἷς πάλιν ἄνωθεν δουλεύειν θέλετε;

Transliteration

Now de, having gnontes Theon, rather de having been gnōsthentes hypo Theou, how epistrephete palin epi the asthenē and ptōcha stoicheia, to which palin anōthen douleuein thelete?

Grammar Details

• *de*: postpositive particle - but/and
• *gnontes*: aorist active participle, nominative, masculine, plural - having known/come to know
• *Theon*: accusative, masculine, singular - God
• *gnōsthentes*: aorist passive participle, nominative, masculine, plural - having been known
• *hypo*: preposition with genitive - by/under
• *Theou*: genitive, masculine, singular - God
• *epistrephete*: present indicative active, 2nd person plural - you return/turn back
• *palin*: adverb - again/once more
• *epi*: preposition with accusative - to/toward
• *asthenē*: accusative, neuter, plural - weak/feeble
• *ptōcha*: accusative, neuter, plural - poor/destitute
• *stoicheia*: accusative, neuter, plural - elements/principles
• *anōthen*: adverb - again/from the beginning
• *douleuein*: present infinitive active - to serve/be enslaved
• *thelete*: present indicative active, 2nd person plural - you wish/desire

Word Meanings

• *gnontes*: having known/come to know/recognized
• *gnōsthentes*: having been known/recognized/acknowledged
• *epistrephete*: you return/turn back/convert
• *asthenē*: weak/feeble/impotent
• *ptōcha*: poor/destitute/beggarly
• *stoicheia*: elements/rudiments/principles/basic components
• *anōthen*: again/from the beginning/from above
• *douleuein*: to serve as slaves/be enslaved to/be in bondage to
• *thelete*: you wish/desire/want

Referenced Verses

• 1 Cor 8:3 : 3 but if any man loveth God, the same is known by him.
• Gal 3:3 : 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh?
• Heb 7:18 : 18 For there is {G3303} a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness
• Rom 8:3 : 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
• Rom 8:29 : 29 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
• Heb 10:38-39 : 38 But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul.
• 2 Pet 2:20 : 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.
• 1 John 2:3-4 : 3 And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
• 1 John 5:20 : 20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
• Eph 1:17 : 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
• Col 2:20-23 : 20 {G3767} If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, 21 Handle not, nor taste, nor touch 22 (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; [but are] not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.
• 2 Tim 2:19 : 19 Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.
• 1 Cor 13:12 : 12 For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.
• 1 Cor 15:34 : 34 Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak [this] to move you to shame.
• 2 Cor 4:6 : 6 Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
• Exod 33:17 : 17 And Jehovah said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found favor in my sight, and I know thee by name.
• 1 Kgs 8:43 : 43 hear thou in heaven thy dwelling - place, and do according to all that the foreigner calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by my name.
• 1 Chr 28:9 : 9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
• Ps 1:6 : 6 For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish.
• Ps 9:10 : 10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; For thou, Jehovah, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
• Prov 2:5 : 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, And find the knowledge of God.
• Jer 31:34 : 34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
• Hab 2:14 : 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
• Matt 11:27 : 27 All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knows the Son, save the Father; neither does any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomever the Son willeth to reveal him.
• John 10:14 : 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me,
• John 10:27 : 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
• John 17:3 : 3 And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, [even] Jesus Christ.