Galatians 4:8

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν, οὐκ εἰδότες Θεὸν, ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς μὴ φύσει οὖσι θεοῖς.

Transliteration

But tote men, not eidotes Theon, you edouleusate to those not physei ousi theois

Grammar Details

• *tote*: adverb - then/at that time
• *men*: particle - indeed/on the one hand
• *eidotes*: perfect active participle, nominative, masculine, plural - knowing
• *Theon*: accusative, masculine, singular - God
• *edouleusate*: aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural - you served as slaves
• *physei*: dative, feminine, singular - by nature
• *ousi*: present participle, dative, masculine, plural - being/existing
• *theois*: dative, masculine, plural - gods

Word Meanings

• *tote*: then/at that time/formerly
• *eidotes*: knowing/having known
• *edouleusate*: you served as slaves/were enslaved to
• *physei*: by nature/inherently/in reality
• *ousi*: being/existing
• *theois*: gods/deities

Referenced Verses

• 1 Cor 1:21 : 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.
• 1 Thess 4:5 : 5 not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.
• 2 Thess 1:8 : 8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
• 1 Cor 8:4 : 4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that“an idol in this world is nothing,” and that“there is no God but one.”
• 2 Chr 13:9 : 9 But you banished the LORD’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!
• Isa 37:19 : 19 They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.
• Eph 2:11-12 : 11 New Life Corporately Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh– who are called“uncircumcision” by the so-called“circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands– 12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
• 1 Thess 1:9 : 9 For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
• Eph 4:18 : 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
• 1 Pet 4:3 : 3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries.
• 1 John 3:1 : 1 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children– and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.
• Isa 44:9-9 : 9 All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame. 10 Who forms a god and casts an idol that will prove worthless? 11 Look, all his associates will be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere humans. Let them all assemble and take their stand! They will panic and be put to shame. 12 A blacksmith works with his tool and forges metal over the coals. He forms it with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; he drinks no water and gets tired. 13 A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine. 14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire– over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says,‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’ 18 They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. 19 No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:‘I burned half of it in the fire– yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 20 He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say,‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’
• Jer 2:11 : 11 Has a nation ever changed its gods(even though they are not really gods at all)? But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, for a god that cannot help them at all!
• Jer 10:3-9 : 3 For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. 4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold. He uses hammer and nails to fasten it together so that it will not fall over. 5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot talk. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them because they cannot hurt you. And they do not have any power to help you.” 6 I said,“There is no one like you, LORD. You are great. And you are renowned for your power. 7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, because you deserve to be revered. For there is no one like you among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. 8 The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! 9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish and gold is brought from Ufaz to cover those idols. They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. They are all made by skillful workers. 10 The LORD is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury. 11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:‘These gods did not make heaven and earth. They will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens.’ 12 The LORD is the one who by his power made the earth. He is the one who by his wisdom established the world. And by his understanding he spread out the skies. 13 When his voice thunders, the heavenly ocean roars. He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain. He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. 14 All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols. 15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed. 16 The LORD, who is the inheritance of Jacob’s descendants, is not like them. He is the one who created everything. And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. His name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.”
• Jer 10:25 : 25 Vent your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you. Vent it on the peoples who do not worship you. For they have destroyed the people of Jacob. They have completely destroyed them and left their homeland in utter ruin.
• John 1:10 : 10 He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him.
• Acts 14:12 : 12 They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
• Acts 17:23 : 23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you.
• Acts 17:29-30 : 29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by human skill and imagination. 30 Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent,
• Rom 1:23 : 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
• Rom 1:28 : 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.
• Ps 115:4-8 : 4 Their idols are made of silver and gold– they are man-made. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, 6 ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell, 7 hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot even clear their throats. 8 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
• Ps 135:15-18 : 15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold, they are man-made. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, 17 and ears, but cannot hear. Indeed, they cannot breathe. 18 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
• Exod 5:2 : 2 But Pharaoh said,“Who is the LORD that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the LORD, and I will not release Israel!”
• Josh 24:2 : 2 Joshua told all the people,“This is what the LORD God of Israel has said:‘In the distant past your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped other gods,
• Josh 24:15 : 15 If you have no desire to worship the LORD, choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the LORD.
• 1 Cor 10:19-20 : 19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? 20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.
• 1 Cor 12:2 : 2 You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led.