Galatians · Geneva Bible (1599)
Galatians 4 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Original 16th-century spelling.
1 Then I say, that the heire as long as hee is a childe, differeth nothing from a seruant, though he be Lord of all,
1 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all,
2 But is vnder tutours and gouernours, vntil the time appointed of the Father.
2 but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.
3 Euen so, we when wee were children, were in bondage vnder the rudiments of the world.
3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.
4 But when the fulnesse of time was come, God sent forth his Sonne made of a woman, and made vnder the Lawe,
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
5 That hee might redeeme them which were vnder the Law, that we might receiue the adoption of the sonnes.
5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children.
6 And because ye are sonnes, God hath sent foorth the Spirit of his Sonne into your heartes, which crieth, Abba, Father.
6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
7 Wherefore, thou art no more a seruant, but a sonne: now if thou be a sone, thou art also the heire of God through Christ.
7 So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
8 But euen then, when ye knewe not God, yee did seruice vnto them, which by nature are not gods:
8 However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.
9 But now seeing ye knowe God, yea, rather are knowen of God, howe turne ye againe vnto impotent and beggerly rudiments, whereunto as from the beginning ye wil be in bondage againe?
9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
10 Ye obserue dayes, and moneths, and times and yeeres.
10 You observe days, months, seasons, and years.
11 I am in feare of you, lest I haue bestowed on you labour in vaine.
11 I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
12 Be ye as I (for I am euen as you) brethren, I beseech you: ye haue not hurt me at all.
12 I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,
13 And ye know, how through infirmitie of the flesh, I preached ye Gospel vnto you at the first.
13 but you know that because of weakness in the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time.
14 And the trial of me which was in my flesh, ye despised not, neither abhorred: but ye receiued me as an Angel of God, yea, as Christ Iesus.
14 That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn’t despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
15 What was then your felicitie? for I beare you recorde, that if it had bene possible, ye would haue plucked out your owne eyes, and haue giuen them vnto me.
15 What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
16 Am I therefore become your enemie, because I tell you the trueth?
16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17 They are ielous ouer you amisse: yea, they woulde exclude you, that ye shoulde altogether loue them.
17 They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them.
18 But it is a good thing to loue earnestly alwayes in a good thing, and not onely when I am present with you,
18 But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.
19 My litle children, of whome I trauaile in birth againe, vntill Christ be formed in you.
19 My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you—
20 And I would I were with you nowe, that I might change my voyce: for I am in doubt of you.
20 but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
21 Tell me, ye that will be vnder the Law, doe ye not heare the Lawe?
21 Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sonnes, one by a seruant, and one by a free woman.
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman.
23 But he which was of the seruant, was borne after the flesh: and he which was of the free woman, was borne by promise.
23 However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.
24 By the which things another thing is meant: for these mothers are the two testaments, the one which is Agar of mount Sina, which gendreth vnto bondage.
24 These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.
25 (For Agar or Sina is a mountaine in Arabia, and it answereth to Hierusalem which nowe is) and she is in bondage with her children.
25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.
26 But Hierusalem, which is aboue, is free: which is the mother of vs all.
26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Reioyce thou barren that bearest no children: breake forth, and cry, thou that trauailest not: for the desolate hath many moe children, then she which hath an husband.
27 For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you who don’t travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband.”
28 Therefore, brethren, wee are after the maner of Isaac, children of the promise.
28 Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
29 But as then hee that was borne after the flesh, persecuted him that was borne after the Spirit, euen so it is nowe.
29 But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
30 But what sayth the Scripture? Put out the seruant and her sonne: for the sonne of the seruant shall not be heire with the sonne of the free woman.
30 However, what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman.”
31 Then brethren, we are not children of the seruant, but of the free woman.
31 So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman.
Cross references (30)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Galatians 4:23; Galatians 4:29; Genesis 24:2–3
- 3 Colossians 2:20; Colossians 2:8; Galatians 4:9; Galatians 2:4; Galatians 4:31–5:1
- 4 Isaiah 7:14; Mark 1:15; Romans 1:3; John 1:14; Matthew 1:23
- 5 Hebrews 9:15; Ephesians 1:5; 1 Peter 1:18–20; Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 3:13
- 6 Romans 8:15–17; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Ephesians 2:18
- 7 Galatians 3:29–4:2; Romans 8:16–17; Galatians 3:26; 1 Corinthians 3:21–23; Galatians 4:5–6
- 8 1 Corinthians 8:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:5; Ephesians 2:11–12; 1 Corinthians 10:19–20
- 9 1 Corinthians 8:3; Galatians 3:3; Romans 8:3; 1 John 5:20; 2 Peter 2:20
- 10 Colossians 2:16–17; Romans 14:5; Leviticus 23:1–44; Numbers 28:1–29; Leviticus 25:13
- 11 1 Thessalonians 3:5; Philippians 2:16; 2 John 8; Galatians 2:2; Galatians 4:20
- 12 2 Corinthians 2:5; 1 Kings 22:4; 1 Corinthians 9:20–23; Genesis 34:15; Galatians 6:14
- 13 1 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 12:7–10; 2 Corinthians 11:30; 2 Corinthians 10:10; Galatians 1:6
- 14 Matthew 10:40; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 13:2; 2 Samuel 19:27; 2 Corinthians 5:20
- 15 Romans 5:2; Colossians 4:13; 1 John 3:16–18; Romans 9:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:13
- 16 Amos 5:10; Proverbs 9:8; John 8:45; Galatians 5:7; Psalm 141:5
- 17 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; Romans 16:18; 2 Peter 2:3; Matthew 23:15; 1 Corinthians 4:8
- 18 Philippians 2:12; Revelation 3:19; Philippians 1:27; Psalm 119:139; 1 Corinthians 15:58
- 19 Ephesians 4:13; Romans 13:14; Romans 8:29; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 4:12
- 20 1 Thessalonians 2:17–18; 1 Corinthians 4:19–21; 1 Thessalonians 3:9
- 21 Galatians 3:10; Romans 3:19; Matthew 22:29–32; Galatians 3:23–24; Galatians 4:9
- 22 Genesis 16:15; Genesis 21:10; Genesis 21:1–2; Genesis 16:2–4
- 23 Hebrews 11:11; Romans 9:7–8; Genesis 21:1–2; Genesis 18:10–14; Galatians 4:28–29
- 24 Genesis 21:9–13; Hosea 11:10; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 10:15–18; Hebrews 12:24
- 25 Matthew 23:37; Galatians 1:17; Psalm 68:17; Psalm 68:8; Deuteronomy 33:2
- 26 Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2; Philippians 3:20; Micah 4:1–2; Revelation 3:12
- 27 Isaiah 54:1–5; Psalm 113:9; Ruth 4:14–16; 1 Samuel 2:5; 1 Timothy 5:5
- 28 Galatians 4:23; Romans 9:8–9; Romans 4:13–18; Galatians 3:29; Acts 3:25
- 29 Genesis 21:9; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15; Galatians 4:23
- 30 Genesis 21:10–12; John 8:35; Romans 8:15–17; Galatians 3:22; Romans 4:3
- 31 Galatians 5:13; Galatians 5:1; John 8:36; John 1:12–13; 1 John 3:1–2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… in what sense [God] says, "That is a people who was not a people; and she is beloved who was not beloved;" and in what sense He says that "more are the children of her that was desolate, than of her who possessed a husband." For in reference to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: …
For she had "been the wife of one man," had requited her parents, had guided her house piously, was "well-reported of for good works," had "brought up children," as often travailing in birth of them as she saw them swerving from Thee.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For that He did come forth of the Virgin's flesh, He hath declared by speaking of "that which was conceived in her;" and Paul, by saying, "made of a woman;" whereby he stops the mouths of them that say, Christ came among us as through some conduit.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
For God sent forth His Son, says Paul, not made of a man and a woman, but made of a woman only, that is of a virgin.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… (di' ou) ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son," and "Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by (dia) the will of God;" and again, "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God." And "like as Christ was raised up from the dead by (dia) the glory of …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)