Galatians 4:3

We. Paul here speaks as a Jew (see on ch. 2:15). When he again addresses the Galatians he uses the pronoun “ye” (ch. 4:8-21). Finally, he speaks of himself as one with the Galatians (ch. 4:27-31; cf. on ch. 2:15, 17).

When we were children. That is, prior to the cross.

In bondage. Or, “in slavery to.” Throughout OT times the Jews were subject to “the law” (see on ch. 2:16) as a slave is subject to his master. God required them to comply with its precepts as a minor is expected to obey his guardians. How strange that the “foolish” Galatians aspired to return to that state of bondage (chs. 3:1; 4:9; 5:1). They could never find freedom from condemnation, which was all the law had to offer (ch. 3:13). Any today who trust to their own efforts for salvation are in the same state of bondage as the Jews of OT times and as the Galatians while subject to the Judaizers (see p. 933). Any self-imposed duty, or one demanded by ecclesiastical authority, results in spiritual bondage if it takes the place of faith in God and submission to His will.

Elements. Gr. stoicheia, at first meaning, “things arranged in rows”; later, “the alphabet,” because its letters were written in a row — the A B C’s. In a literal sense stoicheia came to mean the basic elements of which the world and the universe are composed (as in 2 Peter 3:10, 12); in a cosmological sense, the spirit beings of the universe (cf. Col. 2:15); and in a metaphorical sense, the rudiments of knowledge (Gal. 4:3, 9; Col. 2:8, 20). The words “even so” equate the statement of Gal. 4:3 with that of v. 2, and thus the “elements of the world” of v. 3 with the “tutors and governors” of v. 2 (see comment there). Paul here refers to the ceremonial system as a primer on religion and its precepts as elementary instruction concerning the plan of salvation. “The law” (see on ch. 2:16) was thus only the A B C’s of revealed truth, adapted to the understanding of spiritual children (see on chs. 3:24; 4:1). From Paul’s point of view the ceremonial system and its requirements now appeared childish, “weak,” and “beggarly” (v. 9). The ceremonial institutions were given by God to a very illiterate people, who had just come out of slavery. The sanctuary services were simplified so that their meaning could be comprehended. God never intended that the Jews should be satisfied with this elementary approach to the great theme of redemption. The services and sacrifices were but shadows, or symbols. They were never intended to take the place of true confession and forsaking of sin (see Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1, 4).

World. Gr. kosmos, here probably meaning the “world” of humanity, as in John 3:16, 17, 19; Rom. 5:12; 11:12; etc. The phrase “elements of the world” might thus be rendered, “rudimentary religious principles for the human race.”