Passage

Galatians 4.9-11

Book: Galatians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. 8. Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods:"

"9. 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? 10. Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. 11. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain."

"12. I beseech you, brethren, become as I am, for I also am become as ye are. Ye did me no wrong: 13. but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the first time:" (Galatians 4:7-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8. However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods."

"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. You observe days, months, seasons, and years. 11. I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you."

"12. I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong, 13. but you know that because of weakness of the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time." (Galatians 4:7-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods."

"9. But 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? ^{turn ye again: or, turn ye back} ^{elements: or, rudiments} 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."

"12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 13. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first." (Galatians 4:7-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. so that thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ. 8. But then, indeed, not having known God, ye were in servitude to those not by nature gods,"

"9. and now, having known God, and rather being known by God, how turn ye again unto the weak and poor elements to which anew ye desire to be in servitude? 10. days ye observe, and months, and times, and years! 11. I am afraid of you, lest in vain I did labour toward you."

"12. Become as I [am], because I also [am] as ye brethren, I beseech you; to me ye did no hurt, 13. and ye have known that through infirmity of the flesh I did proclaim good news to you at the first," (Galatians 4:7-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.