Galatians 4:1

1 Here is what I have been saying. As long as your own children are young, they are no different from slaves in your house. They are no different, even though they own all of the property.

Galatians 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Galatians 4:1

Now I say
To illustrate what he had said of the law's being a schoolmaster to the Jews until the coming of Christ, and then ceasing as such, he proposes the case of an heir during his minority, till he come to the proper time of enjoying his estate.

that the heir, as long as he is a child;
anyone that is an heir to his father's estate, or another's, whilst under age, being reckoned as a child, as he is from his infancy to his manhood,

differeth nothing from a servant:
he is not his own man, nor at his own dispose; he cannot do as he pleases; he is under restraint; he is kept to school or to business, and is liable to correction and chastisement according as he behaves; nor can he have the free use of his father's estate,

though he be Lord of all,
of all the servants, according to the Arabic version; or of the whole estate his father left him, of which he is Lord in right, but not in possession; he is right heir to it, though as yet it is not in his hands, nor can he do with it as he will.

Galatians 4:1 In-Context

1 Here is what I have been saying. As long as your own children are young, they are no different from slaves in your house. They are no different, even though they own all of the property.

2 They are under the care of guardians and those who manage the property. They are under their care until the time when their fathers give them the property.

3 It is the same with us. When we were children, we were slaves to the basic things the people of the world believe.

4 But then the right time came. God sent his Son. A woman gave birth to him. He was born under the authority of the law.

5 He came to set free those who were under the law. He wanted us to be adopted as children with all the rights children have.