Galatians 4:1

1 And I saye that the heyre as longe as he is a chylde differth not from a servaunt though he be Lorde of all

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 And I saye that the heyre as longe as he is a chylde differth not from a servaunt though he be Lorde of all
2 but is vnder tuters and governers vntill the tyme appoynted of the father.
3 Even so we as longe as we were chyldren were in bondage vnder the ordinaunces of the worlde.
4 But when the tyme was full come God sent his sonne borne of a woman and made bonde vnto ye lawe
5 to redeme the which were vnder the lawe: yt we thorow eleccion myght receave the inheritauce yt belongeth vnto the naturall sonnes.
The Tyndale Bible is in the public domain.