Galatians 4:15

Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. WHERE ... - Where now is to be found your former felicitation [ tis (G5100) - ho (G3588) makarismos (G3108)] of yourselves, on your having among you the blessing of my ministry, considering how entirely you have veered about since? ['Aleph (') A B C G g, Vulgate, read pou (G4226), where; Delta, tis (G5100), 'of what value?'] Ye would have plucked out your...

15._Where is there your blessedness? _Paul had made them happy, and he intimates that the pious affection with which they formerly regarded him was an expression of their happiness. But now, by allowing themselves to be deprived of the services of him to whom they ought to have attributed whatever knowledge they possessed of Christ, they gave evidence that they were unhappy. This hint was intended to produce keen reflection. “What? Shall all this be lost? Will you forfeit all the advantage of having once heard Christ speaking by my lips? Shall the foundation in the faith which you received from me be to no purpose? Shall your falling away now destroy the glory of your obedience in the presence of God?” In short, by despising the pure doctrine which they had embraced, they throw away, of their own accord, the _blessedness _which they had obtained, and draw down upon themselves the destruc...

12-18 The apostle desires that they would be of one mind with him respecting the law of Moses, as well as united with him in love. In reproving others, we should take care to convince them that our reproofs are from sincere regard to the honour of God and religion and their welfare. The apostle reminds the Galatians of the difficulty under which he laboured when he first came among them. But he notices, that he was a welcome messenger to them. Yet how very uncertain are the favour and respect of men! Let us labour to be accepted of God. You once thought yourselves happy in receiving the gospel; have you now reason to think otherwise? Christians must not forbear speaking the truth, for fear of offending others. The false teachers who drew the Galatians from the truth of the gospel were designing men. They pretended affection, but they were not sincere and upright. An excellent rule is gi...

Verse 15. _WHERE IS THEN THE BLESSEDNESS YE SPAKE OF?_] _Ye spake_ _of_ should be in italics, there being no corresponding word in the Greek text. Perhaps there is not a sentence in the New Testament more variously translated than this. I shall give the original: τις ουν ην ὁ μακαρισμος ὑμων· _What was then your blessedness_! Or, _How great was your happiness at that time_! Or, _What blessings_ _did ye then pour on me_! It is worthy of remark, that, instead of τις, _what_, ABCFG, several others, the older _Syriac_, the later _Syriac_ in the _margin_, the _Armenian, Vulgate_, one copy of the _Itala_, and some of the _fathers_, have που, _where_; and ην, _was_, is omitted by ACD, several others, also the _Vulgate, Itala_, and the _Latin fathers_. According to these authorities the text should be read thus: _Where then is your blessedness_? Having renounced the Gospel, you have...

WHERE IS THEN THE BLESSEDNESS - Margin, “What was” - in accordance with the Greek. The words “ye spake of” are not in the Greek, and should have been printed in italics. But they obscure the sense at any rate. This is not to be regarded as a question, asking what had become of the blessedness, implying that it had departed; but it is rather to be regarded as an exclamation, referring to the happiness of that moment, and their affection and joy when they thus received him. “What blessedness you had then! How happy was that moment! What tenderness of affection! What overflowing joy!” It was a time full of joy, and love, and affectionate confidence. So Tyndale well renders it, “How happy were ye then!” In this interpretation, Doddridge, Rosenmuller, Bloomfield, Koppe, Chandler, and others concur. Locke renders it, “What benedictions did you then pour out on me!” FOR I BEAR YOU RECORD - I t...

EXPOSITION GALATIANS 4:1 NOW I SAY (λέγω δέ). A form of expression usual with the apostle when introducing a new statement designed either to explain or elucidate something before said (of. Galatians 3:17; Galatians 5:16; Romans 15:8, according to the Received Text; 1 Corinthians 1:12. So τοῦτο δέ φημι, 1 Corinthians 7:29;...

WHERE IS THEN THE BLESSEDNESS YOU SPAKE OF?.... Or, as some copies read, "what was then your blessedness?" what, and how great was it? meaning, when the Gospel was first preached to them by him; when Christ was revealed to them as God's salvation; when the doctrines of free justification by the righteousness of Christ, and full pardon by his atonement and satisfaction by his sacrifice, were published among them; when the love of God was shed abroad in their hearts, and the Spirit of Christ was sent thither, crying "Abba", Father: but, alas! where was this blessedness now, since they were turning to the weak and beggarly elements of the ceremonial law, and were inclined to observe its ordinances, and bring themselves hereby into a state of bondage? They were happy persons while under the ministry of the apostle; as a Gospel ministry is a great happiness to any that enjoy it; for this is t...

Galatians 4:1. _Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons._ Like little children, the Jewish believers were under the law. They observed this ceremony and that, just as children, even though they may be heirs to vast estates, yet, while they are in their minority, are under tutors and governors. But now in Christ we have come of age, and we have done with those school-books and that tutorship, and we have received the adoption of sons. Now, we have joy and peace in belie

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Under the law in the state of minority. (Galatians 4:1)_ 2. The Son revealed to redeem. (Galatians 4:4) 3. Because ye are Sons; the Spirit of Sonship. (Galatians 4:6) 4. The backsliding Galatians. (Galatians 4:8) 5. The sons of the bondwoman and of the free woman. (Galatians 4:21) Jewish believers were, before Christ had died, the children of God, and as such they did not differ from servants. They were in a state of minority, as children who do not know the father's thoughts, nor cou

An affectionate paragraph, reminding the Galatians how he had conformed in every legitimate way (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:19 ff.) to their customs, and begging them not to desert his faith. In the past, he and they had been good friends. His humiliating illness (epilepsy according to Lightfoot, malaria according to Ramsay, see p. 769. This attack is recorded nowhere else. His illness _may_ be the stake in flesh of 2 Corinthians 12:7 *), which either drove him at the first into their country or at the least prolonged his (original) visit, had not proved offensive to them: they saw in him an angel (_cf._ Galatians 1:8), nay (observe the climax, _cf._...