King James Version · Under Rome
Galatians 4
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Now I say, That the , as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be of all; 2But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of . Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made , To them that were , that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, hath sent forth of his Son into your , crying, . Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an of through Christ. Howbeit then, when ye knew not , ye did unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known , or rather are known of , how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in . Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of I preached unto you at the first. And my which was in my ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as of , even as Christ . 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. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, ye that to be , do ye not hear ? For , that had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after ; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two ; the one from the , which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is in , and answereth to which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For , Rejoice, thou that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after persecuted him that was born after , even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the ? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.