Now {1} I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

(1) He declares by another twofold similitude, that which he said before concerning the keeper and schoolmaster. For, he says, the Law (that is, the whole government of God's house according to the Law) was as it were a tutor or overseer appointed for a time. And when that protection and overseeing which was but for a time is ended, we would at length come to be at our own liberty, and would live as children, and not as servants. Moreover, he shows along the way, that the governance of the Law was as it were the basics, and as certain principles, in comparison with the doctrine of the Gospel.

People's New Testament

4:1 The Two Covenants

SUMMARY OF GALATIANS 4:

Children, While Minors, Not Free. So the Israelites Under the Bondage of the Law Until Christ Came. Christ Frees from This Bondage. The Folly of Gentiles Seeking This Bondage. How the Galatians Had Once Welcomed the Gospel. The Two Covenants, Hagar, and Sarah, and Their Significance.

That the heir, as long as he is a child. Paul speaks of heirs in Ga 3:29. He now shows why the bondage of the Jewish law preceded the gospel. Even an heir is not free when a child.

Differeth nothing from a servant. It is needful that he be controlled, even as though he were a servant.

Wesley's Notes

4:1 Now - To illustrate by a plain similitude the preeminence of the Christian, over the legal, dispensation. The heir, as long as he is a child - As he is under age. Differeth nothing from a servant - Not being at liberty either to use or enjoy his estate. Though he be lord - Proprietor of it all.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 4

Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospel Liberty.

1-7. The fact of God's sending His Son to redeem us who were under the law (Ga 4:4), and sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Ga 4:6), confirms the conclusion (Ga 3:29) that we are "heirs according to the promise."

the heir-(Ga 3:29). It is not, as in earthly inheritances, the death of the father, but our Father's sovereign will simply that makes us heirs.

child-Greek, "one under age."

differeth nothing, &c.-that is, has no more freedom than a slave (so the Greek for "servant" means). He is not at his own disposal.

lord of all-by title and virtual ownership (compare 1Co 3:21, 22).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:1-7 The apostle deals plainly with those who urged the law of Moses together with the gospel of Christ, and endeavoured to bring believers under its bondage. They could not fully understand the meaning of the law as given by Moses. And as that was a dispensation of darkness, so of bondage; they were tied to many burdensome rites and observances, by which they were taught and kept subject like a child under tutors and governors. We learn the happier state of Christians under the gospel dispensation. From these verses see the wonders of Divine love and mercy; particularly of God the Father, in sending his Son into the world to redeem and save us; of the Son of God, in submitting so low, and suffering so much for us; and of the Holy Spirit, in condescending to dwell in the hearts of believers, for such gracious purposes. Also, the advantages Christians enjoy under the gospel. Although by nature children of wrath and disobedience, they become by grace children of love, and partake of the nature of the children of God; for he will have all his children resemble him. Among men the eldest son is heir; but all God's children shall have the inheritance of eldest sons. May the temper and conduct of sons ever show our adoption; and may the Holy Spirit witness with our spirits that we are children and heirs of God.