Galatians 4
Epistle to the Galatians, chapter 4
Galatians 4 is the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle for the churches in Galatia, written between 49 and 58 CE. This chapter contains one of Paul's richest statements in Christology.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 31 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Papyrus 46 (~AD 200)
Codex Vaticanus (325–50)
Codex Sinaiticus (330–60)
Papyrus 99 (~400)
Codex Alexandrinus (400–40)
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; complete)
Codex Freerianus (~450; extant verses 8–10, 20–23)
Codex Claromontanus (~550)
Old Testament references
Galatians 4:27
Galatians 4:30: Genesis 21:10
The Sending of the Son (4:1–7)
In this part, Paul uses the illustration that an heir is in a better position than a slave to inherit an estate one day. God sent Jesus as his heir to "redeem those under the law", so "all who are in Christ Jesus might receive adoption."
Verse 4
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
"The fullness of the time": Paul believed and affirmed that the sending of Jesus Christ is at "the nodal point of salvation-history".
"Born of a woman": According to Cornelius a Lapide, this "denotes conception without a male". It is Paul's only reference to Saint Mary.
"Born under the law" means "born as a Jew."
Verse 5
to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
"To redeem those who were under the law": means "to redeem from the 'curse of the law"' (Galatians 3:13), which is achieved by Christ's death "on which a curse was pronounced".
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Galatians 4” is epistle to the Galatians, chapter 4. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Galatians, Epistle and chapter, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “epistle to the Galatians, chapter 4” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q17997399. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Galatians 4”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Galatians 4 primary sources, Galatians 4 archive and Galatians research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Galatians 4”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Galatians 4” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.