Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Galatians 4:5

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

KJV

ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξαγοράσῃ, ἵνα τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολάβωμεν.

Greek NT

ut eos, qui sub lege erant, redimeret, ut adoptionem filiorum reciperemus.

Vulgate

that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

ASV

That he might redeem them who were under the law: that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

7 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

νόμος
nomos
noun · 196×
υἱοθεσία
uiothesia
noun · 5×
ἀπολαμβάνω
apolambano
verb · 10×
ἐξαγοράζω
exagorazo
verb · 4×
ἵνα
ina
conjunction · 665×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὑπό
upo
preposition · 221×

Themes

Historic Christian voices

12 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§422'But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.'1 This is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God':2 God has visited his people. He has fulfilled the promise he made to Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all expectation - he has se…
§1265Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature,"68 member of Christ and coheir with him,69 and a temple of the Holy Spirit.70
§1972The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and the sacraments; a law of freedom, because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the Old Law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting …
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. …
But when the fulness 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. Christ was born under the law that He might redeem those who were under the law. He submitted Himself to the law, fulfilled it in every respect, and bore its curse for us, in order that we who…
By which words a description of the Justification of the impious is indicated, as being a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ our Saviour. And this translation cannot, since the promulgation of the Gospel, be effected without the laver of reg…
Wishing in His supreme goodness and wisdom to effect the redemption of the world, when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, that we might receive the adoption of sons. The Blessed Virgin, predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, was on this earth the virgin Mother…
Heidelberg Catechism · 2 passages
Q. How do you come to know this? A. The holy gospel tells me. God himself began to reveal this gospel already in Paradise; later, he proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs and prophets, and portrayed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; finally, he fulfilled it through his own dear Son.
Q. Why is he called God's only begotten Son when we also are children of God? A. Because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. We, however, are adopted children of God — adopted by grace through Christ.

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 9:20 — And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
  • 1John 3:1 — Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
  • 1John 3:24 — And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
  • 1Pet 1:18 — Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
  • 2Cor 6:18 — And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
  • Col 1:13 — Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
  • Eph 1:5 — Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
  • Eph 1:5 — Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
  • Eph 1:7 — In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
  • Eph 3:6 — That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
  • Eph 5:2 — And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
  • Exod 2:10 — And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
  • Gal 3:13 — Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
  • Gal 3:13 — Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
  • Gal 3:26 — For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
  • Gal 3:26 — For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
  • Gal 4:7 — Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
  • Gal 4:7 — Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
  • Gal 4:21 — Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
  • Gal 5:13 — For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
  • Gal 5:18 — But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
  • Heb 1:3 — Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
  • Heb 9:12 — Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
  • Heb 9:15 — And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive th
  • John 1:12 — But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
  • Luke 1:68 — Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
  • Luke 15:22 — But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
  • Matt 20:28 — Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
  • Rev 5:9 — And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and p
  • Rom 3:19 — Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
  • Rom 8:15 — For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
  • Rom 8:19 — For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
  • Rom 8:23 — And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
  • Rom 9:4 — Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
  • Titus 2:14 — Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.