Galatians 4: 1-7 Analysis

The discussion of this exegetical paper will explore Galatians 4:1-7. This passage is rather short; however its contents are deep and meaningful. The paper will examine the words of Paul from the rhetoric and literary point of view, and consider the historical context and the background of the Galatians to whom the author speaks. Besides, the discussion will view the passage not as a separate statement, but in a combination with the ones around it. Finally, from the literary point of view, the passage will be characterized as a concluding part of the previous section. Overall, Galatians 4:1-7 has an explanatory and inspirational character; even though it is separated from the previous section as an individual statement, the themes of both parts are connected; it is possible that this division was made due to its powerful emotional content of the passage, so it serves as the link between two sections.
The Galatians
For the fuller understanding of the meaning of the passage, one is to consider its name as it presents the people to whom the author addresses his words, the Galatians, Paul’s converts from paganism in need of an explanation of what being …show more content…
Discussing the relation between law and the promise of God, in Galatians 3:21, Paul deems it necessary to specify, “Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not!” It is possible that the author’s intention was to point out that the appearance of Christ and the adoption of the Scripture as the set of values and rules to live by does not cancel the power and the rightness of the law. That way, stating in Galatians 4:7 that these people are no longer slaves, Paul emphasizes that the true Christians are