Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Galatians 4:10

"Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years." — Galatians 4:10 (ASV)

The Judaizers were probably not intentionally trying to enslave the Galatians, and it is even more probable that the Galatians did not regard their current drift toward legalism as a return to slavery. Yet that is precisely what it was, as Paul reminds them.

In the context of the struggle in Galatia, there is little doubt that the observances the Galatians were succumbing to were Jewish observances. “Days” refers to sabbath days and feasts that fell on specified dates; “months” refers to celebrations tied to the recurring monthly cycle; “seasons” refers to seasonal events, such as the feasts of Tabernacles, Passover, etc.; “years” most naturally refers to the recurring years of Jubilee. What is most significant, however, is not that Paul opposed these Jewish special days, in that observing them was but one step removed from a full Jewish legalism, but that he regards them in exactly the same light as the pagan festivals—i.e., as controlled by and interacting with demonic spirits (see comment on v.3).

This does not, of course, mean that Paul attributed the origin of the law, which includes the religious feasts, to Satan. Far from it. The law is good and comes from God (cf. Romans 7:12). Nevertheless, even the law, when distorted into a way of trying to earn salvation, can be used by Satan to increase human bondage. That Paul, the Jew, would even consider the Jewish observances in the same context as the pagan festivals shows the intensity of his estimate of the deadly character of legalism.