Thomas Aquinas Commentary Galatians 4:1-3

"But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all; but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed of the father. So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world:" — Galatians 4:1-3 (ASV)

After pointing out the shortcoming of the Law, the Apostle now shows the dignity of grace in two ways:

1. with a human example;
2. with an example from Scripture (v. 21).

Regarding the first example, he does three things:

1. He shows the preeminence of grace over the primitive state of the Old Law by a simile taken from human law.
2. He shows that they have been made partakers of this preeminence through faith (v. 6).
3. He censures them for disdaining this preeminence (v. 8).

Concerning the first point, he does two things:

1. He lays down the simile.
2. He applies it to his proposition (v. 3).

It should be noted that the Apostle touches on four things in the simile he proposes. First is eminence, because he speaks not of a servant but of an heir. Hence he says, As long as the heir is a child. This applies both to the Jewish people—who were the heirs of the promise to Abraham: “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession” (Psalms 134:4)—and to Christ, who is the heir of all things: “whom he has appointed heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2).

Second is smallness. Hence he says, is a child, because the Jews were children according to the state of the Law: “Who shall raise up Jacob? For he is a little one” (Amos 7:5). Similarly, Christ also had become a child through the Incarnation: “For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us” (Isaiah 9:6).

Note that the Apostle sometimes compares the state of the Law to a child, as he does here, and sometimes the state of the present life: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child” (1 Corinthians 13:11). The reason for this is that the state of the Old Law, because of its imperfect knowledge, is like a child compared to the state of grace and truth that came through Christ. In the same way, the state of the present life, in which we see through a mirror in a dark manner, is like a child compared to the state of the future life, in which there is perfect knowledge of God, because He is seen as He is.

Third is subjection. He says, he is no different from a servant, though he is lord of all, but is under tutors and governors. A servant is one who is subject to a lord. But a boy, as long as he is a child, lacks the fullness of knowledge and use of free will due to his age. He is therefore committed to the care of others who defend his possessions—these are called tutors—and who handle his affairs—these are called governors. Therefore, even though he is lord of all his things, he is no different from a servant insofar as he is subject to others, because he does not have free will but is in fact constrained. This is applied to the Jewish people: “And now hear, O Jacob, my servant” (Isaiah 44:1).

Here it should be noted that among the Jewish people, some were servants in the strict sense—namely, those who observed the Law out of fear of punishment and desire for the temporal things the Law promised. But there were others who were not servants in the strict sense but, living as servants, were really sons and heirs. Although they outwardly attended to temporal things and avoided punishments, they did not place their ultimate hope in them but took them as a figure of spiritual goods. Therefore, even though on the surface they seemed to be no different from servants, insofar as they observed the ceremonies and other commandments of the Law, they were nevertheless lords, because they did not follow them with the same frame of mind as servants. They followed them out of love for the spiritual goods they prefigured, whereas servants acted chiefly out of fear of punishment and a desire for earthly convenience.

Christ, too, was like a servant. Although He is the Lord of all things, according to the Psalm, “The Lord said to my Lord” (Psalms 109:1), nevertheless outwardly, as a man, He seemed to be no different from a servant: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Philippians 2:7). Furthermore, he was under tutors and governors, because He was made under the Law, as is said below: made under the law (v. 4). He was also subject to men, as is said in Luke: “He was subject to them” (Luke 2:51).

Fourth, he touches on the correspondence of time when he says, until the time appointed by the father. Just as the heir is under tutors for a definite period fixed by the father, so the Law had a time fixed by God determining how long it was to endure and how long the heir—that is, the Jewish people—were to be under it. Similarly, there was a time fixed by the Father during which Christ would not perform miracles or show the lordship of His divine power: “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4).

He applies this simile when he says, So we also, when we were children, were serving under the elements of the world. He applies it in two ways:

1. regarding the Jews;
2. regarding Christ (v. 4).

He says, therefore: Just as as long as the heir is a child he is no different from a servant, so we Jews also, when we were children in the state of the Old Law, were serving under the elements of the world. This means we were under the Law, which promised temporal things—“If you are willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land” (Isaiah 1:19)—and threatened temporal punishments.

Alternatively, the Old Law is called an “element” because just as boys who are to be trained in a science are first taught its elements and through them are brought to the fullness of that science, so the Old Law was proposed to the Jews to bring them to faith and justice: the law was our tutor leading to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Or, it means they were under the “elements,” that is, the physical religious observances they kept, such as days of the moon, new moons, and the Sabbath.

However, one should not object that on this account they were no different from the pagans who served the elements of this world. The Jews did not serve the elements or pay them worship; rather, under them, they served and worshiped God. The pagans, in contrast, rendered divine worship to the elements themselves: “They worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25). Furthermore, it was necessary for the Jews to serve God under the elements of this world, because such an order is in harmony with human nature, which is led from sensible things to intelligible things.