Galatians 4:3

So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world.

We ... The word here means all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, the world itself being in bondage to all kinds of rudimentary and imperfect conceptions until Christ came.

Bondage ... Peter himself described the Law of Moses in this same terminology (Acts 15:10); and when one considers the incredible number of rules and regulations which were enforced by it, it becomes clear enough that it was indeed slavery.

Some commentators have expressed surprise that Paul did not restrict the "bondage" to primitive religions, making a distinction between the Mosaic Law and the pagan religions; but, while it is true enough that Judaism was magnificently superior to the pagan systems, there were many particulars in which it rose above them scarcely at all. It was purely legalistic; it subjected every violator to death without mercy, and as MacKnight said:

It prescribed no better sacrifices than the heathen religions ... could not cleanse the conscience of the sinner from the guilt of sin, afforded no assistance to enable men to obey it, and was utterly unable to procure pardon and eternal life for its adherents, being precisely the same (in all these categories) as the heathen religions.[4]

Under the rudiments of the world ... The simple meaning of this place is, "The letters of the alphabet, elementary education in any branch of knowledge."[5] The meaning of "world" is that of the "world of men," not that of the "cosmos" or "universe." The RSV rendition of this is absurd: "We were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe"! As Foy E. Wallace, Jr. said, "Besides its obscurity, not a word of it is in either the Greek or any (previous) English translation of it."[6] Of course, this perversion of the sacred text was done to accommodate some rather wild speculations regarding the religion of the Galatians prior to their acceptance of Christianity.

[4] James MacKnight, Apostolical Epistles and Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969), p. 169.

[5] Raymond T. Stamm, The Interpreter's Bible (New York: Abingdon Press, 1950), Vol. IX, p. 521.

[6] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., A Review of the New Versions (Fort Worth, Texas: The Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1973), p. 443.