The Meaning of Galatians 4:17 Explained

Galatians 4:17

KJV: They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

YLT: they are zealous for you -- yet not well, but they wish to shut us out, that for them ye may be zealous;

Darby: They are not rightly zealous after you, but desire to shut you out from us, that ye may be zealous after them.

ASV: They zealously seek you in no good way; nay, they desire to shut you out, that ye may seek them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They zealously affect  you,  [but] not  well;  yea,  they would  exclude  you,  that  ye might affect  them. 

What does Galatians 4:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Galatians 4:12-20 - Truthful And Devoted Dealing
How great a loss is it when we allow ourselves to be diverted from the simplicity of faith to trust in ceremonies, rites, and a prescribed routine! Inevitably these bring us into bondage. Let us therefore not pay slavish attention to the outward, but seek to have Christ within, and from within He will become the energy and passion of a new life. Each time we yield to the prompting of His Spirit, there is less of self and more of Him.
In Galatians 4:15 we perhaps have a hint as to the nature of Paul's thorn in the flesh. This reference has led many to suppose that he suffered from acute ophthalmia, or inflammation of the eyes. But nothing diverted him from his soul-travail on behalf of his converts, Galatians 4:19. What a beautiful analogy we may trace between the formation of Christ in the soul and the formation of a chick in the egg! At first the tiny germ of life is hardly discernible amid the viscous matter in which it floats; but, day by day, there is less of this and more of the tiny creature which is being formed. So in regeneration the life of Christ is implanted, which will continue to increase until all of self will be lost in the one infilling Presence. [source]

Chapter Summary: Galatians 4

1  We were under the law till Christ came, as the heir is under the guardian till he be of age
5  But Christ freed us from the law;
7  therefore we are servants no longer to it
14  Paul remembers the Galatians' good will to him, and his to them;
22  and shows that we are the sons of Abraham by the freewoman

Greek Commentary for Galatians 4:17

They zealously seek you [ζηλουσιν υμας]
ηλοω — Zēloō is an old and a good word from ζηλος — zēlos (zeal, jealousy), but one can pay court with good motives or evil. So here in contrast with Paul‘s plain speech the Judaizers bring their fawning flattery. [source]
To shut you out [εκκλεισαι υμας]
From Christ as he will show (Galatians 5:4). That ye may seek them (ινα αυτους ζηλουτε — hina autous zēloute). Probably present active indicative with ινα — hina as in πυσιουστε — phusiousthe (1 Corinthians 4:6) and γινωσκομεν — ginōskomen (1 John 5:20). The contraction οητε — ̇oēte would be ωτε — ̇ōte not ουτε — ̇oute (Robertson, Grammar, p. 325). [source]
That ye may seek them [ινα αυτους ζηλουτε]
Probably present active indicative with ινα — hina as in πυσιουστε — phusiousthe (1 Corinthians 4:6) and γινωσκομεν — ginōskomen (1 John 5:20). The contraction οητε — ̇oēte would be ωτε — ̇ōte not ουτε — ̇oute (Robertson, Grammar, p. 325). [source]
They zealously affect you [ζηλοῦσιν ὑμᾶς]
They are zealously paying you court in order to win you over to their side. Affect, in this sense, is obsolete. It is from affectare, to strive after, earnestly desire. So Shaks. Tam. of Shr. I. i. 40:“In brief, sir, study what you most affect.”Ben Johnson, Alchem. iii. 2:“Pray him aloud to name what dish he affects.”As a noun, desire. So Chaucer, Troil. and Cress. iii. 1391:“As Crassus dide for his affectis wronge” (his wrong desires).Comp. 1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 14:1. [source]
Not well [οὐ καλῶς]
Not in an honorable way. [source]
Nay [ἀλλὰ]
So far from dealing honorably. [source]
They would exclude you [ἐκκλεῖσαι ὑμᾶς θέλουσιν]
From other teachers who do not belong to their party - those of anti-Judaising views who formed the sounder part of the church. [source]
That ye might affect them [ἵνα αὐτοὺς ζηλοῦτε]
So that in your isolation from others, you might be led to seek affiliation with them. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Galatians 4:17

1 Corinthians 4:6 That in us ye may learn [ινα εν ημιν ματητε]
Final clause with ινα — hina and the second aorist active subjunctive of μαντανω — manthanō to learn. As an object lesson in our cases It is no more true of Paul and Apollos than of other ministers, but the wrangles in Corinth started about them. So Paul boldly puts himself and Apollos to the fore in the discussion of the principles involved. Not to go beyond the things which are written (το Μη υπερ α γεγραπται — to Mē huper ha gegraptai). It is difficult to reproduce the Greek idiom in English. The article το — to is in the accusative case as the object of the verb ματητε — mathēte (learn) and points at the words “Μη υπερ α γεγραπται — Mē huper ha gegraptai apparently a proverb or rule, and elliptical in form with no principal verb expressed with μη — mē whether “think” (Auth.) or “go” (Revised). There was a constant tendency to smooth out Paul‘s ellipses as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:26, 1 Corinthians 1:31. Lightfoot thinks that Paul may have in mind O.T. passages quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19, 1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 Corinthians 3:19, 1 Corinthians 3:20. That ye be not puffed up Sub-final use of ινα — hina (second use in this sentence) with notion of result. It is not certain whether πυσιουστε — phusiousthe (late verb form like πυσιαω πυσαω — phusiaōινα — phusaō to blow up, to inflate, to puff up), used only by Paul in the N.T., is present indicative with ζηλουτε — hina like ινα γινωσκομεν — zēloute in Galatians 4:17 (cf. Πυσιοω — hina ginōskomen in 1 John 5:20) or the present subjunctive by irregular contraction (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 203, 342f.), probably the present indicative. πυσις — Phusioō is from πυσαω — phusis (nature) and so meant to make natural, but it is used by Paul just like πυσιαω — phusaō or πυσα — phusiaō (from εις υπερ του ενος κατα του ετερου — phusa a pair of bellows), a vivid picture of self-conceit. One for the one against the other (υπερ — heis huper tou henos kata tou heterou). This is the precise idea of this idiom of partitive apposition. This is the rule with partisans. They are “for” (κατα — huper) the one and “against” (του ετερου — kata down on, the genitive case) the other (ετεροδοχ — tou heterou not merely another or a second, but the different sort, heterodox). [source]
1 Corinthians 4:6 That ye be not puffed up [ινα μη πυσιουστε]
Sub-final use of ινα — hina (second use in this sentence) with notion of result. It is not certain whether πυσιουστε — phusiousthe (late verb form like πυσιαω πυσαω — phusiaōινα — phusaō to blow up, to inflate, to puff up), used only by Paul in the N.T., is present indicative with ζηλουτε — hina like ινα γινωσκομεν — zēloute in Galatians 4:17 (cf. Πυσιοω — hina ginōskomen in 1 John 5:20) or the present subjunctive by irregular contraction (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 203, 342f.), probably the present indicative. πυσις — Phusioō is from πυσαω — phusis (nature) and so meant to make natural, but it is used by Paul just like πυσιαω — phusaō or πυσα — phusiaō (from εις υπερ του ενος κατα του ετερου — phusa a pair of bellows), a vivid picture of self-conceit. One for the one against the other (υπερ — heis huper tou henos kata tou heterou). This is the precise idea of this idiom of partitive apposition. This is the rule with partisans. They are “for” (κατα — huper) the one and “against” (του ετερου — kata down on, the genitive case) the other (ετεροδοχ — tou heterou not merely another or a second, but the different sort, heterodox). [source]
Galatians 5:7 Well [καλῶς]
Bravely, becomingly, honorably to yourselves and to the church. Often in Paul. See Romans 11:20; 1 Corinthians 7:37, 1 Corinthians 7:38; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 4:17; Philemon 4:14. [source]
Galatians 4:18 It is good - in a good thing []
Ζηλοῦσθαι tobe zealously sought, in the same sense as before. It is passive. It is good for you Galatians to be zealously sought. In a good thing ( ἐν καλῷ ) answers to οὐ καλῶς nothonorably, Galatians 4:17. In a good matter - the interest of the gospel. Thus Paul would say: “These Judaisers zealously strive to win you over to their views; but they do not do this in an honorable way. There is no harm in seeking to interest and enlist you, provided it is in a good cause.” [source]

What do the individual words in Galatians 4:17 mean?

They are zealous after you not rightly but to exclude you [from us] They desire so that them you might be zealous after
Ζηλοῦσιν ὑμᾶς οὐ καλῶς ἀλλὰ ἐκκλεῖσαι ὑμᾶς θέλουσιν ἵνα αὐτοὺς ζηλοῦτε

Ζηλοῦσιν  They  are  zealous  after 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ζηλεύω 
Sense: to burn with zeal.
καλῶς  rightly 
Parse: Adverb
Root: καλῶς  
Sense: beautifully, finely, excellently, well.
ἐκκλεῖσαι  to  exclude 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: ἐκκλείω  
Sense: to shut out, to turn out of doors.
ὑμᾶς  you  [from  us] 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
θέλουσιν  They  desire 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: θέλω  
Sense: to will, have in mind, intend.
ἵνα  so  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
ζηλοῦτε  you  might  be  zealous  after 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ζηλεύω 
Sense: to burn with zeal.