What does the tutor illustration in Galatians 4 mean for Israel?
For Israel, the tutor illustration means the nation was like a child under a tutor, kept under the law in bondage until the father set the time. Paul identifies himself as a Jew under the law, showing Israel, not the Gentiles, was the one supervised by the law as a child.
Les explains that the Greek and Roman children were under tutors and governors, learning and preparing for the day the father determined they were old enough to take on family and business responsibility and become full heirs. Paul says, "Even so," applying it to "we" when we were children, in bondage under the elements of the world. Les teaches that the "we" refers to Paul as a Jew, meaning Jews who were under the law, not Gentiles, because the Gentile world was never under the law of Moses—only the children of Israel. Just as those children were under a tutor and the father paid very little attention to them, so Israel, while under the law, was in bondage. To live under the law is always a bondage.
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
More Questions
What does it mean that Israel was in bondage under the elements of the world in Galatians 4:3?
Israel, when they were children under the law, were in bondage under the elements of the world, just as the Greek and Roman child was under the rule of a tutor.
What is Paul illustrating with the tutors and governors in Galatians 4?
Paul uses the Greek and Roman custom of a child being under tutors and governors as an illustration ('even so') for Israel's condition under the law.
What does Paul's statement in Galatians 4:3 show about the tutor and governor illustration?
Galatians 4:3 shows that the child-under-tutor-and-governor picture in verse 2 is only an illustration, applied 'in like manner' to Israel's bondage.