Galatians 4:1

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate;

Galatians 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Galatians 4:1

Now I say
To illustrate what he had said of the law's being a schoolmaster to the Jews until the coming of Christ, and then ceasing as such, he proposes the case of an heir during his minority, till he come to the proper time of enjoying his estate.

that the heir, as long as he is a child;
anyone that is an heir to his father's estate, or another's, whilst under age, being reckoned as a child, as he is from his infancy to his manhood,

differeth nothing from a servant:
he is not his own man, nor at his own dispose; he cannot do as he pleases; he is under restraint; he is kept to school or to business, and is liable to correction and chastisement according as he behaves; nor can he have the free use of his father's estate,

though he be Lord of all,
of all the servants, according to the Arabic version; or of the whole estate his father left him, of which he is Lord in right, but not in possession; he is right heir to it, though as yet it is not in his hands, nor can he do with it as he will.

Galatians 4:1 In-Context

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate;

2 but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father.

3 So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe.

4 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.