<p>4:3 <i>So we also When we were children, we were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world</i>- Paul paints a rather onerous picture of childhood. It perhaps reflected his own experience, but all the same as noted on :1, children were seen as non-persons in first century Mediterranean society.</p><p>Paul says that the Galatians formerly lived as enslaved to the &ldquo;elements of the cosmos&rdquo; (Gal. 4:3), also a phrase used in the Jewish apostate writings; &ldquo;what by nature are not gods&rdquo; (<i>tois phusei m&ecirc; ousin theois</i>; Gal. 4:8,9). They are &ldquo;weak and powerless elements&rdquo; (<i>ta asthen&ecirc; kai ptocha stoicheia</i>; Gal. 4:9). The system of Satan, sinful Angels, demons etc. which the Jews believed in, Paul is showing to now be non-existent and at the best powerless. The real background problem, Paul is saying, is not a personal Satan and a network of demons; rather is it the influence of the Mosaic law and Judaism. See on Col. 2:17.</p>