<p>4:8 <i>However, at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those that by nature are not gods</i>- This sounds as if Gentiles are being addressed. It's hard to decide to whom Paul is writing Galatians- whether to Gentile or Jewish Christians. Acts portrays Paul as going to cities in Galatia and preaching to Jews within the synagogue system. On that basis, we would assume that he is writing to Jewish Christians who are returning to the Law. This is why he speaks of how they have &quot;turned back <i>again</i> to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be <i>once more&quot; </i>(:9). Likewise 5:1 &quot;do not get entangled <i>again</i> in a yoke of bondage&quot;. The pronouns in 2:15 seem to connect Paul the Jew with a Jewish readership in Galatia: &quot;<i>We</i> being Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles... <i>we...</i>&quot;. On the other hand, the language here sounds as if the audience were once Gentiles; and in 5:2 he speaks as if they were being circumcised in order to be acceptable with God (although the Greek could mean that they were thinking that their circumcision made them acceptable). However 6:12,13 definitely speaks of false teachers encouraging the Galatians to be circumcised: &quot;who would force you to be circumcised... they desire to have you circumcised&quot;. Perhaps some were Jews, some Gentiles. Yet the argument seems to be that those under the Law, without faith in Christ, were not actually &quot;knowing God&quot; and were in bondage to false gods. This is far from the only place where Paul develops the paradox that Judaism is in fact a form of pagan idolatry (see on 3:1 and 4:25). At very least, Paul would be saying that the Gentiles amongst them, who had previously worshipped idols, were in the same position as Jews under the Law without Christ. However the kind of complex argument in 4:21 ff., using Biblical history as &quot;law&quot; and arguing in a strictly rabbinic style, makes us wonder whether the Galatian audience were in fact Jewish; for surely the power and nuances of the argument would be lost on any not highly familiar with the Jewish scriptures and style of Rabbinic reasoning; the references to desiring their circumcision in chapter 5 would then refer to desiring them to be circumcised in order to be saved.</p><p>Paul challenges the Galatians: &ldquo;You who were enslaved to those who were not really gods... How can you turn back again to those weak and beggarly spirits (<i>stoicheia</i>), whose slaves you want to be once more?&rdquo; (Gal. 4:8,9). Here he parallels demonic spirits with &lsquo;gods who are not really gods&rsquo;. But note how Paul argues under Divine inspiration &ndash; &ldquo;<i>even if</i> there are&rdquo; such demons / idols... <i>for us</i> there is to be only one God whom we fear and worship. This in fact is a continuation of the Psalmists&rsquo; attitude. Time and again the gods / idols of the pagan nations are addressed <i>as if they exist</i>, but are ordered to bow down in shame before Yahweh of Israel (Ps. 29:1,2,10; 97:7). Whether they exist or not becomes irrelevant before the fact that they are powerless before the one true God &ndash; and therefore it is He whom we should fear, trusting that He alone engages with our lives for our eternal good in the end. &ldquo;Yahweh is a great King above all gods&rdquo; (Ps. 95:3) shows the Divine style &ndash; rather than overly stressing that the gods / idols / demons don&rsquo;t exist, the one true God isn&rsquo;t so primitive. Neither were the authors and singers of Psalm 95. The greatness of His Kingship is what&rsquo;s focused upon &ndash; not the demerits and non-existence of other gods. To do so would be altogether too primitive for the one true God. And likewise with the Lord&rsquo;s miracles &ndash; God&rsquo;s gracious power to save was demonstrated, <i>this</i> was where the focus was; and its very magnitude shows the relative non-existence of &lsquo;demons&rsquo;.</p>