Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 34:3 (Sep 1991)
Article: "Ta Stoicheia Tou Kosmou" (Gal 4:3)
Author: David R. Bundrick

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JETS 34:3 (September 1991) p. 353

Ta Stoicheia Tou Kosmou (Gal 4:3)

David R. Bundrick*

The exact meaning of the phrase ta stoicheia tou kosmou, translated in the RSV as “the elemental spirits of the universe,” has been difficult to ascertain. The Church fathers debate its significance, and modern scholars have also continued to find the subject a fruitful field for discussion. No less than two doctoral dissertations have been devoted to the topic in the past twenty-five years, both having copious bibliographies of relevant articles and books published in this century.1

The purpose of the present study is to briefly survey the history of the various interpretations of the phrase and to suggest the most accurate interpretation based on the accumulated contextual, historical and philological evidence.

The phrase ta stoicheia tou kosmou appears three times in Paul’s writings in the NT: Gal 4:3 and Col 2:8, 20. While its usage in Colossians will be of some importance in determining the meaning, attention will be focused primarily on its occurrence in Gal 4:3 and the closely related phrase in Gal 4:9, ta asthenē kai ptōcha stoicheia (“the weak and beggarly elements”).

I. Context Of The Phrase In Galatians

Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written in the middle of the first Christian century to the churches of the Roman province of Galatia in central Asia Minor.2 It is likely that these churches were those established by Paul in Antioch (of Pisidia), Iconium, Lystra and Derbe during his first missionary journey as recorded in Acts 13–14. In this epistle the apostle expresses amazement that the recipients are so quickly deserting the gospel he preached to them in favor of a distorted “gospel” proclaimed by certain ones causing a disturbance among them (Gal 1:6–7). It is made evident in 1:1–10 that these opponents have challenged Paul’s authority by

* David Bundrick is secretary of education for the general council of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri.

JETS 34:3 (September 1991) p. 354

suggesting that Paul’s apostleship is secondary (“through the agency of men,” specifically t...

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