4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
The 'we' in 3 should first of all be regarded 'dispensationally', i.e. as referring to the Jews as a people under the disciplinary jurisdiction of God, in the terms in which this has already been described. This, Paul means to say, is what it was like under the old order, 'under the law' - like the position of an heir who is placed under a guardian or regent for an appointed time, till he reaches a certain age, and 'comes of age'. He is restricted in his freedom and is virtually, to all intents and purposes, like a slave, though he be the son and heir. The word 'tutor' in 2 is different from the 'paidagogos' of 3:24. It is when the time appointed by the father comes to be fulfilled that a change takes place, and all becomes different. Then, it is no more servants, but sons (7). But Paul also, in 3, speaks of being in bondage under 'the elements of the world' (cf also 9, 'the weak and beggarly elements'). What does he mean? Some have suggested that 'elements' here are 'elementary things', the ABC which we learn at school - that is to say, the Old Testament economy is thought of as the rudimentary education of the people of God, from which they advanced when Christ came. But, we may ask, is this a bondage? Hardly. And we should look more deeply for a more adequate explanation than this.