I am afraid of you,.... Which shows the danger he apprehended they were in, by taking such large steps from Christianity to Judaism, and expresses the godly jealousy of the apostle over them; intimates he had some hope of them, and in the whole declares his great love and affection for them; for love is a thing full of care and fear:

continued...

I am afraid of you (φοβοῦμαι ὑμᾶς)

Not a felicitous translation, though retained by Rev. Rather, "I am afraid for you or concerning you." The second ὑμᾶς is not attracted into the principal clause so as to read, "I am afraid lest I have bestowed labor," etc. The two clauses are distinct. I am afraid about you: then the reason for the fear is added, lest I have bestowed, etc.

Upon you (εἰς ὑμᾶς)

continued...

I am afraid of you ... - I have fears respecting you. His fears were that they had no genuine Christian principle. They had been so easily perverted and turned back to the servitude of ceremonies and rites, that he was apprehensive that there could be no real Christian principle in the case. What pastor has not often had such fears of his people, when he sees them turn to the weak and beggarly elements of the world, or when, after having "run well," he sees them become the slaves of fashion, or of some habit inconsistent with the simplicity of the gospel?

I am afraid of you - I begin now to be seriously alarmed for you, and think you are so thoroughly perverted from the Gospel of Christ, that all my pains and labor in your conversion have been thrown away.

I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

4:11 Lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. See PNT Ga 2:2.

4:11 The apostle here, dropping the argument, applies to the affections, Gal 4:11 - 20, and humbles himself to the Galatians, with an inexpressible tenderness.

11. lest-Greek, "lest haply." My fear is not for my own sake, but for yours.

Galatians 4:11 Parallel Commentaries
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